Are You Really A Real Positive Trainer

Positive Trainers Don’t

• Focus on what the animal is doing wrong
• Treat the dog right after a leash correction (aka: the ‘balanced’ style of mixing punishment with reinforcement)
• Say “PSSSH!”  “NO!”  “UH-UH!”  or any other “You’re doing it wrong!” noise while training
• Alpha Roll, Scruff, or ‘Physically Submit’ an animal
• Stare down an animal
• Tap (slap, spank, or hit), Tug (leash jerk), Physically Interrupt (kick), or Pinch
• Buzz, Stimulate, Tickle (sugar coating shocking your dog with an electric collar, and yes this includes electric fences)
• Lie about choke collars (no, you’re not “making a noise” to punish your dog, you are “choking your dog” to punish your dog.  If you honestly think it’s the noise, get a harness and put a cat bell on it.)
• Use choke, pinch, or electric collars….. ever….
• Use or believe in the dominance theory, alpha crap, or pack leadership
• Force dogs into stressful situations above threshold
• Knee a dog for jumping
• Advise to over exercise your dog instead of actually training him
• Use commands, demands, or ‘physical help’ (push or pull a dog into a sit, down, stand, etc)
• Like most of the shows on TV
• Ever stop learning

I hate it when professionals say s/he use positive training techniques, and s/he so doesn’t.  Some of our poor clients didn’t know any better and thought they were doing industry standard training, and were told they were using R+ and in fact the methodology they were taught wasn’t even close.  Not even close.  It makes me sad about all the sugar coating & flat out dishonesty some people use.  Shocking a dog with electricity from a collar isn’t “a tickle.”  It’s abusive.  It’s absurd.  And it sure as sh*t isn’t positive training.  And leash jerking a dog’s collar to “make a sound?!!”  Really….  Then use a regular collar or harness & put a kitty cat bell on it.  See if it’s really the sound or if it’s the physical trauma to the dog’s throat & trachea.  And still I ask, why make any sound?  You’d only do that if you’re trying to punish and focusing on what the animal is doing wrong.  Sorry, not a positive way to train either.  I could go on and on, but why?  If you’re looking for a positive trainer, I mean a really positive trainer – pick someone who encourages the animal with rewarding the behavior they want more of.  Bottom line.  That’s the key.  Positive training means = Reinforce what you want the dog to do so you increase that behavior.  I truly hope one day, the trainers who are positively not positive, will educate themselves, and practice humane techniques.  But until then, this picture about sums it up…