Something that always gets me during a consult, or even before, is when the owner offers to have their dog demonstrate the reason you've been called in. They want to take the dog for a walk and "find another dog" so I can see their dog's reaction to it. They want to go get a bowl of food or a bone and give it to the dog so I can see how the dog behaves when they attempt to remove it.
I don't need to see it. I've seen it. What I'd like to see is their dog never do it again. I gently encourage them to take a mental snapshot of their dog's behavior during that last episode and mentally file it away because we're going to aim to NEVER see it again. That is a neuron path we're not going for a walk down again any time soon - hopefully. One rehearsal of a particular behavior can take weeks, months, even years to counteract depending on the severity and sensitivity of a particular dog. We focus on the solution, its steps, and not so much the problem anymore.
I think that is something that distinguishes many trainers as well. Most rewards-based trainers don't want to see that behavior knowing full well what it looks like. We are interested in the recovery process - the rehab, if you will. We are able to pick up the subtle signs that the dog has or is reaching threshold. We know that there's a point we don't want to reach because in an effort to change the emotional response of a dog prodding and poking at his sore point is counterintuitive. We dance around, up to, and back away from a threshold all while making the dog feel good about what's happening. We do it for the dog and its owners, not for ourselves.
See behavior(2%), assess behavior(23%), fix behavior(75%). Those are numbers I can live with. I'll keep my drama where it belongs - on TV.
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I agree
I agree, though I don't know any successful trainers that aren't rewards based. I use a whole bunch of skills, but my training is still rewards based:) It's a good point, I just wish the politics could sometimes be taken out of it, sigh.
I do not set up a dog to fail. I also would like not to see the behavior again, and our training programs go through the steps to get that done without needing to see the behavior. However, we also concentrate (when the dog is ready) on distractions and at the point the dog is ready, give them the ability to choose the path they are going to take (safely).