Wag along with me
The Transformative Journey from Compulsive Pet Trainer to Positive Reinforcement Trainer: a story of how embracing a new method of training dogs has completely transformed my life.
The first dog I adopted was an Australian Shepherd mix named Sheila. I adopted Sheila, whom I love dearly, in the early nineties. I now feel extremely guilty about how she was trained, though it was all I knew and had available to me. She was a difficult dog at best and horrendous at worst. She was jumpy, mouthy, and could be downright aggressive; other times she was a delight. My friends, vet, and an animal behaviorist all told me she was displaying dominant behavior, and that I had to get her under control - NOW. When she was six months of age, I enrolled us in the Humane Society of Indianapolis’ basic obedience class. This was compulsive training with a horrible instructor using a choke chain. I abandoned the class part way through due to my dislike of the instructor. However, I continued to use the choke chain. (While I knew no better at the time; today, I would turn that instructor – and myself – in for abuse.) Though Sheila appeared to be the perfect dog, we had no real relationship.
Fast forward nine years to the day I adopted my second dog from an animal care and control agency. Charlie was a confiscate for cruelty, and was alternately hit and neglected while locked in a basement. (His background was confirmed through discussions with the animal care and control officer who removed Charlie from the property.) Charlie then spent three months at the animal care and control agency as evidence. When I brought him home, he was only nine months old, terrified of men, anyone with a stick (even a spatula counted as a stick), and people of a specific race. He had no idea what constituted appropriate behavior or how to interact in a human world. The first course of business was earning his trust. My thought was that this was best done through training him. Kill two birds with one stone, right? It took a very short time to realize that everything I knew about dog training was very, VERY, wrong for Charlie. He would panic at a stern “no”, let alone a collar correction. I knew I couldn’t keep him if I couldn’t train him. My husband wouldn’t allow such an unruly animal to live with us for long.
Out of desperation, I signed us up for a class that used only positive reinforcement training. While it seemed to help us a bit, I didn’t understand the concepts behind the training or the need for timing of rewards. I was fairly disheartened and felt we had limited success. We muddled along for a while, until my husband said I had to do something. We were taking the dogs on vacation in about six months and he wouldn’t let me take Charlie unless I had a handle on the problems. Well, I could take Charlie, but my husband would have stayed home.
Then, at the suggestion of a friend, I attended a four hour seminar on clicker training. The price was right, and I figured I had nothing to lose. This seminar was truly enlightening for me. It provided the methodology behind the training that I needed; and also provided a tool that allowed me to communicate with both dogs in an effective manner – a clicker. During this time, Charlie was becoming more and more reactive on a leash. The training school that provided the seminar also offered a class just for reactive dogs. I enrolled Charlie in this class, but there was a waiting list. Being a highly motivated owner with a vacation deadline (and a grumpy husband), I asked if there was any reading I could do before starting the class. With list in hand, I went to the internet and purchased three or four of the recommended books. I all but immersed myself in dog training (I have a bit of an OCD problem sometimes). The day came to go to class, and we had FUN! Fun? In a dog training class? You bet! It was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me (and to Charlie). We learned so much. Now I was seeing everything I had been reading about work. I learned how to be more observant, how to address actual behaviors (not perceived motivations), how to be less reactive to my own emotional responses, how to be more patient and kind, and how to develop a real relationship with my canine companions!
While it is not pertinent to the story, the vacation went fairly well, with only two minor barking incidents, both with quick recoveries.
Once we were home, I enrolled Charlie in more advanced classes, and soaked up everything I could learn. One of my biggest lessons was how to use positive reinforcement with people! As I was writing this, I realized that I was raised in a fairly compulsive, punishment based household, and never really understood the value of positive reinforcement in any context. I even managed to graduate from college with a teaching degree without a grasp of the power of positive reinforcement. No wonder the first positive reinforcement class made little sense to me. While Charlie and I took more classes, I did even more reading. I wasn’t training Charlie at all; I was training me. Charlie has always been very good at learning. I’m the one who has not been very good at teaching (and can be a bit slow at the learning part, too).
Fast forward eight more months. I now look at the world in a different manner, and deal with animals, people, and life very differently. I search out the good things to reward and try my best to ignore the bad things (unless they are damaging or dangerous). I’ve had 40+ years of compulsive training and only eight months of positive reinforcement training; and old habits can be awfully hard to change. While I never punish my dogs with anything more than a time out these days, I am still not consistently adept at rewarding people; but I’m working on it, and will continue to do so.
I can now say that I have a fantastic relationship with both dogs based on love and trust, have started a clicker program at the same animal care and control from which I adopted Charlie, still read new research regarding animal behavior (not just canine) ravenously, and help my friends with training problems whenever possible (or refer them to appropriate help). One of the greatest rewards from this transformation: my husband and I have a much more loving and caring relationship than we have ever had before.
Charlie and I still has some difficulties to overcome. However, we will address them together with love, compassion, and a lot of positive reinforcement.
Fast forward nine years to the day I adopted my second dog from an animal care and control agency. Charlie was a confiscate for cruelty, and was alternately hit and neglected while locked in a basement. (His background was confirmed through discussions with the animal care and control officer who removed Charlie from the property.) Charlie then spent three months at the animal care and control agency as evidence. When I brought him home, he was only nine months old, terrified of men, anyone with a stick (even a spatula counted as a stick), and people of a specific race. He had no idea what constituted appropriate behavior or how to interact in a human world. The first course of business was earning his trust. My thought was that this was best done through training him. Kill two birds with one stone, right? It took a very short time to realize that everything I knew about dog training was very, VERY, wrong for Charlie. He would panic at a stern “no”, let alone a collar correction. I knew I couldn’t keep him if I couldn’t train him. My husband wouldn’t allow such an unruly animal to live with us for long.
Out of desperation, I signed us up for a class that used only positive reinforcement training. While it seemed to help us a bit, I didn’t understand the concepts behind the training or the need for timing of rewards. I was fairly disheartened and felt we had limited success. We muddled along for a while, until my husband said I had to do something. We were taking the dogs on vacation in about six months and he wouldn’t let me take Charlie unless I had a handle on the problems. Well, I could take Charlie, but my husband would have stayed home.
Then, at the suggestion of a friend, I attended a four hour seminar on clicker training. The price was right, and I figured I had nothing to lose. This seminar was truly enlightening for me. It provided the methodology behind the training that I needed; and also provided a tool that allowed me to communicate with both dogs in an effective manner – a clicker. During this time, Charlie was becoming more and more reactive on a leash. The training school that provided the seminar also offered a class just for reactive dogs. I enrolled Charlie in this class, but there was a waiting list. Being a highly motivated owner with a vacation deadline (and a grumpy husband), I asked if there was any reading I could do before starting the class. With list in hand, I went to the internet and purchased three or four of the recommended books. I all but immersed myself in dog training (I have a bit of an OCD problem sometimes). The day came to go to class, and we had FUN! Fun? In a dog training class? You bet! It was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me (and to Charlie). We learned so much. Now I was seeing everything I had been reading about work. I learned how to be more observant, how to address actual behaviors (not perceived motivations), how to be less reactive to my own emotional responses, how to be more patient and kind, and how to develop a real relationship with my canine companions!
While it is not pertinent to the story, the vacation went fairly well, with only two minor barking incidents, both with quick recoveries.
Once we were home, I enrolled Charlie in more advanced classes, and soaked up everything I could learn. One of my biggest lessons was how to use positive reinforcement with people! As I was writing this, I realized that I was raised in a fairly compulsive, punishment based household, and never really understood the value of positive reinforcement in any context. I even managed to graduate from college with a teaching degree without a grasp of the power of positive reinforcement. No wonder the first positive reinforcement class made little sense to me. While Charlie and I took more classes, I did even more reading. I wasn’t training Charlie at all; I was training me. Charlie has always been very good at learning. I’m the one who has not been very good at teaching (and can be a bit slow at the learning part, too).
Fast forward eight more months. I now look at the world in a different manner, and deal with animals, people, and life very differently. I search out the good things to reward and try my best to ignore the bad things (unless they are damaging or dangerous). I’ve had 40+ years of compulsive training and only eight months of positive reinforcement training; and old habits can be awfully hard to change. While I never punish my dogs with anything more than a time out these days, I am still not consistently adept at rewarding people; but I’m working on it, and will continue to do so.
I can now say that I have a fantastic relationship with both dogs based on love and trust, have started a clicker program at the same animal care and control from which I adopted Charlie, still read new research regarding animal behavior (not just canine) ravenously, and help my friends with training problems whenever possible (or refer them to appropriate help). One of the greatest rewards from this transformation: my husband and I have a much more loving and caring relationship than we have ever had before.
Charlie and I still has some difficulties to overcome. However, we will address them together with love, compassion, and a lot of positive reinforcement.
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