Our "both/and" approach to dog training
The basic idea
- Referees of play. Dogs love playing together! To foster this, our people act as referees of play – encouraging active play and stepping in whenever needed to keep things fun and safe.
- Calm assertive energy. Our pack leaders use calm and assertive energy to reassure the dogs that the humans are in charge. That means the dogs can relax and just… play! That’s why they love being at Happy Dogs.
- Affection and correction. We train our dogs using the “both/and” of reward and correction. We reward good behavior with encouragement and affection. We correct unwanted behavior in a gentle but firm way.
- As opposed to... We never use artificial methods like spray bottles, leashes that zap a dog, or prolonged isolation. Nor do we bribe dogs with treats or reinforcement when they are misbehaving (which only teaches them to misbehave more).
- All together now. Instead of separating dogs by size, we sometimes group them based on energy levels and play styles—letting the high-energy pups play together while giving the more relaxed dogs their own space.
- Tiny Dogs Area (optional): Our smallest friends, often under 10 pounds, have a choice: be with all the other dogs or in a special "Tiny Dogs Area" without larger dogs taking up their space. Whatever you and they prefer!
- Rejecting a dog. In rare cases, a dog’s behavior will worsen after initially passing the behavior assessment; if we’re unable to work together to correct this, we will ask the dog not to come back, for the dog’s own safety and the safety of our other dogs.
Specific techniques
- Giving affection. Affection is a powerful tool in rewarding positive behavior. We will pet and play with dogs when they are in a calm and relaxed state throughout the day, or when they respond to a pack leader's direction with the desired behavior. We never give affection when dogs are demanding such attention in a dominant way or when they are behaving in an unwanted way, as that would simply encourage further unwanted behavior.
- Giving corrections. It is sometimes necessary to correct a dog, for instance if they get carried away during play, become fixated on another dog, or otherwise become unruly. Here’s how we do it, with techniques based on dog psychology:
- Voice and sound. To get the attention of the pack as a whole or a specific dog, we'll use voice commands such as "tsst", "sit", or "space". To add an extra emphasis to our voice commands, we'll often use finger snaps to command the pack as needed.
- Body presence. We sometimes stand by a dog with an authoritative body presence, often with an outstretched "stop sign" hand, to ask them to stop an unwanted behavior.
- Sitting. Sometimes it's necessary to nudge or push a dog's behind down so they know to sit, and they are not responding to other techniques.
- Scruffing. For safety in urgent situations, we may move your dog by holding the loose skin around his or her neck to guide him or her. This is similar to how a mother dog directs her young, so it's something that is familiar and even comforting to dogs.
- Poke to the hind leg pit. Almost always, voice and body presence are enough for corrections. Once in a while, we do need to give a more emphatic correction with a poke to one of their hind leg pits – similar to our armpits. This is not painful. If it were, it would only rile them up, the opposite of what we want. Instead, it is firm enough to tickle them and redirect their attention – similar to assertively tapping your friend on the shoulder when they are about to accidentally walk into traffic.
- Thumb or two fingers, crisply. We train our pack leaders to use either their thumb or two fingers when applying a poke correction. Note that pack leaders sometimes need to press their thumb on their curled fingers to avoid stubbing them – but it’s always only the tip of the thumb that makes contact with the dog’s hind leg pit. The poke is applied in a single crisp motion, again like an assertive tap to a friend’s shoulder.
Above: thumb tip extended beyond other fingers, in preparation for a poke
Above: poke to the hint leg pit, redirecting the dog’s attention
Above: poke to the hind leg pit with two fingers
Spacing. Our pack leaders use energy, body presence, and correction to create a boundary that dogs know not to cross. Having dogs respect physical boundaries is essential for feedings and conducting behavioral assessments.
- Special situations. There are a number of situations where we will use a combination of the above techniques to ensure the safety of the pack, including the following:
- Behavioral assessments. When we bring a new dog into the pack, we will test our various techniques on the dog to make sure they respond well to them. We will also often do spacing (see above) to give the new dog some breathing room as opposed to letting all the other dogs crowd around the new dog right away. Throughout the assessment, we will control the play of the pack more strictly than normal, erring on the side of extra safety, since we don't yet know the behavior of the new dog, nor how our existing dogs will react to the new dog. If you see us correcting or spacing more than normal for a time, it's likely you are seeing a behavior assessment in progress.
- New staff training. When training a new pack leader, we will demonstrate the techniques and have them practice the techniques under supervision.
- When a staff enters the run. The pack can get overly excited when a person first enters the run through the gate, especially if it is someone they aren't yet familiar with. We will often use spacing and other techniques to prepare the pack to "receive" the new person before resuming normal free play.
