Positive Only Training

Many dog lovers unknowingly engage in practices or expectations that can confuse or upset their dogs. This is often due to cultural beliefs that, until recently, have not represented the dog's point of view. Such beliefs can harm dogs and undermine their potential as thinking, feeling beings. My methods are humane, respecting the dogs' needs and point of view.

Humane training is training that the dog experiences, subjectively, as positive. It creates clarity, not confusion; pleasure, not pressure; safety, not suspicion; change without pain.

Research shows that using pressure or punishment when training slows learning and de-motivates the learner. There is no longer any debate: stress, startle, pain, dominance are never necessary.

Read more here from the VASAB on the use of aversives in training.

*'Positive only' is NOT to be confused with 'permissiveness'. Rather, by meeting a dog's need for clarity and in the absence of fear or suspicion, dogs learn to respect boundaries and rules very quickly.

Positive only' training is intentionally comfortable for the dog in every dimension. It shows the dog the what, where, how and why of the desired behaviour.

Effective and Humane. Techniques alone are not enough. The dog's moment to moment experience profoundly affects learning, and the outcomes of training.

Even putting a correction collar on as a "reminder only" with no intent to use it is intimidating to the dog who has experienced the shock or the choke, and as such has negative impacts on the dog (stress!, frustration, pain) and your relationship. (Think of the sweaty palms and faster heart rate that overtakes us when we're in the car and a police cruiser with lights and siren approaches; we don't even know what we did, but we panic and only relax when we the police officer and cruiser are gone or focused on another driver. Now imagine the cruiser in pursuit mode behind us for the whole journey.)

My methods are positive, always. What does this mean?

It comes down to how we train.

'Positive always’ means that training methods are intentionally NEVER threatening or painful. It also means that the dog’s point of view/experience (emotional, mental and physical) in real time (moment-to-moment) is relevant, respected and informs the training process (i.e. what and how and for how long we train) and its effectiveness (facilitates motivation and reinforcement).

The dog decides what is reinforcing.

Only that which the dog finds pleasant is reinforcing. This is a law of nature. A piece of carrot or a piece of kibble or a piece of banana is not reinforcing (won't motivate) if the dog doesn't like carrots, kibble, or bananas. End of story. The dog is not being stubborn or trying to manipulate–dogs don’t think like that; those foods simply don't affect them in any way that is reinforcing. (When we humans don’t like a particular food, we just don't like it. It’s our biology, or involuntary learning history that makes it so, not a character flaw.)

Learning to ‘read’ our dogs' body language is how we come to know our dog's point of view in any given instant, and is integral to positive handling and training. Body language is canine communication. It lives in the movement, position and degree of tension or looseness of body parts--ears, tail, eyes, mouth, body posture.

‘Reading’ your dog's body in conjunction with its behaviour is how we can achieve two-way communication, meaning the information each of us sends and receives facilitates the relationship. Once we we understand our dog's body language it will in many cases change how we interpret their behaviour. When we understand, take seriously and are responsive to the signals our dog is giving off, then we have succeeded in becoming attuned , and our understanding of the meaning of his/her behaviour may grow dramatically.

What exactly is Positive Reinforcement training?

Positive Reinforcement training is based on the science of applied behaviour analysis, the laws of which state that “...behaviours that are reinforced will be repeated…” (the animal will be motivated if reinforced, and will want to do the behaviour again and in the future to earn reinforcement) and "... behaviours that are not reinforced will extinguish..." The methodology lends itself to some fast and easy wins with our dogs!

“You just use treats, right?”

To be effective, and especially to avoid frustrating, or unintentionally punishing your learner, dog guardians should learn from a trainer who has been educated in the theory and methods of applied behaviour analysis and is qualified to practice.

More About the Theory

The science is much deeper than meets the eye; ABA is complex and rich with nuances that guardians don't need to understand in order to be effective with their own dogs, but are essential for the trainers of guardians know. The theory of positive reinforcement (R+) training is a study for trainers teaching others, and geeks. At Kindred Creatures, pet guardians learn some basic theory disguised as “guidelines for effective training”.

The important thing is that YOU have a qualified trainer to set you and your dog up for success. (To recognize a qualified positive reinforcement trainer, look for letters behind the name, and then do a search on the organization and qualifications associated with those letters. Once found, check that the code of ethics explicitly denounces training with correction and aversives, and then search that organization’s trainers directory to find the name and photo of the trainer you’re considering.)

The first learning is play. The best learning is play.

The single most important thing is that effective training is upbeat and fun to keep your dog wanting to train. Mistakes are normalized and we always offer another (easier) repetition following an error so the dog can earn reinforcement. If you’re really paying attention to your dog while you're training, you’re going to be smiling a lot!

You’ll be encouraged to keep a ‘toddler perspective’ to help you attune to your dog’s innocence, and to his/her level of comfort and emotional experience so that you can adjust to his/her needs as you go, and...

...thoroughly enjoy your dog's personality and antics as you train.

We use things your dog naturally enjoys (small pieces of healthy treats, a toy, a game of tug, or that 'thing' that you do to him that he loves.) to reinforce skills that you want him/her to learn.

Skills are taught by first breaking them down into small steps that gradually, and one-by-one in tiny increments, lead to the goal behaviour (the skill).

For example when teaching your dog to come when called, our very first step might be to reinforce the dog for just looking at you while already right in front of you; the final step might be calling your dog from half a football field away in the presence of a squirrel.

For example, when teaching leash-walking, we might start with first reinforcing the dog for just standing near us; we might finish with your dog walking loosely and happily at your side while you cross the parking lot at the dog park.

Progressing in tiny increments isn’t only about being gentle; it's also about being effective.

The instant an animal becomes stressed from confusion or frustration, learning and/or motivation is negatively affected. Therefore, the attunement to your dog while training is essential to success; attunement will ensure that the rate at which the training progresses will always be right for your dog in that moment.

Learning is a layered affair where success builds skill, and skill builds success.

When behaviour is complex, it takes more steps and time to achieve reliable behaviour change. Think of learning a new sport or musical instrument. Learning happens in skill clusters and then the clusters are consolidated into bigger clusters, and so on. Success builds gradually, and sometimes imperceptibly, but

when you look back after a few weeks or months ‘from where you first started’ you are impressed!