The evolution of modern-day dog training
Today’s trainers owe much to their predecessors
By Mary R. Burch, Ph.D.
By the 1980s, there was a paradigm shift toward more positive methods in dog
training. Only 20 years before, many trainers felt that dogs had to be “broken”
in order to be trained. These changes in thinking matched what was happening
in the treatment of people with disabilities and mental health problems. In
the 1960s, humans were often treated with shock therapy and the use of aversive
stimuli. By the 1980s positive behavioral procedures were commonplace in both
dog training and human services settings.
Starting in the 1980s, the dog training world seemed to ‘discover’
operant conditioning. The principles of operant conditioning are far from new
and this discovery was actually a re-discovery of principles that dog trainers
had been using nearly a century ago.
Beginning in the 1800s, without using the technical terminology or being aware
of the scientific theories related to training, dog trainers were using many
operant conditioning procedures. The early dog trainers played a critical role
in developing the world of dog training as we know it today.
After the cavemen brought wolf cubs into their dens as companions, domesticated
dogs were used for purposes such as hunting, herding, droving, pulling sleds,
and killing vermin. Tibetan Terriers are thought to have been bred and raised
by monks in Tibetan monastaries as long as 2000 years ago to serve as pets and
assist with the care of flocks and herds. In the 1790s, during her imprisonment,
Josephine reportedly used her Pug to carry messages to Napoleon. In the 19th
Century, Asian tribes were using sled dogs to carry loads. All of these dogs
had some training that was most likely provided by the owners and based on trial-and-error.
There were no obedience training classes and no manuals or videotapes designed
to teach you to teach your dog to carry messages out of your prison cell.
Dogs shows in taverns
Beginning in the late 1700s, in England, informal dog competitions were held
in events much like county fairs. By the 1800s, informal dog activities had
become popular. Many events were held in local taverns and the townspeople came
to cheer on their favorite dogs. A British tavern called The Blue Anchor was
the main headquarters for the Toy Dog Club, and a specialty show for Toy Spaniels
was held in The Elephant and Castle tavern in 1834.
In 1859, English dog fanciers held the first organized dog show. The show
included only Pointers and Setters, showing the interest at the time in dogs
who had been trained for sporting activities. Fourteen years later, The Kennel
Club (England) held its first official dog show.
As in England, the earliest interest in organized dog training in the United
States focused on sporting dogs. In the 1700s, George Washington maintained
a kennel of foxhounds at Mt. Vernon and competitions involving pointers,
setters, and hounds were popular. In 1884, a growing national interest in pure-bred
dogs resulted in the formation of The American Kennel Club. Initially, the primary
focus of the AKC was to maintain a stud book and serve as a central governing
body for dog shows.
From the mid-1880s until the 1930s, there were no obedience events at AKC
dog shows. An idea that was borrowed from other countries, dog training was
becoming well known in the United States in the 1920s, even though there were
no AKC obedience competitions. Owners could have their dogs boarded and trained
by professional trainers. Some owners trained in groups and had local competitions.
Training dogs for competition and to earn AKC titles didn’t begin in this
country until 1933 when Helene Whitehouse Walker decided to show everyone that
her Standard Poodle was far more than just another pretty face.
Helene Whitehouse Walker
Walker was a breeder of Standard Poodles, dogs who were thought of by many
at the time as “sissies.” She knew about the behavior tests that were
being held in England for working dogs. An effective and persuasive woman, Walker
began approaching dog clubs and breeders with her idea of holding competitive
obedience tests at dog shows. In 1933, in Mount Kisco, New York, eight dogs
competed in America’s first obedience trial. The slogan “Train Your
Dog,” became popular across the country and in 1934, North Westchester
Kennel Club and Somerset Hills Kennel Club held obedience tests at their conformation
shows. By 1936, the American Kennel Club had developed and was using the “Regulations
and Standards for Obedience Test Trials” at licensed obedience events.
On the road again
Inspired by the public’s enthusiastic response to obedience and dog training,
in 1937, Walker, her friend Blanche Saunders, and their dogs went on the
road in a 21-foot-long trailer to give obedience demonstrations across the country.
In 1941, the New England Dog Training Club became the first obedience club to
become a member club of the AKC. Dog training had arrived in the United
States!
Rin Tin Tin: US Calvary’s most valuable soldier
From the 1920s to the 1950s, Americans of all ages watched with wonder as a
German Shepherd entertained and amazed them. Lee Duncan, a World War I soldier,
found a shell-shocked puppy in the French trenches. He took the dog home
to the states and in 1922, Rin Tin Tin made his debut. Rin Tin Tin was so popular,
he was credited for saving Warner Brothers from bankruptcy in the 1920s. Referred
to as the “U.S. Calvary’s most valuable soldier,” Rin Tin Tin
would make spectacular leaps in raging river rapids, hide under the water from
a pursuer, and hold the reins in his mouth to drive a horse and buggy. Rin Tin
Tin died at the age of 16 and was buried in Paris. At the time of his death,
he was receiving 2000 fan letters every week, showing that people of all ages
and backgrounds were fascinated with the idea of a highly trained dog.
Lassie: A 50 year tradition
A 1938 story involving a collie started a tradition that lasted more than 50
years. Joe was a boy whose family had to sell their collie because they could
not afford to keep it. The story touched the hearts of so many people it was
eventually made into a novel and feature motion picture with Elizabeth Taylor
and Roddy McDowall. “Pal,” the original Lassie, made his debut in
1943 in Lassie Come Home. Rudd Weatherwax was Pal’s trainer and
eight generations of Lassies later, Rudd’s son Bob was carrying on the
tradition of training Lassies using positive training methods. For many people
growing up in the 1950s, Sunday nights were the high point of the week. It
was then that we could watch a beautiful, well-trained dog who was so devoted
she would travel miles and overcome any obstacles to get to her owner. It was
the human-animal bond at its finest.
Conrad Most: The beginning of training curriculums
In the early 1900s, Pavlov was in Russia studying reflexive responses in dogs.
In their psychology labs, Thorndike was working on the Law of Effect and J.B.
Watson was advocating a move toward the scientific, objective study of behavior.
At the same time that these researchers were developing the foundations for
operant conditioning, dog trainers were making their own contributions toward
developing a technology for training. By the 1930s, Walker and Saunders were
using an ancient, unair-conditioned Buick to pull a trailer across the country
so that people could learn about training their dogs.
In Germany, Colonel Conrad Most was training dogs and explaining their learning
tendencies from a dog trainer’s perspective. Most started training police
dogs in 1906, and in 1912 he became the director of Berlin’s State Breeding
and Training Establishment for police dogs. From 1919-1937 Most headed the Canine
Research Department of the Army, and in 1931 he helped form the German Society
for Animal Psychology.
In the 1940s, Most used his dog training knowledge to train the handlers and
trainers of dogs at the German Dog Farm, a training center for guide dogs and
their blind handlers.
Most demonstrated an understanding of operant conditioning concepts such as
primary and secondary reinforcement, shaping, fading, and chaining some 28 years
before the publication of B.F. Skinner’s The Behavior of Organisms.
Most described reinforcement as “that agreeable experience when the dog
has performed a correct behavior,” and he differentiated between primary
and secondary reinforcers. He referred to secondary reinforcers as “secondary
inducements,” and used his voice and soft tones much in the way some trainers
use clickers today.
As with many trainers who came from a police or military background, many
of Most’s procedures would be regarded as “heavy-handed” by today’s
trainers. Nonetheless, it is important to recognize that an early dog trainer
had independently discovered many of the relationships between consequences
and behavior that Skinner would later describe in The Behavior of Organisms.
Most’s 1910 manual Training Dogs was one of the first “how
to train” dog books.
Josef Weber
Josef Weber came to the US from Germany, where he was an instructor in the
Berlin Police Force. In addition to teaching military and police dogs, Weber
had developed procedures for teaching guide dogs for people who were blind.
Weber became an American Kennel Club judge and is credited as having a
critical role in developing the formal obedience tests used in this country. Weber
advocated training for all dogs and advised owners that they should “be
proud of your dog’s manners.”
William “Bill” Koehler
Like Conrad Most and Josef Weber, Bill Koehler had experience training military
dogs. He trained dogs and their handlers at two military training centers in
California. Beginning in 1946, Koehler was the chief trainer for the Orange
Empire Dog Club. This club was known for its consistently winning performances
in team competitions and for large numbers of obedience titles acquired by members.
Koehler and his son, Dick Koehler, also trained students at their own training
facility. By 1960, more than 40,000 dogs were trained in classes instructed
by Koehler or his instructors.
Koehler is credited for starting the use of long lines and light lines in
training, methods designed to improve attentiveness and off-leash control. As
the head animal trainer for Walt Disney Studios, he introduced millions of Americans
to the potential of obedience training with his training of Wildfire, a Bull
Terrier named the Outstanding Animal Actor in 1955 for his role in It’s
a Dog’s Life. This prestigious award was given to another Koehler-trained
dog in 1959 when “Chiffon,” better known to most of us as The Shaggy
Dog, was voted the best animal actor.
The Koehler method of training is based largely on the principles of negative
reinforcement and punishment. In operant conditioning, negative reinforcement
occurs when the frequency of a response increases if an aversive event is removed
immediately after the response has been performed. This means, if the dog starts
doing what you wanted him to after you did something aversive, he was getting
negative reinforcement from escaping or avoiding the aversive stimulus.
One of the most frequently used examples of negative reinforcement in dog
training is the use of the “choke chain” or chain training collar.
After experiencing unpleasant jerks on the chain, many dogs work hard to avoid
the jerk. Koehler used choke chains in procedures such as turning quickly and
going in the opposite direction of the dog when the dog was forging ahead or
pulling the handler.
An example of punishment in the Koehler method is the use of “throw chains.”
Koehler used throw chains to control the dog from a distance. For example, if
the dog was called and did not respond, the chain would be thrown sharply at
the dog’s rear. According to Koehler, as the chain hits the dog, the handler
is to reel in the leash and have the dog sit front. When the dog is positioned
in front, Koehler instructs handlers to provide lavish praise, showing that
he believes in reinforcing dogs for what they have done correctly.
In training, Koehler advocated letting dogs make mistakes, providing consequences
for those mistakes, and then providing praise for desired behavior. In cases
where dogs had behavior problems such as digging, jumping on people, and barking,
Koehler believed in the use of punishment. Punishment, in the operant conditioning,
scientific context, is defined as providing a consequence that makes a particular
behavior less likely to occur in the future.
Times have changed since Koehler started training dogs. While he stood by
his techniques throughout his life, Koehler’s punishment procedures are
not considered necessary, humane, or appropriate by many of today’s trainers.
For dogs who were diggers, Koehler advised digging a hole, filling it with water,
and putting the dog’s nose into the water. According to the Koehler methods,
dogs who jump on people should receive a sharp knee in the chest, and dogs who
bark excessively should be hit with a leather belt.
The paradigm shift in dog training seems to match changes that have occurred
over the years in treating people with disabilities and mental health problems.
In the 1960’s, patients in institutions were treated with shock therapy
and aversive stimuli such as lemon juice and ammonia were routinely used with
behavior-problem patients. It was believed then that punishment was the fastest,
most effective way to fix a severe behavior problem. With the exception of a
few unusual cases in highly specialized treatment facilities, these procedures
are not used today and would be considered abusive. Like human therapies, for
the most part, dog training has undergone an evolution and moved toward a more
positive approach.
I met Bill Koehler and watched him work with dogs and students in the 1980’s. He
appeared then to be a kind and gentle man and he clearly loved dogs. At the
time Koehler developed his procedures, he was one of the few people in the country
who was known for his ability to rehabilitate tough dogs. For many dogs, Koehler
was the last hope. If he couldn’t “fix” them in a short period
of time, they would be put to death. While the trend in the 1980s and 1990s
has been toward positive approaches to dog training, and many of Koehler’s
procedures are criticized, Bill Koehler can not be denied recognition for the
major impact he had on dog training in this country. His 1962 book The Koehler
Method of Dog Training is an obedience classic that has lasted nearly a
half a century and has been used to train hundreds of thousands of dogs.
Blanche Saunders
After Blanche Saunders’ and Mrs. Helene Whitehouse Walker’s incredible
cross-country journey to sell the benefits of dog training to the American public,
Saunders continued to promote the newly emerging sport with missionary zeal.
She organized obedience demonstrations at high visibility events such as the
Westminster Dog Show, in Rockefeller Center during National Dog Week, and
during intermissions in Yankee Stadium with 70,000 spectators.
In 1954, Saunders published her book, The Complete Book of Dog Obedience.
This was the first book written specifically for obedience instructors and in
it, Saunders outlined the format for procedures that would be adopted in dog
training classes across the country.
Saunders showed an understanding of the principles of learning. She said,
“Dogs learn by associating their act with a pleasing or displeasing result.
They must be disciplined when they do wrong, but they must also be rewarded
when they do right.” Saunders advocated the use of punishment procedures
for some behavior problems. When dogs barked in class, owners were instructed
to hold the muzzles and tell the dog to behave. If the dog continued to bark,
Saunders wrote that the owner should hold the leash tight and the dog should
be “cuffed sharply across the end of the nose.”
Negative reinforcement procedures played a key part in Saunders’ method.
Perhaps the most frequently used negative reinforcement procedure (where the
dog attempts to avoid something aversive) is the jerking of the choke chain.
When a dog receives a jerk by the chain collar, the procedure is technically
considered punishment. However, when the dog hears the “click, click, click,”
of the chain collar as the trainer prepares for a correction and works to avoid
the correction, the procedure is negative reinforcement.
In the Saunders method, to teach heeling, the instructor tells the handlers,
“Forward.” Students are instructed to say, “Heel! Jerk! Praise!”
Jerks are also used to both teach behaviors such as sit and down and to correct
problems such as inattentiveness.
Food training was virtually unknown when Saunders was training dogs. Saunders
felt that food should not be given “like a bribe” on an on-going basis,
but that it was acceptable to use “a tidbit now and then to overcome a
problem.” This was perhaps the beginning of the shift away from military
and police training methods that relied primarily on punishment, escape, and
avoidance behaviors. These methods specifically stated that trainers should
never use food in training. Saunders primarily used pats and praise as reinforcers.
To teach new skills, Saunders often used physical prompts. Dogs were taught
to “down” by having the handler step on the shortened leash. In teaching
dogs to “sit,” handlers would apply pressure to the dog’s shoulder
to guide the dog into position.
Blanche Saunders made some major contributions to dog training. She was one
of the first trainers of obedience instructors and she was an early seminar
leader. Her book outlined a curriculum of carefully detailed week-by-week instruction
for novice through advanced obedience classes. Throughout The Complete Book
of Dog Obedience, Saunders set the tone for praising, kindness, and fairness.
She listed “too little praise” as one of the most commonly made mistakes
of owners. Saunders was perhaps the first author to stress repeatedly the importance
of reinforcement in training, thus starting the trend toward the positive training
methods used today.
Milo Pearsall
Milo Pearsall’s 1958 book Dog Obedience Training has been
billed as a book that revolutionized dog training with a more gentle approach.
Many of Pearsall’s training methods were the same negative reinforcement
techniques described four years earlier by Blanche Saunders. Pearsall used snapping
on the leash as a correction in teaching heeling, to get the dog to sit, and
to improve attentiveness.
Pearsall also used punishment procedures for correcting problem behaviors.
To correct dogs who jump on people, Pearsall suggested the person knee the dog
in the chest. To stop car chasing, owners were told to tie a stick to a short
length of rope hanging from the dog’s collar. As the dog ran to chase,
the stick hit against the dog’s front legs. For housebreaking accidents,
Pearsall suggested that owners push their dog’s noses near the accident
(not in it) so that the dog could get the idea of what it had done wrong. In
the Pearsall method, dogs who ran away were trained on a line. When they tried
to bolt with the long line attached to their collars, they were jerked off their
feet.
In 1958, aware of Pavlov’s research on conditioning that had been completed
only a few decades earlier, Pearsall wrote, “The dog at first learns his
lessons by the application of a primary stimulus – forcing him to sit,
for example – and at the same time a secondary stimulus, the command is
given to him. Soon, the secondary means exactly the same to him as the primary
did. The best-known example of this primary-secondary transfer is the famous
experiment of Pavlov on the salivation of dogs.” Unfortunately, while Pearsall
knew that there was a connection between learning theory and dog training, he
confused the concepts of respondent (reflex) conditioning with operant conditioning
(learning). A dog learning when a physical prompt of forcing him into a sit
has been paired with the verbal cue, “sit,” is clearly a case of operant
conditioning.
Dogs are amazing creatures and they oftentimes learn despite confusing messages
that we might send. For serious infractions, Pearsall said the dog should be
struck under the chin (with the fingers). As soon as the dog was hit for misbehavior,
he instructed the handler to then praise the dog immediately. Behaviorally,
we now know that it would not make sense to give a reinforcer immediately after
a punisher. Such a pairing would clearly cause the punisher to take on reinforcing
qualities.
According to sound behavioral principles, the reinforcer (praise) would not
be given until the dog had engaged in an acceptable behavior. Then, that behavior
would be reinforced. Pearsall justified the practice of praise as soon as you
punish by saying the handler needed to “let the dog know he was still loved”
and that the handler was on the dog’s side.
In operant conditioning, the word “punishment” is a technical scientific
term that means to provide a consequence that makes a particular behavior less
likely to occur in the future. For example, if you grabbed the handle to a new
pan that you were cooking with and you were severely burned, in operant terms,
you were punished for grabbing the handle of this pan while cooking. Many dog
trainers, from years past through the present time, think of “punishment”
as having a different meaning. They equate it with a crime, retribution, or
a person who is just trying to get even.
Pearsall, like many trainers, did not use the operant conditioning definition
of punishment. He believed that as a first rule of obedience training, trainers
should “keep also in mind that the dog is never punished. He is corrected.
He does not, and never will, understand punishment.” Pearsall used the
“crime” version of punishment, here, a distinction wholly lost on
the dog.
Dog Obedience Training was a work that was very complete. It
included information on selecting puppies, pre-training, and crate training
in addition to providing general training information for all levels of instruction.
Pearsall was a well-respected AKC obedience judge and instructor. Hundreds of
thousands of dogs were trained with Pearsall’s training methods. Pearsall
was an early supporter of “kindergarten puppy classes.” These classes
for puppies were designed primarily to educate owners and promote socialization
among the puppies. Pearsall stressed that these classes should be fun and they
should not be formal training sessions that would deny puppies the right to
act like playful, joyful, exploring puppies.
Milo Pearsall was perhaps best known for the nationwide seminars and clinics
that he conducted to promote dog training and his ability to demonstrate using
problem dogs (from the audience) how quickly dogs learn in the hands of a skilled
trainer.
Winifred Strickland
Winifred Strickland began competing in obedience in the early 1940s. She retired
from competition in 1955, just about the time that Blanche Saunders and Milo
Pearsall were influencing trainers with their seminars. Strickland, an AKC obedience
judge, was one of the earliest “super trainers.” She earned 160 obedience
titles, 40 perfect scores, 30 utility titles, three obedience trial championships,
five national obedience championships, five tracking titles, plus hundreds of
high awards.
In her 1965 book Expert Obedience Training for Dogs, Strickland outlined
a sequenced curriculum for novice through utility training. She said that her
method would produced dogs that were eager to work.
Strickland used snap-release corrections to teach heeling and to “teach
the dog to behave.” If dogs refused commands, she would give them a sharp
tap on the nose. For dogs who jumped on people, she used the commonly used procedure
of a knee in the dog’s chest. In housebreaking dogs, she used verbal reprimands
for when the dog had an accident, and she praised the dog when it was eliminating
outside. When Strickland had to correct the dog, she believed that punishment
should always be administered immediately and the lesson continued so the dog
could do something right and get praised. Strickland emphasized the importance
of good timing when delivering both punishment and praise.
To teach “down,” Strickland used physical prompts. She pulled the
dog’s front legs out as she dropped it into a down position and said, “down,
good down.” To drop the dog into a down at a distance, Strickland systematically
faded her control of the dog by starting the training with the dog a short distance
away and gradually increasing the distance.
Strickland taught her young dogs to do tricks using food as an incentive.
She described how she would pair food with praise and eventually the dogs worked
for praise alone (conditioned reinforcement). Like most of the other trainers
of her times, Strickland advised against using food in training. She said that
the use of food “is a crude approach to training and will work only with
dogs that think more of their own stomachs than of their owners.” Despite
this comment, in Expert Obedience Training for Dogs, Strickland described
how food could be used to teach advanced skills such as the “go-out”
exercise for obedience. This exercise involves the dog being sent away from
the handler, instructed to sit, and then jump over a specified jump. Strickland
would place small bits of food at the location to which the dog was directed.
The dog would run out to get the food and Strickland would give a verbal signal
to have the dog sit. Eventually, the food would be faded from the training and
the dog would run out to the location when given a verbal command.
In the 1960’s, a number of leading trainers believed that dogs trained
for formal obedience competition should live in kennels. The thinking was that
the dogs would be so happy to have human contact they would work eagerly. Strickland
disagreed with kenneling dogs. She felt that dogs should live in the home “as
family members.” She cited numerous examples of how her German Shepherds
practiced their training throughout the day by retrieving items and performing
other functional tasks.
Praise was an “integral part” of Strickland’s training method
and she advised trainers to “continually strive to instill a feeling of
fun in your training to keep your dog enthusiastic.” Winifred Strickland
was responsible for a dramatic advance in the movement toward the kinder, more
humane training of dogs. Strickland’s comment, “Do not be embarrassed
if someone overhears you praising your dog. Be proud of it,” shows us just
how far dog training has come in the last 30 years.
Modern Day Influences
Ian Dunbar: Positive training for families
Dr. Ian Dunbar, a veterinarian, is perhaps best known for his work as an animal
behaviorist, teacher, lecturer, and innovative promoter of dog training. After
receiving his veterinary degree from the Royal Veterinary College in London,
Dunbar completed a doctorate in animal behavior at the University of California.
The host of the British television series Dogs with Dunbar, California
resident Dunbar has written numerous books and videos. In the 1980s, Dunbar
produced the “Sirius” (the dog constellation) puppy training book
and video. In a time when the emphasis in dog training was largely on training
for formal obedience competition, Dunbar began stressing the importance of training
pet dogs. His educational materials and seminars made a significant contribution
to dog training by advancing the idea that the dog’s entire family could
be taught to shape their dog’s behavior. Dunbar wisely recognized when
he was working with families that most people do not like to use aversive corrections
with their dogs. He developed a positive, motivational training method
that unskilled owners could both learn to use effectively and feel good about
the method they were using to train their dog.
By the time Dunbar arrived on the dog training scene, a number of trainers
were beginning to promote a more positive approach to training dogs. Dunbar
demonstrated in seminars and on videotapes how dogs could be taught new skills
very quickly if food “lures” were used during training. Like trainers
as early as Milo Pearsall, Dunbar stressed the importance of getting puppies
off to a good start. He encouraged trainers to organize “puppy parties.”
These parties were designed to socialize puppies, screen potential behavior
problems, and get owners involved in the educational loop early in the process.
In 1994, Dunbar’s influence on the dog training world expanded exponentially
when he played a key role in founding the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. APDT’s
first conference in Orlando, Florida, that year drew 250 professional dog
trainers who were interested in issues related to training pet dogs. By 1997,
attendance at annual conferences was more than 1000 trainers each year. The
1997 conference program, in addition to a wide variety of other topics, included
a number of presentations related to operant conditioning. Speakers talked about
punishment, how to use and time reinforcers, stimulus control, and behavior
modification techniques, showing that many dog trainers had an interest in the
science of how dogs learn.
Karen Pryor
Karen Pryor is a scientist, writer, animal trainer, and seminar leader. For
dog trainers in the 1980s and 1990s, Pryor also fulfilled an important role
as a translator of basic behavioral concepts for those working in the animal
training area. Prior to the 1980s, Pryor was a marine mammal trainer who used
Skinner’s operant conditioning principles to teach dolphins and develop
marine mammal shows. In 1984, she published her book Don’t Shoot the
Dog, a user-friendly, popular press explanation of operant procedures for
the general public. In Don’t Shoot the Dog, Pryor used real world situations
to explain how operant procedures can be used to change the behavior of one’s
children, spouse, roommate, or pets.
When Reader’s Digest, with its readership of more than 20 million
readers, published an excerpt of Don’t Shoot the Dog, many behavior
analysts were ecstatic that someone had successfully introduced operant conditioning
to the general public. In the late 1980s Pryor gave the keynote address to behavioral
scientists at the Association for Behavior Analysis International conference
and the bridge between science and modern day dog training was established.
Pryor’s training materials and seminars showed how operant procedures
can be used to provide training that is positive. Pryor also introduced trainers
to concepts such as secondary reinforcement with her “shaping game”
and examples of “clicker training.”
By the mid-1990s, there were several dog trainers writing and conducting national
seminars on how to use clickers in training. Numerous dog trainers were giving
workshops and writing on operant conditioning topics such as positive reinforcement,
shaping behaviors, and decreasing undesirable behaviors. The long-term impact
of these trainers on the field of dog training is not yet known.
Understanding the whole dog
In the years before operant conditioning was a term familiar to dog trainers,
well-known trainers introduced new training methods or modifications of old
ones with a steady regularity. However, despite a consistently growing number
of books and seminars on “how to train,” leading trainers have understood
for decades that more is required to train a dog than a set of procedures or
bag of tricks.
The field of dog training has changed dramatically in recent years and the
overall trend has been toward an increased use of positive reinforcement. While
strategies have changed, some of the characteristics of good trainers have remained
constant. Good trainers understand the whole dog. Although we can make some
generalizations about learning theory and what happens when an animal is reinforced
or punished, we cannot deny the role that genetics and breed or species differences
play when we are trying to change an animal’s behavior.
How Dogs Learn by Mary R. Burch and Jon S. Bailey can be ordered through
the NAIA Amazon bookstore. See a review of the book at http://naiaonline.org/articles/archives/burchbook.htm.
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