06/02/2026
Ivan Balabanov, world known dog trainer, explains why just having one dog training method, such as "Positive Reinforcement" will not fix every dog training problem or goals. He presents easy to understand rationale as to why this is the case.
He as well as Bart & Michael Bellon and Michael Ellis are my favorite dog trainers. I've had the opportunity to train from Bart/Michael B. and Michael E. but not Ivan. However, I respect his teachings very much as well.
Here at Michigan Dog Training, we train with positive reinforcement as well as punishment/motivation (usually once the dog understands the assignment). This is what is called "Balanced Dog Training". Personally, I don't like that label and simply prefer to call it "Dog Training", which is humane and effective. People who call themselves Positive Reinforcement trainers are saying or implying they only train with one quadrant of learning theory which is not accurate and does not benefit their clients or the dogs they are training.
We use all four quadrants of learning theory: Positive Reinforcement, Negative Reinforcement, Positive Punishment and Negative Reinforcement. Scientists developed these terms not to describe what is good or bad. Instead, they developed them to mean what is given to the dog or what is taken away. Unfortunately, this confuses many people and many dog trainers as well but not here at MDT.
Here are examples to simply explain the quadrants: "Positive Reinforcement" is giving a dog a treat for sitting. "Negative Punishment" is removing the treat if the dog starts to stand up from the sit before the treat was given. "Negative Reinforcement" is using an E-collar stimulation that is turned off once the dog does the cued command. Another example of using Negative Reinforcement without an E-Collar is teaching the come command by gently pulling a leashed dog toward you and releasing the tension when the dog makes the first step toward you. And, a "Positive Punishment" example would be using the vibration on the E-Collar to interrupt the dog's action of jumping on the kitchen counter, or a person saying "no", a leash pop, etc.
A Pet Dog owner doesn't need to understand Learning Theory but their trainers should understand it completely so that they can explain how to train their dog using terminology that is easy to grasp. One way of explaining this is: "At Michigan Dog Training, we train dogs using mostly positive methods for things they don't yet know how to do. Then in many instances, we overly an E-Collar with those commands they already understand to get the reliability that the owner wants and in many cases that the dog needs to keep them safe."
I hope you enjoy Ivan's video (found in the first comment) and find it very educational.
Unfortunately, there is a big gap amongst "Positive Dog Trainers" and "Balanced Dog Trainers" in regard to methods and tools. I wish that wasn't the case. However, fortunately, this gap doesn't exist so much amongst dog owners as they simply want their dog trained "humanely and effectively." And, we provide that for our clients at Michigan Dog Training.
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