Training Principles

When you arrive at our facility, you will quickly see happy tails are everywhere, our campers are relaxed and excited to be on our camp.

We encourage you to first consider your lifestyle, your dog’s breed and age. You must be willing to commit time, effort, structure and patience to get the results that you desire.

Often, puppies and adolesant dogs end up in sedentary lifestyle situations and owners expect the dogs to be in chill mode when this behavior is just not what the dog is made of setting the team up for certain failure.

Shelters are full because of irresponsible breeders and people wanting a cool looking dog instead of being realistic responsible owners that took time to research the breed and to align with a good trainer.

Chat with several trainers and you will quickly see that all trainers have differences in opinions, backgrounds, morals and principles. Because there are no regulations, anyone can claim to be a trainer, even at a very high level of training.

There are numerous methods utilized today for dog training and can seem overwhelming to say the least especially when all you are really looking for is to have your dog listen and respond to you.

Almost every day we hear from frantic people calling us for help because their dogs have been traumatized by trainers who made quick fix promises with unrealistic behavior modification changes.

Severe physical and verbal corrections are heart-breaking and completely unnecessary, as we have better ways to get the results we want simply by being good educators that provide practical long term expectations.

Dogs are like humans when it comes to learning. First they need to feel safe so they can relax and focus. A good teacher will provide patience, consistancy and structure. They will also take time to build a trusting relationship and will take time to understand that each of their students are unique and that they need to make learning intriguing and personalized to them.

It is important to find out about the trainers that you chose to work with and to know what to expect. As you yourself will be learning and applying some of the methods involved, it’s important to understand how they might affect the dog, what works best, and how the training might impact your relationship with your pet or service dog before making your choice.

Our best clients are the ones that have been referred to us by those that we worked with in the past, we encourage you to chat with any of our pet or service dog clients and they will be the first to tell you that when they make the turn into our subdivision their dogs go crazy with excitement, because they felt safe, happy and secure with us.

Traditional trainers do not typically believe in giving dogs rewards, expect the dog to work for you because you are the leader of the pack and use training aids such as prong collars and e-collars.

Positive based trainers choose to apply science based methods and positive reinforcement.

Balanced trainers, believe in a combination of methods with more modern techniques.

At Miracle Paws, we like to see happy, confident and motivated dogs, just ask our clients! We believe in getting to know each dog that we work with building a trusting relationship and by observing the dog, we determine which methods work best for that particular dog.

It is important to find out about the trainer before you make a decision who will be handling and caring for your dog.

Here are a few tips on how to find a good trainer:

Referrals are the best!

Pay attention to the trainer’s communication skills with both people and the dogs that they are working with at the time that you visit the facility.

Ask about the trainers’ methods and philosophy. Generally, trainers are happy to talk about their experience. Trainers who refer to the concept of “alpha” will more than likely use techniques that will stress the dog out.

It’s not that there is no hierarchy in dogs, but it’s far more complex and different than some of the old ideas on the subject. Unfortunately, many have not yet updated their references.

Do the dogs seem relaxed or anxious? Do they have tense faces with contracted musculature, pricked and alert ears, their tail clamped against their butt, and contracted jaws?

A relaxed dog should have a happy wagging tail or have his tail behind him in a typical posture for his breed, his legs open and relaxed, a relaxed facial expression, and his ears at angles that indicate that he is not constantly on auditory alert.