Together Dog Training and Behaviour Consultancy
one to one qualified, professional pet dog training and behaviour solutions in Lewisham, Greenwich, Bromley, Bexley.

What does force free, reward based training with dogs look like.

Watch dogs learning in real time. Watch how positive reinforcement training builds behaviour. We show how we work with a variety of dogs, each a study of one. You can be completely confident that we only use force free techniques that are effective in resolving a wide range of issues.

 
 

Working with Puppies - Together Arrivals Puppy Pro - Foundations for Life. Brushing teeth requires complete confidence with hands around the dog's muzzle, mouth and gums. Here Gigi and I are just starting to build the foundation. I make a little tunnel with my thumb and forefinger and Gigi is able to push her muzzle through the tunnel. To build such a high level of confidence with hands in and around her mouth, we have to make sure that Gigi is comfortable with each small step before moving on in our training plan.

 

Working with Puppies - Together Arrivals and Together Care - Foundations for Life. Teeny tiny trainee Gigi shows her super enthusiasm for all things training! Our goal is for Gigi to be completely comfortable with tooth-brushing. As with any care giving procedure, it's super helpful if our dog is confident with staying still, so we teach this as a one component and separate it out from the restraint and toothbrush elements. Here Gigi is learning to sit stay on a box. Especially with smaller dogs, it's much easier for us humans if our dog's on a raised surface. We tried a couple of boxes - blanky box was the favourite by far!

 
Together Care - working for co-operative care As one element of Gigi's tooth brushing training, we're ensuring that she's very happy to see that toothbrush appear. Here, we're using the learning process known as Classical Conditioning. In Classical Conditioning there's no required behaviour, we want Gigi to notice that the first event (the toothbrush) predicts the second event (lots of tasty treats). After several conditioning trials, we can see that Gigi has learnt that the appearance of the toothbrush predicts her favourite treats are coming next. Gigi has a +CER (positively conditioned emotional response) to the toothbrush and gets very excited when she sees it!
 
Here are Benny and I at our first training session. Benny's just 11 weeks old and learning the very first step of "Sit Stay". We're starting to build the stay from just one second and then we'll gradually increase the time and enticing distractions. Sit Stay is one of the most useful behaviours for dogs to learn. As Benny is growing fast and will be super big when he's grown up, it's important that Benny will happily sit to greet people and not jump about and knock them over with his friendly enthusiasm.
 

Working with Puppies - Together Arrivals Puppy Pro - Foundations for Life. In this video, I'm using Classical Conditioning to build positive associations with touch and reach. Many dogs are uncomfortable or afraid of people reaching towards their heads or touching their feet. With puppies, we have a golden opportunity to create positive associations with all kinds of body handling and contact with hands.

 

Working with Puppies - Together Arrivals Puppy Pro - Foundations for Life. Here Benny's learning to turn his head away from distractions. This will be useful if he tries to pick up something dangerous or inappropriate on walks or small children's toys that he could swallow indoors.

 

Working with Adopted Dogs from the UK or Abroad - Together Solutions for Fearful, Anxious or Shy Dogs. Meg and her person are working towards their Canine Good Citizen Award. Meg's rather keen on the treats! So here we are just starting a "Leave-it" behaviour that'll help.

 
Working with Dogs with Complex Needs - Together Solutions & Adopted Dogs from Abroad Lovely young Meg is a very "Velcro" dog. She likes to be able to see her person all the time. Here we are working on a Sit Stay with both Meg's person and me out of sight. We worked on a Standard Sit Stay Training Plan, then added these Steps. In this video I only disappear very briefly, so Meg can gain confidence and she doesn't get upset or panic. Well done Meg!
 
Working with dogs to build confidence with manners and obedience training - Together Basics. Lara's learnt a strong Hand Target behaviour. Here we are demonstrating how I used one strong behaviour to build another. "Paws-Up" is useful for grooming, checking for grass seeds or burrs and a fun outdoor trick using boulders or tree stumps when you're out on walks.
 
Working with Adopted Dogs from the UK or Abroad - Together Solutions for Fearful, Anxious or Shy Dogs. Here's gorgeous girl Mango working with me on two training exercises. For many dogs, human hands approaching or reaching over their heads is scary. First, we work on a simple hand target. Then we work on "Passive Hand". This exercise builds confidence. To build trust, I have my "Passive Hand" raised high and this must be stationary as Mango passes underneath to do her Hand Target. Gradually the passive hand is lowered until the dog makes contact with the palm, brushing against it. At every stage, we have to make sure the dog is completely comfortable and has the choice to participate.
 

Working with Dogs with Complex Needs - Together Solutions and Adopted Dogs. Mango can be worried about people reaching towards or over her head when she's resting or lying down. So here, we start work on a down stay. I'm respecting Mango's personal space bubble, but you'll see that as I reinforce Mango for staying, we're having lots of practice with approach and reaching towards her. Mango totally rocks her down stay and relaxes completely - great work Mango!

 

Working with Dogs with Complex Needs - Together Solutions and Adopted Dogs. Here we're continuing to build Mango's trust with hands near her head. Gradually as we build Mango's confidence, the "Passive Hand" will come down in height, so Mango will brush against it as she does her Hand Target behaviour. It's vital we don't rush this and give Mango the choice to participate. Going slow is the name of the game and you can see how Mango's confidence has grown so much during the last few weeks - happy waggy tail girl!

 
Working with Dogs with Complex Needs - Together Solutions & Adopted Dogs from Abroad We are all just so proud of Mango! She has made fantastic progress in a short space of time since coming to the UK. Here's our 3rd Session working on the Passive Hand exercise to help Mango feel relaxed and comfortable with hands near her head. In this Session you'll see Mango brush right underneath my Passive Hand. Then as we make progress through our Training Plan, the Hand Target is removed and Mango makes contact with my Passive Hand. In this exercise we reverse the roles. Instead of me reaching towards and touching or stroking her head, Mango has the choice to approach and initiate contact. Giving dogs the choice to engage pays big dividends with confidence and trust.
 
Working with Dogs Fearful of Veterinary Visits - Together Care Ace is very scared at the vets. Before we make practice visits just for fun, we want Ace to be comfortable wearing a Muzzle. We love Muzzles at Together, they protect the dog and help those interacting to feel more confident and relaxed. With dogs that are sensitive or worried with hands around their faces, necks or ears, we start with ensuring they are completely comfortable with handling before we go anywhere near a muzzle. Great muzzle training involves lots of reaching across and around a dog's head and ears. So, we want Ace to be absolutely happy with the handling elements before we start any work with the muzzle itself. Our aim is for Ace to be completely comfortable wearing his muzzle. As with all Fear Free Training, we build on solid foundations and progress at the dog's pace. We've made great progress already!
 
Together Basics - Manners and Obedience Behaviours for Life Learning through Play - Small but mighty tug fan Lara shows how she is learning impulse control behaviours through the game of tug. Over 2 Sessions, Lara's learning "Wait", which we can transfer to waiting at doorways or to get in and out of the car. She's also learning "Out" and "Take-it" so Lara will be able to play tug with great manners.
 
Together Basics - Manners and Obedience Behaviours for Life Lara and Blue give a great demonstration of how positive reinforcement training works. They've both been conditioned to the "Clicker" so they know that "Click" means treats coming next. The Clicker acts as a marker, it's also known as a secondary reinforcer. Just like a snapshot photograph captures a moment, the Clicker marks exactly the behaviour I want to reinforce. Here you can see how I build a behaviour step by step. "Watch Me" is an incredibly versatile behaviour, we can use it when we need to get our dog's attention or to keep them focused on us when difficult distractions pass us by on walks.