The dog was nervous.
I couldn’t blame him. He had just been lifted onto the table and the women I worked animal control with and I had to hold him.
I looked at this dog and wondered. I wondered where he came from. I wondered who his family was before he came into my life. I wondered what kind of dog he would be in the house. I wondered if I could take him home.
We had been told that he was brought to the shelter because the family said the dog was too much work. That he jumped on the kids and stole food off the table.
Now here he was on the table minutes away from ever doing anything again. A few minutes later the vet walked in and injected a lethal dose of pentobarbital. I held the dog and gently laid his head on the table as he went to sleep for the last time.
Unfortunately, this scenario played out over and over again in the two years I worked as animal control.
This was extremely tough and I had to leave the job. As a dog trainer, I wanted to help as many dogs as I could, still do.
Every week dogs come to me that are just a trip away from going to a shelter. Often these dogs have been through a couple of classes with different trainers. The trainers have instructed the owners that their problems can be solved by using “all positive” methods.
There is a HUGE movement in this country that will tell you that you can never use a negative consequence to stop a behavior.
That you should “redirect” or “ignore” the behavior, that using any type of negative consequence will turn your dog into a snarling, raging, uncontrollable beast.
Here’s what you need to understand: You CAN’T stop a behavior using positive reinforcement. With the overwhelming majority of dogs, you will NOT get the results you are looking for by ignoring a behavior.
The “all positive” crowd loves to teach this for jumping. Ignore the behavior and reward when you get the correct behavior (four paws on the ground). How’s that working for you?
Jumping can be stopped in about three minutes when you apply a negative consequence that does NOT harm the dog.
One of my most popular YouTube videos shows how to do it. It is also the one video that the “all positive” crowd loves to beat me up over.
Whatever.
A dog can end up in the shelter and be put to death for jumping. I am not kidding. It happens everyday in America. I would much rather apply a negative consequence, quickly solve the problem and keep the dog alive then stick to a flawed philosophy just to make me and others feel good.
I always choose LIFE when it comes to dogs.
And if you’d like to help your dog learn behaviors and stop behaviors so you can have a happy, fun life together, head on over to The Dog Training Inner Circle and let’s get started:
It’s only $1.00 to join.
Best,
Eric