Balance
As we created this program we studied many different programs to learn what was the best way to go. We train doodles every day of the week. So we know that each one has such a different personality. We couldn't go with only positive reinforcement, while it works for most, it doesn't work for all. So we created the program around balance.
We felt training puppies is similar to raising children, we also do that every single day 😉 You cannot raise a child and never tell them no. Ignoring their mistakes and only focusing on the good they do just isn't effective. Just as our kids would become defiant if we never told them no, the dogs do the same thing, we have found.
The way it works here is we have a more old school training style for the first 2-4 weeks. As the puppy learns boundaries it responds and loves when positive reinforcement is introduced. We teach them what is expected of them, and then transfer over to 90% positive reinforcement. That way they still have the "no!" when they do something wrong, but learn to work for the "YES!"
This is been such a great change of pace for our program because puppies push boundaries. They get about 12 weeks old and think they know what is best. This style of training has helped us to bring our puppies to a new level of obedience with out the use of fear or having to ignore mistakes.
