When you are a professional dog trainer, there’s a joke you hear a lot:
“The only thing two dog trainers can agree on is that the third one is wrong.”
Once upon a time, I had a client send me a video of a ‘professional’ dog trainer who was bad-mouthing a bunch of other trainers—Bark Busters included. The client wondered what I thought. I considered it for a second and realized I’m too busy training dogs to pay attention to what other trainers do or don’t do, so in short, I didn’t think about this individual at all.
Here at Bark Busters, we don’t waste time worrying about other trainers. There are more dogs in the world than there are trainers to help them.
Quite frankly, I’m tired of the cattiness in the canine industry. So long as the client and the dog are healthy and happy, we’re happy too!
That said, there is no greater debate than the one between positive-only (i.e. rewarding desired behaviours with treats, and ignoring undesired behaviours,) and every other training approach, so we’d like to clarify where we stand! Primarily, in our experience, it is always more valuable to concentrate on what the individual dog in front of you needs, and how we are going to approach solving the problem.
Yes, it is absolutely important to recognize the value of positive reinforcement in dog training. Guiding desired behaviours with praise, play or treats can be an effective way to encourage repetition of those actions, and/or rehabilitate a fearful or nervous dog.
That said, our decades of experience and research have shown that relying solely on positive reinforcement has limitations; it doesn’t address all behavioural challenges, and in some cases can even reinforce undesirable behaviours. In the most severe cases, it can cost a dog its life.
Dogs live in the moment and form associations quickly. If they receive food while they are barking, lunging, or anxious, they may begin to link the reward with their overexcited behaviour rather than the calm state we want to encourage.
One of the biggest limitations of treat training is that it focuses primarily on external behaviours, (such as sitting, staying, or laying down,) rather than addressing a dog’s internal state of mind: actually being calm. True behavioural change occurs when we communicate with dogs in a way they instinctively understand, rather than only using food.
Dogs, by nature, are social and family-oriented animals that seek structure and clear guidance. Don’t believe it? You don’t even need to ask us—watch any group of dogs get together. They communicate through voice and body language. Even if one of those dogs was born and raised in a completely different part of the world, they still speak each other’s language. Dogs always communicate the concepts of “right” and “wrong”. The only treats to be found will have been introduced by humans.
Dogs have been speaking to each other clearly for millennia; all we need to do is listen and learn.
Even today, a mother dog provides the blueprint of how to rear her offspring. She guides and corrects appropriately; it’s the “law of the dog.” When a dog is then introduced into your home, they are watching and waiting in those initial weeks to see who is going to provide that same sense of structure and consistency that their mother had provided. These things are essential for a dog’s overall wellbeing and emotional balance. The lack of structure will result in a stressed dog who will not feel safe or protected, much like a child who doesn’t have an effective parent.
Our training approach focuses on building and maintaining that relationship.
By employing clear, communicative methods—voice, body language, sound—AND positive reinforcement when it’s the correct tool, we address both the physical actions and the mental states of dogs. This leads to better-balanced and longer-lasting behavioural improvements. This method empowers dogs to think, and to make better choices, rather than simply responding to the presence of a treat. (Or ignoring you in the absence of a treat!)
While positive reinforcement is absolutely a valuable tool in dog training, it is most effective when integrated into a comprehensive strategy that considers the dog’s overall wellbeing, and respects their way of understanding the world.
Ready to make a real change in your dog’s behaviour?