Nipping/Mouthing

[Sue]

I'm not going to get into the debate about positive vs punishment. I firmly believe most things can be taught positively, but sometimes, a correction might be needed. There is such a thing as going too far with one way, whether it be positive training, or with correction training.

I'd like to share something a trainer posted on facebook, so you can see what I mean.

Has Dog Training Gone Insane?

In the recent past, and present, I've gotten to work with several dogs only once their euthanasia appointment is long overdue. The oddity here is that these dogs arrive with die-hard owners who are doing all that they have been told by their trainers. These are not slackers raised wrong. These are people who have busted their butt following instructions and doing everything as told. Only they were told the wrong thing for these dogs. They were told corrections were wrong, and all could be fixed by lessening stimuli, and rewarding the right.


Let me re clarify, they were not my students.


One of these die-hards went with a teenie puppy, who is now a teenager. The instructions were "If he bites you it is because you pushed him over threshold. In the moment, back away, then make the training easier".


Re clarifying, not my advise.


Only, she just walked into the kitchen. He lunged across the room and got her.


Why is it okay for this dog to behave this way to his human? And why after multiple requests for help to stop the biting was she told to make his training 'easier' so that he can succeed when she is walking into her room? There is no lessening of stimuli. It is her house and she should be able to walk into any room without fear of being attacked.


I know what my dad would have done if I ran at him with a kitchen knife and tried to fatally stab him, because he walked into the kitchen. I know what my mum would have done too.


And it certainly wouldn't have been backing away, then making my training easier...


Walking into her kitchen might land her in hospital. Maybe next week her grandiose offense might be walking into the closet? I hope she is good at mind reading, because the next offense might put her into hospital, and that is the best case scenario. She had better be mighty vigilant so she doesn't push him over threshold, because if he loses his temper, it is her fault for pushing him beyond threshold. Seriously?


I don't know about you folks, but in my mind this is an abusive relationship. She has to tip-toe around her dog, careful not to anger him, and give him beer when he doesn't stab her.


There are thousands of occasions where we need to reward the right. And yes we need to be respectful of another's quirks. But there are also lines that should not be crossed.


Easier training and rewards will not fix this dog. It has been tried for his entire life thus far and now he is dangerous. So can we be honest? Corrections are needed to keep certain dogs alive. Or, we can euthanize these same dogs, and as trainers, we can stand on our soap box and loudly, proudly proclaim that we do not correct.


It might be too late for this dog, when a minor correction at nine weeks old would have saved his life. Shame... But I bet the lessons were enjoyable and made everyone feel good. Except the dog.

Original post, if you're on facebook, is here:
https://www.facebook.com/monique.anstee

I would highly recommend liking her page, she has a lot of sense about her.

[xracer4844]

Great article! Our head trainer does a lot of wrangling - the police use her services if criminals have left guard dogs on a property or whatever the case may be. After she retrieves the dogs, the police choose to euthanize about 90% of these dogs. A lot of these dogs have been abused their whole lives, left for days alone and locked in rooms, beaten, and taught to attack anything and everyone.

She says no way, I'll take them. She brings them home and we work on rehabilitating them, socializing them, training them and building trusting relationships with them. These dogs don't trust humans. They were taught to hate humans. It's really really sad. A lot of the dogs end up being absolutely amazing dogs. A lot of them get re-homed.

This article is spot on. I like her articles - will definitely like her page.

[Lauranj]

Great link Sue!I like a balanced training approach. I like positive reinforcement but also know that a well timed correction sometimes solves an issue in one session instead of the issue becoming worse and worse and becoming a hard to break/stop habit. I think owners must be clear to the dog when a behavior is not acceptable. Substituting could be construed by a dog as a positive reward for the undesirable behavior. You do have to be careful that what you are doing is not resulting in the opposite of what you want. If a dog has an issue and what you are doing is not correcting the issue then it is time to try a different approach and get professional help. Most issues are solvable with enough persistence, time and knowledge.