Patricia B. McConnell
Paul Owens
Pat Miller
Etc.
I suppose this would include everybody at Petco too.
Those who do advocate some kind of correction, generally introduce the corrections at some point after 12 months and vary the level of the corrections to the dog's temperament:
Leerburg advocates positive motivation, markers and food but introduces corrections as training proceeds with flat collar, prong collar, dominant collar and remote-collar corrections for both training obedience and general behavior issues. Flat collar pops are advocated to teach the “come” command to puppies but corrections are otherwise only advocated for adult dogs. In additional literature, there appears to be some advocacy of corrections on older puppies (4-8 months) once they've certainly learned a command.
The Monks of New Skete appear to use nylon choke collar corrections as the basis of all adult dog training. In video, there was no food, markers or any positive motivation other than a little praise. Pops on the thin nylon choke collar were the primary motivation for the dog's obedience as shown on video. They also showed chin-cuffs and kneeing. With puppies, a little shaping by gentle force is used to obtain sit and down. Collar corrections are used on adult dogs apparently over 12 months.
Cesar Milan appears to mostly entertain and encourage but if a practical method can be gleaned from what he advocates, it would appear to include corrections on a thick nylon slip collar sold on his website and his own Illusion collar which is basically a thin nylon choke collar similar to the New Skete Monks but held in position on the neck by a second collar of nylon webbing.
Then there's the old school choke-chain people like:
Barbara Woodhouse
William Koehler
It's obvious that the people and dogs winning Obedience titles and titles in sports like Schutzhund and the ring sports that include obedience aren't doing positive-only or choke-chain only training. To get the best results in precision control without de-motivating the dog too much so as to make it reluctant to work with enthusiasm, some combination of positive and negative reinforcement seems to work best for dogs in competitive obedience.
So to answer the question:
Should one use corrections in training dog behavior?
If so, at what point should the corrections be introduced?
How are the corrections to be done? What type of collar or method?
Finally, if puppies are not to be corrected until some later stage (ie 12 mo. or whatever), how does one prevent bad habits from forming in the mean time? Pulling on the leash, jumping, barking, biting, eating rocks or worse, etc. etc. What type of collar should a puppy wear and should it ever be popped?
The Different Types of Dog Training
Recommended Answer:
A very intelligent question for a change in here. I have my own ideas and things I have done in the past that I know have worked and I will tell you what I know.
A young dog, 6 weeks and older, up until around 6 months goes through what I call an imprinting phase of training. Their attention span is that of a flea and cannot train nor retain very much for too long at that time.
I use a toy or food at that time, but, there are also corrections in the form of "NO" and things taken away too. They are always worked on no leash or a flat collar and depending on the dog and its motivation, they can pick up things fairly well.
When the dog is around 6 months, I intro corrections with a prong, and the ones that have a prob with that can do as they wish.
When I ask for a behavior that I know the dog knows and has done 100 times before and I get blown, I correct, and hard if I need to, but, always in tune with the dog's temperament!
It is also in the literature that a dog that has never been corrected by a year old, will never be properly trained later on in life too, so, the sport dog trainers need to wake up and either get harder dogs or start breeding better because that is where that notion started.
In conclusion, a puppy should wear a flat collar, if anything, til 6 months of age and then be put on whatever fits its temperament and personality and yes, it should be corrected for screw ups!!
Free Dog Training Tips - Train Your Dog
- A young puppy lacks the cognitive development to properly process the meaning of a correction, plus they are only motivated by food and affection. So it is wise to take advantage of that and cookie train when it is most effective. When a pup reaches puberty (about 6 months) that all changes. This change in the dogs attitudes should be obvious to even the novice pet owner as the dog begins to display it's new found sense of self awareness and independence. This is when cookie training should end and formal training begins.
Where the confusion comes from is Spenser defined "reinforcement" as anything that enhances a desired behavior, and "punishment" as anything that reduces an undesired behavior. (Operant Conditioning) The two term have nothing what so ever to do with getting out either a cookie or a baseball bat.
IMHO the question has never been when to train, or how to train. The question is what training is age appropriate. As an example you mentioned "how does one prevent bad habits from forming in the mean time?", simple, just redirect the puppy to the behavior that you want. By showing the pup the behavior that you want, the bad behavior that you don't want goes away all on it's own.
You also mentioned Schutzhund and the ring sports, well, a police dog is expected to maintain it's bite even tho' the 'perp is trying to beat it off with a stick. Hate to say it, but there is only one way in training to insure that will happen. The correction has nothing to do with "punishment" the correction is made only to simulate a distraction.
The same is true with putting a bird dog through "stick fetch" and/or "collar fetch". - It depends. I think puppies are fully capable of understanding corrections. If a 8 week old puppy bites you and you give it a prong collar correction I bet you a 100 bucks he'll stop biting in a day or 2 tops. That'd make you an idiot though. But firmly holding the pup and saying "no" is a correction to me and it's what I use to teach puppies to not bite and it works fine.
For things that are pack infractions or dangerous you can correct for at nearly any age. A puppy in my face while I'm eating is getting corrected for not giving me my space. A puppy who growls at me (seriously not a playful growl) over a toy is getting corrected. Those are pack infractions.
If a pup picks up garbage or a maggoty old dead bird outside I say "PFUI!!!" Aka drop it, if he doesn't he gets corrected. End of. If a puppy gets into the trash it gets corrected. End of. These things are angerous things and your goal is to get the pup to avoid ever doing them again. This is called ,avoidance training". You only do this when you want a dog NEVER to perform that action or anything similar to it ever again ie getting on the furniture...after this training it is confusing to ever call him up onto the sofa, so be sure it's something you want to discourage for life.
As far as training corrections, I don't start until 6-8 months old. By then your dog should know every command he's ever going to know (if you got him at 8-12 weeks) if you're doing your job (minus teaching him things only an adult is capable of ie defense training in bitework or the jumps as puppies should never be made to do jumps). You can start with mild corrections to get attention back on you and to correct obvious disobedience and obnoxious behavior ie barking towards strange dogs and people. - This video is PERFECT for you!! trust me!! check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRt4gw_yi…
(its from professionals)
good luck
teen360
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