Understanding Canines & Training Techniques Online Course

How dogs learn, and the training methods compared

This online course is the deep dive. Rather than one skill or one problem, it covers how dogs think, communicate and learn, and walks through the main dog training techniques so you can tell which ones work, which ones harm, and why. It’s the foundation under every other course we teach.

Who it’s for

Owners who want to understand their dog, not just manage them. Foster carers and rescue volunteers who meet a different dog every month. Vet and daycare staff, aspiring trainers, and anyone who has read conflicting advice online and wants to know what the evidence actually says.

What you’ll learn

• How dogs learn: operant and classical conditioning, reinforcement and punishment, timing and reward systems
• Canine language: how dogs communicate, and how to read stress, play and warning signals correctly
• Breed, genetics, drives and early experiences, and what each means for behaviour
• Different dog training techniques compared: positive reinforcement, marker training, luring, shaping, capturing, counter-conditioning and desensitisation, and the balanced and dominance-based approaches to avoid
• Basic obedience for puppies and adults: sit, down, stay, leave it, heel and leash manners
• Place training, tethering, independence and confinement taught positively
• Puppy basics and toilet training, biting, chewing, crying and attention seeking
• Preventing and treating separation anxiety
• Playtime rules, using play and toys as rewards, and mental stimulation and enrichment

What’s inside

Lessons, videos and resources you can work through in any order, from the theory of learning to practical training plans you can apply to the dog in front of you. At $199 it sits between our single-topic courses and the full dog trainer qualification, and it’s the one to choose if you want the “why” behind the training.

Where the Asset Method fits

Every technique in this course is explained through the Asset Method: dogs do what pays, so training is about understanding what a particular dog values and using it well. You’ll see how the three D’s of dog training, distance, duration and distractions, apply to any skill, and why most “stubborn” dogs are simply being asked for too much, too soon.

Why study canine behaviour online

This is a course to read, rewatch and come back to as your dog, or the dogs you work with, change. Twelve months of access means it’s there when a new problem shows up, which is when you’ll want it most.

Try the first lesson free, pay once, learn at your own pace.