The Power of Positive Dog Training

5 Comments

1. I. Westray says:

   April 27, 2010 at 2:34 am

   The cover of “The Power of Positive Dog Training” has a quote from Jean Donaldson. Makes sense to me, because this book is a wonderful successor to “Culture Clash,” Donaldson’s classic set of essays about the value of operant conditioning and the flaws of other training methods.

   “Culture Clash” is the word-of-mouth classic that clicker-training dog people recommend most often, at least in my experience. It’s a lively, engaging book, but it’s basically written as a sort of argument for operant methods rather than other training approaches, not as a practical training guide. Because of that “Clash” is not well-organized for use as a how-to title. It has no index, the chapters aren’t organized around typical training issues, and so on.

   Well, “Power of Positive Dog Training” is the practical version. The book is organized around a six-week training regimen — there’s one chapter for each week. Pat Miller does address all the differences between operant training and, say, punishment-based approaches, but she does so largely in her introductory chapters, in a way that complements the approachable, clearly-stated training course she’s describing. She doesn’t seem to be attacking the methods she’s describing, just laying out the advantages of positive methods to win you over. When an author describes “team you and your dog,” you know her heart’s in the right place, don’t you?

   When it comes to the training chapters, you’ll love the structure of this book. Each week has some Core Exercises and some Bonus Games. They’re written with a careful sense of how you’re going to use them, which just works.

   Take one of the core exercises from week 3 — “Wait.” First Miller explains what the behavior is and why you need it: Wait tells your dog to stay back for a moment or two, and you might use it to keep your dog from rushing out the door when you open it. Then you get simply-stated instructions for how to train the behavior: do this, do this, when the dog does that reward it in this way, and so on. At the end of this section there’s a little “remember” paragraph that helps to frame the instructions in terms of the overall approach. (In this case Miller reminds us we’re trying to set the dog up to succeed, not trying to lure her into making a mistake we can correct.) Then we get Training Tips, which is a sort of “usual questions” category that addresses some of the common questions or problems that come up in teaching a given behavior. (“My dog wanders off when I try to train this, what should I do?”)

   Simple enough, isn’t it? Good technical writing has a way of seeming so simple that anyone could have written it. (Bad technical writing, well, that’s like wading through the six languages in your VCR manual and never being sure which language you’re in.)

   The rest of this book serves to complement the training course. First you have those introductory essays. For most readers, for people who don’t have a stake in punishment-based traditional methods, these six brief chapters would be a perfect introduction to positive-reinforcement training. (If you’re completely convinced that the purpose of training your dog is to establish your dominance as alpha dog, well, maybe you need Jean Donaldson to needle you some.) Then you have section two, the training regimen, with six chapters for six weeks of training. Section three is built around common challenges: separation anxiety, housetraining, resource-guarding, and adjusting to children are four of the seven topics that get treated in detail.

   The good organization continues into the back of the book. “Power” has five appendices with useful information like sample calendars you might use, or a list of possible treats you might not have thought of using. Finally, the index is actually useful and complete. (For some reason this is a real problem with lots of dog books; I’ve got a few “Which breed is right for you” books that don’t even list breeds in the index, and “Culture Clash” has no index at all.)

   Basically, this is the training book I’ve liked best so far. The writing style is candid and engaging, the structure is thoughtful and consistent, and as a book it just has the feel of a more mature work than most of its competition. I don’t give too many five-star ratings, but I’ll give one here.
   Rating: 5 / 5
2. NYR says:

   April 27, 2010 at 3:59 am

   The Power of Positive Dog Training sounds like a book which should have been written by Tony Robbins and advertised on an info-mertial though it is a quality book.

   The training methods are based on studies done by behavioral scientist B.F. Skinner. Many college level psychology classes teach this material. It stresses training through operant conditioning which in a nutshell is rewarding good behaviors thereby increasing the likelihood of them being repeated.

   There are many references about these principles and training but this book is good because it is geared specifically towards training a dog and maps out a six week program for you to follow.

   Even though I believe in the principles I was skeptical that my new puppy would learn the exercises in the book during a short period of time. Much to my surprise I saw results within a day or so. Included in the training plan is a number of progressively harder exercises to teach your dog for each week. A description of exercise, instructions, and training tips are included for each.

   I highly recommend this book if you are interested in training a dog through the previously mentioned methods.
   Rating: 5 / 5
3. Anonymous says:

   April 27, 2010 at 6:02 am

   This is one of the best dog training books out there (believe me I’ve read lots). It’s clear, concise, and covers a multitude of useful things, starting with a reasonable synopsis of the fundamentals of clicker training, then taking you through a 6 week dog training course, and then addressing a number of individual concerns seperately (Housebreaking, Aggression, Socialization, etc.). If you want a fuller explanation of operant conditioning theory, or broader application, I would suggest Karen Pryor’s “Don’t Shoot the Dog”, but Pat Miller includes a perfectly decent abbreviated explanation.

   My only gripe is in the Housebreaking section, where she gives a decent rundown on the theoretics of how to housebreak, but then gives a “sample” day from a theoretical family. The family in question has four adult equivalents (Mother, father, 2 teenagers), and all are actively involved in the housebreaking. This makes it pretty irrelevant (and downright depressing) for someone like me who is trying to housebreak a puppy with Mommy, no help from Daddy, and two preschoolers, who are certainly no help in training the puppy – after all we’re still working on housebreaking THEM.

   On the other hand, this is a minor gripe, especially as I’ve never found a dog training book that did provide realistic housebreaking around toddlers, and the book is otherwise excellent.
   Rating: 5 / 5
4. Lee Charles Kelley says:

   April 27, 2010 at 6:50 am

   I’ve been watching the changing trends in dog training for about thirty years, using a kind of semiotics approach to the subject, meaning that what you see in any one specific discipline–science, politics, or the arts–may be reflective of an underlying trend within the zeitgeist itself.

   For dog training, back in the 70s it was the Woodhouse way, even though Babs was kind of insane: “If your dog keeps getting into the chicken coop and killing your chickens, there’s nothing to do but kill one of them yourself and beat the offending pooch about the head with the carcass!” (I’m paraphrasing, but still…)

   Next came the alpha theory, with all the dominance trainers proclaiming that their method was based on “scientific evidence” about canine social behavior, which we now know is a fallacy. According to recent research there is no hierarchy in wild wolf packs and the hierarchies that form in captive wolf groups are totally unnatural. According to authors Masson and McCarthy there is no pecking order in some chicken groups (which is where the idea of dominance hierarchies got its start, back in the 1920s). And according to animal researchers John McNutt and Lesley Boggs, the wild dogs of Africa, who form highly organized social groups, and are the most successful predators in Africa, have no pack leader.

   This is my roundabout way of saying that I’m amused by the current crop of authors of “positive” dog training books such as Pat Miller, who have a gung-ho, we’ve finally found it, this is the real way to train attitude. Like Miller I used to train the old-fashioned way and found that it was destructive to the social bond I had with the dogs I trained. So I’m opposed to those methods, just as all “positive” trainers are. And I have no beef with Miller or Jean Donaldson or any of the +R mavens from that standpoint. But from what I can see we’re currently living in a zeitgeist, a world culture where rigidly held belief systems–whether they’re of a religious, political, or dog training nature–hold sway over real ethical and moral values, and stand in the way of the search for truth.

   There are three main points where I think “positive” trainers diverge from truth and ethics:

   ONE: Dogs hate head halters. THEY HATE THEM. Yet all the “positive training” books recommend this hateful device that tortures a dog’s emotions. Since it’s been propagandized as a “positive training tool” it fits the trainer’s pre-molded belief system, which prevents him or her from objectively examining the facts. This is NOT a positive training tool. In fact it’s not a training tool at all. It’s designed to relentlessly punish the dog for pulling, and does NOTHING to teach him how to enjoy walking next to you.

   TWO: One of the main “talking points” for most positive trainers is that dogs have a “what’s in it for me” attitude, which they say is the key to training. And while the survival instincts of ALL animals impose a strong directive toward self-interest, dogs are the one species that is least likely to exhibit a “me first” attitude as the chief feature of their psychology. If you ask me, they have more of a “what can I do with my energy?” or a “what can we do together?” attitude; they’re genetically engineered to want to be team players.

   THREE: Positive techniques aren’t all that positive. They rely too much on food, which is an extrinsic reinforcer, and therefore can create a negative learning experience for the dog. And some techniques for dealing with problem behaviors actually put the dog in a confused, lonely, and agitated state. That’s not nice and it’s not positive. Instead of forcing the dog to figure out “How can I get a reward from my owner?” I think it’s better and more effective to use techniques that build the reward into the behavior, via intrinsic reinforcers.

   Some books that show you how to do this are PLAYTRAINING YOUR DOG by Patricia Gail Burnham, NATURAL DOG TRAINING by Kevin Behan, and SCHUTZHUND: THEORY AND TRAINING METHODS by Susan Barwig and Stewart Hilliard. Granted, you may have to “weed out” some of the techniques in some of these books (particularly the schutzhund book), but at heart they’re all much more positive AND more ethical than THE POWER OF POSITIVE DOG TRAINING.

   But if your desire is for a training manual that fits in with the current trend or tells you what you already believe about dogs, by all means read and implement the techniques in THE POWER OF POSITIVE DOG TRAINING. It may not make your dog’s life all that better, but you’ll be safely nestled in the arms of the zeitgeist.
   
   Rating: 2 / 5
5. Anonymous says:

   April 27, 2010 at 8:58 am

   Someone wrote earlier that this book was risky with certain breeds.
   This book was recommended on a pit bull discussion list. I bought it shortly after adopting a stray year old pitbull who had no training of any kinds. She was not even housebroken. I hadn’t had a dog in years and had never trained one. This book provided clear, positive step by step instructions that helped train both me and my dog. With the help of this book, my dog learned basic commands. In addition, the positive approach helped turn her from a nervous dog into a friendly, secure pet.
   I didn’t try the training methods that use more aversive consequences but I suspect that she would still be nervous if I had.
   She recently passed her canine good citizen test and I give credit to this book.
   Rating: 5 / 5