A great post I came across on Facebook this week, and I have reproduced it below for you.....
Credit to ADAM SPIVEY - Southend Dog Training
NO TRAINER USES POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT ONLY
If a trainer claims to use only Positive Reinforcement they’re lying to you.
As soon as you ADD something to DECREASE a behaviour, that’s PUNISHMENT (technically known as Positive Punishment).
As soon as you REMOVE something to DECREASE a behaviour that’s PUNISHMENT (technically known as Negative Punishment).
As soon as you REMOVE something to INCREASE a behaviour that’s REINFORCEMENT (technically known as Negative Reinforcement).
So either the trainer who claims to be a purely positive reinforcement dog trainer is lying or they just don’t understand dog training properly, either way, that’s not a trainer you want helping you.
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT is just to ADD something to INCREASE a behaviour. It does not DECREASE unwanted behaviour.
any use of PRESSURE in dog training, whether it’s from a No pull harness, Halti (head collar), Slip Lead, Choke chain, prong collar etc etc, any type of restraining your dog is using FORCE and therefore the trainer that claims to be FORCE FREE but using any of the above is also telling porkies.
In dog training YOU USE the tools and methods that best suits that individual dog not what best suits your EGO.
EXPOSING YOUR DOG TO STRESS
Understand that dogs with behaviour problems are already stressed, especially those with extreme fears and anxiety issues that often lead to reactive behaviours. Dragging out session after session because you don’t want to expose your dog to what makes them afraid does not make the training less stressful, it actually makes the stress last longer.
A decent trainer will slowly expose dogs to what makes them afraid and teach them how to cope with the stress, even if that means briefly putting your dog in a situation that’s more stressful, because teaching them how to handle stress actually reduces stress.
It might seem better to the naked eye but trust me, the longer the dog lives with that stress the worse it is for that dog.
STRESS EXISTS in everyday life, we teach dogs how to deal with that stress just like we have to learn to cope with stresses of everyday life.
SCIENCE BASED DOG TRAINING
Often I see trainers claiming to be science based dog trainers, this sounds good on paper but in reality that’s where it stops.
One study will tell you that if you do something this way, it’s the right way and then you will read another study that says the exact opposite. Science is experimental and it’s primarily done in labs, where they do studies on multiple dogs. What science does not do is add in the real world situations, science does not account for irresponsible dog owners who let their dogs run over to other dogs willy nilly. Science does not prepare you for real world situations.
All you have to do is look at some of the nonsense you read in everyday life. One minute a glass of wine is a day is good, next day it’s causing cancer.
What trumps science is actual real world, first hand, true to life experience.
But the truth is, decent dog trainers do actually use science in dog training. They use all 4 quadrants of operant conditioning, something that works for both humans and dogs and has been successful for years and years. Sadly even in today’s modern upbringing of children we are focusing on a Purely Positive way of raising them and I don’t need to highlight how this is failing terribly in society. One thing we can all agree on, is the youth of today have no respect and no manners and you only need to look at how we are now expected to raise our children to see why.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
If you’re training dogs you have an obligation to teach both the dog and the owners how to deal with the unexpected, real life scenarios. You have an obligation to be honest with them and help them and not mislead them with false and unrealistic prophesies and quoting jargon that owners could not care less about. They want results, reliable and real world results.
By ADAM SPIVEY - Southend Dog Training
