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Jessica touched on something that I was going to mention earlier, but didn't.
I say I use positive reinforcement only because its easier than explaining the 4 basic training ideas...
Negative Reinforcement (something unpleasant that is taken away to increase the likelihood that a behaviour is repeated... the reward is having the unpleasant stimuli removed)
Positive Reinforcement (something added to increase the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated)
Positive Punishment (something unpleasant to decrease the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated - does not correct a mistake but teaches dog not to do mistake again - physical pain and/or unpleasantness)
Negative Punishment (removing a reward to decrease the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated - no pain inflicted)
I use a combination of Positive Reinforcement and Negative Punishment. My Negative Punishments consist of verbal "Uh-uh" or "Too bad!" and putting away treats or ceasing walks. I don't agree with Negative Reinforcement or Positive Punishment (choke chain) methods.
It is kind of confusing because the negative/positive verbage refers to adding or subtracting stimuli and not the definitions we're used to. So thats why I didn't mention it before.
Anyway, so I not only show the dog what to do using positive reinforcement, I also communicate to the dog what undesirable behavior is by using negative punishment (if the dog pulls on the leash, I stop walking and stand still until I have their attention ... if the dog doesn't sit when given the command, I'd say "too bad!" and pretend to eat the treat myself or put it in my pocket, etc).
We also don't allow prongs or chokes in our classes.
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I've never used a choke chain, I do have a nylon choker type thing (the only reason I have it is because it was on clearance for $1 :o ) and I tried that a couple of times, he just chokes himself, I haven't used it since.
I personally cannot imagine using a choker or prong for anything but leash walking. I've taken Nebo to several obedience classes and they all used positive reinforcement and clicker training. They did teach us to do a negative correction too, but it was not a pop with a choke chain it was like an "eh eh" sound and believe it or not Nebo actually does respond to that. If I have him offleash playing with other dogs and he's doing something wrong...and the only correction strong enough for him to respond to was a pop with a choke chain, how am I going to correct him? A dog that responds from a voice correction is a lot easier to control in an off leash situation (not that he always responds :rolleyes: )
I have used a prong collar for walking situations. Nebo knows how to heel, he will do it if I'm walking just him alone and there's no distractions. He was taught how to walk nicely on a leash using positive reinforcement methods. But if I try to walk him when there's other dogs around, he will not listen to me. I have tried practicing with distractions around and have gotten nowhere. He would do it at the classes around other dogs, but not at home walking down the street. He's very stubborn. I have a halti, he HATES HATES HATES the halti, he just stops and scratches his nose every 5 seconds. I've tried to get him used to it and left it on not walking...still tries to get it off, he just can't stand that thing. When he has the prong collar on I never jerk on it to correct him, if he pulls it corrects him automatically. He does not seem to be in pain at all and enjoys the walk. That said, I very rarely use it. I usually just walk him with a harness, he still pulls but I deal with it....he does tire out after we've been walking for a while. He doesn't pull insanely bad like some dogs, basically walking on 2 legs because they are pulling so hard (Sydney!). He just walks but the leash is tight.
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Aly, thanks for clarifying all of that. I sort of knew what the positive/negative terminology meant but didn't know how to really explain it. Many people hear positive or negative and consider it to mean Positive = good, negative = bad when in reality it's positive = add, negative = subtract.
I had to read through your definitions a few times for it to all click together in my mind :p. I've been trying to learn all the particulars of a new account with my work, and my brain is dead for the day.
I trained Tash traditionally with the slip collar in her obedience class when she was 7 months old, but had I to do it over again I'd definitely use the methods I used to re-train her. Sometimes if we're walking and she gets distracted and starts pulling ahead, I just say "uh uh" in a fairly chipper manner and it works to focus her attention back on me.
I'd highly recommend positive training methods such as those Aly and Candy mentioned for training sessions.
