Why I choose to train dogs using positive reinforcement vs balanced methods.

You will by now have seen online the clash there is between force free dog trainers, also known as positive reinforcement dog training vs balanced dog training. I'm not here to discuss that or to say what you should do. I am here to show you why I use positive reinforcement as my preferred and only method to train dogs, and my personal experiences with it so you can decide for yourself.

Now I have been around long enough in dog training, to have unfortunately originally trained in what would have been balanced dog training. Upon getting my first dog Bertie, I just assumed you got a dog took it home spent your life with them and that was it. But the reality was very different. I had welcomed home a teenager dog who did not understand my language, had very poor social skills, stole everything in sight on any surface and the concept of a lead was just something to drag me around with. Upon speaking to a few people, my old boss (Thank you Susan!) she kindly guided me to her friend who was a dog trainer at a local club. I signed up and we got training straight away.

I had never owned my own dog before, we had family pets, but they never had training, so this was all new to me. So for everything they said I took as gospel, I didn't know any better, or that there were different ways of teaching. So you can imagine in classes, dog walked ahead, we gave a pop on the lead to get them back to heel, physically pushed them into a down position (on a slippery floor!) Recall was taught by lettering your dog go ahead of you and popping lead so they turn back then call them. (I can still see in my head Bertie's eye flinch that he used to give me for doing this, which makes me very sad!) And even once saw another trainer pin a dog to the floor as it wouldn't do a down and hold it until it stopped moving. I don't think like dog training shows like Cesar Millan or even ones we see now on the TV help much as these are what we saw in daily lives as well.

All of this training techniques technically the dog is still learning but they are learning through positive punishment and negative reinforcement. Positive punishment trains by adding a negative stimulus to decrease the chances of that behaviour happening again. Think popping/jerking a lead every time they walk ahead of you. Negative reinforcement works by removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase behaviour, think pressure on a lead or body is stopped when behaviour is performed.

So all of this was still going on in classes and I just thought, hey this is how you train! Fast forward a little and I got asked to become a dog trainer there, so took up on the offer. And I was given two very lovely mentors. And its thanks to these mentors that showed me that there were alternatives to dog training. And thank god they did! I trained with them, I learnt how to train a dog using positive reinforcement, and my mind shifted completely. Why did I used to think that a dog was put on this earth to obey me? I'm its owner it must do everything I say because I have said it.... right? Oh how wrong I was. Having a dog was about sharing your life with a sentient being who has feelings, emotions drives just as much as we do. And that dogs have been abused by people for too long thinking we are the better mammal in this world.

I quickly learnt that food is not the devil and it can actually be a really using tool in communication in dog training. It also increased enthusiasm to train, because the consequence was food instead of a lead pop. And fast forward and I dived into every training I could find, and promised myself I will never go back to those ways. It wasn't a weaker choice because I wasn't forcing the dog to do it, I actually thought its was more powerful as the dog showed they wanted to train with me. They chose to train with me. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and knowing what I know now, I look back and hate myself for what I put Bertie through in his early start with me. And often wonder does he still hold onto little snippets of what we did. But I didn't know at the time another way, so I try not to beat myself too much on it.

Rachel and Izzy playing a game of tug

But now I do know, and having taught a dog through balanced training and positive reinforcement training, I will choose positive reinforcement time and time again. I have taught a dog and its owner without me even touching or handling the dog to be comfortable around me (had a previous bite history) and can be in a park around dogs, when she couldn't be even a football pitch near them. Helped people discover their dogs needs and outlets, how to meet them but still have a recall and loose lead walking without conflict. And many many more. All through positive reinforcement, all without fear, all without force.

So if you want to train in a balanced way that is up to you, yes the dog will learn but at what cost? Seeing the flashback of lead pops and squinty eyes, when you are on your final years/days with your dog wishing you had done it better? Forcing them into situations that they can't cope with, no instructions or easier learning environments and and told them to just get on with it, with consequences of punishment if a foot is stepped wrong? No. Thank. You.

This is more a rambling blog post of my personal experiences with my journey as a dog trainer. But I urge you to try positive reinforcement training if you haven't already done so. There are many organisations out there like the APDT who promote kind fair and effective dog training, and members are trainers who only use these methods, and are nationwide. Try it see which one you think your dog prefers, see which one lights up your dogs eyes, and puts a skip in their step (not literally!) I think I know which one would do it!

But thank you for reading this far if you have. I hope you can lean from my mistakes, and get to spend a happy life with your dogs.

Rachel