Training FAQs and Policies
Do you have a facility or where do we train?
Training sessions take place in your home or in public location that we choose if we are working on behaviors specific to a certain location.
When you say “positive reinforcement” you mean bribing my dog, right?
If you bribe someone you hand over the bribe before they do the thing that you need. In animal training we “pay” a dog with treats, play, or praise when we get the behavior we’re looking for. Think of it like working at your job. Even though you might love your job, you wouldn’t work 40 hours a week if you were not on the payroll.
My dog never listens anything I want her to do. Am I supposed to pay her for that?
The two basic things we try to do when training are to ignore behavior we don’t want and reward behavior we do want. I would rather ignore the behavior we don’t want 50 times, and reward the behavior I want 25 times in a session. I can help you discover something, even if it is something really small, that your dog is doing well so that we can reward that. Helping her to understand the system is the first step to seeing more behaviors we can pay for.
Won’t my dog get fat if I pay her in food?
Probably not. We use tiny pieces of food as rewards. If this is a serious concern for your dog there are a variety of things we can do, from mixing treats with kibble to switching treats up, to reducing the amount of food at mealtime by approximately the amount of food she got during her training time.
So, if I come to all the sessions and I do my homework you guarantee that my dog will be perfectly behaved?
Nobody is perfect, not dogs or cats or people. Nobody can guarantee the behavior of another living being and it would be unethical of me to say I could. I can, though, work with you to build your relationship with your dog and to teach you and your dog to communicate so that she will be as likely as any other member of your family to cooperate with you.
I purchased a training package or still have remaining lessons that I no longer want to use. Can I get a refund?
Unfortunately, training sessions and packages are generally not refundable. If you purchased a single session, you can cancel 48 hours or more in advance and receive a refund. Refunds are not available for sessions cancelled within 48 hours. If a session must be moved due to illness or injury, the cost of the cancelled session may occasionally be applied to a rescheduled session in the future.
All packages are non-refundable. It is your responsibility to use sessions before expiration, and unused sessions cannot be refunded.
What training equipment do I need? Is there any equipment I can't use?
All dogs and owners will need a clicker, tasty treats, a 4 or 6 foot leash, and an appropriate collar or harness. Allowable collars are flat buckle collars, martingales, head halters, or harnesses.
Prong collars, choke collars, shock collars, and other collars designed to deliver a correction are not allowed when training with Impackt Dog Training. It’s okay if you are currently using those tools – we will show you how to work without them and create a stronger relationship with your dog using positive reinforcement!
Do I have to carry a clicker and treats around forever?
Nope! The clicker is a communication tool, used to assist in training. Treats (or other rewards) are used to build your relationship with your dog and create great positive associations with the training you are doing. Once your dog has learned a behavior, the clicker has done its job, and treats can be varied. We work hard to ensure treats are not used as a bribe, so that your dog will respond even when treats aren’t in your hand.