Ambassadogs

No one likes a bully. It is almost as simple as that. Dogs are not stupid, far from it. They are not human but they feel fear and pain just as a human does. Its safe to say they dislike it as much as we do.

It has been proven over and over again that forceful training is not needed and is exceptionally detrimental to the relationship between dog and handler/owner. Forceful training can be barbaric pinch/prong collars which inflict pain on the dog or it can be shouting which can inflict fear and confusion on a dog.

If owner and dog are able to communicate well then forceful methods are not needed. If there is a problem with the communication then its a problem from the owners side and nothing short of cruel to inflict pain or fear on the dog for our shortcomings. It CAN be difficult to train a dog if something is being lost in communication. The owner becomes frustrated and the dog confused. You are not alone - every single dog owner has felt the same way at some point!. This is why it is helpful to get a positive reward based trainer in to help before immense damage is done. Once a dog loses its trust and respect in its owner it can be very hard to gain it back. The correct trainer can help owner and dog understand each others needs and requests in a positive way which in turn will strengthen the bond and make future training easier to achieve. 

If you are thinking 

"That's a heap of new age rubbish" think about this. 

Items banned for use by Ambassadogs clients are:

Electric collars

Prong or pinch collars

Spray collars

Pet corrector

Training Discs

Choke chains

We reserve the right to request any other item we deem to be forceful be changed for a positive alternative. We will be happy to discuss with any dog owner alternatives methods .

Items approved by Ambassadogs:

Tasty treats

Toys

Fuss

Positive attention

The most common reasons dogs bite are due to :

Some dogs will greet you by jumping up and becoming over boisterous. They may mouth at your hands or bark at you. You may wish that your dog would come and say hello nicely but changing that behaviour is a little harder than you expected!

Any behaviour a dog shows is because it works for him. It gains him what it is he wants. It may be treats, it may be attention or fuss but it works. The dog that bounces all over you when you come home is probably yelled at, spoken to at least. Dogs don’t really understand your words but hey – by jumping up he made you speak to him – he’s ecstatic! Maybe you hold his collar to calm him down…in his world; you’re making a fuss of him. You might even go and have a quick game in the garden to wear him out – he’s in heaven! In your dog’s mind his behaviour, whatever it may be, is gaining him what he wants.

When you attempt to change that behaviour you are now viewed as a faulty appliance! A good way to understand this is thinking of a TV remote. When you go to change the channel and the batteries are low it won’t work. You may well press the button again to no avail. You may press it harder or even several times in the hope you get lucky. You may even creep closer to the TV in the hopes the shorter distance will make it work. In short you will try harder before you finally give up and go and change the batteries.

When you try and change your dog’s behaviour you are the TV remote, the faulty appliance. You have not done what you are meant and expected to do. For example jumping all over you normally gets him attention…he will try harder. He may mouth if he hasn’t before, he may be vocal and he may grab your trouser leg. It’s normally at this stage that owners despair and give up declaring their dog to be untrainable. Don’t give up! 

Provided you have shown him an alternative behaviour to offer he will eventually realise that he must sit (for example) to gain his reward…just as you will eventually realise you need to change the batteries!