Force free dog training near me

Please use only force-free training for all dogs

RSPCA South Australia thoroughly encourages the use of force-free training methods for dogs of all ages and breeds.

This is because dogs do what feels good and what works for them. When training your dog you can use this to your advantage by making a positive association with the behaviours you want, and ignoring or redirecting undesirable behaviours.

We are firmly opposed to the use or check chains, prong collars and other ‘dominance’ model equipment and techniques in all circumstances. You can learn more via our Lead By Example campaign.

Learn the force-free way with RSPCA Dog Training

Our RSPCA Dog Training school is the answer to all your canine questions and issues. With a range of classes catering for everything from puppies to adults (and their humans, of course!), you’ll walk away understanding exactly how to best communicate with your dog.

Best of all, all proceeds from our dog training classes go back towards helping animals in need – so you’ll know you’re making a huge difference to all creatures great and small across South Australia.

Connect with a force-free trainer in South Australia

If you can’t make it to RSPCA Dog Training, you may want to connect with a South Australian force-free trainer.

To qualify for inclusion on our Force-Free Trainers List, trainers must hold one or more formal qualifications in positive, force-free dog training methods. The full list of qualifications can be found here.

Each trainer on the list below must also have signed a declaration based on the following definition of ‘force-free’ by the Professional Pet Guild: “I confirm that only ‘force-free’ dog training methods are used. This means no shock, no pain, no choke, no fear, no physical force, no physical moulding and no compulsion-based methods are employed to train or care for a pet.”

Please note: RSPCA South Australia does not officially endorse this list.

Put simply, force-free training is “rewarding the behaviours you want rather than punishing the ones you do not want. It is encouraging the dog to get it right as opposed to punishing him every time he gets it wrong. It is helping him to understand what is required of him, and then reinforcing that behaviour so that he is happy to repeat it. It is not punishing him for getting it wrong and making him worried about doing it wrong again.” (Husein 2006).

Force-free training is advocated by the RSPCA, the Australian Veterinary Association, the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (Australia) and a multitude of international animal and animal behaviour organisations including the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior and the Pet Professional Guild.

Canine Behavioural School Inc is on the force-free trainers list.

The aim of the Initiative for Force-free Dog Training is to make available to a wide audience a science-based, ethical and empathetic way of living and working with dogs, above all during their training. The Initiative for Force-free Dog Training is a combined effort (see position paper and code of conduct) by qualified professionals, whose methods correspond to current scientific knowledge (586 people to date, 29.6.2022), together with international organisations such as the Swiss Veterinary Society for Behavioural Medicine, The Pet Profesional Guild, The Pet Dog Trainers of Europe, Foundation for the Animal in Law (Stiftung für das Tier im Recht) to name but a few.

Our aims in detail:

• To sensitise the public to the use of force in training, and to the way dogs are treated in daily life: to recognise where force begins, what forms it takes and why it should never be used - even, and most particularly, in cases involving behavioural issues.

• To make information available about non-aversive dog training (articles, videos and book recommendations), i.e about science-based training which is ethical and free from the use of pain and fear.

• To make available a code of conduct for dog trainers and a list of trainers who work accordingly to it.

• To spread knowledge about the methods used by trainers, such as well-known TV trainers, in their broadcasts and videos. The intention is to enable individuals to make informed decisions, based on facts, about choosing to support this treatment of dogs or not (such as not buying tickets to events or purchasing publications.)

• To lobby the authorities in countries where several aversive tools are forbidden by law (e.g. Switzerland, Germany and Austria) to prohibit such trainers’ public shows, as they patently violate these laws as is clear from the content of the videos. 

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