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Photo of Annabelle and Ada by Chic Denney
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Positively Canine Mission Statement
There are many different ways to train a dog, and there are dog trainers who train almost all those ways. Traditionally, dog training has been a matter of asking for unquestioning “obedience” and frequently the requests are accompanied by physical compulsion or threat of compulsion. Very little time is spent wondering what the dog wants, or how the dog feels about all this, or even if the dog understands what is being asked of him. At Positively Canine, we’ve long seen a need for a major facility with a different style of dog training, which pairs happy, willing dogs with humans who are fair in their expectations and clear in their communication. We have been pursuing this goal in a small way, but now we are ready to really try to change the way dog training takes place in Oklahoma City.
The first thing to know about training a dog is that it is ALL common sense. Dogs do what gets rewarded. Dogs stop doing things which are never rewarded (the hard part is understanding how keep the dog from being rewarded for things you don’t want). All the behaviors you want your dog to do, he already knows how to do. You simply have to be able to communicate to him when you would like for him to do it.
With the development of clicker training, we have a tool which is perfectly suited to helping the dog solve problems and be positively motivated to work with us. It is a tool which allows the human to communicate much more precisely than many previous training methods. A dog can learn any behavior with a clicker that he can learn with more traditional techniques, usually with much less confusion and certainly with less aversion.
However, we also recognize that there is more to teaching a dog and living with a dog than simply “getting behaviors.” Dogs are thinking, highly social animals. In order to be in a mind frame to learn, their most basic needs – including the need to feel safe – must first be met. So, in addition to teaching dogs what behaviors are desired or not desired, we try to look at the whole dog, and teach the owners to look at the whole dog. We work with body techniques that help the dog be able to relax and think, and teach you to recognize a dog’s natural language, so the communication is two-way. We also teach you to be a benevolent and trusted leader to your dog, because “spoiled” dogs, or dogs left to their own devices, are seldom truly happy dogs.
Our goal is to create an environment where dogs and people can enjoy learning together.
The fact is, pet dogs need to know just as many things as “sport dogs” though some of those things are slightly different. As a pet owner, you may not need a dog who can maintain perfect heel position, but you certainly need a dog who knows how to walk politely on a loose leash instead of pulling you off your feet! Our goal is to help you meet your goals, whether that is a well-behaved pet, or a dog you can participate in sports with (or both, without having to retrain pet skills to participate in events.)
The one thing that we do ask of our competitive students is that you share our philosophy that you and your dog are a team, and nothing – rankings, high scores, or titles – is worth doing anything that will harm your dog’s ability to put their trust in you. While competition is grand, we want to put the relationship first and we hope to attract students with a similar goal and philosophy. We don’t want to just have a positive dog training school, we want to have a positive dog training community, where like-minded people can come together, enjoy their dogs and learn. We plan to have social activities and open our school for socialization and play sessions, practice sessions and matches, and to bring in seminars for educational opportunities for the entire dog owning community.
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