dog breed info website...
So when I was first searching around for a breed I wanted, first settling on a czechlovakinan vlcak as my "dream" dog (I still want one haha), then, of course settling on a kai ken, I stumbled upon this site... It skewed my idea of how to train a dog to be quite honest.. for about a week. Haha.
I started to research in depth the different techniques to train a dog, but this site bugged me that the only way they advocate is the dominance theory, and that they are on the top of some of the google search lists. I know it's been discussed before on this forum, but I felt the need to look at different philosophies and techniques regarding training a dog. I, personally, am going to go for the science based training that doesn't involve dominance theory. Ie positive reinforcement(treat training, and possibly clicker training).
Though how I was brought up was for light taps on the nose, or a water bottle to squirt water for "punishment", but I am finding more and more that even that is a little too forceful for dogs, and cats. Weird? I think so. I am now going off into a different tangent, so it's time to get to the question at hand.
What are your thoughts on the various methods of training?
I started to research in depth the different techniques to train a dog, but this site bugged me that the only way they advocate is the dominance theory, and that they are on the top of some of the google search lists. I know it's been discussed before on this forum, but I felt the need to look at different philosophies and techniques regarding training a dog. I, personally, am going to go for the science based training that doesn't involve dominance theory. Ie positive reinforcement(treat training, and possibly clicker training).
Though how I was brought up was for light taps on the nose, or a water bottle to squirt water for "punishment", but I am finding more and more that even that is a little too forceful for dogs, and cats. Weird? I think so. I am now going off into a different tangent, so it's time to get to the question at hand.
What are your thoughts on the various methods of training?
Comments
The consensus here is positive reinforcement is the way to go.
Check out the Behavior/Training section for more -
http://www.nihonken.org/forum/index.php?p=/categories/behavior-training
In particular, read these threads
http://www.nihonken.org/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/6122/what-the-experts-say-about-the-dog-whisperer-cesar-millan/p1
http://www.nihonken.org/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/3851/more-books-on-behavior-training-and-care/p1
I don't want my relationship with my dogs to be a contest and I truly feel heavy use of positive punishment (taps, water bottles, etc), make it a "contest". That said, if something is life threatening to my dog, I have no issue with making it a frightening experience to them so they learn to stay away (as in rattlesnake avoidance training). Maybe if I learn more, I may feel differently, but this is how I feel now with the knowledge I have now - but I am always learning and flexible to change.
I also believe that "light" positive punishment has had some part in causing my Shikoku to bite strangers. He targets hands (specifically, moving hands) but otherwise loves people. Somewhere, he had to learn that moving hands = threatening. I suspect, based on my conversations with his previous owner and how she described things, that she (or someone else in his life) was simply far too "hard" for him. While he trusts me and allows me to pet him, he still gets on-guard if I approach him or move by him quickly. Everything needs to be positive or he gets flustered, stressed, confused, and (in extreme cases) shuts down.
My Malamute, on the other hand, will become reactive and even aggressive with positive punishment. He has no tolerance for being "pushed around". I dunno about anyone else here, but if I trained my Malamute the "Cesar Milan" way, I'd probably have ended up bit a long time ago.
I don't want things to be a contest or stressful between me and the dogs. In the same stroke, there are boundaries they are expected to stay within - but I teach and enforce those boundaries without having to turn to positive punishment. I want to have fun, too.
For context... that was the website I was referring to.
I will post later. And no, I did not mean this forum
The actual consequences are what can be defined as good or bad - reinforcement or punishment.
Here is a picture -
Wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement#Operant_conditioning
EDIT: I personally don't want any negative associations with crates or kennels and never use them for punishment. Likewise, I wouldn't want a command to be a punishment, such as forcing a dog to sit for a time out like a child. And it is questionable whether a dog can really understand why its in time out anyway and associate it with the bad behavior. So really, time outs aren't a thing in my household. We do redirect and break up activities when dogs are over stimulated, but its usually just for a few moments.
It works for us... they come out in their own time and they don't seem to associate the kennels with anything negative. I don't fuss them into the kennels,though. It's just a simple" let's go calm down" and I use a happy tone. I guess I use it more as a distraction from their disagreement than a punishment.
@Crispy if I had used the Cesar Milan method with Shelby, I probably wouldn't have gotten bit. Shelby would just be a nervous wreck! And Mya would never let me touch her again.
This thread has been an interesting read thus far!
I don't hit my dogs and people always comment on how sweet and well behaved they are. Just goes show that you don't have to hit or scare your dogs to make them well behaved.