Getting a canine companion is becoming a regular milestone in peoples’ lives as they strike out on their own. Parenting our furry companions is a rewarding, but comprehensive task. By the time your puppy has reached 6 months, life long habits and tendencies are formed for the better or worse.
Creating clear boundaries and expectations will help fix and prevent most dog training issues. Dog training is a lifestyle that brings your home to a happy medium-- your dog’s needs are met while your own mental well-being is protected.
Mars Dog Training offers force free, positive reinforcement training that will improve your dog’s education, your dog’s wellbeing, and your own quality of life.
Be sure to fill out an interest form or call me and I will get back to you as soon as I can!
mission statement
The mission of Mars Dog Training is to help you discover and expand your bond with your dog through science based training, guided hands-on practice, and an understanding of dog behavior to address problem behaviors to keep dogs with their families.
science based training
Mars Dog Training uses the following training methods in a force free manner. Each training concept is defined and an example of how it would be used to help your dog is provided.
Positive Reinforcement - adding a reward when a behavior is performed to make it happen more often- My dog lays down next to my feet in the living room, so I calmly praise her and give her a tasty chew or treat for being calm.
Negative Punishment - removing a reward when a behavior is performed to make it happen less often- My dog jumps on my neighbor, so I ask my neighbor to ignore my dog (the neighbor’s attention is the reward)
Redirection - giving a dog an alternate activity to prevent bad habits from forming- My dog likes to chew on the remote. Every time I see him chew on the remote, I give him his bone. Eventually, he will just select the bone to chew on in place of the remote.
Counter-Conditioning - a process that changes the way the dog feels about a situation or item.- My dog growls and snaps when we try to groom him. We practice petting him and handling him
Desensitization - a process that lessens his reaction to a particular trigger- My dog is terrified of bikes and will throw his whole body to one side to try to escape his collar when a bike rides by. We work on slowly exposing him until he is no longer terrified of the bike. He still does not like them, but now he will walk past them with no problem.
Operant Conditioning - a learning process in which an animal associates a behavior with a consequence.- When my dog jumps on the trash bin, he can eat anything in there when it falls on the floor. He’s learned that jumping on the trash bin can end with food on the floor.
Classical Conditioning - a learning process in which an animal associates two stimuli- Even if my dog is very asleep, the moment he hears the click of the sound jar, he’s instantly awake and drooling.