Does Positive Training Really Work?

 

YES! Just as we have learned over time that children perform better and grow up with greater emotional health when parents provide loving discipline and structure in the home, dogs react much the same way.

 

Using old-fashioned “compulsion training” to force a dog to comply using leash corrections, electric shock, hitting or any other form of punishment can lead to a dog who is unwilling to offer new behaviors for fear of correction and can lead to a breakdown in the relationship between owner and dog that can be irreparable. Trying to physically force dogs into certain positions, for example, only serves to engage their inherent “opposition reflex” that causes them to push against rather than conform to such pressure.

 

Plus, yelling, scolding, hitting and losing your cool is no fun either. Training your dog really can be pleasant. If you work with your dog’s natural instincts and establish your role as his benevolent pack leader, life will be good.

 

 

Doesn’t training dogs with treats just teach dogs to beg?

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Food treats dramatically increase a dog’s interest in training and motivation to perform. When used effectively, they work wonders in luring dogs into desired positions and behaviors and as reinforcement that the behavior they offered is the right one.

 

When teaching new commands, we reward dogs often with highly desirable (and very small) food treats. As they master the skill, we wean them off of food treats by randomizing rewards.

 

Are clickers just the latest fad?

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You do not have to use a clicker to train your dog, and some dogs actually find the click noise intimidating. But for many owners, the clicker provides a more reliable way to “mark” a dog’s good behavior the second it happens. If we “click” the second our dog’s bum hits the ground in the sit position, he has a better chance of seeing the connection than if we voice our praise at varying times and in varying tones just based on human fluctuations.

 

You can always experiment with clicker-based training and then decide whether it’s right for you and your dog. Nothing about training is one-size-fits-all.

 

How long will training take?

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Just a few weeks --- and forever! Just like kids, many dogs are quick learners and can learn new commands like sit or down in just a few hours and master it in a matter of days or weeks. But they also need frequent reinforcement that comes through regular practice and perhaps even more through your patterns of daily living.

 

If you have your dog sit every time before he’s fed, he will be getting trained every day. Likewise, once he masters loose-leash walking, you will have zero tolerance for being pulled down the street. A home filled with reliable, loving structure is comforting to your dog and stress-reducing for you.

 

Can my dog really learn to stop (barking, chewing, jumping . . . etc.)?

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YES! More than likely your dog can indeed learn behaviors to replace these negative ones. We will work together to explore what ways you may be unintentionally rewarding the very behaviors you want to eliminate, and work with your dog’s inborn breed characteristics to devise and train new behaviors that meet your needs and that your dog can reliably perform.

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