About
W. Dale Hubbard, Ph.D.
Dr. Hubbard obtained his degrees in psychology and counseling where his focus was in behavioral psychology and learning theory. His formal education of Classical and Operant Conditioning provided him with an in-depth understanding of how all animals learn. He replicated many of the experimental studies by B.F. Skinner, which examines the association made between behavior and consequences. Furthermore, his studies by Ivan Pavlov provided gave him an understanding of how animals learn behaviors through associations. These studies gave him the basis of how to train animals that will maintain behavior over long periods and how to extinguish unwanted behaviors.
He always had a love for animals. Growing up on a farm, he had the opportunity to train many different farm animals to include, horses, birds, and hunting dogs. Many of his animals performed some amazing behaviors that you see in animals on TV shows. During his professional career, he taught psychology classes in secondary schools where students taught animals using positive reinforcement and then demonstrated their results in the classroom.
After retiring from a thirty year clinical career in psychology in 2004, he started his quest for promoting the most effective means of training upland bird dogs. He has taken workshops and seminars, as well as one on one training with nationally known dog trainers such as Gary Wilkes (Clicker Training) George Hickox and Cindy Hann. His disappointment of the use of negative treatment encouraged him to pursue effective positive and humane treatment. Through his personal studies, he discovered that many of the traditional harsh methods of training was based on faulty studies conducted in the 1940s and formed the basis of training by most of bird dog trainers that persist through today.
Using his formal education, personal studies along with practical experience, he developed very effective techniques using positive reinforcement. Furthermore, he has resolved many unwanted learned behaviors in bird dogs. He has trained many upland bird dogs over the years using positive reinforcement as the primary method of teaching. With the use of Clicker Training, he has shown that you can begin training as early as eight weeks old.
Currently, Dr. Hubbard conducts seminars for various groups on positive gun dog training. His English Setter (Lucy Sky Cloud) attends the seminars with him and demonstrates the extreme effectiveness of positive reinforcement.
I have known Dr. Dale Hubbard for two years. During this time, I have had the pleasure of seeing the positive results of his training methods. I observed his use of Click and Treat during a group seminar. It is truely amazing to see the dogs wanting to perform behaviors with such pleasure and precision.
I consulted with Dr. Hubbard regarding a blinking problem that I had with one of my Pointer Dogs. He was insightful with helping me understand how my Pointer developed the problem and above all the intervention he suggested and implemented. After several exercises that Dr. Hubbard recommended, I am happy to say that she is much improved. She is more confident and reliable in holding steady on point.
I have bird hunted for 70 plus years and own several bird dogs. I have hunted Quail and Pheasants with Dr. Hubbard. During our hunts together, I have had the pleasure to know him as a person, as well as a trainer. I have found him to be a very caring and loving person toward dogs and a person who is honest and pays attention to detail.
I also had the pleasure to see him and his English Setter (Lucy) win first place in our Alabama Quail Hunters Association Field Trial during 2011. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Leon Flynn
leonflynn@att.net
Lindsay – Ok, pic #1 is definitely going up on the wall. LOVE IT!! Wooohooo, thkans so much guys! You can tell Honey has practice at this. I image her portrait above the mantel in an expansive library somewhere. Honey and Scout both look like such visionaries.
I have had the pleasure of being Lucy’s veterinarian for 2 years now. Dale is an excellent client always striving to provide the utmost care for Lucy. I am also very blessed to have Dale training my 6 month old Standard Poodle, Henry. Dale has unending patience with animals and really loves working with them, especially in a positive way. He is training Henry(and me) with click and treat and we have experienced amazing results in a very short time frame. Henry LOVES to train! It is such a positive and encouraging experience for us both. I truly appreciate Dale’s expertise and experience and look forward to working together for many more years!
Kathy Barnett – What fantastic shots. Honey looks so regal! She is a buuatifel dog. Lucy so darn cute and playful! Also want to say that you did such a wonderful job with the wedding. I am still in awe of your talents.
15 November 2017
I just wanted to take a minute to talk about my experience with Dale. I dropped off my English Springer Spaniel with Dale in September of 2015 when she was six months old. I live in Colorado, so I was not able to participate in Sophie’s training, however, Dale invited me down to spend a couple of days at the end of her training for him to train me.
I was thoroughly impressed with Dale; he has a very calm temperament and has a ton of patience. I took Sophie home and could take her out on pen raised birds twice in late 2015 and I was impressed with what Sophie could do. Throughout the spring and summer, I would work with Sophie when I could, but it always seemed like life got in the way. I was a little worried last month when I knew I only had a few weeks to get her prepared for opening day of Pheasant hunting. Again, life got in the way, but I did what I could.
Myself and six others went hunting on opening day, Sophie did a good job. I did have to coax her into quartering a little farther left and right. I could only get her to go about 15 yards past the person on my left and on my right. For this being her first time out with a group of people, I was happy. All the guys I was hunting with were impressed, especially knowing that this was really her first time out. We hunted all day and I would have to correct and coax throughout the day, but it was a very enjoyable day. Although it was extremely dry, she could get on scent and flushed a few birds for us.
The next day was unbelievable though. I don’t know how to explain it, but overnight it seemed to all sink in for her. We got to the first field of CRP with 8 other guys. The field was 1 mile long and we were spread out to about 125-150 yards. I told Sophie, “Hunt em up!” and she ran straight out to about 15 yards turned to the right and quartered down to about 20 yards past the last guy. I was just about to give her two toots, but she turned and headed back and quartered left all the way to about 20 yards past the last guy. I was about to give two toots, but she turned again and quartered right exactly as she did before. This field was about a mile long and she did this the entire way down. Only stopping when she found scent or found a bird. The only correction I had to give that day was to call her back in a bit. She got out a bit far a few times. Other than that, she performed perfectly.
I am extremely happy with the training Dale provided and I cannot recommend him enough. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Dale. I appreciate the care and instruction you provided Sophie. I attempted to video the first field we went through on the second day, but evidently I only took a picture. The next time I get out, I will get a video of her working.
Thank you so much!!!
Mike Grigsby
grigssd@gmail.com