🙋🏻‍♀️ if you were interested in exploring dog training and behavior?

🙋🏽‍♀️ if you’re not sure where to start?

🙋‍♀️ if you find the whole exploration of schools to credentialling bodies to be confusing.

You’re for sure not alone!

There are so many options and finding the best ones may be more challenging than what you expected.

Let’s peel back the layers and get to the heart of what you’re looking for in both an education and a credential you stand behind.

Your values carry forward when choosing the one that matches your core beliefs in caring for and teaching another living being.

As you know, the dog training world is unregulated. Even though there is an obvious downside, I’m going to look at the upside to this.

The main focus of more mainstream dog training follows a different model or a limited scope in a standard of care. This other model focuses strictly on learning theory and behavior.

Limiting the understanding to behavior science alone, leaves the animal vulnerable for the human’s misapplication, timing or even misunderstanding of how to effectively teach what the pet parent wants. While you may never consider the use of punishment in training, this model still leaves the door open for those who do.

Of course focusing on learning theory and behavior is important in understanding behavior modification, it isn’t the only factors to take into consideration.

You’re wanting to gain a deeper understanding of Do No Harm principles and how ensuring the welfare for all the pets in your care also extends to every pet parent and pet professional too.

Do No Harm is limitless.

Force Free dog training schools teach the trainer how to meet all of the dog’s needs humanely and with only reward based methods while remaining grounded in the science of why it works. This focused attention on science in dog training allows for the student to have a holistic approach in their learning and development and how to be effectively in their approach.

Force Free credentialing bodies acknowledge the hard work and the commitment trainers have towards doing no harm in training, education and coaching. They set a standard of how to maintain a pet professional’s affiliation. One avenue is through continuing education credits. CEUs are the lifeblood of a life long professional trainer. The CEUs offer opportunities for the pet professional to remain grounded in current trends and research and above all else, best practices.

From the Pet Professional Guild, “Do no harm. Do good. Act fairly. Be faithful to promises made.” With this guiding principle, there is no room for pain, force or intimidation.

Here are some links to Force Free schools and credentialing bodies:

International School of Canine Psychology (ISCP): https://theiscp.com/about-the-iscp/

INTODogs: https://www.intodogs.org/

Pet Professional Guild is an educational resource as well as a credentialing body for Force Free trainers: https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/