Why Am I A Force Free Trainer?

Recently there's been more of this positive versus aversive debate in dog training, out there on the social media, so I thought it might be interesting for you to hear my thoughts on it.

It is certainly an emotive subject that brings out an almost tribalness. So, I sat down with my own thoughts to really ask myself, why do I advocate positive dog training and what does that even mean? If you boil it down to positive and negative, they can both become trigger words that create reactions in people before you even get to the detail.

So here goes:

I have some pretty good explanations for why I won't use certain tools in a certain way (I will detail these shortly). These great explanations are things that I know the science behind, including suppression of emotion and what it can do (both personally, with dogs I've worked with and academically). I would also lose my membership to certain associations. So, there are two really good reasons. Further to this, I have been handling dogs for 10 years and never needed to.

But when I sat down with myself in a dark room and thought this through, I realized there was an even better reason that beats all of these. No, I'm not an animal activist, I'm not even a vegetarian let alone a vegan, I don't even have particularly sanctimonious views about this subject. I'm pragmatic and I like to do what works. So, hey if there is a quicker way to do something then I'm all for it. Usually. But when I think about these certain tools, my explanation is even more beautifully simple. Quite simply these are things I would not do to my own animals or an animal in my care. If I wouldn't do them to my own animals or animals in my care, how on earth can I recommend or use them on client’s animals. I can't obviously. For me folks it's that simple. Nothing more than that actually.

So, what are these things that I wouldn’t do, that I speak of?

Again it's not very helpful to the conversation to not actually list physical tools and what is done with those tools. So, I thought it might be interesting for you to read a little list of things that pop into my head, that I wouldn't do to my animals or an animal in my care:

• Use any device on the neck that causes an intentional impact. This could be a slip lead, a prong collar or a choke chain.

• Pull a neck device up high by the ears, pulling the dog upwards into an uncomfortable position, including using it in a figure of eight position.

• Use a remote device to interrupt a behaviour. I have no idea how much it's going to scare the s*** out of the dog and what fallout will occur

Not an exhaustive list, just a flavour for you.

Again, this is totally not bashing anyone or anything, it's just a list of things I personally wouldn't do. I physically couldn't imagine myself walking my dog and at the start of the walk putting a slip lead on, pulling it right up by the ears and then applying pressure to it every time the dog did something I didn't like. It's just not for me.

Here's a list of things I would use instead. All conditioned positively where possible, although not always possible in certain circumstances:

• A flat collar and lead

• A harness and lead

• A slip lead (rarely) for emergency or quick control of situations when needed

• A house line

• A good quality head collar

Again, a list not exhaustive, just a flavour

I fully understand this leaves me in a position where I cannot offer quick fixes in most cases. That is the service I offer. I would rather the training takes longer, and the dog doesn't experience the tools I wouldn’t use listed above.

I would rather train the emotion, than suppress the physical behaviour

I try to screen out clients that are looking for a quick fix, with stringent terms and conditions, that acts as a filter, so nobody is disappointed later down the line

If you are someone that identifies with my position, like probably most of my followers in my little echo chamber, then I'm glad you enjoyed reading.

If you are someone that uses any of the above tools that I wouldn’t use and think it doesn't hurt your dog, no problem it's your dog.

It's just not something I do because I wouldn't do it to my own animals.

Peace.

Call me for a free and honest chat that will get you and your dog on the right path.