Thursday, September 17, 2015
The Limits of Positive Reinforcement
2 comments:
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- The Management
I have a dog that I adopted at 1.5 years old. He had so many bad habits, and is frankly an asshole. I spent over $1000 with three different R+ trainers, and not one of them was able to even control him on a leash.
ReplyDeleteHe still has many undesirable behaviors four years out, but I can at least control him on a leash, thanks to a prong collar. But it is almost "unsafe" to even mention it in many dog circles.
I would love to meet someone who could control him with just a flat collar. Seriously.
A competent balanced trainer can train your dog -- and you can too. But Job One is being willing to put a lot of time and consistency into it. As I have noted in the past, despite all the wizards at Hogwarts, the only person training animals was the fellow without a wand -- Hagrid -- and most of what he did was pure positive but took a lot of time.
ReplyDeleteThat said, an adult dog comes with behaviors in him that may have been rewarded for a long time. Ending those behaviors may require a lot of daily exercise, a leash, a food bag, and yes an e-collar set at low stim to remind the dog of what he knows after he has learned it.
Can a dog be trained on a flat collar and slip collar alone? Of course! 4,000 years of that. But a big adult dog with bad habits may require a big man to do it, and it's slower and more stressful to the dog than a properly used e-collar used in combination with a leash and treat bag. Timing, consistency, repetition.