K&C Canine Life Skills LLC

22/10/2025

Wisdom Wednesday! Sucessful training results happen when you and your dog are having fun and learning together!

17/10/2025

Unpopular opinion: Your dog's well-being is my priority - not your ego.

15/10/2025

Wisdom Wednesday! Let’s talk about how your dog views the world from their vantage point. Our dogs’ view of the world looks much different than us that they are closer to the ground. People appear larger, trees appear taller, dogs appear to approach faster, people appear to approach much faster and closer, etc. A helpful tip for you is to get down on to your dog's level and see what he or she sees. This will help you to better understand your dog and their reactions to the environment around them.

This week’s wisdom is put yourself in your dog’s position to see his or her view of the world. You will be surprised by this eye opening experience!

As always take care of each other, be your dog’s teammate, and work together.

14/10/2025

What does it mean to be a balanced trainer? What does it mean to be a positive reinforcement trainer? A simple summary is that balanced trainers utilize all four quadrants of operant conditioning. Positive reinforcement trainers, such as myself, utilize the positive reinforcement and negative reinfircement quadrants to encourage a dog's polite manners. We use positive reinforcement to change negative associations as needed.

WHAT ARE BALANCED TRAINERS? WHAT ARE POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TRAINERS?

I just ran across a YouTube video made by a "balanced" trainer who did not know the definition of the terms he was using - which is the inspiration for this post.

You need to know these terms so you know what to look for and what to ask when speaking to any dog trainer you are considering hiring.

The term, "balanced" is misleading. While we generally associate the term with something positive, that is not the case with dog training.

The 4 Quadrants of Operant Conditioning

Some of you will recall previous posts of mine about the "4 quadrants" of operant conditioning:

1. Positive reinforcement
2. Negative reinforcement
3. Positive punishment
4. Negative punishment

"Operant" means one or more of these 4 options are used to train a dog (or another animal or human) to do something. The dog's behavior is shaped through one or more of the above options - consequences applied by the trainer.

"Conditioning" means learning through association or consequence.

"Operant conditioning" uses reinforcement or punishment to increase or decrease behaviors.

"Positive" means something is added, e.g., food, praise - but it could also be something aversive, like shock.

"Negative" means something is taken away, e.g., attention - or shock or something else aversive.

"Reinforcement" means whatever was added or taken away serves to increase the likelihood a behavior will be repeated.

"Punishment" means whatever was added or taken away causes the behavior to stop (Note: it is not an intention, it is an effect, so if something aversive is added or taken away that does not stop behavior, it is just aversive and at worst, abusive.)

Positive reinforcement, aka force-free trainers use:

1. Positive reinforcement

2. Negative punishment, e.g., dog jumps up on them and attention (which is what motivates dogs to jump) is removed, thus removing (negative) the reinforcement (of attention). What is not reinforced (consistently) will stop occurring.

"Balanced" trainers use all 4 options ("quadrants," as depicted in the chart below).

In addition to positive reinforcement (e.g., praise, treats, play) and negative punishment (removing something the dog wants/likes), they use positive punishment (adding a punisher, e.g., shock or a leash "correction") and negative reinforcement (taking the punisher away), once they get the behavior they want. The dog, of course, is motivated to comply to avoid pain.

This is why they refer to themselves as "balanced" trainers. Do not be deceived.

Note: using positive reinforcement does NOT make someone a positive reinforcement trainer. Most, if not all trainers use some form of positive reinforcement. Many use it in addition to physical and verbal punishment, aka "correction."

Also, you will hear balanced trainers criticize force-free positive reinforcement trainers as being "positive only." There is no such thing.

Positive is not permissive. It just isn't painful or fear-provoking. I tell new clients the type of training I do is evidence-based best practices, and that I do not do anything that hurts or frightens the dog.

© 2025 Cindy Ludwig, MA, BS, RN, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA
Owner, Canine Connection LLC
Willard, MIssouri

14/10/2025

Shift your focus from correcting your dog to connecting with him or her. 🙂

08/10/2025

Wisdom Wednesday! Let’s talk time outs! Sometimes our dogs (and us) need time to chill and take a break. I like to suggest time outs for both dogs and people as all of us need breaks every now and then. Three important points:

* Do not use a dog’s crate for their time out space. Be sure to keep your dog’s crate a happy place.

* Make your dog’s time outs a pleasant experience – do not use time outs for punishment. Give your dog a frozen Kong, safe chew treat or puzzle toy to keep them occupied and mental stimulation.

* Turn on calm television or music to help your dog to relax.

For people time outs – take a step back and chill out – read a book, watch television, go for a walk, etc. You also need to chill and take a break to reset.

This week’s wisdom is to prioritize both yours and your dog’s emotional and mental well-being to make life more pleasant for everyone! As always take care of each other, be your dog’s teammate, and work together.

07/10/2025

I was recently asked: Why are you a Dog Trainer? My brain instantly thought: Wow, I love this question! I became a Dog Trainer to help both people and dogs to live a happy life together. I help people to understand their canine family member or companion and make dog training a pleasant, successful experience for both humans and dogs. My theory is that if the person or the dog is not enjoying the experience then nobody will be successful. I help humans to understand that they can be kind when teaching their dogs various skills or resolving canine behavior issues. Most significantly, is I love seeing people express their happiness and excitement when they have their lightbulb moments!

Now to the dog side of dog training. I love seeing happy dogs with their doggy smiles (yes, I know that dogs can’t smile, but it’s fun to view it that way). I enjoy seeing dogs achieve their lightbulb moments when they figure out the successful response to score them rewards. I find it fascinating watching a dog think through their responses – it is a beautiful thing watching a dog think then respond, much like humans!

Overall, I find it fascinating to watch two different species work together and teaching each other! Dedicated, kind humans and their dogs are what make my career and life fun and interesting!