How Positive, Force Free Training Changed My World

I frequently say that finding positive reinforcement based dog training has changed my life. It did. But that doesn’t sum up how hugely it has impacted my life, who I am, and the life my dog now gets to live.
Before I found force free training, I was using “balanced” methods. For a brief period, I used an e-collar. One of the arguments I hear most frequently in support of e-collars is that they give a dog freedom that the dog wouldn’t otherwise have. I could write an entire post on why this is untrue, and how you can train off-leash behavior without the use of coercion or punishment. Or how you can give your dog freedom without them being off-leash. Instead, what I want to focus on is the freedom that ditching the e-collar in favor of force free training has given us. Positive training blew my world open in ways that I could not have predicted. I have learned so much, and every day I strive to learn as much as I possibly can about behavior analysis and training. So I want to take a moment to honor some of the ways force free training has opened up my world and given me and JJ so much more than what we had when we were using balanced methods.

I can understand and respect my dog’s emotional state

This is perhaps the biggest, most important change that has come with my crossover to positive training. I have become dedicated to keeping my dog under threshold, so that I can teach her that scary things can be good. I have learned to recognize the early signs of her reactions (head up, neck tense and forward, ears forward) and understand that is she telling me that she needs distance. I respect this, and she gets distance from the scary thing. Instead of suppressing her reactions with corrections and punishment, I am working to change her emotional response to her triggers. If she goes over threshold, I provide her with enrichment and time to decompress before exposing her to a trigger again. I want my dog to feel confident and safe, and positive training is the way to do this.

My dog has the freedom to make mistakes and offer new behaviors

I do aim to train with minimal mistakes. I aim to set my dog up for success by setting criteria that are realistic for her, and not moving too quickly from one criterion to the next. But mistakes sometimes happen. When you punish a dog for making a mistake during training, what they are learning is that training is scary. They learn that behaviors produce undesirable consequences, and they shut down. If you don’t offer any behaviors, they can’t be punished. This shut-down state is oftentimes mistakenly interpreted as calm. There are plenty of times that I would like true calm behavior from my dog (laying on her side while the leaf blowers run outside, for example). But I am also so delighted by the behaviors she offers during training sessions. During shaping, she is eager to try new things, because I have reinforced new behaviors heavily in the past. If she tries the “wrong” behavior, we reset with a behavior that she is excellent at - usually a hand touch. Additionally, these “wrong” behaviors give us information as trainers. If JJ makes a mistake, I can evaluate whether she is too stressed to be training, or whether I have made things too difficult too soon. I value this information from her, and I don’t punish it.

Taking punishment out of training makes it actually fun for the learner

If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably know that I’m absolutely, truly obsessed with JJ’s tail wag that she does during training sessions. When I record videos of us training, I watch a few times to review my training mechanics, and a few times just to revel in how happy she is. This is because JJ has a positive conditioned emotional response (CER) to training - something she didn’t have when we trained with the e-collar. I’ve compared videos of us working on loose leash walking with the e-collar and with the treat pouch, and they are worlds apart. With the e-collar, JJ would scan her environment nervously. Her ears were frequently tucked back against her head. When we transitioned to positive reinforcement, her floppy, bouncy ears came back. She learned that making eye contact with me produced lots of treats. Now, I look at her bouncy ears and her wagging tail on walks, and my heart feels so full. It brings me so much joy to know that she too is training with joy.

I have shifted to focusing on the good

I watched something happen during puppy class this week. A particularly vocal pup was barking at me while I observed the class (likely demanding that I give her the treats in my pouch). Each time she barked, her owner would go, “Fifi, shh!” The dog would look at her mom, get a treat for redirecting her attention, then look back at me. Bark, treat, repeat. This dog’s mom was not reinforcing much before this behavior started, so the dog was learning that barking at me always resulted in a treat. And there was no other way to get a treat! This is so, so common. We all have a tendency to notice things that go wrong in our environment, and respond. Positive reinforcement training has shifted my focus to noticing all of the times JJ is doing something amazing, like not barking at the leaf blowers for once. (There’s a real theme here this week.) I make an effort to notice and reward these instances, knowing that they will become more frequent in the future. Shifting our mindset like this can change the labels we apply to our dogs. Dogs go from “stubborn” and “misbehaving” to “improving” and “doing so well with behavior X!” This mindset makes me proud of my dog, and so much less frustrated.

It has taught me to let go of control

Uncertainty makes me uncomfortable, and having some semblance of control over my environment feels good. Control is reinforcing for most of us. But honestly, it’s not helpful for me or my dog. Maintaining control over JJ’s behavior doesn’t allow her to do things that are natural and healthy for dogs. A strict heel behavior during walks would keep her from sniffing or moving away from triggers that make her uncomfortable. An hour long down-stay while I cook would keep her from playing in the other room when she gets bored of watching me cook. Controlling JJ’s behavior so tightly doesn’t allow her freedom to explore her environment, relax on her own, or react when a situation is stressful. While control is reinforcing for humans, it is also reinforcing for our canine learners. Now I give control back to JJ as much as I can. We no longer need to use restraint when doing nail trims (treats go a long way!) and she is given the option to return back to me (or not) when I brush her teeth. And you know what? By giving control back to JJ, it’s still so reinforcing for me when she chooses to do what I view as the “correct” behavior. Way more so than if I were still telling her what to do every second.

I am learning grace and forgiveness

I won’t lie. The crossover from balanced training to force free training can be really hard. When I fully understood what I had been doing to JJ’s confidence and sense of safety, I felt a lot of guilt and shame. I still do sometimes. Learning about positive reinforcement has created a mindset shift in me. When I make a mistake, I try not to punish myself for what I have done incorrectly. I focus on what I have accomplished instead. I can change “I can’t believe I put JJ through something like that” to “I made a change when I saw that what I was doing was incorrect and hurtful to her. That was difficult to do, and it helped me grow.” I am learning to use positive reinforcement with myself and my own behaviors. It’s hard, but I am working to care for myself the best way I can.

Force free training lit a fire in me that I didn’t know was there

Finding this type of training has felt like finding a home. I have met so many incredible, inspiring trainers via Instagram, altered my short- and long-term goals, and grown as a human. I have found something that I am passionate about, and for that I am hugely grateful.