02/06/2022
To bring everyone up to speed, there is a toxic, social war going on between the Pure Positive/Force Free movement and Balanced Training. One of these bodies is massively funded and out to dictate how you train your dog. But don’t get fooled by the pretty language and perfectly-placed buzz words..
“Animals have never learned through punishment or consequences”
“Don’t train with pain”
“Reward what you like, ignore what you don’t”
“Dominance and force in dog training creates stress and fear”
“This dog just needs medication”
I’ll be honest, “Positive-only” sounds pretty great on paper, but practically? Not so much.
News flash: “Purely Positive” anything doesn’t exist. Life, parenting, career, school, nature, it all has consequences and it all has pressure. And if you want to talk about the quadrants of consequences, There’s FOUR. Yep, PP/FF peeps pick and choose which quadrants they want to train with. Balanced trainers use what works. We implement a holistic approach.
Rewards = information
Punishment = information
Information and communication are how dogs (and humans) learn. Punishment is NOT abuse.
If I’ve lost you in all of this chaos, allow me to break it down: Rewarding a behavior will encourage repeating, punishing a behavior will deter. These PP/FF folks are trying to change that.
The ban on these tools is coming. The ability to train how you want is being argued. The ability to use certain tools is being argued. The ability to say “no” to your dog is being argued.
So this post is to raise awareness as to what’s going on out there. I’m sharing my thoughts and stories because spreading the truth, sharing content and success is how I bring value to this community. My clients and followers are my motivation. I believe in these tools because I’ve seen them work, time and time again. Believe me, we were there one day. Stuck, stressed and struggling feeling like everything we tried with our dog wasn’t working. Trainers had failed us and it was incredibly crippling.
These tools and training methods have saved my dogs lives along with so many others, and I don’t want that to be taken from us. This current debate has really taken away from the dogs (and the training). Have we forgotten our mission? To help dogs, to clear shelters and empower owners to succeed.
Myself and all other balanced trainers have to deal with the constant hate, negativity and criticism from the PP/FF body. “Death before discomfort” is especially unsettling to me, and this idea is the reason so many dogs are being killed for no reason.
It’s time we stand up and share our success. Our rights are being stripped and our dogs are suffering.
P.S. Any hate or bashing will not be deleted, rather exposed. So watch your words :)
