Qualified Dog Trainer and Behavioural Consultant

Thanks for stopping by. My name is Domineque and I am an experienced and qualified dog behavioural trainer.

Dog Behavioural training is not about obedience, it’s about helping your dog learn how to behave and respond in our human world, as well as give them confidence, it also lets them know exactly what you are asking of them. A dog that has been given guidance from a young age, as well as education, will be a lot less likely to develop anxiety based problems later in life.

Dogs live in the now, they respond to their environment dependent on their learning history and experiences. This is why it is important to train your dog the behaviours they need for our human world.

Unfortunately many things that dog’s find fun and rewarding are not acceptable in the human community. So it is up to you, your dog’s guardian, to train and teach them how you would like them to behave. Over the last 20 years there has been a significant change in our understanding of dog behaviour and how they learn. The “Dominance theory” is thankfully a thing of the past.

Through many years of research we have learnt that using “Pack Leader” or “Dominance training”, can do much more harm than good, as well as being potentially dangerous. So the days of enforcing your Alpha status on your dog are long gone. Now we know that what we really want from our dogs is trust.

It is important to remember that every moment you spend with your dog you are teaching them something, think about it, how does your dog react when you pick up the lead? Or when you pick up their bowl? Did you train them to behave that way?

Your dog has learned through association that when you pick up the lead they go for a walk, or when you pick up the bowl, they get fed. Dog’s learn through association, building an association between a behaviour for example you picking up the lead – and the reward is going for a walk. Unfortunately this can also work with unwanted behaviours. With the right training you can teach your dog to do anything.

Why do we use positive reinforcement? – Because it works.

Positive reinforcement training is a scientifically proven method that helps train your dog using food/toys/ attention/ life rewards e.t.c ,as motivators. Just like we go to work to get paid, dogs work for reinforcers. It can also help to make training fun for both you and your dog.

Using positive reinforcement when training your dog is universally endorsed by the behavioural and the scientific community as the most humane long-lasting, effective and safest method to train your dog. Positive reinforcement basically means, reward the behaviour you like, there is more chance of the behaviour being repeated.

If I gave you $50 every time you sat on a particular chair do you think you would repeat the behaviour and find that chair AMAZING?

Training your dog should be a fun and exciting experience for you both.