I train with hardly any aversives. I guess that's relative, but I don't really know how else to say it and I do think I train with balance. Depending on the dog it can mean a wide variety of things.
Balance to me is using the level that gives you the best performance and changes with every dog.
Balance in training a PSD. scent detection and tracking is purely motivational especially in the beginning, bite work in the beginning is fun and motivational, if you have to force a dog to enjoy that, you're not training the right dogs. Everything is imprinted in fun. OB is a big part of bitework, if you don't have it, you don't have a properly trained dog. Examples of balance in training would be.
Yes I could get a dog to sit or down or heel from the start for a bite, that's it's reward. No problem whatsoever. Start with a solid heel or down or sit and then progress to doing that with a potential adversary or fighting partner in front of them at a distance in a non threatening manner it may just work, that everything works perfectly and you never have to correct for anything, BUT let me list some things that can and often do happen.
1-It happens time and time again, all over the country with all sorts of people and dogs. The dogs learn they have to sit for their toy, they have to lay down, they have to become UNactive to get their reward, now they're faced with a scenerio where they have to be reactive. Hold and Bark they have to be active, they have to push the guy around with their barking, they have to be in control, yet these dogs just want to sit or lay down, they haven't learned that they can push someone around with barking or by being active.
on escape bites or bites from a distance the dog at times won't engage the helper or decoy because they wont' jump up and engage, why, it never got them payoff before, why would it now? Not a very desireable outcome. These are dogs that weren't trained with compulsion, in fact we're working with one right now that was marker trained from the start, great OB work, snappy, fun, very reliable, but it took forever to get the dog to leave the handler and engage, but anyway, i'll get so far off what i'm trying to say i'll never get back.
Now on the flip side you can have a dog that has had its drive built up and has reached it's genetic max for prey drive. You've spent weeks and months teaching that dog that by being active to its highest level, it get's its reward. You end up with a dog that will bark for an hour waiting to get its bite. It will push the decoy around with barking. You end up with a dog that will become active in an instant to get its reward. Escape and distance bites are a breeze to teach, the dog is so crazy for it, it can't wait to engage. Sometimes these dogs are so imprinted with being "active" that control in bitework is hard to get to the level where it is very reliable and "good". There has to be a balance between the OB to get the reward and the activeness to get the reward, they NEED both.
All types of dogs come from all types of backgrounds, some come with too much OB and some come with too much activeness, for lack of a better term. What do you do then? At times the active dog will be crazy for the reward and break his sit, down, heel, etc and go for the reward. Now he's attached to a leash for so many reasons I won't get into them now, but he or she will hit the end of that leash. It happens, it will always happen, and the dog starts to learn that it needs to wait for the command before it can go or it will just hit the end of the leash. It becomes so clear so quickly for the dogs.
Now you could do it without a leash and have the helper or decoy go passive and the dog won't get a bite or get its reward to engage and fight the helper. We do have some sport dogs that we do this with, their love for the fight is so great, you should see the look in their eyes when we drop the sleeve and go passive. If dogs could sob and cry I swear they would break down right there. But for many reasons, that method will get people and dogs hurt to do it everytime. Some dogs are in a place in their training they'll just pick up the dropped sleeve and run off with it, no big deal to them.
another example of balance in training. Let's say you are tracking, you've imprinted and trained for 2-3 months of heavy tracking. The dog is doing phenomenal, until one day it decides to break the track for a deer. What do you do at that moment?? We try to train for the stuff in time, but you can't always. Now if it was a puppy imprinting or younger dog, no big deal, ignore it, the dog keeps hitting the end of the leash, learning it can't get to it, gives up, and comes back to the track and realizes...mmmmm reward is on the track, can't get to deer, i'll stay here on the track. Now let's say this dog is 2 or 3, been imprinted all in fun, is ready for certification or is certified already and decides to break on a track, you better believe that he's going to feel some pressure from me, to continue the track. how much depends on the makeup of the dog. After that session I'd be sure to keep the next ones easy, shorter, with lots of rewards. any Ob or bitework that is done after that is also kept short and fun and drive building. To offset the pressure from the track. Same with the bitwork, if its pressure from the handler is used, its taken off in the tracks and OB, that's balance to me. The aversives, etc aren't allowed to confuse the dog or hurt the bond with the handler cause its always kept in check.
So, if that's what you mean by "balance".....half clicker training and half aversives, (for example) I disagree with the concept of "balance." And since this word is so non-descriptive, I think that is why it is sometimes called a "catch phrase." Cesar Milan uses a lot of non-descript terminology. I guess it gives him a feeling that he's got answers for things.
I think he uses non-descript terminology cause it resonates with his audience. Start using words like operant conditioning, primary, secondary and tertiary reinforcers, bridging theory, learned helplessness, etc you're going to be off the air quickly. I guess I can't really debate the use of the word balance cause there would be no life, no nothing without it. Balance doesn't mean you use clicker training in the morning and yank 'em around by the leash in the afternoon. It doesn't mean you use a clicker with filet mignon to teach the sit, but yank the crap out of them to teach the down. I don't know how else to say it, but balance is very natural to me, trying to explain it is like trying to explain life in a way.
