What does "force-free" mean?

I am a proud member of the Pet Professional Guild.  Who are they? "The Pet Professional Guild is a membership organization representing pet industry professionals who are committed to results based, science based force-free training and pet care." You can visit the site here for more information: https://petprofessionalguild.com/Canine-resources/

What does that all mean? Well, to try and summarize, I would say that the best way to train and care for your dog is to approach it from a place of respect, trust, mutual understanding, and love. 

The past several decades have unfortunately (and erroneously) taught many people that  being dominant, or being an alpha "pack leader" is the way that your dog will learn to listen to and respect you.  The studies behind these assertions have now been debunked and proven false. You can hear this directly from leading wolf expert, scientist L. David Mech himself: https://youtu.be/tNtFgdwTsbU

Using dominance, force, alpha roll-overs, and any other aversive or potentially painful training method will only produce fear and mistrust in your pet and may possibly make the behaviors worse (i.e. create aggression). 

There is so much we can learn about how dogs see the world from their 'canine' perspective.  Once we learn about dog behavior, we can better communicate with our furry family members in a positive and humane manner.