So last week I was responsible for little Scarlett crying her eyes out.
Before you think I am a total creep let me make it very clear that I did not yell or punish her in any way.
Here’s what happened:
At just two and half years old she loves to dance. So we did what any loving parents would do in this situation…
Signed her up for dance classes.
Rach and I went to check out some schools. The first one we walked into was great. The teachers were super friendly and we signed her up for fall classes. As we walked out the door little Scarlett burst into tears and was inconsolable.
She was not nervous about starting.
She was not scared of the teachers.
She was ready to dance and could not understand why we were leaving.
As much as I would like Scarlett to avoid anything negative, it is impossible. It’s impossible to go through life without experiencing negative situations.
At some point, everyone grabs a hot pan off the stove.
Which leads to a valuable learning experience.
The trend in dog training is to never use or apply any type of negative consequence, that you can only use positive reinforcement and even talking about using a negative consequence labels you as mean, inhumane and cruel.
This is total lunacy!
Learning is a series of positive and negative consequences. The consequences that happen are feedback to let the dog know what is acceptable and what is unacceptable.
Recently I was working with a new client that had been through a bunch of “all positive” classes. She was having some BIG problems with her dog and the “positive only” approach was not cutting the crabmeat.
She said to me: “Training your dog without teaching the word NO is like trying to hang wallpaper with one arm tied behind your back.”
She is 100% correct!
At The Dog Training Inner Circle we teach members how to teach the word “YES” and the word “NO.”
When you teach a behavior you use and apply the word “YES” with a positive consequence.
When you want to stop a behavior you use and apply the word “NO” with a negative consequence.
This isn’t rocket science. But it is dog training backed up by science, science of learning and correctly applying techniques and methods from the four behavior quadrants that dictate how learning happens.
If you’re ready to get started for just $1.00 go here NEXT:
Best,
Eric