I often get told that positive training = permissive training. This is not the case, as it is important that your pet knows what behaviour is and is not acceptable.

Sadly they do not speak English and so will only learn by interacting with you and the rest of your family. Clear and consistent boundaries and household rules are very important so that your pet can predict what may happen and therefore relax.

I don’t use aversive methods such as shock collars, spray collars, rattle cans or water bottles as these have been shown to cause increased stress (see research), unpredictable behaviour (see research) and increased incidents of aggression (see research).

Positive training, however, does not mean a lack of consequences following undesirable behaviour. Often the consequence is to make sure that the behaviour is no longer effective – i.e. we have removed the outcome that was causing the animal to repeat the behaviour and we encourage them to do something we do want instead. In my view, pets can be taught consequences without the addition of something which induces fear or unnecessary stress. The trick is to teach them that providing an alternative more desirable behaviour has a positive consequence and therefore makes it more likely to be something they will repeat! Funnily enough I have also found (much to his amusement) that this approach also works with husbands.