Our Training Philosophy

At 4 Paws on the Run, we believe that it is important to have a well socialized, well behaved, and adjusted puppy or dog that the owner can feel confident and comfortable with in most everyday situations. We use Positive Reinforcement Training methods to help accomplish these goals.

We strongly believe that your puppy or dog does not need to be intimidated, confronted, or physically dominated in order to get them to do what you ask of them.

We teach you techniques that will eliminate unwanted behaviours and help you focus on teaching the dog the desired behaviours that you are looking for. We use treats or praise to reward and reinforce when they perform the correct behaviour, and we teach you to ignore any unwanted behaviour. By doing this, the dog will learn that a good decision or choice is reinforced and bad decision or choice is not.

We work with you and your pet, within your abilities, to find the best possible solution to solve any issues you may be having. Negative triggers such as yelling, hitting, harsh leash corrections, or any other techniques that can potentially harm the relationship between you and your dog are not accepted as a positive means to achieving proper behaviour. While there is equipment that can be used effectively in the proper hands in the most extreme cases, we prefer the dog learn how to behave, so we focus on teaching the dog the desired behaviour and reinforce that behaviour over and over.

Our ultimate goal is to teach the dog to look to you for leadership and to follow your commands. This will help build and strengthen the relationship between you and your dog, help your dog understand what is expected of him or her, and set you at ease knowing your dog is a trustworthy companion who will be ready and willing to follow you anywhere.

The emphasis is on having FUN and being PAWSITIVE!