A Better Way to Train

Written by: Sam Kabbel, CPDT-KA, President (www.petbehaviorsolutions.com)

Pet Behavior Solutions has developed a different style of training that we call Choice Training™. Choice Training™ focuses on teaching your pethow to choose the behaviors you like instead of those you don’t. Your petis rewarded for making the right choice. Choice Training™ incorporates the best aspects of the other training methods but avoids their pitfalls. It works for general obedience training as well as behavior modification!

How do training methods differ?

Although there are many different methods for training dogs, most can be separated into two basic categories: traditional training and modern training. Traditional training focuses on correcting the dog when he does something wrong. For example, if a dog pulls ahead on a leash instead of heeling, the handler will apply a leash correction to get the dog into the heel position. Or, if the dog does not sit, the handler pulls up on the leash while pushing down on the dog’s hind-quarters until the dog sits. Dogs learn to obey commands to avoid these corrections. Modern training focuses on controlling the dog’s behavior by manipulating him into doing something right and rewarding him for doing it. For example, to teach a dog how to sit, a handler would rock the dog gently back into a sitting position or use a treat to lure him into position. The dog is then rewarded for sitting.

What is Choice Training^TM and why is it better than the alternatives?

It is more fun for the trainer and the dog to teach behaviors without having to use training methods that rely on fear, pain, or discomfort. Choice Training^TM encourages your dog’s creativity and problem solving. It makes them try harder to get things right and they don’t give up as easily because getting it wrong doesn’t result in a correction. Getting it wrong creates frustration and disappointment which creates a stronger desire to figure it out. Choice Training^TM avoids the negative side effects of traditional corrections yielding more confident, compliant dogs. It does not involve bribing as bribes encourage a dog to hold out. (e.g., The dog is commanded to come but waits to hear the rattle of the treat bag before he decides to come.) With our methods dogs won’t only work for food, they will work for what they want which includes attention, freedom, access to something, etc. Dogs also learn that not compling results in the loss of those same thinhgs. Choice Training^TM utilizes hope for something rather than expectancy. Hope is extremely powerful and is immunized from disappointment; expectancy isn’t. Choice Training^TM promotes better reliability in training.

Why does it work? How does it work? Will it work for all dogs? (e.g., old, young, varying breeds, varying sizes, etc.)

We do not physically manipulate or force the dog, we manipulate the environment in order to maximize the possibility that a given behavior will occur. Our training teaches your dog that you control the resources and his choices either gain or lose those resources. We want the dog to make lots of mistakes in order to learn which choices work and which choices don’t. We use a system of positive reinforcement and negative punishment—good things happen, good things go away. You control the resources and your dog controls the choices. It’s all up to them how they behave; it’s up to us what we reinforce. Your dog always chooses the behavior; you learn to show him/her what choices are best. Choice Training^TM is based on laws of learning and behavior—that which is reinforced will be repeated, that which is not reinforced will be abandoned.

Please contact us for more information about Choice Training^TM and for help with your pet’s behavior and training.