Free learning is not the same as free shaping and the opposite of mechanical training.

Free learning as part of a positive, holistic approach, accelerates success and leads to amazing results. It is a very effective method that should be incorporated not only in the beginning stages of dog training, but throughout the dog’s life.


Freedom to learn is the opposite of mechanical training, regardless if it is traditional or New Age positive.

The owner exposes the dog to many situations, thereby offering opportunities for the dog to observe and possibly attain different motivators.

The owner doesn’t prompt the dog in any way. Instead the dog is allowed to observe and choose a behavior. It is not a total free for all, because the owner still controls the consequence, just not the dog.

Let me give you a couple of examples: My dog Will loves to chase squirrels. Once, while on leash, she spotted one in the distance. I let her observe – not saying anything, not pulling her back, not giving her any feedback. Will chose, after a few seconds, to move closer to me (instead of pulling) and offered eye contact (connecting to me voluntarily). Because that is exactly the behavior I want (and because it was safe for her and the squirrel), I reinforced (rewarded) it by unclipping the leash and commanding her to “go-get-it”.

Another time Davie and Will, both off the leash, encountered a herd of cows in a field behind a bend on the pathway we walked. They startled and halted, both observing something they have never seen before close-up – even though we lived in Alberta, Canada’s Cow Country, for more than a decade. Because I know my dogs, I let them observe, again without prompting them to do anything (no “come”, no “leave”, no “watch-me” commands). After a short while, they continued their stroll n’ sniff. On the way back, because they checked cows off as irrelevant as a direct result of being allowed to observe them, they didn’t even glance at them.

Don’t compete with the environment; exploit it.


Free learning should be applied in conjunction with structured learning, because a dog also has to learn to follow cues and commands. And it takes skill to decide when it is safe for the dog to make the decision. But done right, the relationship and learning benefits are incredible. If dogs are allowed to free learn, to problem solve, the cerebral cortex is trained; cerebral pathways are build.

Dogs have a thinking brain, like humans. Not to the same degree, but more convoluted than a cat’s. The more cerebral the dog, the easier it is for her to remain in her thinking brain, the more responsive and owner connected she is when there is a conflict, the less emotional, reactive she is; and if charged up, she can be easier redirected.


Free learning and patience are part of mindful leadership. Waiting for 20 or 30 seconds to give your dog the opportunity to respond correctly to a request is patience, and also strengthens the cerebral cortex.


“When your dog runs at you, whistle for him.” The quote by Henry David Thoreau describes free shaping in one sentence. It means that if the dog does something you like, to put a command word to the behavior and to reinforce it. Don’t ignore unprompted behaviors you like to see again.

Free learning and free shaping, and giving the dog a few seconds to get the behavior right, are the best ways to a really brainy canine. You think your pooch is smarter than you now.