Okay, this is going to get long and preachy.
I probably don't need to add that Doberluv has my complete backing in this case. I also get extremely frustrated (although I do my very best to take it out in my evening exercises) with people taking the "easy way out" with punishment-based training.
Animal behavior is hard to understand; it's simpler to just use aversive consequences to punish behaviors than it is to learn and comprehend the reasons behind behaviors and treat them with an effective positive solution. It was years before the "DogMind" finally clicked with me. Training effectively takes time, effort, empathy, and a lot of brain twisting to see things from the subject's point of view. That's why people ask trainers to help them. We spend 24 hours a day trying to think like our subjects, and to see through their eyes. But then of course we're competing with people who call themselves "trainers" and are really just
abusers. They'll beat your dog into submission and charge you for it. They've had us all fooled for years; people who trained without punishment 50 years ago were either magicians or whack-jobs. Now that there's solid ethological evidence to support positive training, why are folks still so stuck on using aversive consequences? Probably because we don't want to acknowledge that it's easier to let our frustration and irritation out on a dog who won't fight back than it is to use that towering intellect we're so convinced we've got. Smacking a dog with a newspaper makes us feel big and in control. Stopping to think about whether
we'd like to be smacked with a newspaper never enters into it. Dogs are a socially acceptable outlet for our emotions, good and bad.
But why would a
compassionate person, claiming to love their dog, claiming that, "he's like family", do things that cause a dog to be afraid, uncomfortable, or in pain
when we know there's a better way? We've developed an entire science to understand animal behavior and learning. We've shown conclusively that animals that learn through positive reinforcement are quicker and more receptive to learning than animals that learn through punishment and aversive consequences. We've developed concrete methods and rules that govern the principles of positive reinforcement in behavior modification. We've applied these methods successfully and praise the people who use them as brilliant teachers of animals.
There is no longer any excuse, short of ignorance, laziness, and disinterest, to use punishment on an animal. We know better now. And those of us who don't know better are obliged to educate themselves. Punishment
is cruel, because it has been rendered obsolete in training. If it was our only choice, if it was the only way, it would be an unfortunate necessity. But there
is a choice.
Think about this: You've got a whip in your hand and popsicles in the freezer, and your child is in front of the TV wiping boogers on your new carpet. You can use the whip now to punish the undesirable behavior, or you can get off the couch and go to the freezer and get a popsicle, and come allllll the way back to the couch and use the popsicle to reward a desirable behavior (i.e. wiping boogers on a kleenex instead). Do you whip the kid? It'll stop him from putting boogers on your carpet, right? Then why not? Because the freezer isn't actually that far away; because you don't want to cause someone you love unnecessary pain for something as silly as boogers on the carpet; because you feel empathy for the kid; because the kid is just doing what kids do; because
you can get the same result with the popsicle. The difference is in how much you actually care about the person you love, and how much effort you're willing to put into teaching them in a humane manner. You can whip, but your relationship will suffer. Positive reinforcement strengthens relationships, and enhances mutual respect and understanding.
I've trained with several different methods. I was taught what most of us grew up with; leash corrections, push on his butt to teach him to sit, rub his nose in it, squeeze his toes or knee his chest when he jumps on you. I began training professionally out of a sincere love of all things canine and because I was absolutely intrigued by behavior. I started out with what I knew. Then I learned about positive reinforcement, and mixed it with punishment training. To my delight, my subjects' learning sped up. As I worked with dogs and learned to really
listen to them, I realized that the punishment was only holding us back, tangibly in training but also emotionally. I'd read about the "trainer's dance", people working so well with animals that they can feel the connection in their heads. I badly wanted the dance to come to me. So I just took that last little step and left all the bitter apple, choke chains, and muzzles behind. And again, learning sped up. Suddenly my subjects were geniuses and prodigies, every one.
Positive training is faster, more effective, more humane, and much more fun than punishment-based training. It does wonders for relationships and never fails to amaze those who try it. It's really a modern scientific miracle. It baffles me that some people consider it stupid or ineffective, and it worries me that they aren't willing to learn why it works and how to use it. If we're going to call ourselves compassionate and enlightened, we're going to have to start walking the walk. The way we treat our animals, those who rely on us completely and trust us wholeheartedly, tells more about ourselves than the way we treat each other.
