Kris Crestejo, ABCDT
Certified Dog Trainer
& Behaviour Specialist
Certified Dog Trainer
& Behaviour Specialist
I started training dogs at a very young age, first it was friends dogs then branched out to friends of friends, referrals and so on. I never thought of making dog training a career choice, I actually never thought it was possible.
My training past was not as it is now. I used trained dogs in the traditional sense that your dog is a dog, you provide it with water and food and that was that. The dog must obey our commands because he or she is a dog and we are humans. I have used punitive and aversive methods for much of my life and I even showed people how to use a correction to it's best effect.
After deciding to become a professional trainer and expanding my education and knowledge through certifications, seminars/conferences and fellow colleagues, I realized there is a whole new world of training that has been found, yet it's still in the dark, this training was called progressive reinforcement training.
I've never looked back.
My training past was not as it is now. I used trained dogs in the traditional sense that your dog is a dog, you provide it with water and food and that was that. The dog must obey our commands because he or she is a dog and we are humans. I have used punitive and aversive methods for much of my life and I even showed people how to use a correction to it's best effect.
After deciding to become a professional trainer and expanding my education and knowledge through certifications, seminars/conferences and fellow colleagues, I realized there is a whole new world of training that has been found, yet it's still in the dark, this training was called progressive reinforcement training.
I've never looked back.
MCT uses Progressive Reinforcement Training which is a type of animal training that involves no forms of intimidation, confrontation, violence, reprimands, or domination. Our training involves a clicker or verbal cue to mark a desirable behaviour and being proactive rather than reactive, this type of training is for life, it teaches the dog to think for himself and learn to make the correct decisions because those choices have been reinforced. To dedicate oneself to this type of training you must be 100% committed to the end goal, once you reach that goal, you'll be so proud to bring your pooch everywhere and enjoy the time you spend with your dog. Sometimes it's hard to change training methods especially if you've always followed the traditional corrective training methods (as most of us had growing up), but once you start seeing the benefits of PRT and start to understand that your dog learns differently then us humans, you won't train any other way.
This non-violent type of training has gone under many names: "clicker training", "positive training","positive reinforcement training," and "reward training," among others. However due to people using the term so loosely in recent years that they are losing their original meanings altogether. How has this happened? Trainers who use compulsion methods (do it because I told you to) may incorporate a clicker (noise maker to mark desirable behaviour) and refer to themselves as "reward trainers" or "positive reinforcement trainers." It is possible that a member of the public may seek the guidance of a trainer who claims to be "positive," only to find out that this trainer routinely uses physical violence towards animals.
Our Training Method
Qualifications
- Has worked with dogs for 9 years
- Owned her training business since 2010
- Certified Dog Trainer by Animal Behavior College
- Member of the Pet Professional Guild which is a site dedicated to force free trainers
- Writes training articles for Pets Magazine a popular Canadian magazine dedicated to pets
- Regularly Attends Seminars and Conferences in Canada & U.S.
- Mentor trainer for Animal Behavior College taking on students studying to become dog trainers
- Has spent the past few years studying to become a Certified Dog Behaviour Consultant [IAABC]
Luna
Luna is my amazing 3 year old pure bred Border Collie and the star of most of my Youtube videos. When I first got Luna I wasn't sure if I wanted to use her with my therapy programs because she was a high energy girl and was battling her own
Luna is my amazing 3 year old pure bred Border Collie and the star of most of my Youtube videos. When I first got Luna I wasn't sure if I wanted to use her with my therapy programs because she was a high energy girl and was battling her own
issues at the time, but once she turned a year old she showed me how wonderfully she communicates with fearful & aggressive dogs so I started slowly working her into my behavioural cases.
Her gift for working with eactive/fearful/aggressive dogs is a HUGE help not only to me but for my clients/fosters too. Luna gives us the opportunities that are hard to find when trying to fix dog-dog aggression problem, she knows the exact way to react to these fearful dogs by calmly sitting or laying down and ignoring them if they bark and lunge at her.
Her gift for working with eactive/fearful/aggressive dogs is a HUGE help not only to me but for my clients/fosters too. Luna gives us the opportunities that are hard to find when trying to fix dog-dog aggression problem, she knows the exact way to react to these fearful dogs by calmly sitting or laying down and ignoring them if they bark and lunge at her.
My goal is to educate people on :
- how dogs communicate
- how dogs learn
- how to train effectively
Dog's have been domesticated for thousands of years to work with humans, it's amazing when you see what your dog will do for you given the right ethical training and dedication.
Violence begins where knowledge ends ...
-Abraham Lincoln
Violence begins where knowledge ends ...
-Abraham Lincoln
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