What is Possible?
Recently I heard an interview with a very well known competitor/trainer. He said "positive training works with dolphins.....it is not possible to train a dog without physical contact; it's a lie…”.
Physical contact means pain compliance.
My first thought was, "How egotistical is THAT? If you can't do it, no one can?" Let's call that my irritable reaction.
My irritation was soon replaced by sadness, however, because if positive reinforcement training is "not possible", then what sane person would attempt it? If a "top trainer" ridicules the possibility, then the message to thousands of less experienced trainers is clear: do what is proven to work, regardless of the outcome for the dog, or the sport. If a young trainer decides to attempt positive training anyway, the blatant ridicule, followed by subtle sabotage, will usually drive them away from the sport or into the hands of tradition soon enough. It takes a strong and courageous person to do something that others say is impossible, and few individuals want to play the fool, especially if they are relative novices themselves.
If you want to be a successful competitor, the safest route is the known one. Many of the most accomplished competitors have very little to offer outside of their method, which often crams every dog into exactly the same hole they've been crammed into for thirty years. Yes, these folks win. If winning is the most important element for you, then it makes sense to go with what is proven to work. But, when well regarded trainers or competitors state that a progressive method is "not possible", you discourage innovation and set dog sports in the wrong direction.
Wouldn't it be better to say, "In my experience, positive training does not work."? That phrase opens up a place for dialogue and the possibility that you may be confronted with evidence, which might, over time, allow you to change your perspective and try something new.
If the world of today had been described to me thirty years ago, I would have been unable to process what I was hearing. I would have had no way to reconcile such unbelievable information with what I now know to be real and true. The possibility of video telephones, computers, internet - I would have laughed at you. If you had told me that athletes were breaking records that were considered physically impossible, that science had taken us inside of cells and DNA and into the very heart of what makes us human - I could not have heard you. Big Science was a test tube baby, not Dolly the cloned sheep.
If you had told me that I could use food to train a dog; that a plastic toy called a clicker could help me with my training, that I could wait for a behavior to occur and then name it rather than creating each behavior... I would have made fun of the waste of time and the "stupidness" of it all. I was young and opinionated. I knew it all, and if I wasn't doing it, then it wasn't worth doing.
While it's sad to see such a close minded attitude on a thirteen year old, it's relatively harmless since no one is listening anyway, but coming from a well known trainer with excellent skills and insight to offer... it's damaging and cause for great concern.
The world of today was NOT POSSIBLE just thirty years ago. Outside the realm of comprehension. Yet it's here, not only possible, but now reality. So if the not possible can become reality, isn't it better to try and stay away from absolutes in our thoughts and speech as much as we can? There are so many places to throw up barriers and argue that something is not possible. Honestly, it makes me tired even thinking about it, which is why I have waited a while to broach this topic. The words that come out of our mouths frame the reality in our heads. Close your mind to new possibilities and you are right, it will not happen for you.
I cannot predict where a changed mindset will take you, any more than I could have predicted that Dolly the Sheep was possible. The possibilities suggest, however, that the dog/human relationship can be so much more than what tradition and prior experience may have led us to believe.
I made the change to positive training techniques many years ago, but it was only two or three years ago, when Cisu began failing in the ring, that I made a complete change in philosophy to dog as partner rather than dog as subject. I can't wait to see what I'm doing in five years, because really, I've just begun to explore the avenues of possibility that are appearing in front of me, and they seem endless. There is so much to learn.
Training is a journey, not a destination. If you think you've arrived, you've already missed out.
52 comments
“It is like a horrible debate between my ego and my heart”
I hear ya!!!
Excellent, excellent post Denise. I remember when Karen Pryor’s book first came out and clicker training started to be talked about, the common reaction was “Well, we’re not training dolphins here!” and positive methods were quickly dismissed. I never gave them a second thought and continued using compulsive methods, doing a fair amount of winning. Eventually, I just got burned out on the uber competitiveness and harsh methods I witnessed, and dropped out of training and competing altogether.
Getting back in the sport after a twelve year absence has been like a rebirth for me. When I discovered and started using R+ methods I became like a religious convert. Where winning was of the utmost importance to me in the past, building a great relationship with my dogs is now what matters. I think that’s why you hear so many positive trainers talk about “the journey” and not so much the end result.
Sometimes when I hit a glitch I am tempted to go back to the old ways. But I am firmly committed to positive methods, and do not believe compulsive techniques can be effectively combined with R+. Let’s face it, positive training requires a completely different mindset and requires one to think rather than react. Results do not come as quickly as with compulsive methods and then it’s easy to buy in to the derisive remarks. We can only hope that more “great trainers” will adopt positive training methods and show that they not only work, but produce great dogs.
Thank you for this post, Denise. My approach to training/competing/winning has changed dramatically since my malinois Phoenix came into my life. He made me take a good hard look at how I trained. I was never a harsh or abusive trainer but I used physical compulsion because I thought that was how it was done. It never occurred to me that there were other ways to train until Phoenix got progressively worse and worse in spite of me using methods that had produced OTChs. with previous dogs. I needed to change my training and I needed to change our relationship. I don’t care if he ever gets an OTCh. I honestly don’t care. But I care very much that we enjoy the journey wherever it takes us. In 10 years, my wonderful dog will probably leave me and I do not want to regret one single minute that we had together.
A lot of people do blend in compulsion, because it works, and because it’s easy.
The simple answer of why totally compulsion-free methods aren’t used more by those who want to win is that not a lot of people know how to do it properly (I am still learning!). “Violence begins where knowledge ends”. It’s not simply about only rewarding the good stuff and ignoring the bad stuff, but the vast majority of people who try compulsion-free training think that’s all there is to it. And they are disappointed in the results (as I was!). But if you figure out all the other things that are necessary (off the top of my head, getting and keeping the dog in drive, not allowing the dog to be reinforced by incorrect choices…), it is possible.
You are missing a piece of the puzzle if you are talking about having to perform for 8-10 minutes with no rewards. Sure, no food rewards, no toys, but good trainers learn that there are lots of ways to reward a dog in the ring, and I’m not even talking about playing with your dog between exercises. A dog can be trained such that the work itself becomes rewarding, and being given another cue is also a reward (5 years ago, I did not understand how that could be possible).
Yes, of course there are many differences between dogs and dolphins, but they are both subject to the same laws of behaviour that all organisms are – they do what is reinforcing to them and they work to avoid punishment.
This is an awesome thought Melinda. My current training strategy is to evaluate my training actions in terms of “how will I feel about this decision” as I lay on my death bed or send my dog off to the next place at the end of his life. Will I regret what I am now doing? Or will I remember how much fun we had? It is like a horrible debate between my ego and my heart that I feel like I just can’t win. I am still struggling so much about giving up obedience because I like it and my Keeshonden like it. But at the same time, I despise being beat by the grim-faced competitors who often win in my area. I totally love it when dogs win who are loved and trained kindly. But in northern Ohio, it is more often the heavy handed trainers who take away the blue.
Gosh, I need to pack my car instead of discussing training methods or I will never make it to Cleveland!