Why ‘Real World Learning’?
It seemed the topic of discussion on every pack walk catch up, was the myriad of dogs we knew that had an inability to just exist. We knew a ton of dogs that could do some awesome tricks, plenty that could do the most amazing dog sports, stacks that were super obedient; but when it came to the full package of all that stuff and be able to make great choices without constant instruction, we believed there was a serious disconnect. It felt like there was gap between having a dog be obedient and having a dog with life skills.
It was through these conversations that we realised we were so passionate about the same thing:
Having practical, real-world skills when it came to dog training.
When we sat down for our first ever business development meeting, we threw around a bunch of words to describe what we wanted to provide, and it seemed like once sentence was said copious amounts of times; “we need something that sort of encapsulates real world learning”. It must have been after the 327th time that we acknowledged that this was what That Dog School was destined to be all about.
We feel like every pet parent should have the skills to navigate the real world beyond basic obedience. This includes a solid communication system, a full spectrum of rewards, how to switch off, engagement, how to build confidence and resilience etc. Pet parents need to be taught how to recover their dog, how to be a good advocate, how to set them up for success, how to biologically fulfil them, the list literally goes on.
Since That Dog School was created almost 4 years ago, we have always strived to provide these opportunities for pet parents to have hands on, practical applications to training. Skills that would develop a dog into a thoughtful, confident, resilient being. We aim to create dogs that were able to experience liberty without constant guidance through real world learning.
