Until the last century, dog training was a pretty friendly affair. Dogs were predominantly trained by using reward methods. And of course, if we go even further back in time, food and gentleness were the ways we lured canines into the human family.
Unfortunately, the 1900’s brought with it an array of confusing punishment- based dog-training techniques, and “Correct me if I’m wrong” became the mantra for the unassuming pet dog. Jerking on choke chains, yelling commands, and other menacing tactics became the hallmarks of popular, unfriendly dog-training methods. These techniques were harsh and demanding for both dogs and owners. In- deed, most dog owners found that the physical demands of these techniques were all but impossible to master. To better understand the dog-friendly approach, you need to understand where these punitive methods came from.
We’re in the Army Now!
Perhaps pet dog trainers looked to military training methods for guidance. Obviously, military training techniques were intentionally harsh in an effort to weed out more sensitive dogs in the preliminary training, rather than having them break down in the field. Now, of course, most well-trained military dogs are trained by using fun and games and toys and treats. Fun and friendly dog training has even invaded the military!
And Now We’re in the Woods?
The second factor that led to unfriendly, punishment-based training was an at- tempt to adopt the way wolves communicate to the dog-human training repertoire. This approach is severely flawed.
We first lured dogs into our lives by using food and kindness.
First, you don’t look, smell, or growl like a dog, and you don’t wear a furry costume and crawl around on all fours. The point is, it is impossible for people to communicate accurately in dog (or wolf) language.
Moreover, dogs and wolves have an extremely complicated social structure that is composed of a number of flexible hierarchies. As a dog owner, attempting to replicate this environment by attributing alpha (“top dog”) status to yourself is a simplistic approach doomed to failure. Working from the inaccurate premise that wolves teach each other by using consistent and severe physical corrections, trainers devised an adversarial, combative training methodology. Rather than teaching our best friends, we were advised to physically dominate our dogs to bring them into line.
In actuality, very little physical force is required to maintain the social stability of a pack of wolves or dogs. Cooperation and passive gestures ensure that each member has access to resources (such as food) and ensures the pack’s survival. If you really want to act like a wolf, forget the growling and scruff-shaking. Simply get control of the resources in your dog’s life and show your dog what he should do to get them (such as sit, lie down, come when called, or eliminate outside). This approach is comparable to being a boss who is kind and gentle while making it clear that you are the one who signs the paychecks.
The Leash: A Good Tool Gone Bad
Yes, this simple, useful, and important training tool has had some unexpected and long-lasting negative side effects on training.
A mere fifty years ago, many dogs lived in areas where they could safely be off leash, but now the increased population density necessitates that dogs are walked on leash. Rather than developing the notion of staying close (an important aspect of any relationship), the dog was kept close by means of a leash. The leash also made it easy to jerk the dog around, and soon leash jerks became the universal correction, almost to the exclusion of people using their intelligence and creativity in training. Indeed, the easy implementation of punishment is a major reason leash training has gained such a bad reputation over the years. The final result? Dogs who became desensitized to leash jerks or didn’t respond well to being bullied wound up being labeled stupid, stubborn, dominant, or aggressive.
Puppies Save the Day!
As people became dependent on physical and punitive training methods, it became almost impossible to train puppies. After all, you don’t want to jerk, push, and pull a little puppy, do you? So people were advised to wait to train their puppies until they were 6 months old and could withstand the rigors of training. I certainly agree that puppies do not do well with punishment-based methods, but then neither do most adult dogs!
This approach, of course, is disastrous. Scientists have long realized how crucial a dog’s early weeks of life are and suggest that waiting to train until a dog is all but grown is just plain silly. Waiting until your pup is 6 months old to start teaching him how to behave is like waiting to start teaching your child the alphabet and numbers until she is in her teens.
Puppies prompted the turnaround to the friendly, positive direction of yesteryear. Gentle methods of training used to teach young puppies were so much fun and so effective that people began to use them with adult dogs.
Not training puppies made matters even worse, because by the time they hit adolescence, they were out of control. Owners were at their wits’ end, resorting to almost any means — especially punishment — to gain control. Ironically, when they began to train their adolescent dogs, they used the same harsh methods they had originally avoided by not training at all!
Thanks go to veterinarian, animal behaviorist, and author Ian Dunbar, who brought puppy training back into fashion. By convincing people that they could and should teach their puppies when they’re young and making training a fun endeavor, Dr. Dunbar revolutionized the life of dogs around the world. There is no doubt that dogs everywhere say a daily group thank-you to Dr. Dunbar. Certainly, before Dr. Dunbar’s influence, you would have been hard pressed to find a puppy class, and there were precious few tail wags in training.
The impact of Dr. Dunbar’s fun and friendly puppy classes was overwhelming. Fun and friendly training methods worked so well with puppies that people started to use them with adolescent and adult dogs. And they worked so well with adult dogs that people tried them out on fearful and aggressive dogs, too. And bingo! It turns out that friendly dog training is the method of choice for fearful and aggressive dogs. Naturally, fearsome and threatening methods are not the way to connect with fearful and threatened dogs.
As you can see by visiting a few puppy-training and dog-training classes in your area, fun and friendly dog training has all but taken over the dog world. Classes are filled with giggles and wagging tails; kids are involved; formal obedience competitions are getting a serious run for their money from events such as fly ball, agility, and freestyle; and, most important, more dogs are learning how to be fun and friendly family members.
When to Begin Training?
Now! Right away! Using dog-friendly methods, it is never too early to train a puppy or a newly adopted adult dog. If you are planning to get a dog, read on. Reading this book will help you choose the best education for you and your dog.
