This article is a good little info piece on conflicting opinions on the MUCH-touted theories espoused by punishment-based TV trainers such as C. Millan. In short, dominance theory as touted by Millan was debunked by animal scientists in the 1980′s, despite Millan’s insistence that these theories are correct. Millan does do some things right, but he makes way too many training and behavior mistakes on his show. Several of the dogs he trained were later euthanized, given away, or returned to shelters (most notable JonBee, the Jindo owned by an actor and his wife, and well as Patti Labelle’s dog, though Millan had declared the dogs rehabilitated). I DO agree that all dogs need both training and appropriate exercise, two things which Millan strongly believes. I also believe he loves dogs, as the TIME article notes. I just dislike his methodology – punishment is never the best way to address training or rehabilitation. Many trainers still follow Millan’s methods, but many more use Positive Reinforcement as their primary training method. I recommend reinforcement as a primary training method, and I use it in my Ruff Customers training and behavior modification business.
Victoria Stillwell (www.Positively.com) is a TV trainer who uses reward based training and shows how one need not use a choke chain, prong collar, shock collar, or other punishment-based equipment or methodologies in order to train a dog well. She is quoted in this article. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) are also quoted, and they both speak out against punishment and dominance based training of dogs. The article is definitely worth reading, see link below. Have a great day with lots of Wags!
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2007250,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
Read this very interesting article from the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors on dominance – Why Won’t Dominance Die, by Matt Ryan.
http://www.apbc.org.uk/articles/why-wont-dominance-die
My favorite quote from the Ryan article is this one -
“In part it [the dominance myth] persists because it is still “seen to be working”. It makes good television to go head to head and dominate a dog. Unfortunately, television is not real life and tends to show short interactions where the dog is forced to submit. It is not impossible for a “handy” owner to repeatedly force their dog into submission either, but these unpleasant and unnecessary measures are not how most pet owners want to live with their dogs. Lamentably the high profile of these programmes means the on-screen warning “do not try this at home” is often not heeded.”
My biggest question is why a pet owner who professes (and I’m SURE, does) love her dog would think that the best way to teach is to hurt. In this day and age, when the notion of spanking a child is thought of very differently than even a generation ago, it boggles the mind why someone would think spanking the dog would be effective OR, more importantly, ANY more acceptable. Dogs don’t even communicate in the same language we do – it’s the equivalent of smacking a Russian man for not understanding when you speak English to him. Not nice, and likely to get you in some trouble, as well. 
I’d love some comments on this one, if in fact anyone ever reads this blog. So fire away, pro or con. I’m up for it! and have a happy 4th.
5. WITH A FRIEND LIKE YOU, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES?
Why would you intentionally hurt your best friend? Would you punish a child by using electric shock? (do you still have custody?)
4. TEACH FIRST.
Before you punish your pooch for doing something you don’t like, such as barking, try teaching him what you DO want him to do. Reward for “quiet” and put that on cue first, instead of applying shock to “teach.”
3. WHY DID THAT CAR/CHILD/____ HURT ME ON MY NECK?
Your dog may not understand the association you intend, so she learns to fear whatever she sees at the moment she’s shocked, instead of learning to come when you call her
2. ANTICIPATION…..
Testing it on yourself first is not the same sensation because you know it’s coming – Even if you “test” it on your neck (most people use an arm), you **expect** it. Your dog doesn’t know what just hapened, only that it hurts!!
1.OUCH!
You know how, in winter, if you walk across a carpet then have to touch a doorknob, you KNOW the static shock is going to hurt. You try to avoid it. NOW, imagine that shock, but around your neck. Not nice!!
Want to know how to teach your dog or puppy a new trick that she’ll enjoy performing? Try treats. Yes, treats. Most people are worried that using treats to train a behavior will teach your dog to refuse to perform the “trick” (like sitting on cue) UNLESS you have a treat in your hand. However, that fear is UNFOUNDED if you train with treats the RIGHT way. First, you can use a treat to grab your dog’s attention. If your dog doesn’t know “sit” when you’re out in the back yard, use the treat at first to gain her attention (there are sooo many distractions around it’s harder for her to pay attention to you – a good treat can focus her attention). Next, lure her into the position you want, by placing the treat in your hand, putting your hand right by her nose, then moving your hand back, almost touching her nose, till you are moving it over the top of her head. If she wants the treat, she’ll follow your hand until she can’t reach anymore without sitting on her haunches. AS SOON AS her bottom touches the ground, RELEASE THE TREAT and say GOOD GIRL (if you like). REPEAT till she’s getting the sit motion easily. At this point, you can start saying the word “Sit” before you lure her. Once she’s done the sit with the lure enough to sit easily without hesitation, you should start using an empty hand and the word “sit” to get her to sit. FINALLY, once she’s sitting about 80% of the time with ONE verbal request “sit” and one hand signal (if necessary), THEN start giving her a treat at random intervals, NOT every time she performs a sit on cue. Don’t always hold treats or keep them in a pocket — try hiding them on a table above her head. Fade out treats SLOWLY, though, so she doesn’t get the idea you’re being stingy. After all, you don’t work for free, she shouldn’t have to either, at least during the learning phase. When she performs sit on cue easily and well, the treats can become a welcome surprise to show your pooch you’re happy she sits and you love her work ethic. Then you give yourself a treat too. GREAT JOB!
This is a comment from a person who read the New York times feature regarding a couple who purchased a puppy and documented their trials and the life and times of puppy raising for the Times. I wanted to publish it (6 months or so ago) because it was so good and informative to people who are getting puppies. So many people think that the state of training follows methodology like that which Cesar Millan uses on his TV show. But so many other, better, kinder and gentler methods for training exist, it’s important that new dog owners know about all the options at the very least. So, read on. Sorry it’s so late.
******** BEGIN POSTED COMMENT*********
Caroline F.
SoutheastPA
July 21st, 2009
8:25 am
Please consider adding the materials below to your reading lists / references for talking to readers of the NYTimes.
My heart sinks to see the Dog Whisperer and the Monks listed as the main go-to references for raising and training a puppy. So many people have taken away the message that confrontation, force and aggressive dominance displays are necessary, and so many of these people have unwittingly created problems with harsh and / or inappropriately applied training techniques, often used unskillfully as well.
I’m not suggesting that you and your husband are unskillful or doing wrong by your puppy. There are people and dogs who do just fine using the references you mentioned. However, there are also many, many people who do not and who wind up frustrated or in trouble. They don’t realize that there are many vets, behaviorists and trainers with different information.
Critics often pan reward-based or relationship based training as cookie pushing, permissive or wishy-washy, but this is a straw man argument. There are unskilled trainers of all types. The skilled veterinary behaviorists and trainers arguing against the methodologies and rationales of Cesar Millan and the Monks of New Skete are well aware that training a dog will involve the ability to set boundaries and rules in a fair and consistent manner and understand that permissiveness and the lack of clear communication can lead to problems. (Not to mention meeting the dogs’ needs for exercise, mental stimulation and environmental enrichment.)
How I wish that broad and deep dog knowledge, including the ability to read subtle body language, science (animal behavior, physiology, ethology, operant conditioning, for example) as well as experience and savvy figured in the version of dog training that most people absorb from the popular press.
Thanks for your consideration; some references below!
Dr. Ian Dunbar
http://www.dogstardaily.com/
http://www.siriuspup.com…
http://dogtime.com…
http://www.ted.com…
Suzanne Clothier
http://flyingdogpress.com/
The articles are well worth signing up to access.
Dr. Patricia McConnell
http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/
Dr. Nicholas Dodman
http://www.tufts.edu…
AVSAB position statements on punishment, dominance, puppy socialization – pdfs
http://www.avsabonline.org…
JAVMA News – precis of AVSAB position paper on punishment
http://www.avma.org…
David Mech on alpha (change in use by wolf biologists) – pdf
Vet Study: If You’re Aggressive Your Dog Will Be Too
http://www.sciencedaily.com
******** END POSTED COMMENT*********
I read today that the man who bred the first intentional Labrador / Poodle cross, which he then named the “Labradoodle”, is now sorry he created it. He had the best intentions – he was tasked with making a service dog which was low-allergy for a blind man allergic to dog fur. Necessity is the mother of invention, indeed. Who knew how much that, and soooooo many other, expensive, popular “designer” mongrels would stem from that initial pairing? Today, designer dogs, also known as MUTTS, often actually outsell standard breeds, and certainly are far more sought-after than your average shelter dog (regardless of the shelter dog’s blood lines). I’ll be the first to admit that I’m pretty cynical about the whole “designer dog” craze. The sad thing is that novice dog owners, in my experience, mostly choose dogs for their looks or their trendiness and there are certainly plenty of unscrupulous breeders out there to cater to such whims. Doodles, Poos, and Pug mixes are the fad dogs “du jour.” Moreover, pet stores that sell puppies have loads of these “designer” dogs on hand, which contributes to another big problem in the animals sales industry – novice owners purchase puppies on impulse FAR too frequently.
Yes, I realize that even if Goldendoodles, Puggles, Jugs, Chugs, Cava-Poos, and the like didn’t exist, that absence wouldn’t stop pet shops from selling pups nor create a wave of informed consumers who always research their pet purchases and never buy on a whim. But I can’t help resenting this fad for creating even MORE demand for breeding mills to put more puppies out in the universe: more dogs who take places in homes that might otherwise be available for a true designer original, from a shelter or rescue organization. Or perhaps that’s just wishful thinking.
The popularity of “designer mutt” creation pushes puppy mill and backyard breeders to “invent” new breed configurations, a practice which truly can produce some terrible ideas. Witness the “Puggle” – a Beagle / Pug cross which has produced some of the worst qualities of both breeds in one odd-looking package — a super-hyper, howling brown sausage. Or the Jug – a Jack Russell Terrier / Pug creation — WHY?!? Chihuahua crossed with anything — there are no words. Straying so far from the original intent of the Lab / Poodle cross-breeding, just because it sells, is simply unnecessary. And the results fill our shelters, ironically enough. Kind of a vicious cycle.
Necessity is a mother, huh?
February 24th, 2010
Leigh
SO, Ruff Customers, it’s official. I’m on my own, no boss (except me), no set working hours, no paycheck, no health insurance…. It’s do or die for me now. I’m so excited, and SO ready for the challenge. Bring me your yippy, your chewy, your unruly puppies. I want to meet your biters, your barkers, your diggers, your jumpers. I haven’t yet met a challenge I couldn’t handle. Rest assured, however, I’ll refer you to the appropriate professional if necessary.
Come on, dog loving world…. it’s ON! BRING IT! 234-PLAY RUFF. Call us so we can help you with “training, to keep your pup out of the doghouse.”
If u love KISS the way I have for 29 years, then u will be disappointed that we cannot heed Ace’s not-so-sage advice, “SHOCK ME!” when it comes to training our furry friends. But u should be psyched I was able to make a relatively obscure KISS reference in a blog devoted to dog training, right?
If u read the article by Steve Dale, link below, u will see that a learned panel of veterinarians recently created a list of suggestions for how to choose a dog trainer. ( see, article : http://www.goodnewsforpets.com/articles.asp?ID=147 $
) Chief among those recommendations was the following:
“Never, under any circumstances, choose a dog trainer who uses an electronic collar (shock collar). “You wouldn’t send your kid off to a school where they use shock,” says veterinary behaviorist Dr. Karen Overall. ‘So, why would you send your dog there?’ ”
Why indeed? Sorry, Ace!
In the NY Times on July 22, an article appeared on the authors’ getting a golden retriever pup it promises to be a weekly series chronicling the pup’s misadventures. The troubling parts for
many positive reinforcement dog trainers is that she only mentioned Cesar Millan and the Monks of New Skete. BOTH of these “trainers” rely on punishment based methods including physical force. This reader below commented strongly in support of positive training. See post–
Caroline F.
SoutheastPA
July 21st, 2009
8:25 am
Please consider adding the materials below to your reading lists / references for talking to readers of the NYTimes.
My heart sinks to see the Dog Whisperer and the Monks listed as the main go-to references for raising and training a puppy. So many people have taken away the message that confrontation, force and aggressive dominance displays are necessary, and so many of these people have unwittingly created problems with harsh and / or inappropriately applied training techniques, often used unskillfully as well.
I’m not suggesting that you and your husband are unskillful or doing wrong by your puppy. There are people and dogs who do just fine using the references you mentioned. However, there are also many, many people who do not and who wind up frustrated or in trouble. They don’t realize that there are many vets, behaviorists and trainers with different information.
Critics often pan reward-based or relationship based training as cookie pushing, permissive or wishy-washy, but this is a straw man argument. There are unskilled trainers of all types. The skilled veterinary behaviorists and trainers arguing against the methodologies and rationales of Cesar Millan and the Monks of New Skete are well aware that training a dog will involve the ability to set boundaries and rules in a fair and consistent manner and understand that permissiveness and the lack of clear communication can lead to problems. (Not to mention meeting the dogs’ needs for exercise, mental stimulation and environmental enrichment.)
How I wish that broad and deep dog knowledge, including the ability to read subtle body language, science (animal behavior, physiology, ethology, operant conditioning, for example) as well as experience and savvy figured in the version of dog training that most people absorb from the popular press.
Thanks for your consideration; some references below!
Dr. Ian Dunbar
http://www.dogstardaily.com/
http://www.siriuspup.com…
http://dogtime.com…
http://www.ted.com…
Suzanne Clothier
http://flyingdogpress.com/
The articles are well worth signing up to access.
Dr. Patricia McConnell
http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/
Dr. Nicholas Dodman
http://www.tufts.edu…
AVSAB position statements on punishment, dominance, puppy socialization – pdfs
http://www.avsabonline.org…
JAVMA News – precis of AVSAB position paper on punishment
http://www.avma.org…
David Mech on alpha (change in use by wolf biologists) – pdf
Vet Study: If You’re Aggressive Your Dog Will Be Too
http://www.sciencedaily.com