Our Philosophy

    Our Training Philosophy

    Dream Dogz philosophy is aligned with the Animal Welfare Act:

    • Freedom from hunger or thirst, by providing access to fresh water and an appropriate diet
    • Freedom from fear and distress, through appropriate treatment and surroundings
    • Freedom from discomfort, by providing appropriate environments in which to live
    • Freedom from pain, injury or disease, by prevention and rapid diagnosis and treatment
    • Freedom to express natural behaviour, by providing appropriate space, facilities and social interactions with members of their own species

    It is the cornerstone of our philosophy and it ensures that you and your dog will be having a stress-free, positive experience. We use solely, animal-friendly, non-coercive, scientifically tested and proven techniques.

    Our Aims and Methods

    Simply put: “The carrot is better than the stick!”. Positive Reinforcement has repeatedly produced better results than any form of punishment. Our goal is to turn you into your own dog's trainer by:

    • Properly educating you on how animals learn.
    • Motivating you and your dog to achieve constant progress.
    • Reading and understanding your dog's body language.
    • Preparing you for real life situations by gradually modifying and generalising our exercises.
    • Teaching and encouraging settling behaviours.
    • Having fun and building a bond with your dog.

    We use solely reward-based methods. Our preferred training tool is the Clicker (i.e. bridge conditioning) but we have owners that prefer using a different bridge (e.g. Dog Whistle) or, due to physical limitations (e.g. the dog being hearing impaired) a visual bridge (e.g. a torch or a visual cue). The use of a Target Stick is also encouraged.

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    Is it a Health, Training and/or Management issue?

    We are committed to providing the best possible training services for you and your dog. It is of the uttermost importance to identify the reasons behind specific and usually problematic behaviours, as they can be related to health, training, management and/or enrichment. This is the main reason why we require you to complete a Profile form for your dog (provided after initial enquiry) prior to any training program commencement.

    Please contact us for further information