FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC Training video

[Atila]

I belive that any method that makes handler-dog bond stronger is good. Wether it be clicker training or some other positive reinforcment method - it's GOOD. It makes my dog wanting to train. Jumping around me and expecting me to say: wanna train some today? Negative reinforcement training is by my opinnion not a training. I belive it's good to set that the word 'no' brings negative (is it a jerk, a shake of the neck, is it a short slap on the butt - it doesnt matter, as long as it's short, timed and not abused) so after establishing that 'no'is baaaad, dog is as an oportunist likely to be doing behaviors that get him awarded.
Altough it's nice to hear in positive reinforcement method that all unwanted behaviors are just ignored and dog will stop doing them since it doesn't get rewarded, for someone that keeps hers dog the way I do it, thats impossible. My dog is off leash in urban city most of the time. He goes sniffing bushes and corners I'm not checking out and will not check out. So, my dog need to know few things 100% and thats: NOT eating off the floor outside (timed punishement for doing so . negative reinforcement), NOT step off the sidewalk onto the road (firm 'no' established in earlier days when dealing with eating garbage), COME BACK when called (positive reinforcement), STOP when said so (positive reinforcement).

I want to say, that it's great to use positive method training when doing obedience, agility even protection training, but in some life situations you just have to use some negative. The secret is how to balance both for best for your dog.

[DaneMama]

It's been proven time and time again that dogs that are trained 100% from day one with positive methods and shaping techniques learn faster, have better retention and are always eager to offer new behaviors when learned something new. People who are skeptics of positive based methods have probably never been properly trained themselves how to do these techniques. I used to be skeptical of 100% positive based methods and my own dogs show me the proof I need. My two youngest dogs were trained this way and they're by far my fastest, best retained dogs I own. When I ask for a sit their butt can't hit the ground fast enough. When I call them they can't flip around fast enough to get to me.

Dogs that have been punished have to think about the consequences of their actions and have to brace themselves for a possible negative outcome when learning something new. They are slow to pick up on new things because of this. The box game (a game where a dog has to learn what you want without you giving them any cues or language- the dog has to figure it out on their own by only being rewarded for the right moves but no reward for the wrong moves) would take ages for a dog raised on punitive methods....but a "shaped" dog picks up the concept of this game very quickly!