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Five Freedoms Training, North Bay, ON (2026)

01/20/2023

PSA: if you follow accounts and pages that makes these claims, you’re taking in out of date and inaccurate information. Full stop. (It’s ok, I believed it too!) Here are the facts:

Over 20 years ago the alpha theory in wolves was disproven by the very man that coined the term “alpha wolf”. The alpha male and female in a wolf pack were found to be nothing more than a mother and father with their offspring. No alpha wolves means no alpha dogs and certainly no dogs vying for top rank over their human guardians.

[Source: Mech, L. David. 1999. Alpha status, dominance, and division of labor
in wolf packs. Canadian Journal of Zoology 77:1196-1203.
Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/2000/alstat/alstat.htm
(Version 16MAY2000).]

10/30/2022

Still not convinced to try minimal error learning? What if I told you this took only 35 minutes spread out over 7 sessions to teach? I taught this using the push, drop, stick method and I have made a highlight on my Instagram page for guidance!

In addition to minimal error learning, stimulus control reps help to make sure our dogs perform behaviours on cue and only on cue. I don’t want Ripley grabbing the leash handle unless I cue her to. I like to use stimulus control reps any time I see my dog preempting my cue.

[Accessibility: Fawn ABD mix Ripley is trained to pick up her pink and blue biothane leash and put it in my hand on cue. She is shown training in a small room and then outside on the grass wearing a purple harness. Opening captions say Tricks for Treats, trick tutorial, get your leash! Closing caption says Save This Video!]

10/08/2022

Give your dog as many good days as you can, and don’t forget that not all good days look the same.

Have you ever spent the day doing something fun and adventurous? Or cocooned yourself in a blanket on the couch for a day of binge watching? Or had a hyper productive day of organizing or tackling a project? All 3 of these scenarios sound like good days to me, depending on my mood and state of mind!

Dogs are no different! Not every day has to be an epic adventure, or a milestone training day. Variety is the spice of life, and mixing in chill days is good for us *and* our dogs!

[ID: A brindle half frenchie in a green harness on a green biothane long line walks down a gravel road with trees on either side, showing a variety of fall colours including red, yellow, green and orange. The sky is blue with scattered wisps of clouds.]

07/31/2022

When I began my crossover from balanced to force free training one of my biggest hangups was the thought of needing to have completely stuffed pockets just to walk down the road with my dog. This was before I understood many aspects of positive reinforcement, such as Premack, variable-ratio reinforcement, how to properly slow the rate of reinforcement, etc.

Several years later, I’m here to tell you that it’s not as much of a hassle as I thought it would be. This picture shows how many treats I bring for a half hour walk with my dog, and usually I don’t even use them all.

I came to the realization that no matter what method I used to teach a behaviour, I would always have to use something external to maintain that behaviour. That’s how learning works.

ID: My hand holding a small pile of soft training treats against a wood finish table

06/25/2022

Are there any alternatives I missed? Tell me in the comments so others can see!

[Accessibility: blue graphics that say DID YOU KNOW The biggest jump in temperature in a parked car occurs in the first half hour? IT'S TRUEI Results published in the July 2005 issue of the journal Pediatrics showed that a
car's interior can heat up by an average of 40 degrees within an hour,
regardless of ambient temperature! Eighty percent of the temperature rise occurred within the first half-hour. IT'S NOT WORTH THE RISK Don't leave your dog in a parked car. Shop at pet friendly stores, recruit
another person to stay in the car with your pet, choose curb side pickup, get takeout or eat on a patio with your
dog, or leave them at home instead! A LIST OF PET FRIENDLY STORES
CAN BE FOUND HERE
https://kabo.co/blog/top-dog-friendly
stores-in-canada
(You can also
call ahead if you
aren’t sure!) SOURCES
https://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/july13/med-cars-071305.html
LOVE THIS POST?
HIT ME WITH SOME R+!]

06/11/2022

Structure. Do dogs need it? Depends on what you mean by structure!

[Accessibility: Graphics say “Can we talk about structure?
DO DOGS NEED STRUCTURE?
If structure means consistency and predictability, then yes! We should provide this! However… this isn’t enough! Any training plan must be consistent to be effective, but if predictability or structure is our only consideration we may be missing something really important…The structure dogs will benefit from is a routine that fulfills their natural needs as a species, and the consistent expectation of good things from us. Can our dogs expect good things from us? Do we have fair expectations, set them up for success and follow through with rewards when they do well? Or can they simply count on being corrected for unwanted behaviour? No dog benefits from the expectation of something unpleasant as a consequence of certain behaviour, or the suppression of their natural needs no matter what the circumstance. Love this post? Hit me with some R+!” Share, save, like, comment.]

05/27/2022

What is more important to you?

We want our dogs to listen to us, and it’s often important that they do. But what are you willing to spend on obedience?

Are you willing to spend your dog’s trust? Their mental and physical well-being? Because that is what correction based learning can cost.

Some think that force free training is more difficult and takes longer, but what usually takes the longest is shifting our own mindsets and habits.

Dogs are sentient beings. If we expect them to listen to us, the least we can do is consider their emotional well being and why they may be having difficulty “obeying” in the first place.

Is what we’re asking for necessary and fair? What motivation are we providing? Is our dog scared or confused? Have we provided enough outlets for our dog to just be a dog before expecting them to focus on learning a new task with us? Do we have a clear plan on how we’re going to teach the behaviour we’re after? A plan for how we’re going to prevent behaviour we don’t want while we train behaviours we do want?

When I crossed over from balanced training, I found the obedience I was seeking came as a result of meeting my dog’s needs, honouring their body language, providing motivation in the form of positive reinforcement, and having reasonable expectations for behaviour. It took some time to learn new skills, but it was well worth it. My dogs are happy, and they listen quite well too.

Happy Friday!

[Image says: There is a path that leads to obedience, to the detriment of your dog. There is another path that honours the dog’s spirit, with obedience as a byproduct. This path is perhaps more difficult, but it preserves the welfare of your dog. Five Freedoms Training]

05/15/2022

I’ll be posting vacay content for sure! 😁 I’ll answer DM’s when we’re back home.✌️

[Accessibility: Brindle 1/2 frenchie Hadji and fawn ABD mix Ripley are crashed out in the back seat in their harnesses and seatbelts. Tired from all the nothing they did this morning. The caption says “We’re going on a vacay! See you on the 19th!]

05/13/2022

Did I miss any? What makes adding accessibility easier for you?

My fav resource for all things accessibility is !

[Graphics read: 3 tips To make adding accessibility easier! I know accessibility can seem daunting! Here are 3 tips I use to make this essential addition to my posts a lot less work!

1 do it first! As soon as you have created your content, before you write your caption or hashtags, bang out your accessibility! If you find it difficult, crossing it off the list first can help!

2 Use talk to text! Dictate the description of your content using your device’s talk to text feature. Huge time saver, and fixing the little mistakes afterwards is a lot less time consuming than typing the whole thing!

3 Make a highlight! Include a photo & detailed description of every subject that will be shown in your content. Then, you can use a brief description (eg. fawn bulldog mix, Ripley) in your caption, & direct viewers to your accessibility highlight for a more detailed description.

Accessibility! I’m by no means an expert and definitely not perfect when it comes to accessibility, but I hope this post helped you! See caption for more accessibility resources! Love this post? Hit me with some R+! Share, save, like, comment.]

05/06/2022

What does the zombie apocalypse have to do with how we train our animals?

Hopefully nothing 😅

[Accessibility: Graphics say What if I told you…using behaviour seen in a captive situation as a model for what is appropriate to subject our dogs and horses to…is like deciding what’s appropriate human treatment based on the show ‘the walking dead’. Using the conflict observed in a captive setting to justify harsh training methods is flawed logic. In a group of individuals that hasn’t been assembled naturally, a lot of conflict and aggression will be observed in a situation where there are limited resources and confinement. As the more intelligent species, we have the mental resources to learn non adversarial ways of influencing behaviour, even if conflict can be seen in a truly wild/feral setting. Love this post? Hit me with some R+! Share, save, comment, like.]

04/30/2022

Fetch can be a super fun game to enjoy with your dog as long as you are mindful of its potential negative effects and take steps to avoid them.

Physically, any repetitive exercise can result in injury, plus wear and tear. Fetch can increase your dog’s fitness which is something to be mindful of if you plan on using it to fulfill your dog’s exercise needs (fetch shouldn’t be the only form of exercise).

Fetch can also become a compulsion your dog is unable to stop, and for some dogs it isn’t an appropriate activity. Pay attention to the effect fetch is having on your dog’s emotional state and take steps to regulate them if they are unable to regulate themselves.

Ripley loves fetch, but she can definitely get into a state of obsession over it. We play fetch occasionally and stop after a few throws, moving onto a decompression activity like sniffing, chewing or licking. Throwing a toy can also serve as reward for Ripley, and it’s always great to have multiple ways to reward your dog!

Thanks for answering my survey! I loved hearing all your opinions!

theloveofdogtraining

[Accessibility: Graphics show an outline of a person throwing a ball for a dog. The text says Survey Saturday, should we play fetch with our dogs? My opinion. Love this post? Hit me with some R+! Share, save, like, comment.]

04/20/2022

OBSESSED with our new custom biothane long lines from

ID: Various images of 2 biothane long lines coiled up neatly. One is green with an orange handle and traffic handle. It has black hardware. The other one is pink with blue handle and traffic handle, black hardware.

Five Freedoms Training

01/20/2023

10/30/2022

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07/31/2022

06/25/2022

06/11/2022

05/27/2022

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