Training & Animal Behaviour

Oftentimes, one of the first steps in adopting a new puppy is to take them to training and behaviour school. Why is this important? There are many benefits to taking your new pup (or older dog) to a professional and reputable training school. Dogs get a chance to socialise and learn in a relaxed, carefully curated environment, ensuring that they receive all the tools and skills they can to develop and grow into well-balanced and adjusted dogs that can cope with everything life throws at them. Positive experiences at training and behaviour school can also help grow and develop the bond between you and your pup.

At Place for Paws, we advocate for force-free trainers and behaviourists. Force-free training is an ethical and humane method of developing a trusting relationship between you and your dog through positive interactions during training. Force-free methods do not employ punishment, force, aversive techniques, or negative stimuli or tools but instead rely on rewards, praise, patience, and clear and consistent communication. Force-free trainers use a deep understanding of dog behaviour and psychology to develop training programmes that teach dogs desirable behaviours in a relaxed and enjoyable environment. Look out for the Force-Free tag on our list to make sure you choose a force-free trainer.

We have also compiled a list of force-free and positive reinforcement trainers and behaviour consultants that you can access here.