It sounds like you got some great advice and that the improvement is starting to show. It is something she'll grow out of, I'm sure, especially with the great ideas you got. (Be sure and deliver tasty reinforcers frequently as she is walking nicely....very frequently.) Keep us posted on how it goes.
Great post Danefied! :hail: There, unfortunately will always be people (some of those Cesar Milan fans come to mind too) who refuse and reject constructive and objective criticism
and education. Occasionally, they will see the error of their ways and some people are too egocentrically minded and get hung up on going to great lengths to not have to admit their flaws and “lose face.†I hate to think that anyone could continue to think that hitting an animal in the name of “training†is training or morally right. Hitting, kicking, popping, startling, yanking, yelling, and intimidating/bullying have NO place in training an animal. No renowned trainer will ever profess that! And no educated, experienced trainer who uses the science of animal behavior will
ever,
ever condone the use of those kinds of aversives for training an animal. There are those rare occasions when owners and trainers may come to a situation where they have to manage an emergency situation and may have to grab, shove or yank a dog away from something terrible that's about to happen. But as a training technique? NO!
Unfortunately, those habitual dog hitters will continue to hit, strike, “pop,†startle or any number of aversive actions onto dogs to stop certain behaviors. They don’t think about the fact that these aversive “corrections†have a very high chance of shutting a dog down by stopping not only the target behavior, but all behaviors…. in general. This is not what dogs’ lives should be about. Those are people who should have stuffed animals because they don't do any of those dog things. Dogs don’t understand why they’re being hit, slapped etc. In fact, they don’t tend to be aware of their own behavior…not right away. So, these startling, sometimes painful, scary moves on a dog are mistreatment. These acts prevent a dog from learning because they don’t strive to earn a reward, but instead have to think about how to avoid punishment. That is not conducive to learning...not for an animal.
You’re absolutely right that when people say positive reinforcement doesn’t work, they are doing something wrong. It does work. It’s been proven scientifically to work. The laws of learning are like laws of physics. It is a science. If anyone says that PR doesn’t work on “some dogsâ€â€¦it’s like saying that gravity doesn’t work on all apples falling from a tree. LOL!
I have to think that anyone who acts like this must be trolling because it’s just so outlandish that anyone would have such an ego that they couldn’t see the logic in your posts and everyone’s posts and admit that they are simply….how should I put it? Wrong.
You mentioned hitting, rough housing, slapping your dog in play. That is totally different than hitting being accompanied by a scolding manner.
If punishment is to work, incidentally, it must be VERY severe and it must happen every single time. It must match in intensity the "crime." If it is not severe enough, the dog becomes habituated to it and it becomes ineffective. If it is severe enough, it is abuse and the dog shuts down.