Frequently Asked Questions
There are a lot of trainers in Brighton, why should I pick Brighton Dog Training?
Dog training is currently a completely unregulated field, meaning anyone can set themselves up as a dog trainer and bad advice can lead to long-term problems for you and your dog. Ali Fell of Brighton Dog Training has nearly 20 years of experience working with dogs and is accredited by the Professional Association of Canine Trainers and is a Registered Animal Training Instructor with the Animal Behaviour and Training Council. As well as caring about the welfare of the dogs we work with, we also have a commitment to being supportive of our human clients.
Where do your training sessions take place?
Initial training sessions are usually held at the owner's home to allow us to have a detailed discussion about what you want to get out of the training. We'll put a training plan in place and will often start some practical work. Subsequent sessions are held at the onwer's home or local walking areas, depending on the issues being worked on.
Do you run group training classes?
In short, no. We prefer to tailor our training to individuals, so all of our training is carried out on a one-to-one basis. This means that you can focus on the exercises that will be most useful to you and your dog in an environment that isn't too distracting.
What is your training methodology?
We have a strong stance on methodology, reward based training has been shown in numerous studies to be the most ethical and effective in promoting long-term improvement in behaviour. We never use punishment or equipment such as shock, prong or choke collars in training.
My dog is quite badly behaved, I don't know if training with treats will address this.
We hear this concern from owners quite a lot, we use a range of methods to reinforce the behaviour we would like to see, this could include treats, toys and games. Our approach is to look at why your dog is showing problematic behaviour and to identify how to prevent them engaging in it and then teach some more appropriate alternative behaviours. Rather than focusing on the negatives we work on teaching and rewarding new behaviours so that your dog will make better choices in future.
Can you show me how to be my dog's pack leader?
No.
Training methods involving alphas, dominance and pack leader theories are seriously outdated and have no place in modern dog training. Even the original researchers of these ideas have retracted their work! Our training methods are based on understanding how dogs learn, preventing unwanted behaviour and reinforcing good behaviour. We look at each dog as an individual rather than assuming they are all on a quest for world domination.
What do you class as a puppy or an adult?
Rate of maturity varies between breeds but for the purposes of deciding on which training package is suitable then puppies are dogs up to one year old and adult dogs are a year and older.
What is the difference between training and behaviour work?
Training is about teaching particular tasks and showing a dog what we mean when we ask for them to follow our instructions. Behaviour work relates to dogs who have already developed a problem with something, this usually involves looking at underlying causes, helping them with their emotional response and teaching appropriate alternative behaviours.