Quote:
Originally Posted by stale  thrust of my question is this - does purely positive training, with no corrections at all for anything, just rewards for good behaviour, actually work? |
Only if your dog never makes a mistake.
While I may not choose to use a pop for a correction (depending on the circumstance) and will rather redirect behavior using motivational techniques, I find that ignoring poor behavior that is self-rewarding to the dog (leash biting, scaring all passersby away, visiting a dog when they are supposed to be retrieving a dumbbell
etc.) only serves as permission to continue.
I use motivational training. I keep the positive reinforcement VERY high and have found it to be extremely beneficial for my dog, however, I will (and do) also use corrections where needed.
For example, we were working on retrieves on the flat at class on Tuesday. Chili has NEVER failed to do this exercise well from start to finish from the time she first learned it about a year ago. This night, we were working on a bunch of different open exercises in groups of two so there was a lot of distraction with the different activities going on (much like you'd find at a dog show) so I kept Chili on a flexi just to make sure she understood this was training and not the free-for-all it must look like to a dog...
. There was a new person and dog that had come to observe the class and they were sitting near the far end of the area where Chili and I were assigned to work. I set Chili up, tell her to "wait", toss the dumbell, and then give her the command "take it!". She charges out, as usual, to collect her prize and when she gets to the dumbbell, the new dog caught her eye. She dipped her head down to the dumbbell, paused for a split second, and then left it and started trotting over to see the new dog. That's a big no-no.
I'm glad I had the flexi on her, because I was able to immediately give her a pop and call her in to me (without her prize) to correct her mistake, change our direction on the next toss, and set her up for the success she usually enjoys. Now what do you think would have happened if I "ignored it"?