Training Classes Offered at Canine Humane

13454 Clarksville Pike, Highland, MD 20777

For questions, please contact behavior@caninehumane.org.

Our Training Philosophy

We believe in always using force-free, fear-free scientifically-backed methods in our dog and puppy training classes.

For most people, it doesn’t require scientific journals to tell us what we seem to know instinctively: it is more humane to reward than to punish. Most people would rather avoid doing anything that will make their dog experience pain or fear if they can prevent it. Using positive reinforcement techniques rewards desirable behavior, lessens a dog’s frustration, and when used consistently, increases wanted behavior.

This results in happy dogs and happy people!

So what are science-based methods? Positive reinforcement is rewarding the dog with something very pleasant, like food, toys and petting, to encourage the dog to repeat the behavior. This works for every animal and every person as well. When training/teaching using force-free methods, no corrections, choke, prong, or electronic collars are ever used. Instead, we teach the behaviors we want in all of our dog and puppy training classes and provide rewards when they are exhibited.

A study published in the Journal of Applied Animal Behavior concluded that confrontational training methods such as hitting, intimidation using punitive force, and techniques of restraint like the “alpha roll” actually do very little to correct dogs’ behavior and in fact increase the likelihood that they will become fearful and defensive, sometimes resulting in biting.

For these reasons we employ only positive, force-free, fear-free training methods. We strive to teach these methods in all of our dog and puppy training classes.