The Dog Blog

Mr. and Mrs. Wellington and their dog "Rebel" were in week seven of our 12 week Family Dog Program. "Rebel" is a 9 month old Lab/Shepherd mix, rambunctious, excitable, but exceptionally trainable and very food motivated. He was a quick learner and was very reliable on the basics, sits, downs, recalls, and was coming along with his loose leash walking. He really was quite typical for a dog his age. The Wellingtons are a middle-aged couple, likely empty nesters, and seemed very committed to his training and wanted him to do well. That's why I was shocked when they showed up in class on week 7 with Rebel wearing a choke chain. To make matters worse, the choke chain was about 3 sizes too big to boot.

The conversation went like this:

Me: "Um, what's going on here?"
Mr. Wellington (looking bewildered): "With what?"
(I looked over at Mrs. Wellington who looked like a deer caught in the headlights.)

The advent of positive reinforcement has been an incredible leap forward in how we train our dogs. However as with anything in life, there are drawbacks. In my opinion the drawbacks in this training system are not the system per se, but rather the implications of human perceptions and personal beliefs.

Ask anyone what a “reward” is and the answer is more than often one of following: food, toy, petting etc. Yes, these are certainly all rewards, but we should be thinking more laterally. A reward is anything that the dog would perceive as desirable, at that point in time.

If I work my little crossbreed on a hot day he is more likely to find a swim more rewarding than playing with his ball. Common sense, but all too often overlooked.

In my dog training business, most of the animals I work with come to me with a profound misunderstanding of their place in the human/dog relationship. They have their own ideas of how things should work. The slightest distraction can lead them to blow me off, even when I’m certain that they know how to do what I’m asking. Many of them suffer from a low frustration tolerance, and having to deal with anything they don’t want to deal with can lead to hyperactive behavior, excessive vocalization, and even aggression. I’m a big fan of using the “Nothing in Life is Free” (or NILIF) protocol to teach these recalcitrant students their proper place in the pack. I’m speaking, of course, about my human students.

I was shocked a few months ago to see some segments on local evening news featuring a force based dog trainer. These local segments were advertised along with the CBS program “Greatest American Dog”, a reality based program that promoted reward based training. Incensed, I emailed the reporter and outlined how I felt these segments misrepresented modern dog training and gave the viewing audience a one sided approach, which simply suppressed each dog's behavioral problems. She admitted that the force-based trainer pitched to segment ideas to them. The reporter was willing to do another set of segments featuring reward-based trainers.