The Dog Walker - Hull

13/02/2025

Gus on his adventure today 🥰🐾

13/02/2025

Callie really enjoyed the pate I brought on our walk today 😂💕

13/02/2025

Bugzy on his way to get a treat 🦴 ❤️🐾

11/02/2025

INCOMING!! ❤️💙🩷

11/02/2025

Callie on her way to watch the sheep 🐑 😂🐾

11/02/2025

These three loved their walk today 🩵🩷💜

10/02/2025

Sniffy walk for Bugzy today ❤️🥰

10/02/2025

Wet and windy walk for Callie! 💕🐾🐶

10/02/2025

Couple of very wet and muddy doggies! They had the best time splashing in all the puddles though 🥰

10/02/2025

There’s so much more to positive reinforcement training than just giving your dog a treat, there’s a complex science behind it and lots of other reinforcers!

Positive Reinforcement Isn’t Just Click & Treat!

There’s a common misconception that positive reinforcement (R+) only means handing out treats. But in reality, it’s so much more than that!

For example when working out sheepdogs with livestock we use positive reinforcement ALL THE TIME!

✅ YES, you are using positive reinforcement when you ask your dog to lie down, stop, or wait—and then REINFORCE them by allowing them to work again.

🐾 What is Positive Reinforcement?
It’s the process of encouraging or strengthening a behaviour by providing a reward when that behaviour is performed.

📖 What is a Reward?
In behavioural science, a reward is a positive stimulus given after a behaviour to increase the likelihood of it happening again. A reward isn’t just food—it’s anything the dog finds reinforcing!

Take Border Collies, for example. If your dog finds stalking and working sheep highly rewarding, then allowing them to return to work after a lie down or a recall away from sheep is a powerful reinforcer. You are reinforcing behaviour with what they truly value: the work itself.

This principle is backed by science. It’s called Premack’s Principle, which states that a more probable behavior (working sheep) can reinforce a less probable behavior (lying down). In other words:

“If you lie down, you get to work again.”

Understanding reinforcement is key to effective training, especially for working breeds. Positive reinforcement isn’t just about treats—it’s about using what your dog finds most valuable to build reliable behaviours.

✨ It’s not an opinion, it’s science. ✨

07/02/2025

Nala showing off her off-lead heel today 🥰

She’s got such amazing engagement even with all the sniffs, distractions and being with her bestie Blue 🥰

All done through positive reinforcement training 🦴

07/02/2025

Pretty girly 🥰💜

07/02/2025

Tula and Eevee on a very cold windy walk! 🥶💕

06/02/2025

Bugzy enjoying the sunshine on his walk 🥰❤️

06/02/2025

Diesel spying on the sheep and having a sniff 🖤🐾

06/02/2025

❤️

“Dogs aren’t people. They’re just animals,” some will say.

And? What exactly is that supposed to prove?

That we can ignore what science tells us about how they learn?

That because they aren’t human, we can justify using fear and pain instead of teaching them effectively?

The reality is, we do know how animals learn. We’ve studied it.

Reinforcement strengthens behavior, punishment suppresses it unpredictably, and fear interferes with learning rather than improving it.

Teaching isn’t about authority and control, it’s about clarity, consistency, and emotional understanding.

So why is “they’re just animals” always the fallback for outdated, disproven methods?

Because this was never really about science.

It was never about effectiveness.

It’s about power, the belief that control is more important than cooperation, that obedience is more valuable than trust.

But dogs don’t exist to submit. They exist to live. And the way we teach them should reflect that.

So when you look into their eyes, what do you see?

A machine to command? Or a life worth understanding?

05/02/2025

Three smiley doggies on their late afternoon walk 🥰❤️💙🩷

05/02/2025

Faith always finds time to sunbathe ☀️💕