My Thoughts about dog training

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What You Will Need

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

The Ultimate tool kit

What You Will Need

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The type of supplies and tools you use can speak to the type of trainer you aspire to be. As a heads up, all methods and tools work to varying degrees. You may not be able to change that, but you can lead yourself in the direction your dog would be proud of.

With that being said positive is not permissive and we do need elegant ways to set boundaries and train behaviors

Below are a few of my recommendations to start dog training. If you want the complete list, press I'm In!!

Look at what is possible

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Have you ever been to SeaWorld or seen a video of a dolphin jumping out of and doing flips above the water? 

The dolphins typically have been classically conditioned to follow around a target stick, a big white ball attached to a long pole. They may even bring it out in the show to help guide novice dolphins.  

  • It is universal, all animals and breeds understand following a target
  • Clickers and Target Sticks can train most behaviors, Sit, Down, Stand, Roll Over, Jumping, and much more!
  • ​​Clearly teaches and stops unproductive food luring techniques
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Training reliability

Classical Conditioning & Counter Conditioning

Bumble and I were living by the beach, going on runs, and living life to the fullest. Being in a small apartment there was lots of dog training to do, barking when people walked by, being good in his crate while I worked, coming when called, and more.

One day, after training, my roommate and I sat down to have a beer and catch up. As we are talking the building starts to shake, it gets really loud, we stop talking, and wait for the plane to pass over. Our apartment was by the beach but also next to the airport and about every 10 minutes another plane would come in to land. 

We had been living there for a few months at this point and would just pretend we didn't care and practiced stoic patience, but I would not say we enjoyed when the planes flew over. So I suggested we counter condition ourselves. You want to do what with us? My roommate looked at me weirdly

Look, right now the pattern is hear the airplane, get frustrated but be stoic, which doesn't feel good.
Let's change that to hear the airplane, cheers and take a drink of beer, which may be fun, but we need to test it. And so we did, it turned out to be a fun game, and even to this day if I am drinking and hear an airplane pass by, I'll lift up my glass.

Most dog training is creating a conditioned response to something new that means nothing to your dog, or sometimes counter conditioning an emotional response. Meaning if a particular thing scares, excites, or frustrates your dog, you can counter condition your dog to love, ignore, or get excited instead. Fireworks on 4th of July are a great time to practice this idea, each time a firework explodes, go over go over to a treat jar, say search, and toss your pup a treat.

If you understand that the brain is consistently creating meaning and associations, then you will know 1 of only 2 principles that you can use to train your dog to be your dream dog!  

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Hi! I Am Brady Foulk

Founder & Head Trainer Of New Direction Dog Training

Over the last 6 years I have collected quite a few stories, pictures, and mindsets that I will be documenting here. This is meant to be a resource for myself to look back on and for anyone else who finds it useful. Thank you and remember the secret is in the sequence!

New Direction Dog Training

The biggest DISABILITY you can have…

Is a BAD MINDSET.

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