Tender Care Animal Hospital

MORTON:

(309) 266-1182

300 E. Courtland

PEORIA:

(309) 243-1755

9809 St. Route 91

Professional Dog Training

Tender Care Animal Hospital offers many different training programs. We have a full on-site training facility with experienced trainers on staff. Tender Care offers several training options: board & train, day training, private lessons, group obedience classes and new puppy consultations. Our group classes are for puppies 16 weeks and older. We also offer group beginner classes for dogs of all ages. At Tender Care we believe in training that involves trust and positive reinforcement. Please call our office at (309) 243-1755 to find out how training can help you and your dog form a lifelong bond.

Does your dog:

  • Drag you down the street?
  • Come when called?
  • Jump on friends or guests?
  • Bark and lunge at others?
  • Steal items from counter tops?
  • Chew destructively?
  • Potty in the appropriate spot?
  • Fight with other dogs?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, training can help. It is possible to have a dog that is well behaved in the most distracting environments. Tender Care can tailor a program to make your dog a more valued member of your family.

Obedience training is a way of life, not just a short-term solution to a problem. Dogs, similar to children, need boundaries. You will be taught to earn your dogs respect through leadership, establishing clearly and consistently what is and what is not acceptable behavior.

Training will remove much of the anxiety and uncertainty dogs experience when they don't understand what is expected of them. This anxiety and uncertainty is the source of many behavioral problems, such as aggression, barking, destructive chewing, and separation anxiety. Basic obedience training opens up the lines of communication between owner and dog.

Principles of Achieving Excellence in dog training

Timing: Any behavior your dog acts out must have a consequence within 1.3 seconds for your dog to associate their behavior wit that consequence. Positive behavior must have a positive consequence within 1.3 seconds and negative behaviors must have negative consequences within 1.3 seconds.

Markers help a lot with timing! If you're consistent with using markers, eventually, when you mark "good", your dog will keep doing what they're doing until they get a reward and when you mark "no", your dog will stop in their tracks because they're expecting a correction, BUT! Don't use markers without consequences too soon or the reverse effect will happen and markers will become meaningless to your dog.

Motivation: Positive motivation/ rewards are anything your dog likes, for example: treats, petting, toys. Rewards must be physical. Talking tot praising your dog is not enough. However, a small treat or petting your dog can go a long way. Negative motivation is something your dog doesn't like. Trainers call the delivery of negative stimulation a "correction" from an approved training collar. Again, corrections must be physical. Talking to, scolding, or yelling at your dog is not sufficient.

Consistency: A key ingredient to clear communication between you and your dog. Consistency means promptly reacting the same way every time to any significant behavior your dog acts out. Rules must be very black and white for your dog. If you are inconsistent, your dig will test the rules more often to try and figure out when they can get away with things and when they can't.

For training questions, pricing, and registration, please call (309) 243-1755.
Warm Hearts for Cold Noses