Communicating with Dogs

Communicating with Dogs
Dog Speak Blazes Trail for Effective Dog Training
By Anna Hagley

 

Did you know there is a way to communicate with your dog that is based in science and easy to understand? It’s called positive reinforcement training, and Andria DiMaio of Dog Speak, local dog training company, is the first in the area to have offered such a service.

Positive reinforcement training utilizes rewards to reinforce positive behaviors we want from our dogs (i.e. – telling them something is good, acceptable and repeatable) while providing no reinforcement for undesirable behaviors. Reinforcement of behavior via, for example, rewarding with treats, is a great way to talk to your dog. Because every dog is different, reinforcement methods vary and aren’t always food related. By metaphorically meeting them where they are at with a reinforcement they respond positively to, you can teach a dog everything from sit and shake, to more complex and necessary skills.

So how is this different from traditional dog training? Methods such as shock collars, pinch collars and other forms of punishment may yield results, but the caveat is, those methods can suppress unwanted behavior as opposed to truly teaching appropriate behavior. That means, while you may be seeing results, what’s going on in the dog’s brain might not be pretty. Potential side effects of suppressing behaviors via fear or punishment include the animal developing issues socializing, increased fear responses which may include aggression and the list goes on. Positive reinforcement training utilizes, and is based upon, evidence-based practices and research that have been studied as far back as the early 1900’s. The extensive research, simply put, examines how the brain reacts to reinforcement, and how that translates to learning. It is with this information that positive reinforcement training developers were able to formulate a method that would be effective without the potential negative side effects of punishment based methods.

Owner and founder of Dog Speak, Andrea DiMaio, took time out from Puppy Kindergarten and Manners classes to chat with The Lakeside Ledger about her journey to Dog Speak. She has been in this industry for about 20 years, and initially learned the skill of dog training utilizing traditional punishment based methods. Having grown up in Chautauqua County, she ventured off to the University of North Carolina, pursuing a degree in Geology in the 1990’s. Once there, she stumbled upon a dog grooming job that lead to a dog trainer position. Realizing she had a real place in the world of dog training, she switched her college major to animal behavior. While honing her craft in working with dogs, she began noticing the aforementioned negative side effects of traditional training, and that some dogs simply didn’t respond well to punishment based techniques. With a love for dogs and a passion to get to the bottom of just how dogs can learn best, she discovered that positive reinforcement training existed, and decided to master it and offer it to the community back home.

DiMaio returned to Chautauqua County in 2002 and began offering training services with her newfound positive spin, which evolved into Dog Speak in 2011. She is especially interested in behavior modification, helping dogs with anxiety or other fears as well setting dogs up for success via prevention focused training in those areas.

She is passionate about teaching people to “speak” to their dogs in a way that allows one to truly connect and yield results via learning, not punishment, with a goal of the most effective long term results for your furry friend.

Dog Speak is located at 2334 W Lake Rd in Ashville. For more information on how to communicate with, and teach your dog in a revolutionary way, you can visit their website at www.dogspeakny.com, or give them a call at 716-969-5813.