Tuesday, December 6, 2011
On Scaffolding
Please excuse the rambling, incoherent quality of the old posts. I am in the process of cleaning them up so they make sense to people who didn't write them.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Why Dominance Theory is Useless for Training Dogs
The senior wolf does not send the junior wolf three hundred yards away to bring him a dead duck. If the junior wolf finds a dead duck three hundred yards away from the senior wolf, he eats the fucking duck.
Assuming performing the actions typically prescribed in dominance theory (always eat before your dog, always pass through a doorway before your dog, always be situated higher than your dog) will cause your dog to respect you as the natural leader of the pack, it is completely irrelevant to dog training. The point of training dogs is to get them to do distinctly unnatural things. Wolves do not march in formation.
Assuming performing the actions typically prescribed in dominance theory (always eat before your dog, always pass through a doorway before your dog, always be situated higher than your dog) will cause your dog to respect you as the natural leader of the pack, it is completely irrelevant to dog training. The point of training dogs is to get them to do distinctly unnatural things. Wolves do not march in formation.
What I Want
I want a training system that works for 90% of dogs, and has the ability to deal with the outlying 10%.
I want a training system that a novice can apply to their dog and get a safe dog.
I want a training system that an expert can apply to their dog and get an excellent dog.
I want a training system that has a low risk of fallout through well-intentioned misuse.
I want a training system that is structured enough to not leave dogs or people guessing about what comes next.
I want a training system that is flexible enough to be used for any sport, work, or behavior.
I want a training system that is internally consistent.
I want a training system that a novice can apply to their dog and get a safe dog.
I want a training system that an expert can apply to their dog and get an excellent dog.
I want a training system that has a low risk of fallout through well-intentioned misuse.
I want a training system that is structured enough to not leave dogs or people guessing about what comes next.
I want a training system that is flexible enough to be used for any sport, work, or behavior.
I want a training system that is internally consistent.
On Owning Knowledge and the Purpose of Mentorship
The role of academia and texts in dog training is to allow new trainers to stand on the shoulders of giants. Dog training must always be based upon the actual training of real live dogs, but saying "you will understand with more experience" is not an acceptable response from a mentor to an apprentice. The foundation of mentorship is to keep someone else from wasting time making the same mistakes you did so that they might surpass you in ability.
Counterpoint: The teacher appears when the student is ready. I am a young, idealistic and modern person with a bias to having access to unlimited knowledge at my whim, without qualification. You cannot own knowledge until you earn it, and being told facts is not the same as internalizing knowledge.
Counterpoint: The teacher appears when the student is ready. I am a young, idealistic and modern person with a bias to having access to unlimited knowledge at my whim, without qualification. You cannot own knowledge until you earn it, and being told facts is not the same as internalizing knowledge.
It Just Bugs Me
"If I offered my dog a treat for herding the cattle, she would look at me like I was crazy."
This is because positive reinforcement training is not about treats. It's about REINFORCEMENT. If giving your dog treats is not increasing behavior, treats are not a reinforcer.
ALL DOG TRAINING IS ABOUT REINFORCEMENT
If you want your dog to do things, you need to use reinforcement. Positive or negative, behavior comes from reinforcement. Think about how your training paradigm uses reinforcement, and you will instantly understand how to put it into practice better. Success builds on success. Even if you are using corrections, they are meaningless unless the dog can succeed at the task following the correction. The important part about the choke chain is not when it is tight, it is when it is LOOSE.
"Some dogs just need corrections."
What bothers me about this is not so much that dogs are being corrected, it's the implication that if you bolt away from the dog so that he flips over and is dragged five feet, the dog will now instantly respect you and all your training will go swimmingly from that point on for ever and ever until you ride off over the rainbow together on matching unicorns. I am not against dogs getting physical corrections, provided the correction is administered within a system that the dog understands. I am against training that doesn't do anything, that only addresses the behavior in the moment and not the behavior in the future.
Corrections are not ABOUT punishment. They ARE punishment, in the psychologist's use of the term ("don't do that"), but what makes a correction more than just punishment it that puts the dog back in correct action; the sit correction is a sharp jerk upwards because it will cause the dog to sit and thus be correct (this chain is an example of P+ -> R-, since the collar is tight when the dog is not sitting (P+) and loosens when the dog is sitting (R-)). A correction is punishment with information about how to receive reinforcement. It's the difference between a teacher marking the wrong answer in red, and marking the right answer in red.
This is because positive reinforcement training is not about treats. It's about REINFORCEMENT. If giving your dog treats is not increasing behavior, treats are not a reinforcer.
ALL DOG TRAINING IS ABOUT REINFORCEMENT
If you want your dog to do things, you need to use reinforcement. Positive or negative, behavior comes from reinforcement. Think about how your training paradigm uses reinforcement, and you will instantly understand how to put it into practice better. Success builds on success. Even if you are using corrections, they are meaningless unless the dog can succeed at the task following the correction. The important part about the choke chain is not when it is tight, it is when it is LOOSE.
"Some dogs just need corrections."
What bothers me about this is not so much that dogs are being corrected, it's the implication that if you bolt away from the dog so that he flips over and is dragged five feet, the dog will now instantly respect you and all your training will go swimmingly from that point on for ever and ever until you ride off over the rainbow together on matching unicorns. I am not against dogs getting physical corrections, provided the correction is administered within a system that the dog understands. I am against training that doesn't do anything, that only addresses the behavior in the moment and not the behavior in the future.
Corrections are not ABOUT punishment. They ARE punishment, in the psychologist's use of the term ("don't do that"), but what makes a correction more than just punishment it that puts the dog back in correct action; the sit correction is a sharp jerk upwards because it will cause the dog to sit and thus be correct (this chain is an example of P+ -> R-, since the collar is tight when the dog is not sitting (P+) and loosens when the dog is sitting (R-)). A correction is punishment with information about how to receive reinforcement. It's the difference between a teacher marking the wrong answer in red, and marking the right answer in red.
Do What you Know in your Heart to be Right
There are people I don't like talking about dog training with.
I don't like it when you train dogs sloppily, and since they're Labs and Goldens they tolerate it and work anyway.
I don't like it when "you'll show her," and "he'll never do THAT again."
I don't like it when you set a dog up to fail, and nail her for falling for the trap.
I don't like it when you two do that subtle exclusion silence when I walk up, because I have an internally consistent training philosophy.
The world would be boring if everyone was like me.
Bullshit.
I don't like it when you train dogs sloppily, and since they're Labs and Goldens they tolerate it and work anyway.
I don't like it when "you'll show her," and "he'll never do THAT again."
I don't like it when you set a dog up to fail, and nail her for falling for the trap.
I don't like it when you two do that subtle exclusion silence when I walk up, because I have an internally consistent training philosophy.
The world would be boring if everyone was like me.
Bullshit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)