No, this isn't turning into a dog blog... at least, not until I get the new puppy. But after re-reading and re-thinking the post about Hershey the wonder Lab, I wanted to make things clear about my attitude on dog training sooner rather than later.
First, about the "take-down" Hershey endured: I do not, I repeat, I DO NOT condone the use of "alpha rolls" or take-downs. My point was that Hershey learned on the first go-round because he was so intelligent and he communicated the fact poignantly. The *method* Bethany and I used, however, was unforgivably harsh and unnecessary, and in that sense, the story is very sad; Bethany and I just didn't know a better way at the time. For about a decade, we've known that Hersh could have learned not to attack Sweetie Pie in the presence of toys if we humans had used a clicker and some food or other positive reinforcement. (Also, I should not have used the word "bribe" with "food." Food is a perfectly legitimate reinforcement for training, and no one should ever shrink from using it for that purpose.) It was the clicker (reinforced by Hersh's favorite treat) that allowed him to learn the really cool golly-gee-whiz tricks like turning the light switch on and off.
So for Hershey's sake, don't use negative training methods on your dog. Instead, go read about the magic of clicker training at Karen Pryor's website. (Her book DON'T SHOOT THE DOG, on reinforcement-based conditioning, has become a classic.) Be sure to watch the amazing short video of the mule.
The great thing about reinforcement-based training? You can use it on anyone: a dog, a cat, a chicken. Even your spouse...
Okay, everyone straight on that? Don't ever punish your dog for something he's done wrong. Or your spouse, for that matter. Instead, reinforce them for what they're doing right. You, and they, will be a lot happier for it.
