"There is no such thing as a difficult dog, only an inexperienced owner." - Barbara Woodhouse, Dog Training My Way
"I cannot repeat too often that dogs have, in my opinion, a brain equal to that of a child of about five years old. If spoken to as one would speak to a child, and given a chance to understand, the dog will respond, to the owner's lasting benefit. .....I believe dog owners shape their dog's characters according to their own,....." - Barbara Woodhouse, Dog Training My Way
"Reinforcement training is not a system of rewards and punishments.....Reinforcement - whether "positive," something to be sought after, like a smile or a pat, or "negative," something to be avoided, like a tug on a leash or a frown - occurs while the behavior the trainer wishes to affect is going on." - Karen Pryor, Don't Shoot the Dog
"Positive reinforcement is anything which, occurring in conjunction with an act, tends to increase the probability that the act will occur again." - Karen Pryor, Don't Shoot the Dog
"As a dolphin researcher whom I worked with sourly put it, "Nobody should be allowed to have a baby (pet)* until they have first been required to train a chicken," meaning that the experience of getting results with a chicken, an organism that cannot be trained by force, should make it clear that you don't need aggression to get results with a baby (pet)*." - Karen Pryor, Don't Shoot the Dog" *Editors note
"..I realized that it's the owner who makes a dog what he is." - Paul Loeb, Complete Book of Dog Training
"Like men, dogs are happiest when they are doing something worthwhile." - Clarence Pfaffenberger, The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior
"To man or dog, child or puppy, the greatest deterrent to supreme happiness is ennui: bordom resulting from a lack of something to do. This is what prevents dogs from achieving their greatest potential." - Clarence Pfaffenberger, The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior
"Praise, stroking, and petting are the best rewards you can give a puppy for minding. Never punish a puppy. You can correct him if you are present when he does something wrong. Scolding and preventing him from going ahead with the wrong thing will have the desired effect. If a dog needs punishment, someone is to blame for allowing him to develop a bad habit." - Clarence Pfaffenberger, The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior
The following articles are written by Great Pyrenees owners who have successfully trained Great Pyrenees in competition and as well-mannered family members. The correct obedience training results in a dog that is eager to obey and does so with enthusiasm, not as a robot or with head hanging.
"You will receive back from the dog only what you put into him. Dogs that are loved, love in return. Dogs that are educated develop their minds. Dogs that are communicated with learn to communicate with their owners. Dogs that are respected achieve self-respect and confidence. A dog in close contact with a person will become what the person wishes, if the owner knows enough about dogs to create the dog he wants. It is sad to see well-intentioned owners invest months and years of effort in training, only to create monsters of their own design. A person gets the dog he deserves." - Patricia Gail Burnham, Playtraining Your Dog
When one of my dogs misbehaves I don't go out and blame the dog. I look at me and say what did I do wrong because I'm the one who's doing the teaching. Then I go back and rethink what I'm doing. Each dog is different, each is their own individual, and therefore what works for one may not work for another. It is a fallacy that there is "one best way to teach a dog," when in truth there are as many ways to teach them that you can think up and try. Training shouldn't be a chore, your attitude reflects back to the dog. It should be fun for you and your dog. You should be that team with a means to an end, having that well-behaved partner with you. I can't emphasize enough to learn to understand your canine friend and use common sense in training. - Janice Swenson & Admiral, Bianca, Linsey, Sonny