Positive training & corrections?

[JJDBike]

Thanks for all of that. The story about Suzanne us a great story for teachers of all living things (as I've mentioned before I'm a high school health teacher).
JD

[Chicagocanine]

Originally Posted By: Cassidys Mom Suzanne Clothier said it best in the seminar I went to in 2008. She told us about being with a bunch of positive ONLY trainers and daring them to teach her to do something without using corrections of any kind. They took her on. She got up, walked across the room, out the door, and across the street. They said it wasn't fair - how could they teach her anything if she left? Her answer? "You didn't tell me I couldn't."

That story sounds like the trainers were not making themselves or the situation interesting enough. Now, if they had been handing out $100 bills or Godiva chocolates maybe she would not have walked out.

Personally I do not know of anyone who uses ONLY positive reinforcement, they at least use negative punishment if nothing else... A lot of people who say they are "positive reinforcement trainers" also use positive punishment of some sort even if it is only a sound like "eh eh".

[codmaster]

Does anyone seperate the "Obedience" (i.e. sit, stay, down, etc.) from the basic behavior of a dog, i.e. nipping, jumping, growling?

One trainer near here made a big point of seperating the "learned" behavior from the "pack" behavior.

He was much different in corrections for the different types - much stronger for bad "pack" behavior than the "learned" stuff.

Interesting theory at least?

[big_dog7777]

I separate OB from basic behavior - but do so completely opposite of stronger corrections. In fact I do not correct for nipping or jumping. I stop all movement and redirect nipping to whatever their teeth SHOULD be on in the first place (toy, tug, ball). The mindset behind nipping is play, not aggression. The dog is not trying to dominate me or hurt me, why should I answer playful butthead behavior with force? That's not fair. Jumping is the same thing. Normally a dog jumps for attention. Ignore it completely and stand like a statue until the dog sits. Then reward proper behavior with attention and affection. Again, why should I meet my dogs exuberance to see me with force? Again, that's not fair. Growling is a much longer topic. It totally depends on the situation and why the dog is growling - but I will tell you this... I NEVER correct growling at me. I don't run away or back away either, but the last thing I want to do is take away a dogs last method of communication prior to a bite by taking the growl out of a dog. I need to take a step back and find out WHY my dog is growling and work the cause - not the end result. Even if a dog is just handler aggressive and dominant the best way to handle it is to develop a regiment to change that mindset while ALWAYS setting yourself up to be calmly 100% in control. Even if a hard correction stops aggression in a dog you are not removing the stress that caused it and there are some dogs out there that will not just submit.

[Cassidy's Mom]

Welcome to the board codmaster, I noticed that you haven't introduced yourself yet. We have a special section where new members can post a thread telling about themselves and their dogs. You can also edit your profile to include the area you live in, and many people also put information about their dogs in their signature - links to dogster pages or the pedigree database, or just names and ages and such.

Obviously, all of this is optional and not required, but it's always nice to know more about the people who participate on the board, and we especially love pictures.