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It really shouldn't be aversive, though. I'd feel like I'd failed to explain what I wanted, or asked too much, if a dog I was training actually got stressed about a reward being withheld, or didn't use a NRM as an opportunity to try something different. Do you really think there is no stress at all involved with removal of a reward? Sorry, but I just can't buy it and science doesn't either. We know removing a high value reward is stressful to a dog. It's stressful to people too. IMO there is stress in all learning and I don't think that's a bad thing. If removing a reward or giving a NRM created no stress in the dog at all it wouldn't be effective.

I would definitely recommend getting professional help ASAP, have the dog assessed by a reputable behaviorist to take the guess work out of the equation so you 1) know exactly what you are dealing with and 2) can get honest advice as to how much will be required to improve her behavior. Anything else now is just a guess and could help or hinder her progress.

Again I think the bigger picture isn't whether you can train with rewards, it's whether the goal can be achieved in a reasonable amount of time and successfully given the skill level of the owner. As an aside I don't think we should forget that when we train with rewards we all use removal or loss of a reward. For a dog that has a high desire to earn rewards it is a fact this can be more stressful than a physical correction.

I think what is often lost in these discussions is that there is no black and white about what method is best. There is too much variation between each dog and handler and what problems they are facing/ what goals they have. Anything that you can teach with corrections you can teach with rewards in a dog that has drive to earn rewards, but you may not always be able to achieve the same results only using rewards in a reasonable amount of time. What equals a reasonable amount of time depends on the owner and the dog and what the problem/goal is. Most pet owners want the problem they are having fixed ASAP

I just found out a family member is buying a rottie x GSD for her 12 year old to look after. They think they are dog people too, but they really have no idea what raising and training a large breed dog will entail. When they were told this they said no its ok the 12 year old is going to be entirely responsible for it

When I teach the formal recall I start it by teaching the front position, then I add time and distance. So my formal recall command is the same word I use to teach the front position.

Hmmm, I've never thought as using "front" as a recall, but you are right... Now.. to teach them "front" I literally start by teaching a really good, precise front and then increase distance. You don't have to say front, but I already use come and here so ran out of words lol.

I say come or come here for an informal recall, it means come immediately the first time, you may get a piece of food or a pat or maybe a toss of the ball. The needs to come right to me, close enough to easily clip on a leash. For obedience I say 'front' as in my mind, the formal recall is a position.

I don't give any real focus to dominance theory. That's not saying I don't think dominance is real, but there is a lot of confusion IMO about what it is. I control resources and I pay behaviour I want to see, not in any set order or playing to which dog I think could be the 'dominant' one at the time. Submissive is a choice the dog makes, my Mal will choose to be submissive to other dogs including my beagle a lot. However she's an extremely confident and socially dominant dog. I think sometimes people misread submissiveness as soft or weak just like we get confused about what behavior we label as dominance.

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Jen must have seen your comment! :p A sneak peek of Booker for you :)

We just posted one on Facebook. Hopefully Jen will have the rest up in the next week or so!

The current club you're going to sounds more like a purely positive club, Bonney's is much more old school.

What a load of crap, there is no way I would be going to any club or trainer that required me to desex my dog to continue training there. There are many great working and competition dogs that are entire. However I agree that management is an important part of raising and owning a dog. IMO I think you're going to find going to the new obedience club like going from one extreme to another.

Booker was AWESOME! He is a super little dog. Make sure you keep us updated on his progress! :) Thanks!! We've already had a tug session this morning and he loved it :D I'm looking forward to training him this way! It was very cool seeing the way he lit up for the tug and how super fast he learnt to out it!

Nic it was super seeing Ella strut her stuff again, she is such an awesome dog to watch and she smashes it every time! I know what you mean, so much information is mind numbing LOL. It was nice meeting both you Lisey and the very handsome Booker he worked brilliantly. It was lovely meeting you too Elise pity you didn't bring Hudson along maybe next time :) Your boys did some pretty awesome work too Maree! Elise, I have no idea how you managed to stay awake for so long and still be so bright and cheerful! It was lovely to meet you. I'm glad you enjoyed the workshop :)

Booker was AWESOME! He is a super little dog. Make sure you keep us updated on his progress! :)

I didn't notice you all being nervous, I was too busy watching the awesomely handsome man Roscoe in action :love: I couldn't tell you were nervous....you were both awesome! I second this. Roscoe is a stunning boy and you two made an awesome team! Roscoe and Jen both did a brilliant job this weekend, Jen has really put a lot of hard work into Roscoe and it shows

Wow!! What a big weekend!! I am back in the office at K9 Pro HQ this morning and I have to extend a huge thank you to everyone who came along to our workshop and helped to make it such a great weekend. It was wonderful meeting you (and catching up with some old faces) and your dogs - they all worked brilliantly! Steve will be in Perth for the WA workshop next month, and then we will be in Melbourne at the end of November. Already looking forward to it!

I don't think using corrections is anymore difficult than using rewards, in fact I find more pet owners struggle with getting rewarding right than corrections. As with anything this isn't a black and white question because so much depends on the dog and owner and what you are training. What do you mean when you say can you only train a dog with positive methods? Does this refer to only using positive reinforcement? If so then no I don't believe you can train a dog effectively with only R+. When we look at using rewards in training there are one million and one ways to do so, the same goes for using corrections. I see ineffective trainers using both and I see super awesome trainers get great results with both. A clicker is just a tool so how effective it can be to train a dog is purely dependent on the person using it.

So glad to hear you enjoyed it Teekay the feedback from the consults so far has all been really fantastic. One more sleep for me before I head up there, so excited! ETA: My bag is already heavily packed with lots of goodies for our workshop attendees ;)

Just two more sleeps!

Hey Paddles, we have the QLD and WA workshops to get through first so the focus has been on them. The VIC workshop will be on November 23 & 24, we are just finalizing the venue :)

Private consults start tomorrow, I hope everyone enjoys them

Excellent! Of course, the boys love me! :p