Hello. My name is Shannon McDougall. This about me page is about me as a well trained and educated softball coach who is using coaching principles incorporated with the scientific principles of dog training. I spent over 20 years in the game of softball and my positive coaching philosophy stayed the same throughout. It was definitely challenged many times by my colleagues and by parents but I stuck with it. The ones who never challenged it was the players who were the most important in my opinion. I coached all ages from recreation level softball to rep softball or what some would refer to as travel ball and regional softball in different leagues. As a real athlete centered coach, the most common critique from many of my colleagues and others involved in the game was that I was too nice. This was apparently not a productive trait to have in a sport that has grown to be very competitive with very high expectations and no shortage of judgement. I believe however that I may have found a way to transfer those skills from coaching athletes to coaching dog owners and their dogs.
About Me
The whole concept of coaching dog owners has been an interesting one. One that I find myself pulling on some of my coaching skills to enhance. Skills such as mental training, planning and some of the coaching teaching principles. For example, if you consider a yearly training plan for a team or an athlete, it is over a season, and will change each season as the player moves through their sport career depending on their ultimate goals. For the owner of a dog or puppy, the training plan would have the skills we want our dog to learn and a pathway to the end game.
For athletes, they draw on past experiences, the current stress level and amount of confidence they have in the skill that they are executing. In the batters box for example, there are many factors that are going to effect their performance. When a puppy is displaying a behavior, they will do it the best way they know how, in the moment. And if they have been successfully taught how to do things the way we want them to, they will. If dogs sometimes react in a behavior that we want in a situation, and sometimes they don’t, they will go for the one that they know best which is sometimes the one we don’t want. This will be influenced by the reinforcement that they get from the behavior. Their body and mind go to the easiest and most rewarding outcome. If that makes sense.
Here, I am sharing my coaching experience and education along with my dog training and dog behavior certification skills and knowledge, to assist dog owners to raise their puppy or coach their new dog to become a happy and healthy part of the family.
Certified Behavior Specialist
Dog behavior is of particular interest to me being that I do have a dog that is prone to anxiety and low level fear. Working with her has been a huge learning experience that was very helpful in my studies.
Studies Included:
Behavior Modification:
- Introduction to Behavior Modification
- Behavior Modification Methods
Anxiety:
- Understanding Threshold
- Alarm Barking
- Identifying Anxiety
- Strategies for Anxiety
- Learned Helplessness
Anxiety Conditions:
- Identifying Separation Anxiety
- Strategies for Separation Anxiety
- Identifying Aggression
- Strategies for Aggression
- Dog – Human Reactivity
- Dog – Dog Reactivity
Certified Dog Trainer
Along with my coaching Experience I have studied the field of dog training achieving my certification from a reputable school in Ontario. My tutor was a well respected trainer and professional in the field who gave me everything I needed to be successful in this industry.
Studies Included:
Introduction to Dog Training:
- Guiding Principles of Training
- Fundamentals of Safe Training
Introduction to Ethology:
- Breed Groups
- Stages of Development
- Socialization Stages
Dog Communication:
- Canine Communication
- Calming Signals and Fear Responses
- Problem Solving with Communication
Training Methods:
- Motivations and Reinforcement
Canine Behavior Science & Technology
Student
I am currently studying and over half way through with mastery in the science of canine behavior from which I am becoming knowledgeable in the discipline earning an advanced diploma in the following studies.
Studies Include:
- Behaviorology
- Behavior Functional Relations
- Operant Conditioning
- Respondent Conditioning
- Reinforcement
- Aversive Stimulation and its Problems
- Errorless Training Strategy
- Contingency Engineering
- Animal Training Technology
- Advanced Animal Training Techniques
- Functional Behavioral Assessment
- Functional Diagnostics
- Contingency Engineering
- Behavior Objectives
- Maintenance of Behavior Changes
- Contingency Management Planning
- Behavioral Complexity
- Case Management
- Professional Ethics
- Training Dogs
- Dog Behavior
- Training Puppies
- Dog Behavior Problems
- Aggressive Behavior Specialization
Learn about my coaching education and experience.
