Crazy2Calm Kindness and Ethics

As a Crazy2Calm Canine Coach, Yooper Paws of Love is dedicated to force-free training support for all our clients!

The Crazy2Calm Canine Coach Collaborative is a network of canine professionals including Dog Trainers, Behavior Consultants, and other professionals dedicated to supporting an Animal Centered Education (ACE) process for all our human and canine clients.  Check out the Kindness Code below to see the standard of ethics all Canine Coaches, including myself, must sign when joining the collaborative.

The Crazy2Calm Kindness Code

The Kindness Code is meant to serve as an agreement among all Canine Coaches to treat each other appropriately with the realization that we all come from a wide diversity of past experiences.

We must recognize that dog training is not a one size fits all approach. Just like some learners will be more engaged with a specific training style, coaches also may be able to create a specific type of training resources better than others. Those who enjoy making videos, would produce more videos whereas someone who does better at writing may produce more text based resources. Therefore we will refrain from judging each other based on the type of media that is shared among coaches.

Some of us may have limited physical abilities, energy levels, educational skills, and various learning methods. We must be understanding of other Coaches physical and/or mental limitations, working together to help make resources as user friendly as possible.

By participating in the social networking part of this collaborative, we all need to agree to recognize and embrace the differences we have in training processes, the choice of training resources shared, and the client support services that each coach has the ability to offer.

We will keep in mind that all Coaches are on an individual learning journey and we all may need compassion and kindness along the way. By understanding our differences, together we can create a place where everyone can flourish and be successful.

The Admin & Support Staff team will strive to be a pillar of strength, working to help Coaches overcome any challenges and finding a way for each individual to be successful within the collaborative.

Together we can build momentum for a community driven by supportiveness & helpfulness, where everyone can feel safe, valued, and appreciated.

While this Kindness Code refers to ethical standard of dealing with other Canine Coaches, we also have a Code of Ethics that applies to our ethical standards for dealing with all our clients.

The Crazy2Calm Training Ethics

The Crazy2Calm Code of Ethics has been designed with the fundamentals of the 9 Core Principles of Ethics that are widely accepted among professions. This is not intended to be a list of requirements or criteria that Coaches must maintain in order to be a member of the collaborative. This Code of Ethics is designed to affirm that all who join the collaborative are in general agreement of the following base code of ethics.

1. “Do No Harm!” As Canine Coaches we often are faced with issues surrounding the use of punishment, the appropriateness of aversive procedures in certain situations, and handling dogs with serious behavior problems, “Do No Harm!” will be a most important ethical principle. Crazy2Calm Canine Coaches is intended to be a force-free, aversive-free environment for every individual, both human and animal.

2. Canine Coaches will teach our clients skills and techniques that should result in the dog being a well-mannered, well-behaved, family member. Teaching dog owners responsible dog ownership behaviors will result in creating a community where the dog’s individual needs are addressed as an important part of any training plan or behavior modification plan.

3. Canine Coaches should maintain a relationship that is mutually beneficial to all individuals involved. Canine Coaches may need to address ethical issues regarding trainer-client relationships, trainer-dog relationships, and trainer to trainer relationships. Coaches should maintain a goal of benefiting all individuals with the intent to give more than take.

4. Canine Coaches should treat other individuals as we would like to be treated refraining from giving unreasonable guarantees regarding the outcome of training. Unreasonable guarantees build expectations that do not consider the needs of the individuals involved. Coaches will set individuals up for success based on the needs of the individuals involved.

5. Canine Coaches will be faithful in this professional setting to apply the principles of confidentiality, promise keeping, and not violating the trust of others in this collaborative or the clients that we work with.

6. Canine Coaches begin with the assumption that every individual is worthy of respect; coaches, clients, the dogs, etc. Coaches can give individuals dignity by giving them strategies and procedures to use with which they can have success. Individuals are given dignity when Coaches understand their problems, needs, and the dynamics of their particular situation at a given time.

7. Canine Coaches will treat others with care and compassion. Coaches should imagine one’s self in the place dealing with a frustrated dog owner and with an understanding that a dog is not being noncompliant, instead, they are really confused about what we want them to do.

8. Canine Coaches should be in constant pursuit of excellence. This means improving one’s own skills as well as helping other individuals to “be all that they can be.” Coaches will do their best to have an impact on the larger dog training community, but they will not attempt to work out of the range of their own professional limitations.

9. Canine Coaches should be accountable and accept some responsibility for the services and resources offered within the collaborative. For example, if multiple individuals (coaches and/or clients) are struggling with understanding the educational resources, a trainer might have to accept responsibility and recognize that it could be that the instruction was not as effective as intended. Coaches will do their best to adjust their materials in effort to convey their message more effectively.

As a Canine Coach, I agree to uphold these standards of ethics, treating my clients with respect and dignity regardless of their race, physical abilities, or other discriminatory criteria.  I will uphold these standards towards the canines that I work with focusing on setting up sessions that help the dog to feel safe, calm, and happy throughout the session creating a relationship of trust between trainer, owner, and dog.