Pawitively Safe!
A few safety guidelines to check out before attempting any interaction with your pets:
- This website is not meant to replace animal training courses altogether (especially dog training). Dog training courses not only give your dog much needed socialization, but will also give many great solutions to behavioral problems.
- If your pet is displaying any major behavioral problems (ex. Aggression, separation anxiety, etc.) please seek professional help whether it is a veterinarian, dog trainer, or behaviorist. I cannot stress this enough! Especially for the safety of your children.
- Children should never train without adult supervision.
- Make sure your pet takes treats nicely (if you decide to use treats). There is a video on how to teach your dog (specifically) to take treats nicely posted.
- Knowing how to use training tools is important before starting each session.
- There should be no physical punishment of any kind to your pet. Violence begets fear and fear begets aggression.
- To not confuse your pet, everyone involved in the training (which ideally is everyone living in the household) should be on the same page. This means using the same training word, the same bridge word, down to even using the same hand. (Body language is extremely important to animals, so using the same hand signals and hand will be key to them learning the behavior successfully.)
- If you have more than one pet, you should only work with one at a time.
- Keep in mind that some of these suggestions are not only species-specific, but also may vary depending on the breed. There is always more than one way to deal with an issue. If something does not seem to work, then feel free to ask for a different suggestion. Also, some advice for a certain species may not be safe to try for another. So, unless otherwise stated, do not try for other species.
- Most pets have a low attention span. If you are attempting to train an animal, keep the sessions short and end on a positive note.
