Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetlee  I love positive reenforcement training, but I don't believe that any training that doesn't include a correction of some sort will be successful. Just as I don't believe that a yank and yell negative reenforcement training will work either.
This class sounds a bit too touchy-feely, warm and fuzzy.
I use ah-ah for my sound, and yes my dog has been popped on collar a few times.
My trainer says the "least amount of force necessary to do the job". And I agree with her.
Sharon |
that's how i learned to train as well - i'm doing my best to stay out of it this time, since the training is supposed to come purely from amy for the moment - to clarify, most of my training and corrections are done with tone of voice, with a collar correction as needed. amy (my wife) just get's squeaky when she tries to give a verbal correction, so the tone approach is out - and it seems beyond her to learn to check a dog properly. that's where this pure positive crud comes in.
what can i say - i view ignoring bad behaviour as rewarding it - that's why i swear by "command, correct (if needed) praise." the force of correction scaling with the infraction. ignoring a command or getting it wrong gets a light "no" and the dog is shown what i wanted. a serious infraction (lunging at another dog) gets a hard pop to restore focus on me, followed by some excercises - sit stay, or some such.
a great example of the philosophy of this class is with the lunging at dogs - there are two dogs, one a boxer, other a chocolate lab, that seem to take great joy at lunging at oz. the "trainer's" response to this is to "call your dog's name in a cheerful voice as often as it takes to restore attention, and reward them when attention is focused on you." in and of itself, there's nothing wrong with restoring the attention, but for the gods' sake, reprimand the aggressing dog!!!
i think it probably comes down to the difference in views we hold. mine is "thou shalt
not do xxxxxx, because doing so rewards you with discomfort. doing as i ask gets you praise and a snack". a clear right and wrong - nothing to complex for his little doggy mind to hold.
their view is "oh, what a sweet boy, look at me, look at me, look at me, oh good smart puppy!!!!" in the (vain?) hope that the dog will become so attuned to wanting the praise that they will ignore distractions.
i'm coming very close to returning to my old method of training at home, and using the "oh, what a good puppy - you're breaking all the rules but you're such a good dog" thing in class.