G. Leadership is still important but one can lead with finesse, not force.

One definition of leadership is the ability to influence an individual to perform behavior they would not otherwise perform. By that definition, pet owners do need to develop leadership skills. However we have a choice of leadership style. We can lead by force like a dictator such as Muammar Qaddafi or by providing goals or rewards the follows want, such as Mahatma Ghandi. Schools of marketing and leadership recommend against the dictatorial, coercive style of leadership and encourage methods of leading that motivate humans through positive methods.

A similar approach should be used with animals. Instead of using coercion we can learn to lead like a leader in a dance. When partners dance as a couple, one leads and the other follows. The leader’s job is to decide ahead of time which steps to perform and then guide his partner in a clear manner so that the partner CAN follow. Partners who have to shout out the steps or who yank their follower around don’t make the cut. With animals the approach is similar. If we set rules and have a clear picture of what we want, then we can consistently convey this information to the animal through our body language and perfectly timed rewards. When learning to lead our pets, it is essential to realize that it’s important to reward desired behaviors consistently but it’s equally important to remove rewards for unwanted behavior immediately. This combination is essential if the animal is to learn to behave ONLY in the desired ways. It is also essential to stick to this plan until the good behavior becomes a habit.

H. Positive Does Not Mean Permissive

It’s important to realize that positive does not mean permissive. Regardless of which species you’re dealing with there must be rules and guidelines for behavior.

Rule # 1: The animal should respect your personal space and enter when given permission. That is, dogs should not jump on people unless the humans have solicited jumping, horses and goats should not walk over your toes or butt or push you with their heads, parrots should not fly and land on your head and walk all over you like you’re a jungle gym. Instead pets/animals should ask for permission for your attention and everything else they want by sitting or standing quietly and calmly and focus on you. It’s up to the humans to pay attention and reward this polite behavior.

Rule # 2: The overall goal is to train your pet to respond to your cues/command to, for instance, come, lie down, walk nicely on leash, the first time you ask without your needing to beg or plead or carry treats or have a pinch collar or choke chain on. The response should become a habit.

When is Force (negative reinforcement or positive punishment) appropriate?

Punishment isn’t always inappropriate. It’s just incredibly overused – and in most cases it’s performed incorrectly. As a behaviorist who works with many domesticated and wild species of animals and who started as a traditional dog trainer, I draw from my entire knowledge base to modify behavior in animals. My goal is to use whichever techniques will work best with the least likelihood of side effects in the pet. If that best technique involves a punishment such as, for dogs, a pinch collar “pop” or reprimand, or booby trap of some sort, or even an electronic collar, then I will use it. But it rarely does. Consequently I use the combination of positive reinforcement and negative punishment 99% of the time and use aversives (including verbal) probably 1000 times less than a traditional trainer and relevant rewards 1000 times more. I also occasionally recommend or allow aversives (including verbal “ah”) to clients (eg. perhaps to one client once every 2 years). First I educate them regarding the possible adverse effects and difficulties of using the aversive and then let them choose whether they feel comfortable trying the technique. They are supervised and we observe the dog’s body language for negative effects. I also educate them to the fact that some products, such as head collars, flat collars and harness can be aversive to some dogs even though we try to desensitize and counter-condition the dogs to them. These and other products must all be used carefully in order to get the intended positive effect.

With that said, I don’t think that pet owners should use force or punishment. If they decide to do so it should only be after they are proficient at rewarding good behaviors and removing rewards for unwanted behavior until the good behaviors have become a habit. My reasoning here is that:

1. Unless we are intimately aware of how we reward inappropriate behaviors, people will punish bad behaviors when they are thinking about training and reward those same behaviors at other times. They need to first learn to be aware of their actions and how it affects their pet before they earn the privilege of punishing the pet (using force-coercion).

2. Humans tend to fall back on punishment because it requires less brain power to react to a problem than to think about our contribution to the problem and how to proactively prevent the problem instead. In order to make the proactive method a habit or mindset, it’s important to first not have the “punishment” crutch to fall back on. It’s like learning to do math. If you have a calculator, you may never learn how to actually add or multiply yourself.

3. With both positive reinforcement as well as coercion, the timing is the same and owners need to be equally consistent. So if the owner does not have the ability to reward consistently and with the right timing, it’s not likely they will be able to perform the punishment technique well either.

4. Lastly the use of a force as a first-line of treatment for training can cause animals to seem stubborn and willful, when they are actually frustrated, confused, and or have little motivation other than the need to avoid fear and pain to want to perform the behaviors. Again, punishment does not take into consideration the motivation of the animal. And it doesn’t tell them what they should be doing instead, it just tells them what they should not be doing.

I am not against the use of punishment or force altogether, although I do use them about 1/100 or 1/1000 as much as a traditional trainer would, especially when dealing with aggressive or fearful animals. Rather I am saying that coercion techniques are associated with more fallout or adverse effects. To use them we need to know how to employ them effectively and know what ineffective use looks like. And we have to be able to recognize the adverse effects so that we know when coercion is appropriate and when it is not.

I. What to Take Out of Shows Such as “The Dog Whisperer” (dominance-based) and “It’s Me or the Dog” (this show is not dominance-based).

Even though shows such as the “Dog Whisperer” and many others are based on the erroneous understanding of dominance and the need to use force or coercions as the first-line of training for all problems, there are some good recommendations and lessons one can learn from it and other shows.

What to Evaluate:

1. Turn the sound down and watch the animals: Evaluate their body posture. Do dogs look happy in the end and willing to behave the way the owners would like? Or do they look fearful or like they are just behaving as long as they might get punished?

2. Ask yourself, do the techniques appear safe for you or your kids and family members? In cases where the dog acts aggressively to or bites the trainer consider that this could be directed at whoever is performing the technique.

3. What behaviors are owners rewarding? Watch to see how owners reward unwanted behavior. Although “The Dog Whisperer” rarely demonstrates rewarding of appropriate behaviors immediately as they occur (and with a reward the dog wants at that instant) try to come up with ideas on your own regarding behaviors that you would reward. Also keep your eyes open for the rare times that Millan does focus on rewarding appropriate behavior.

4. How are the owners trained? If the behavior is about the owners then one would expect the owners be trained as much or more than the dogs. Watch to see how or whether the trainer trains the owners. Ask, what does the owner specifically need to do? Is there a clear plan or does it just seem like “movie magic?”

Good Points Gained from Viewing:

1. Exercise: Yes dogs and other pets should get exercise every day. Most people don’t exercise their dogs, cats or other pets enough. Note that exercise is not a substitute for training though. For many dogs it just gets them in shape so that they can misbehave longer! And when exercised, we can accidentally reward unruly behaviors. For instance if we toss the ball for the dog that barks and jumps on you until you throw it, we are actually training overly aroused, unruly behavior. So, even exercise must be done correctly for it to have maximum benefit.

2. Rules and Limits: Yes, all animals need guidelines and limits for behavior in the house. This is for sure. Whether you train pets by punishment and coercion or by rewarding good behaviors and removing rewards for inappropriate ones at exactly the right time is what distinguishes traditional trainers from positive reinforcement trainers taking a scientific approach. Rules are what allow animals in groups to get along. And if we want our pet to be able to accompany us in public, we have even higher expectations for their behavior.

3. Be calm and assertive: Yes, to be a leader that animals want to follow you do have to act like you know what you’re doing. You have to walk like you know which direction you want your dog to follow, and provide visual and verbal cues in a manner that makes it clear to the dog that you know what you want.

4. Training is About the Owners: The owners have rewarded all kinds of unwanted behavior. Watch to see how they reward the inappropriate behaviors. Also, consider, that if the training is about the owners, how much training should the owners have or do they need in order to perform the techniques? Being calm and assertive alone won’t make you a leader though or even good at any particular task or job. To be good at the task you must first develop the skills. For instance Tiger Woods, Yoyo Ma, and every other successful pro athlete or musician are good at what they do because they’ve practiced correctly many hours a day – not just because they are calm and confident.

J. Why Some Dogs Seem to Improve with Force

The purpose of force in most cases is to stop a behavior. Overall, effective force does suppress behavior. Punishment (use of force, coercion to decrease a behavior) can work to permanently stop behavior in instances where it’s used correctly. In many cases where it is metered correctly itserves to suppress behavior only temporarily though. Especially when it is not paired with rewards for appropriate behavior and when the underlying emotional state and cause are not addressed. To the viewer immediate suppression may look like a cure. Watch closely to see if the dogs look like they are happy (ears forward, head and tail up, body relaxed, smile face) to be behaving well, or if they look suppressed and fearful (tail down, tense, avoiding eye contact, ears back or out to the sides, they look sleepy or move slowly, etc).