What Is Concept Training? Positive Dog Training Made Easy
Concept training has been making big waves in the world of positive dog training over the past couple of years, and is only going to get bigger as more and more professional dog trainers and die-hard dog training enthusiasts are discovering and applying this fantastic approach to the way they work with their dogs. But what is concept training, and how does it differ from the standard positive dog training methods we’ve grown so familiar with?
Barking at visitors, lunging at other dogs, running off in the park… there are so many behaviours today’s pet dogs choose that cause us real angst as owners, and yet there are still so many owners who put up with the daily struggle, because they don’t know how to feasibly stop their dogs from misbehaving!
For those owners who do reach out for help from a professional trainer, the dog training solutions offered can often seem overwhelming and unrealistic. Whilst positive dog training is winning out the battle when it comes to whether we choose to teach with punishment or reward, setting up the training scenarios in which we can reward the right behaviours can be a stumbling block for many.
With a dog who is reactive to other dogs, for example, you’ve perhaps been told that the only way you can deal with this problem is to set up a vast amount of controlled encounters with other dogs.
‘Begin at a distance great enough that allows your dog to remain under threshold, reward your own dog for being calm, and gradually decrease the distance at a rate that works for you and your dog.’
Those of us with reactive dogs know this is pretty much impossible if you ever plan on actually walking your dog, as you simply cannot control whether another dog walker is going to appear around the next corner, at a completely unrehearsed distance, and send your dog into a tailspin!
Own a dog who goes crazy every time you have a house guest? You might have read that the only way to tackle this problem, is by begging (or bribing!) your next-door neighbour to knock on your door ten times a day, when you’ve got an appropriate set-up in place and reward system perfectly to hand, so you can teach your dog an alternative behaviour.
What if there was a way we could tackle a multitude of situations, triggers and encounters that cause problem behaviours in your dog, without having to work directly with those specific triggers?
Enter Concept Training!
With concept training, we don’t train specific responses to specific situations – we train broad concepts that will enable your dog to cope with whatever life throws their way. We don’t teach your dog a single trained response to a single specific event (e.g. ‘when the doorbell rings, you go and sit on your bed’). Instead we give your dog the tools he or she needs to make the right decisions for themselves in any given situation.
We reinforce broad concepts like calmness, focus, impulse-control, confidence, proximity, and lots more besides, that will enable your dog to make the right choices for themselves, no matter what situation you find yourselves in.
Sound too good to be true? It gets better. The way we teach a dog all these fantastic concepts is by playing games with them. Not only will your dog have an absolute blast, but so will you! Desperate to learn more? Check out our article on our top dog training concepts, and how they’ll transform your dog’s behaviour right here. Want to discover some awesome games you can start playing today? Check out all our dog training games right here! Be sure to keep coming back (or subscribe to the blog so you never miss a new one) as we regularly update this section, so there’s always something new for you and your dog to get stuck into!
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