Ed Frawley's Philosophy of Dog Training

My philosophy of how to train dogs has been a journey that began when I was a boy in the 1950's and continues to this day. I get as excited today as I did 45 or 50 years ago when when I learn something new about training my dogs.
For me this journey began as a hobby and has evolved into a life's passion and work. It will end on the day I die.
There is nothing secretive or magical about training dogs. Good dog training is all common sense combined with a foundation based on experience and a clear understanding of the way dogs think and interact (pack structure). The key is to get the right experience.

One only needs to spend a couple of hours searching the internet to understand that there are a lot of people out there who lack experience or who are basing their training opinions on poorly acquired experience.
Dog training does not necessarily have to begin when you buy an 8 week old puppy (although it should) or when your 10 year old dog bites a child. In reality it begins on the day you make up your mind to learn how dogs think and how they relate to the world they live in. It begins when you decide to relate to your dog in a manner that both you and your dog respect and understand. It begins when you make up your mind to develop a meaningful relationship based on trust, communication and control

Although my family had owned dogs my entire life I made this decision to really try and understand dogs when I was in high school. I was 16 years old and it was the 1960's. I owned a rescue dog named King and thought he was the cat's meow
We took 2 or 3 walks in the woods every day. He was my best friend. I had him trained to hand signals and verbal commands. Once morning, before school, we came out of the woods and King chased a cat into the road. He would not respond to my calls to stop and COME. He ran in front of an Austin Martin sports car and was killed. To this day I can close my eyes and replay that event in slow motion
That one incident forever changed the way I looked at dog training. It caused me to step back and make up my mind that the next time I would learn how to communicate in a way that my dog would listen in every scenario and not just in the ones he felt like.
I wrote this article with that thought in mind. I hope it may help other dog owners develop a new approach on how they relate to and train their dogs. I hope in some small way it makes you change your own philosophy of how to train your dog.