This week is National Assistance Dog Week! How can we say thank you to these dogs?
Suggestion: Remove the choke chains from the training program and use a positive training approach.
Among many great schools, Texas Hearing and Service Dogs
...http://www.servicedogs.org/ uses no choke chains! Notice the treat bags when teaching new behaviors? Service Dogs are selected from shelters, too! CCI, Canine Companions for Independence uses rewards as well. These are the two closest schools in the Tampa Bay Area that do not use force and punishment with service dogs.
If you wish to have a service dog in your home to help with tasks such as a hearing dog, picking up fallen items, or PTSD dogs, perhaps there is an alternative.
To limit the wait time of receiving a dog and to teach dogs through
positive methods (without choke chains, or pinch collars), we, as
trainers can go out in the community to help owners with their own
dogs, or select a dog from a shelter for task work.
In November, Becky McClintock, CPDT, a service dog trainer will be giving a three day seminar on this very same topic for dog trainers in the Tampa Bay Area, (out of area trainers welcomed!)
Seminar will be held at Courteous Canine in Lutz, a no force, but fun training school. See here for more info on seminar and bio on Becky.
Click
for Independence
I
with
Becky McClintock
An Introduction to
Training, Selecting and Placing Service and Hearing Dogs
The Courteous Canine Tampa,
FL
November 13-15, 2010 9:00-5:00
13 CPDT-KA CEUs for Sat-Sun
participation CEUs for Monday are pending
Register at www.seizetheclick.com
Contact in the seminar area is Maureen Schooley:
maureen@CanineTalk.com