The basic tenants of the approach are as follows:

1. A reward system of training which does not rely heavily on food treats. Choke chains are not used. For some puppies, Gentle Leader head collars, or the Four-paws no pull harness, will be used to stop pulling ahead of the owner when walking by the owner's side (e.g. heeling). Retractable leashes, often referred to as a "flexi leash" are not suitable for training because they do not allow the owner to maintain adequate control, particularly with certain kinds of dogs.

2. Verbal commands and hand signals are associated with most commands.

3. The method of successive approximations is used to condition some commands (e.g. go-to-place; lie-down); for other commands, compliance is initially accomplished (i.e. in the beginning stages of training) by physical positioning the puppy into the proper posture (e.g. heel, stay) followed by lavish social and verbal praise.

4. If the puppy fails to respond, no reward is given and it is immediately repositioned in the desired posture.

5. Most of the commands are taught without use of a leash - that is, off-leash training. However, importantly note, that during all class sessions, all dogs will remain on leash attached to a buckle collar or Gentle Leader head collar.

6. A training philosophy of persistence, insistence and consistency is integrated into all aspects of the training procedures.