Balanced Dog Training

Definition

Dog training which employs all training tools thoughtfully, not limited to treats. Balanced training uses both reward based and corrective techniques. It teaches the meaning of No, builds strong impulse control for all dogs, especially useful for anxious, reactive or aggressive dogs and provides rewards with touch, food, play and voice.

Benefits

1. Use of the remote collar helps public safety because owners have a reliable tool to control their off leash dog around the public, livestock, wildlife and dogs.
2. Correction teaches the dog the meaning of NO, which can ultimately save their life. For example- not running into the street, not chasing wildlife in remote areas, not injesting harmful substances on the ground
3. The remote and prong collar enable disabled owners to have strong control safely in public where treats cannot provide this.
4. Use of prong collar and/or E collar can be an alternative to euthanizing an aggressive or reactive dog that does not respond to treat training.
5. Alternative training for dogs that are not treat motivated
6. Empowers owners with tools that give them control in high distraction environments, where treats cannot.
7. Remote collar trainng dogs freedom to be off leash

Testimonial

“I am writing as a zealous advocate and devotee of the balanced training method. My dog is Ferdinand. He is a pit bull rescue who I adopted from BACS in April 2016. When I first brought Ferdy home, he suffered with terrible separation anxiety, which caused him to destroy my things

and howl incessantly when I left. He also had a very strong prey drive around small dogs, and at one point even bit a chihuahua.

But I did not want to give up on Ferdy, and that’s where balanced training entered our lives.

Kathy showed me how to be a leader, how to instill discipline and confidence in Ferdinand, and how, using these methods, Ferdy could overcome his anxiety and aggression.

Ferdy blossomed. He is confident, responsive, and self-possessed in the face of disruption and distraction. I can trust him around all types of critters and small dogs—including our new rescue kitten.

We simply could not have achieved these results without balanced training. Without corrections —and the safe, proven tools that allow me to instill corrections when necessary—Ferdy would not have the clarity to understand which behaviors are appropriate and which are not.

Our goal as a society should be to help dogs get out of shelters. This means being open to the needs of different types of dogs, including those strong-willed terriers that need clear, consistent corrections. Ferdy is the happiest, most confident dog in the world because of his training.

Please give dogs like him a chance; don’t foreclose an effective training method based on a superficial understanding of how those methods function.”

~Leah A. Hamlin