Our Philosophy

Training Philosophy

Our ultimate goal is to produce high-performance, confident, bold, outgoing and biddable dogs that perform out of a STRONG desire to please, not to avoid pain. Traditional Gun Dog Training methods, relied on Force, Punishment, Fear and Intimidation. Our entire Philosophy is to create a wonderful relationship between handler and dog. By using Scientifically Proven Reward based foundational training we can provide a positive learning environment where your dog learns to love training and excels at his hunting tasks. By using reward based training techniques coupled with thoughtful negative consequences ONLY after the dog has learned the behavior we are able to develop a dog who’s desire to please is unmatched. This makes for a well-adjusted dog who has ‘learned to learn’ and loves to please.

Reward Based Gun Dog Training Vs. Traditional Gun Dog Training

Reward Based

  • Reward Based Gun Dog training first relies on developing a pleasant relationship between handler and dog
  • Then building the dog’s trust and confidence in the handler
  • Enhancing the dog inherited drive, Channeling these drives into behaviors, linking behaviors to verbal cues
  • Rewarding each success to produce a dog that loves to perform
  • These methods make the dog a partner in the learning process by incrementally shaping complex behaviors and by rewarding each progression
  • Reward Based Training systematically and incrementally develops a dog’s ability comprehend and reliably perform at a distance, amidst distractions
  • This method is based on doing things in clear and concise gentle manner and is not likely to result in mental damage to the dog or create behavior problems
  • Reward based Training Only adds a negative consequence after the dog knows exactly what to do, How to do it and then makes a clear and conscious decision NOT to do it
  • Reward based training can typically as early as the pups 8th week of age
  • Reward based training typically requires only 2-4 months to produce a reliable started gun dog

Traditional

  • Traditional Gun Dog training often requires the use of pain/discomfort, force, and intimidation to develop key behaviors (for example, forced fetching)
  • Most Gun Dog Trainers are in a rush to get the dogs in, get them done and get them out. Thus they using a strong Punishment based system from the very first day of training
  • Strong aversive techniques used in traditional traditional methods can result in negative associations, personality change and superstitious behavioral instabilities that are difficult and sometimes very, very time-consuming to try and repair
  • Traditional Methods make the dog perform under the threat of “Corrections” in turn causing high amounts of stress and anxiety
  • Stress and Anxiety are not conducive to learning and can lead to negative health reactions such as stress colitis and diarrhea
  • Physical signs of traditional training include a tucked tail, ears pinned back and avoidance behaviors such as bolting away from the trainer, Gun Shyness etc…
  • Traditional Gun Dog Trainers will not begin the training process until the dog is at least 6 mos old. So that dog has the mental capacity to “Handle the Pressure”
  • Traditional Gun Dog Training can take 4 to 7 months to produce a reliable started dog

Service Area

We service the following areas:

Idaho

  •  Boise
  •  Meridian
  •  Twin Falls
  •  Pocatello
  •  Idaho Falls
  •  Sun Valley
  •  Southern Idaho

Montana

  •  Bozeman & Surrounding

Utah

  •  Salt Lake County

Don't see your area? No problem. We train dogs from all over the US. Contact us for additional info.

Contact Us.

TK Hot Retrievers
Pocatello, ID

Office: (208) 703-7149

jamesclosson@gmail.com


Hours
Mon-Sat 9:00AM - 6:00PM