McDonald K-9 Academy Philosophy
Our philosophy does not encourage the use of outside reinforcement tools such as food treats, clickers, pinch collars, shock collars, or sprays. Shock collars and pinch chains in particular can be a very destructive product to employ. They tend to break down trust and stability through the use of pain as punishment. These tools are generally geared towards a "quick fix" solution. They do not educate the dog nor the owner on proper behavior modification techniques, nor do they address the core issue of WHY your dog is doing something in the first place. For example, say your dog runs away from home; we would not recommend that you buy a fence to contain your dog. We would explore why your dog ran away in the first place and address your dog's core motivations behind wanting to leave the pack.
Instead of using outside tools, McDonald K-9 Academy (MK-9) uses body language interpretation coupled with emotional manipulation to achieve results. Dogs are extremely emotional creatures; this is one commonality in all dogs. We use emotion to motivate dogs to want to do for us. This is much different than forcing a dog into submission (the old style). A dog's emotional state and thought processes are presented through their use of body language. We teach our clients to read and interpret their dogs unique body language so that they may know what their dog is thinking and feeling at all times. Once this is understood by the owner we can direct our clients on how to make changes to their dog's psychology without upsetting or destabilizing the dog. Most of our behavior education is for the owner, not the dog. We must teach the owner how to achieve and maintain respect and willingness with their dog.