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Originally Posted by fostermom  Oh dear...frankly Judy, the problem is that you are so entwined in the old "make them behave or else" methodology that it is inhibiting your ability to grasp the concept of giving dogs a choice and rewarding the correct choices. Dogs do what is rewarding for them...PERIOD
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So is it harmful to correct a dog or utilyze more traditional training methods in conjunction with positive reinforcement or is strictly positive reinforcement really better?? I'm ready to be beat up here LOL!! |
Okay - stop beating yourself up.
Yes - positive training is important, gets great results and shapes a dog into what you want them to do while what you don't, slowly fades into the background as it doesn't reward them.
You don't mention hold old this dog is, but I'm assuming a young adult. Either way - this is a large animal. NO ONE should expect to let a large dog like a rottweiler accost you like that. This young male was pushing your buttons and wanted to see how far he could push you.
Yes, you needed to correct him. Yes, yelling at him was warranted. Let's be clear here. You didn't beat him. You didn't hurt him. You didn't isolate him. All you did was yell. And you know what? IT WORKED! LOL
Your reaction was completely within the scope of the behaviour he was giving you. You didn't go above and beyond. You only did it once.
I would say that 95% of the time, you do work with positive reinforcement. However, there are times that warrant a correction. Especially when the behaviour could rise to the point where it could cause injury (nails, biting, pushing off balance, etc.). He needed to know that there was a limit and now he does.
I would just leave it and move on. You did just fine.