There are different philosophies out there about the best way to teach a dog. Sadly in the US there are no requirements to become a dog trainer & train dogs. You don’t have to go to school to learn, some pet stores only require you to take one basic training class with your dog & you can be hired to train dogs right after you finish taking the class. I don’t think most people have a clue that these people haven’t researched much if any, or have little or no additional training themselves. Celebrities can get on TV & tell you how to train your dog & they don’t have to have any official training either, just have connections & people blindly follow them believing they know what they are doing. Don’t get me wrong there are TV pet trainers that are good & some that are not. There are certified trainers who do go to classes & train to teach dogs & take tests to get their certifications.
When we were babies we didn’t speak or understand what our parents were saying to us, we understood tones & some body language, but not the words. As time went by we figured out by repetition what things were & what they meant by things said or done. Dogs are totally different species than us & don’t understand our language, but understand repetition & body language. We as well as animals repeat what we get rewarded for, such as you go to work because you get a paycheck. Down the street from me is an area where if I am blessed I will see deer, which I really enjoy seeing. I have seen them say 40 times in the last 20 years, but every time I go that way I still look, hoping to see them (a reward for looking that way).
Dog training has come a long way since the days of “Traditional Methods.” I like to think “how do I learn best.” If someone was showing me something & I wasn’t getting it, would showing me again, explaining it differently or encouraging me work better, or a slap across the back of my head, or a tight grip on my shoulder. Obviously not the latter two, they would only make me angry & frustrated at my instructor. So if you do better if taught the same way as I do, do you not think our dogs would also?
Studies by experts of behaviorism have shown there is no reason whatsoever to use painful or adversive methods in training. Collars such as choke chains, prong (pinch) , & shock collars (e-collars) are @ best effective on a limited basis & @ worst these types of “training collars” are fatally abusive, break trust & bonds with owner/handler, inflict pain, cause fear, & cause an aggressive response.
Positive training:
- Teaches the dog specifically what to do opposed to hoping the dog will figure out what the correct behavior may be.
- It creates leadership in the owner, therefore strengthening the bond between dog & owner.
- No pain in order to learn, pain increases stress & stress lowers learning capability.
- Positive training is fun & enjoyable for both the human & the dog.
- It builds confidence in the dog (this is especially helpful with a fearful or shy dog).
I get ads on my phone about pets because I am a big researcher about pets & one that triggered me to blog on this topic now was one saying ‘Are you tired of bribing your dog with food to get what you want from your dog’. Well rewarding is not a bribe, you reward for the desired behavior, & no it is not forever nor does it have to be food. Not all dogs are food motivated, some want to play, be praised by you or be scratched on the ear. As I said earlier we repeat what we get rewarded for, so do dogs. If your dog jumps on you & you pet or touch them in any way (even to push them off) you have rewarded that behavior. I say “4 on the floor” & then I give attention, meaning when my dogs or any dog I meet tries to jump on me. it gets no touch till all 4 paws are on the ground. I don’t give eye contact or touch & even turn away, move away till all four paws are down. My dogs will jump if people allow it, I had a new friend over last night & she is dog savoy & she did exactly what I like & they did not jump on her & they got petting & love from her. Honestly I wish all my guests would do this. I don’t let them practice jumping, I will gate them or crate them till they calm down & my guests understand my request of 4 on the floor.
The old saying that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks is NOT true. The first dog in this post is of my approx 105th foster that I adopted. Sydney was 3 when she came in as a foster & she had been abused (admitted by owner to his Vet, she was brought it to be euthanized, when she finally snapped back) & it took time, but she went through many positive only classes from basic training to learning tricks to build her confidence & she was even learning the sport of Parkur at age 6. We weren’t going to compete, but the more she learned any skill the more confident she became. No that doesn’t mean she became dominant or hard to deal with. After I got her it took me 3 months to get her to even walk down my driveway to go for a walk, we couldn’t go far & if yard decor for the holidays was out no way was she going. After several classes she was joining me camping & going to all different places. She was reactive to dogs, but with counter conditioning & desensitization she would sit & look at me when she saw another dog approaching. I still had to use good management skills not to let her interact with strange dogs, but she did quite well.
I hope this post has given you some things to think about & a better understanding of how positive training with dogs works & why it works better than aversive technique training methods. Don’t worry if you have used them, you can start today using positive reinforcement training methods. The dog in the final photo went through a training place that used shock & pinch collars. We were told she knew so many obedience matters, but she only did what she thought the people wanted when the painful collars were on her. She was a year old & had been through 6 months of training with negative methods & she didn’t even know how to sit when I took her in. She was adopted & went positive training & she is doing very well.
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