Reviews From Satisfied Clients of Aimee Porter And It’s A Dog’s World SF

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Do I Need To Know These Things To Train My DOg?

Animal Learning Theory?
Classical conditioning?
Operant Conditioning?
Positive (R+) Reinforcement?

Any mention of these scientific principles and most peoples' heads start to spin right off.

So let me tell you this: these are not proprietary intellectual properties, nor are they magical juju, divine inherent capabilities, or even that particularly complex. You can learn these. I can help you easily understand all this jargon. Dog training IS work, but when properly explained, demonstrated, and practiced, it's really fun and deeply rewarding for all. 

Here’s the truth. As complicated as these terms seem, it’s actually quite simple… in theory.

• Positive reinforcement in dog training is the act of rewarding the things that your dog does that you want them to do so that the behavior continues. R+ is the shorthand we pros like to use. It literally means to add reinforcement, which comes in the form of things the dog finds rewarding.

• Positive reinforcement is a quadrant in animal learning theory, which is a fancy way of saying ways that animals learn new behaviors and stop old ones.

• Operant and Classical conditioning are ways that associations are made with stuff to change behavior and emotions related to that stuff.

SO IN THEORY, IT’S PRETTY SIMPLE …BUT WHAT ABOUT IN PRACTICE?

That’s where working together can help. I can teach you to train your dog as if you know all this stuff. I’ll even teach you some theory and why what we’re doing works, but most importantly, I’m going to make you look like you know what you are doing… because you will.

My goal as a trainer is to help each person I work with better understand and train their current dog

…but also to better understand all dogs and therefore have wonderful canine companions for the rest of their lives. Ideally, I'd like for my legacy as a dog trainer to be one in which my clients are the "students who become the teachers." In this way, the science of reward-based dog training (R+) will be more accessible and better understood for all.

By the way, I didn't invent any of this stuff. You can thank Pavlov, Skinner, etc. for that. However, with my education, experience in application, and enthusiasm, I invite you to join me in this movement.

I call "Viva la R+evolution." I believe in you, and I believe in Dog.

A long time ago, I took a group picture of our dogs posing at the top of some graffiti-covered stairs. They were perfectly perched and looking seriously at the camera—their good looks and obedience skills shining through. I felt the love and delight in each of those dogs as they earnestly awaited their cookies as reward for their long distance and duration "Sit-Stay-Watch-Me." However, collectively, they also seemed to be saying, "We're The Doodle Mafia. We could lick you to within an inch of your life."

Death by doggie kisses? Yes, please. And that is how the moniker was born. 

Sometime just after Instagram launched, and before it was even on my radar, The Doodle Mafia's presence began to spread. We soon found ourselves posted all over Facebook, Instagram, and beyond, with mentions in blogs like The SFMOMA and even multiple appearances on The Dogist. In fact, we were published in a two-page spread in The Dogist's first book. The Dogfather, Lefty, is obviously on the cover.
It's now with a post on our Instagram account and the hashtag #thedoodlemafia that my training and dog walking clients are anointed into this selective mob. You'll see that our initiates are not just living in San Francisco either. We range as far west as the Big Island of Hawaii, as far north as Seattle, and all the way over to Chicago and Youngstown, NY, as well as all the way down to Florida. Sometimes we're very obvious to spot. A few of our members are undercover as Doodles on the inside but labs, or chihuahuas, or even pit bulls on the outside. Other times, you can spot a mafioso merely by listening to their human call, "Louie, COME! Screwy Louie, make the right choice." (Screwy Louie almost always makes the right choice.) We have many members and consiglieres, and you may want to join us. However, know that once you're in, you're in The Doodle Mafia for life.