A holistic approach
My approach is holistic and empathetic: it takes into account all the factors that can influence a dog’s wellbeing and behaviour. Behaviour is the result of many interacting elements, including the fundamental needs of both the species and the individual dog, physical health, physical and emotional comfort, sleep quality, nutrition, environment, as well as the relationship with the humans sharing the dog’s life.
My work is not based on authority or control, but on understanding and cooperation. I place great importance on respecting the individual dog, allowing freedom of choice, and supporting the dog’s emotional safety. Dogs learn and progress more effectively when they are given choices, when they feel understood, and when their boundaries are respected.
The wellbeing of the dog and the wellbeing of the human are deeply interconnected: supporting one also means supporting the other, so that both can experience more calm, understanding, and harmony in everyday life.
Respecting the dog: the only option for me
Twenty years ago, when I adopted Jody, my Rottweiler, many people told me, “He’s a bad dog — you need to take classes with a trainer.” So I joined a training club. After only two sessions, during which I saw my dog being jerked by the collar and suspended at the end of the leash, I promised myself that I would never put her through that again.
For many years, dog training felt synonymous with harsh and outdated methods. I probably had the least “trained” dog in town, but I didn’t mind — she was happy, and that mattered most to me.
Then one day, someone introduced me to a respectful and compassionate approach to dog training, often referred to as positive reinforcement training. It was a revelation.
Ethics
There are broadly two ways of teaching and obtaining a response from a learner. One relies on pressure, intimidation, and fear, where the individual performs a behaviour in order to avoid a negative consequence. The other relies on cooperation, motivation, and reinforcement, where the behaviour is performed because the individual is motivated to obtain a positive outcome. What fundamentally distinguishes these two approaches is ethics: do we choose to respect the individual in front of us, or not?
In my view, living with a dog should always be based on respecting them as an individual — for who they are, rather than for who we would like them to be. Every animal is shaped by genetics, environment, learning experiences, and individual personality. All of these elements deserve to be understood and respected when choosing to share your life with a dog.
With an ethical approach, the relationship between the dog and the human becomes fundamentally different from the one promoted in traditional training models. The human is no longer positioned as a dominant figure, but as a partner who encourages the dog’s motivation, confidence, and ability to make choices. The dog’s emotions, autonomy, and boundaries are respected. Their needs are met, their natural behaviours are guided appropriately, and their wellbeing is supported, allowing them to integrate more positively into both family life and society.
It is from this respectful foundation that trust between a dog and their human can truly develop.
Choice & cooperation
Respect fort the dog and its well-being means giving them as much freedom as possible to make choices about their lives and their environment.
We control almost everything in our dogs’ lives: what they eat, when they go out, what they’re allowed to do and what they’re not allowed to do… Like wild animals in zoos, the domestic dog also lives in a form of captivity. Science has shown that having control over one’s own life – by being able to make choices – is a sine qua non for well-being, whatever the species.
By opting for respectful training, you’ll be giving your dog back control over his life. You give him the opportunity to make choices and influence his life through the consequences of those choices. You no longer impose, but cooperate with your dog to improve your life together.
The science of behaviour
Thanks to scientific research, we now know that dogs learn by making associations. This allows us to influence their emotions, which in turn influence their behavior. The first thing to take into account in any learning process is the emotional state of the learner (in this case, the dog). If the dog is too stressed, he won’t be able to learn.
B.F. Skinner – an eminent 20th-century psychologist and one of the masters of the behaviorist school- was interested in the operant aspect of behavior: what is the effect of a consequence on behavior? In particular, Skinner established that to increase the future frequency of a behavior, it must have a positive/pleasant/desired consequence for the subject. This is known as positive reinforcement. Conversely, any consequence that decreases the future frequency of a behavior is called punishment.
Dogs always produce the behaviors that are most effective for them, those that bring them the greatest satisfaction and well-being. So we have two options:
- let the dog choose his behaviors and reinforce them on his own
- guide the dog by reinforcing behaviours that satisfy his needs in conditions that are acceptable to us
In practice
The behaviors we demand of our dogs don’t come naturally to them. They have to learn them. So it’s “work” for them and, as with us, all work deserves a reward 🙂 .
We focus on error-free, stress-free, fear-free learning. We create the conditions for the dog to learn and produce the desired behaviors. We give the dog the opportunity to choose the “right” behaviors by reinforcing them, not by punishing behaviors considered undesirable. In this relationship, the dog gradually understands that he can trust his human, because he listens to him, reassures him and allows him to flourish.
At the same time, when we are confronted with a behavior that disturbs us, we need to understand what function this behavior has for the dog. Each behavior has a function and responds to the dog’s needs. Then we can teach the dog an alternative behavior that’s acceptable to you and enables him to fulfill the same function & meet his needs.