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Dog training

My training method has developed over time as I work with dogs and with every further training and education and cannot simply be expressed in two words. It has become more and more an attitude to life that I like to pass on to every person and their dog. It's about mindfulness (for yourself and your dog), inner peace and serenity, emotions & needs (your own and the dog's), anticipation through experience (forward-looking action), management (preventing undesirable behavior and promoting desired behavior) and positive reinforcement. This is linked to experienced daily routines that are as stress-free as possible, as well as physical, mental and social stimulation on a daily basis.

Maximiliane Meyer stands with her index finger raised in front of a German Shorthaired Pointer who is about to sit down.

​Together we achieve and experience:

  • Dog behavior & needs

  • Dog's expressive behavior

  • Willingness to cooperate

  • Proper rewarding of the dog

  • Strengthen your relationship with your dog

  • Learn the right timing for rewards, distractions, reorientation and recall

  • Physical, mental and social exercise appropriate to the species, breed and dog

  • solution-oriented and sustainable training successes suitable for everyday use

  • effect behavioral changes through alternative behavior

  • Improving communication between your dog and yourself

  • Understanding undesirable behavior, identify triggers and circumstances and find solutions

  • Clarify training misconceptions and eliminate “old training wisdom”

  • Turn your back on aversive training measures and achieve long-term success with positive reinforcement

  • Learn to anticipate the dog's behavior

However, it is also important to emphasize that the dog is not thrown over with treats per se. During training we will work together to find the best way for motivation and cooperation of your dog with you. This includes everything that the dog sees as a reward. This can be a treat, a tug game, a search- or sniff game or something similar. Because: A reward increases the likelihood that the dog will show the previously shown behavior again in the future. A punishment, on the other hand, only shows the dog: I don't want that. But it doesn't show the dog what exactly we want instead. Consequently, with punishment we may achieve a cessation of behavior, but we certainly gain a loss of trust if not fear. However, if we reward the dog for his behavior, he feels joy and success and he wants to work with us even more in the future.

For those who have already informed themselves about training methods, it is clear that there is no training in which positive reinforcement can be used "exclusively". However, attempting to do this causes us dog owners to take a closer look at and evaluate the dog's behavior. Because: BEFORE unwanted behavior occurs, the dog has already shown desired behavior! So it is up to us humans to understand when and why the dog had to resort to undesirable behavior in order to understand why the dog reacts the way it does. With this knowledge, we can then prevent unwanted behavior from occurring in the first place. We will be happy to talk to you about the dog's body language and explain your dog's language and signals to you. We will work with you on your dog's willingness to cooperate and learn to interpret the dog's emotions in the situation. So that with this knowledge we can go through everyday life in a relaxed manner and manage difficult situations calmly. And all of this with a balanced, stimulated and happy dog at our side.

IMPORTANT!

Let's finally get away from old ways of thinking and acting, according to which the dog has to submit to the "pack leader", violent punishments such as hitting, kicking, "poking", pulling on the leash, choking, prong or electric collars, Moxon or retriever leashes without pulling stops and startle stimuli are “normal training methods”. Because they are not.

It is simply animal cruelty, relevant to animal welfare and therefore punishable!

(see TierSchG §2 para. 2, §3 para. 5, 11, §17 para. 2a) f., §18 para. 1 & 2)

Do not hesitate!

If you see people treating animals like this, report this behavior.

The dog alone usually cannot defend itself. We humans have to stand up for them!

Non-violent dog training for every dog

Logo non-violent Dog training

The goals of the initiative for non-violent dog training are:

  • Information about where and when violence begins​

  • Scientifically based, nonaversive training

  • Code of conduct for trainers

  • Dissemination of expertise

  • Take action against public displays of trainers who use aversive tools

The entire position paper can be read here.

​We, the Meyer-Miebeck Dog Center, have also committed ourselves and signed the position paper and the code of conduct. You can now find us in both the trainer list and the dog school list. Further information, the code of conduct for non-violent dog training as well as the dog schools and trainers that have already been signed up can be found at https://www.violent-free-hundetraining.ch/

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