All positive, all the time?

I run into Humans a lot who want to know what a Balanced Trainer is:  well, being a "balanced" trainer means I offer a consequence when an animal is presenting a conscious decision to Not do a desired behavior that I know he understands how to do.

Those moments your dog pauses and looks over his shoulder before choosing to blast across the street towards your neighbor? And you've spent time to teach him what "come" means, and he Still decides to race the opposite direction? You've "proofed" his stay (or so you thought) and he chooses to break it to ignore you and sniff a tree... These are the moments where, in my opinion , your dog has willingly chosen to defy you. He has earned a consequence.

You have not set yourself up as a reliably consistent pack leader, and in his dog mind, your stupid piece of sausage is not nearly as cool as chasing that herd of deer across the pasture (or squirrels across the park, if you live in a more urban setting).  Knowing what kind of consequence and reward is most appropriate for that particular animal is also a HUGE piece of the puzzle.  Hence my issue with "trainers" who profess to be able to "fix" any issue with a 100% positive approach, or those who won't use rewards at all.

Believing a self-serving species like canines will benefit from learning to work by force alone is wrong (in my opinion). I don't want a slave; I want a dog. One who knows what rules and perimeters he is expected to follow, and what will happen should he choose to ignore those rules.

The following article from Leerburg's Ed Frawley hits the nail on the head (again, in my opinion) .  I was a "trainer" for one of the big-box stores for a while, and what he talks about is so very true. Using their 100% force-free Positive Reinforcement program is a great start...if you plan to spend most of your dogs life controlling the environment around him to such a degree that he, of course, will gladly choose sausage over most alternatives. But at some point, he's going to use his brain...For real.   And when he does, you probably are going to find yourself  holding a chunk of smelly salmon while your dog takes his time returning to you,  after he's finished whatever it is he wants to do; and guess what?  He'll still need that piece of fish.

http://leerburg.com/allpositive.htm?utm_source=nlist&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=05122014