About RenChenZa®

"To know about dogs is to know about life." Andrew Ledford

RenChenZa® is dog training that contains within its practices a universal training philosophy, which can be applied to various areas of your life. RenChenZa's main focus is helping people live better lives through understanding the experiences between humans and dogs.

This is a dog training philosophy that helps dog owners live better lives with their dogs. In the process, they learn how to live better lives in general. This is not a science, although we do value scientific research, it is simply a good way to make your life better. We believe this can be achieved through the following basic principle; accept things that happen as fate, and then use self determination to effect an improvement in your life.

Dog Training and the Human Element

More than half of dog training depends on the human dynamics. That is why our emphasis is on a philosophy of training, not techniques. Therefore, we neither advocate nor condemn specific training techniques. However, this philosophy does have checks and balances that help select effective training techniques over ineffective techniques.

Dog Training Redefining Itself

Dog training has reached a point of maturity where new and interesting forms of dog training have evolved. Using an image of a large tree can help understand the relationship between the different forms of training. This evolutionary tree should remind us that no matter what style of training we prefer, our training is all related to a common trunk. Our training style may be fairly new like a little twig or we may be a part of a main branch. It will take time to see what branches can survive and which ones end up as dead ends, casualties of the never-ending battle of competition.

Recently, there have been many trainers trying to redefine what dog training means. These redefinitions can vary from practices of extremely reliable control of the dog, to experiments in eliminating all aversives from the dog’s life. Both of these approaches can yield valuable insight. The extremes can teach us a great deal about behavior, both human and canine.

Dog Owners' Code of Ethics

1. Be a responsible dog owner and respect the rights of others, even if other people are rude or don’t like dogs.
2. Help others learn how to make the world a better place, and how dogs and dog owners make the world a better place.

Lifestyle Advisors - Dog Instructors, Consultants, & Trainers Code of Ethics

1. We respect people as much as the dogs they own.
2. We believe acceptance is the foundation of unifying love, understanding, and responsibility. These practices lead to caring, courteous, and moral behavior.
3. We are dedicated to teaching how dog training can enhance peoples' lives.
4. There is a natural order to things and dog training can show us a way to understand this order.
5. The real world involves some things that are pleasant and some things that are unpleasant. While looking for utopia (perfection) we recognize the real world.
6. We strive to treat all clients with courtesy and respect.
7. We make every effort to give potential clients an honest evaluation of what they will have to do and the likelihood of them being successful at managing their dog’s behavior.
8. We will promote responsible dog stewardship, breeding, and training, even if it contradicts what powerful organizations and cultural norms dictate.

If you would like to become involved in one of our training classes sign up for the newsletter and stay informed. You can also join the myspace group at myspace.com/renchenza. We often invite myspace friends to special events not listed in the newsletter.