When Hounds Fly!

Many dog training and dog obedience schools in Toronto claim to be "humane" or "positive" but when you actually dig deeper, they're not at all!  Oftentimes, students will have already paid in full, and either stick with the program and reluctantly hurt their dogs, or, they quit and have lost their money.

One way to tell if a school is truly positive and science based is by the equipment used.  Effective science based training dictates you use an event marker or a clicker, because its scientifically proven to be more effective than using your voice.  They may also use tools like target sticks.  No special collars or leashes are required because you don't actually lay your hands on your dog.

Having attended classes at other schools, and heard second hand from friends and colleagues of schools in the area, here are some examples of training methods that are used at schools in Toronto that claim to be "positive" and "humane".

1. Physically manipulating a dog to position, no matter how gentle you are with them.  I witnessed a dog trainer try to force a dog into the heel/finish position and the dog just kept on popping up to a stand.  The harder the trainer placed the dog back, the more insistent the dog was to spring back up.  The entire class of 10 students watched for three minutes as dog bounced up, dog trainer pushed down, dog bounced up, repeat, and visible frustration began to appear on the dog trainers face.  Placing a dog through physical force, no matter how gentle, is a waste of time (no learning occurs here).
2. Jerking on the leash, regardless of collar type.  Some dog trainers in Toronto will tell you that a quick jerk on the leash when the dog is wearing a flat collar or a martingale is harmless to the dog and that only a choke or prong collar is harmful.  Wrong - all jerking on the leash can cause damage to a dog's neck and trachea.  These trainers will say that the jerk is to help the dog focus.  What the jerk really is is punishment for focusing on the wrong thing.  Why not just show the dog what he SHOULD be focusing on, not what he SHOULDN'T be focusing on?
3. Acting like a wolf or some sort of big alpha dog.  This is dog owners making deep grring noises or talking like they are manly lumberjack men. According to these dog trainers, somehow if you make your dog thing you are a big scary dog, suddenly your dog will know how to recall, sit, stay, come, down, and also finish an agility course.  After all, dogs all know how to fetch beers from the fridge or play dead - you just need to be alpha enough so they perform for you.  Yeah right.  Don't believe me when I say the concept of "alpha" is both incorrect and irrelevant?  Would you believe the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior? 
   
   • "Despite the fact that advances in behavior research have modified our understanding of social hierarchies in wolves, many animal trainers continue to base their training methods on outdated perceptions of dominance theory."
   • Full article and statement HERE.

So if these sorts of techniques get passed off as "humane", then what does truly humane and positive dog training look like?

Here are a few characteristics:

1.  If the dog does not perform the requested behavior, it is not because the dog is dominant or disobedient - it is because the behavior is truly not learned yet.
2.  Verbal or physical cues are not given until the dog has demonstrated the understanding of the behavior fully.  (i.e. you don't start saying the word Down until the dog has demonstrated it knows the act of getting its belly on the floor really really well)
3. Criteria for success is set very low to start and only very slowly raised.  If the dog suddenly doesn't perform the expected behavior, it's the trainer's fault for raising criteria too quickly.
4. Incorrect responses are ignored, not punished.
5. Correct responses are identified with an event marker (aka clicker, or a very well timed YES) and within 1.5 seconds of the event, a primary reinforcer is delivered (i.e. a piece of food)
6. The dog will end up looking forward to training time and be eager to work, and be eager to be creative and work with the owner to figure out what it's supposed to do.

The great thing about positive reinforcement / clicker training is it is also the MOST effective way to teach a dog a behavior - and when a dog has learned its first behavior using positive reinforcement / clicker training, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and nth behaviors get faster and faster.  Here's an example.  I'm currently fostering a 5 year old beagle with a bite history.  Prior to be taking him in, he had NO obedience training.  He didn't even know SIT.  Three months after getting him, I'm teaching him complex tricks like jumping in this cardboard box.  It took me a total of 15 minutes to teach this behavior to him.(two training sessions of approximately 7 minutes each).