Wow! What a can of worms my mom opened by posting that Dog Whisperer article. Mom only agrees with one thing he says: All dogs need boundaries, training and exercise. However, his methods for training a dog to be part of the family make her cringe. She asked me to explain the difference between traditional (pack leader) training and positive reinforcement training. Traditional training is based on forcing a dog to do what you want him to do. Common tools include choke collars, pinch collars, and shock collars. Common practices include flooding, alpha rolls and physical restraint. Dogs learn to do things to avoid painful or unpleasant consequences. Quick fix approach Positive reinforcement can be explained as teaching the dog to want to do things the right way by making the right way more rewarding. Common tools include yummy treats and no-pull harnesses. Common practices include building a relationship based on trust. Dogs learn to do things because they get things that make them happy. Results may take longer, but tend to last longer as well. Tamara Dormer....one of my amazing trainers explained it to my mom this way. Say you were trying to learn how to use the computer for the first time. Every time you made even the tiniest mistake you were yelled at, or jerked by the neck, or even shocked. How willing would you be to continue learning? What would your mind set be like? Now imagine the same scenario, but every time you did something wrong, nothing happened. But every time you did something right you got a dollar, or piece of chocolate. Now how willing would you be to learn? Everyones dog is different. And everyone needs to do what they think is best for their dog and family.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Jun 2014 15:17:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015