At The Canine Academy, Less is More.

For years, the prevailing opinion of canine training and behavioral experts was that dogs respond best to force and the more training tools you can use to achieve compliance as fast as possible, the better. Prioritizing training speed over the health and mental well-being of the dog. However, over the past two decades studies, research, and countless hours of active training in the field have proven the opposite. We now know that over-utilized “force” training methods not only fail to work, but they can actually cause great harm physically and psychologically.

At The Canine Academy, we adhere to the now widely-followed LIMA (Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive) principals. This training methodology and approach means using the least intrusive, minimally aversive strategy out of a set of humane and effective tactics likely to succeed in achieving a training or behavior change objective. It means always trying all options/ideas before moving on to the next one, never jumping to conclusions, and above all always paying extremely close attention to the dog, their cues, and their body language to ensure they are always engaged in the training in a positive way and are never nervous, anxious, disassociating, or operating out of a place of fear. This approach has proven over years of implementation to be the most successful method in not only achieving your immediate goals, but also attaining long term retention, success, and the healthiest long term mental and behavioral results in your dog. In short, be patient, train smarter not harder, and always, always lead with love.