This is a passion of mine. I have been training and showing dogs in obedience for over 25 years and have evolved from the Koehler method (pop and choke corrections) to clicker training now and everything inbetween over the years. I have titled many dogs in obedience competitions with advanced titles. I currently teach dog obedience with classes from puppy kindergarten to advanced obedience. I am only bringing this up because I want you to realize I am speaking from experience and not just from opinion.

I only use positive training methods, specifically clicker training now. The ability of our dogs to learn when they are shown the correct way to do something is amazing! Instead of being punished for the wrong thing and then left to figure out how they can avoid that from happening again in the future is just ridiculous.

I have seen dogs so afraid of their owners because they are constantly given negative corrections such as a choke or a tug on either a choke chain or pinch collar. I'm not saying that is any of you. I'm just saying that there are better ways of training a dog than using negative training methods. I realize there are trainers with a lot of experience still teaching this stuff but it really makes me sad because there are better ways available.

I would venture to bet that I can teach a dog something and know the dog knows what it is being asked to do, in less time than anybody else can using choke chains and pinch collars. Actually, I've taken dogs that have been trained with negative methods and have amazed the owners that their dog could learn something they had given up all hope on so it really wouldn't be a fair bet. I'm not saying this to brag. I am only saying it to get people to realize that our dogs want to please us and want to learn what we are willing to teach them but they have to be taught in a positive light.

There was a saying that my grandmother use to say to me after I had my son. It was "A child learns what he lives." If a child is taught fear then it will be fearful... etc. It's the same for our dogs. They learn what they live. For their sake, I have thrown out all choke chains and any other negative training device and have just taught them to listen for a click or a "yes" verbal so they will KNOW when they do something right! That makes them want to do it again and again so they can make me happy!