From companion to competitor, offering positive reinforcement training for all ages & breeds of dogs.

Positive Rewards dog training is located on Martha's Vineyard Island,in southeastern Massachusetts.

Are you interested in building a better dog?

Using the science of learning, positive reinforcement training can teach you how to teach your dog(or horse, parrot,or fish)to do amazing things, or simply be a great campanion.
Reinforcement training does not require physical strength or a 'dominate' attitude - people of all ages and sizes can successfully use this training technique to achieve lasting results.

At Positive Rewards,the emphasis is on learning and achieving success rather than highlighting errors. When you understand how learning happens, your training becomes faster, clearer and easier.

A wide variety of classes and private instruction is available year round.
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What's in the Name?

Karen Ogden,CPDT-KA :

I chose the name Positive Rewards to reflect my training philosophy; the use of positive reward (reinforcement) training.
Achieving success is always rewarding – whether it is the individual learning or the trainer observing comprehension on the part of the student.

For people not familiar with the concept of reinforcement training, the idea of actually being able to teach without using physical or verbal correction seems impossible “ how will he/she learn if I do not correct mistakes ”

I train by using the motivational desires of the individual.
I think of it as a “Fair Trade" agreement between myself and the animal I am working with. The animal offers me a behavior and I chose whether or not to reinforce the animal.

If it is a behavior which I am trying to promote – some action which I’d like the animal to perform more frequently, I’ll highlight that particular behavior through use of a marker followed by some form of a reinforcer which the animal desires.
If the behavior is not one which I 'want', I'll choose not to reward the behavior. My lack of response communicates " try something else". And that is what will occur.

“But what happens when he misbehaves? “ Misbehavior can be a reflection of lack of understanding, lack of motivation , or inadvertent reinforcement on our part! Many ‘bad’ behaviors work because we have inadvertently rewarded the behavior in our ignorance.

By understanding how the learning process occurs, I demonstrate to owners how to change their animal's behavior without the physical use of force or intimidation.

Karen Ogden, CPDT-KA

Certified Professional Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed
AKC approved CGC evaluator
professional level member Association of Pet Dog Trainers

for more information on CPDT-KA trainers and the certification process, please visit the Council for Certification of Professional Dog Trainers :http:www.ccpdt.org