I began as a dog trainer because I wanted to help dogs. As a shelter volunteer I saw dogs sitting in kennel runs, not just for months but sometimes for years due to behavioral issues. Some were just hyperactive dogs that needed to be taught some manners, some just needed to learn how to play well with others; none were unadoptable. But someone needed to take seriously the fact that these dogs had behavioral issues. Instead, they were adopted out and returned, sometimes multiple times.
I spent three years educating myself through online courses, taking dogs through different trainers. Reading books, watching DVD’s, and just watching dogs. Yet, after all that, I still didn’t think I had the answers I needed to truly help dogs with behavior problems. There was just too much information out there pulling me in too many different directions at once.
It has now been 8 years since I decided I wanted to be a dog trainer, a person who works with dogs. Not an instructor, like some people; I wanted to be hands on so that I could analyze, teach, and experience the development of the canine education process. Three years ago I finally settled into the trainer I wanted to be. A balanced trainer. I wanted to be the kind of trainer that looked at a dog, accessed the situation, and used the means necessary to train the dog to its fullest potential. If that meant using a prong collar, a remote e-collar, a gentle leader, markers, toys, food, metal or nylon choke collars, then so be it.
My job is done when a dog can live in a relaxed state of mind and have the understanding of each basic “word” that it has been taught. If this helps give a dog a better, healthier relationship with its human companions and keeps it in its home for the rest of its life, then I feel I’m successful in what I’m doing.
With this reasoning, I will not apologize for telling a dog “No”. I will not let anyone berate me because I believe in discipline, a state of being, as well as in giving a correction for a bad decision. I believe discipline does NOT equal abuse and I believe you cannot train a dog to its fullest potential by reward alone. To have balance you must have right and wrong.
My training is not positive reinforcement only, nor is it punishment based, it is based on balance. I use all 4 parts of the **Learing Theory of Dog Training , not just 2.
**The Four Quadrants of Operant Conditioning.
Positive Reinforcement—
Add something that will increase the chance of the behavior happening again.
(Treat or Toy reward after asking for Sit)
Negative Reinforcement-
Remove something that will increase the chance of the behavior happening again.
(Ecollar tap stops once the dog is in the Sit position)
Positive Punishment—
Actively doing something that decreases the chance of the behavior happening again.
(Leash correction, squirt bottle )
Negative Punishment—
Removing something from the dog that will decrease the chance of the behavior from
happening again.
(with hold treat reward, remove self or dog from situation)
