R+

a reward based

dog training school

lisa@rplusdogtraining.com

781 962 1522

Welcome to R+ a reward based dog training school!  We currently offer classes at South Paws Doggie Daycare located in Pembroke, MA.

**New Saturday & Monday Classes Starting September, 2010**

Why the name R+ you may ask?  At our school we believe in dog training through science.  Animal Behavior Science that is.  In that scientific school of thought, principles of learning are broken down into four quadrants, denoted as R+, R-, P+ and P- with 'R' standing for 'Reinforcement' and 'P' standing for 'Punishment'.  The '+' means something is added to make either the reinforcement or punishment happen and '-' means something is taken away.

We believe that Positive Reinforcement or R+ is the best way to train dogs and with that philosophy we decided to name our school with that in the forefront of our minds.  Positive Reinforcement training means that we use rewards or the '+' to reinforce our dogs for good behavior rather than a correction as the '+' to punish our dogs.  Think of it as if you were randomly stopped and given a $100 bill by a police officer for going Under the speed limit rather than a $200 citation ticket for going Over the speed limit, which would you be more likely to do in the future?  We certainly would be going under that limit hoping to receive another $100 to line our pockets (R+) rather than be given a citation (P+) for going over.

The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior recommends reward based dog training.  The AVSAB is a group of veterinarians and other research professionals who share an interest in animal behavior.  The AVSAB has a number of formal position statements as to why they recommend positive reinforcement and reward based training for dogs of all ages especially puppies and those dogs with behavior problems.  We at R+ highly recommend anyone considering training their dog research both the positive and negative sides of the training approach they are considering, and the AVSAB is a highly qualified resource for such research.

Please see the link bar at the left hand side of this page for navigation through the website.  Read about our classes, see the upcoming class schedule and when you're ready, register for courses with our on-line registration.  If you have any questions or concerns about your puppy or dog before class or would like to schedule a private consultation please contact Lisa Hirtle at Lisa@rplusdogtraining.com.  Happy training and we hope to see you and your puppy in class soon!

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