That's called positive motivation training and is pretty much the way all dogs are trained from the beginning. Eventually all dogs will really test the boundaries and that's when the negative re-enforcement comes in.
He speaks of dog running off after a cat when you told it to come. The best way to train that properly is to shape the dog's behavior early on with positive re-enforcement but then you will have to show the dog there are consequences for not listening.
You train the dog to COME... and you reward the dog the second he moves towards you, then you stop that and only reward the dog when he gets to you. During this time the dog has a long line on him (mine is 33ft) once the behavior is shaped and I'm confident he understands the command then it's time for secondary reenforcement.
So we have the long line on the dog, I give the command but there is another guy at the end of the field trying to attracted the dog. Almost all dogs at first will break and try to do to the other guy because it appears he is more fun than the trainer. The second the dog breaks for the other guy, I yank him off his feet. As soon as he moves to me then he gets his reward.
Dogs don't like to be yanked off their feet so 2-3 sessions of that and they learn its better to come to the owner immediately.
---------- "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." - Joseph Campbell
Here's another short bit from the same man. Also, another site full of great stuff.
I'm interested in the connection he makes about using training skills to understand each other. I knew a guy who had dogs & couldn't train them not to soil the expensive carpets. His family fell apart.
That book literally changed my life and the way I deal with other individuals, regardless of species. I think about how I am shaping the behaviours of my dogs, bunnies, guinea pigs, kids (my daughters, not goats), surgeons, anesthetists and other co-workers all the same way.
Last Edited by on Feb 07, 2010 5:32 PM
