|
©Alana Stevenson 2008
What is positive training?
Positive training means rewarding your dog for performing a behavior you desire. When your dog exhibits a behavior you like, show your dog that you appreciate that behavior by rewarding your dog. A reward is anything your dog may enjoy. Food, throwing a tennis ball, playing tug, giving your dog a massage, praising your dog, giving your dog a kiss, and running with your dog are examples of rewards. By rewarding your dog for performing a behavior, your dog will want to repeat that behavior again. By repeating that behavior, your dog will get very good at it! Your dog will then exhibit the behavior you like more regularly, and you will not have to reward your dog as often.
How is positive training different from being “dominant” over a dog?
Positive training is very different from the methods used by those following a dominance/submission approach to training. When people try to be dominant over dogs, they often employ harmful techniques that are confrontational. People try to be “boss” over their dogs by yanking and jerking them. Pinch, choke, and shock collars, as well as yanking on a dog’s leash, are all standard methods used by those following a dominance approach to training. Choke collars, as their name implies, "choke" dogs. These collars can greatly damage the trachea and spine, and constrict a dog's air passages. The choke collar does not provide your dog with any guidance or positive instruction. The "pinch" or “prong” collar pinches. It inhibits your dog's behaviors through pain and discomfort. This too does not teach your dog how to behave or what to do in a positive way. "Shock" collars cause pain and instill fear in an animal. The use of these collars intensifies fear and aggression, makes problem behaviors worse, damages the relationship between dogs and people, and makes anxious dogs more anxious. Animals do not learn well under stress. Yanking or jerking a dog’s neck or shocking a dog into “submission” will cause a dog to become fearful, shy, or avoidant. This style of training is neither fun for the dog, nor the person, and sets up a confrontation when there was never a need for one.
Another problem with teaching dogs using a dominance/submissive approach is that the methods and tools used are punitive. This implies that the dog will not succeed unless there are repeated corrections. The dog is set up for failure from the beginning. Sadly, the dog is punished before the dog knows what to do or what is expected of him. If the dog does not quickly figure out what the trainer or owner wants, the dog is often labeled as stubborn, stupid, or dominant. Rarely do positive, compassionate trainers label dogs or set them up for failure.
Saying "No" to a dog doesn’t help.
I often get asked by clients, “Why can’t I just say “No!”?” My answer is simple. The word No gives no instructions. The word in itself is meaningless unless it connotes disapproval through voice and mannerisms. Often people are late to intervene, making their "reprimands" useless. If a person comes across adversarial enough, a dog may stop the unwanted behavior temporarily because he is startled, fearful, or afraid, but until the dog is taught a new way of behaving — in other words, can be taught another behavior to replace the unwanted one — the unwanted behavior will continue. It is more effective to teach wanted behaviors early on through positive training, and to prevent and avoid creating behavioral problems, than it is to reprimand your dog for doing things you dislike.
Finding a good trainer.
There aren’t any universal standards or credentials for dog trainers. Finding a trainer who uses positive methods should be a number one priority. Years of experience are not as important as the methods a trainer uses. Truly experienced, positive trainers rarely use the words “alpha” or “dominance” for the reasons mentioned above . Likewise, humane trainers will not use choke, pinch, or shock collars. Be wary of “breed specific” trainers, such as those boasting to train Shepherds, Dobermans, and Rottweilers. There is a machismo quality to these breeds, and often these trainers are very heavy-handed.
A skilled positive trainer can teach any breed. Dogs don’t defy learning theory. Positive training works for all dogs. Good trainers will use food or other rewards, flat collars or harnesses, and will teach you to reward wanted behaviors and to ignore, manage, or redirect unwanted behaviors into desired behaviors.
Good advice for all dog guardians.
Be kind to your dogs. Exercise your dogs. Appreciate your dogs and reward your dogs for good behaviors. Do not yell at your dogs or bully them. Set your dogs up for success and manage problems early on instead of creating problems or trying to undo problems you may have created. Teach your dog positively, and both you and your dog will benefit.
Alana Stevenson, MS is a professional Animal Behaviorist and humane Dog Trainer. She is the author of the "The Right Way the First Time, Teaching Your Dog Kindly and Humanely." She can be reaced at her website www.AlanaStevenson.com. |
