04/05/2026
This is an informative way to put this. Yes I fell down a Héctor worm hole. I would listen to his lives all the time. Life and face book algorithms have me missing them for too long. I need to start putting it on my calendar as a reminder and start listening again. He is quite interesting to listen to.
This reflection was inspired by a conversation with a positive reinforcement trainer who accused me of being abusive, which understandably made me angry. The accusation came from a place of anger, too, as they are meant to destroy someone’s reputation. I felt angry not only because I hold a deep love for people, but it labels me a criminal, as abusing a dog is a felony. I recognized that her anger was misdirected; she wasn’t mad at me personally, but rather at my success in dog training, which spans over 30 years.
Part of managing emotions involves finding an exit plan for them. I used the energy from my anger to motivate me to explain in writing, not just for my sake, but for the benefit of others as well. I have begun to notice a trend among trainers who use training methods different from mine. We should not view each other as adversaries; instead, we are all working towards the same goal: helping dogs and the people who care for them.
If we truly want to support both dogs and their owners, we must strive to understand one another. I hope this is the beginning of that understanding. This message is not written out of dislike or competition; rather, it is intended to foster understanding and to help us become better trainers for the clients and dogs we serve.
Please read unto the end, to know my long-term goal is not just to address one side of training, but all.
MISPLACED NURTURING WITH POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TRAINERS - Good intentions with bad outcomes with some temperaments.
Sound valuable - nurturing qualities often struggle with discipline and obtaining authority; they express love, show compassion and care, are agreeable, and foster cooperation through patience and communication. Nurturers also protect what they love, hence the dislike for trainers who use other methods. Nurtures earned respect through love rather than authority. This is effective for all puppies and certain dog temperaments, but not for others.
Dogs with temperaments of strong-willed, protective, or dominant. These dogs' temperaments prioritize their own desires and instincts over pleasing their owners, viewing treats as training the owner through manipulation, redirecting as challenges rather than undesirable behaviors to avoid, or rewarding the behavior the owner or trainer expects, and if they perceive the owner as weak, they assert their own boundaries, taking the lead.
Perimeter Boundary Training: This contradicts positive reinforcement training in theory and practice, as it helps keep dogs safely on their owners' property by using a progression of signals mirroring a dog's boundaries they understand: a beep serves as a warning bark, a vibration acts as a deterrent growl, and a shock mimics the consequences of a bite.
The Need for Consequences: For dogs with temperaments of strong-willed, protective, or dominant. Boundaries must include consequences. Simply rewarding with treats reinforces weakness, as these dogs' temperament includes a tendency toward challenging leadership, risk taking, problem-solving, and instinctual needs. Establishing boundaries, reinforced by deterrents and consequences, is essential for their safety and the safety of those around them, and a healthy relationship.
Inter-Dog Boundaries: Dogs communicate boundaries through vocalizations and, if necessary, physical consequences. They learn to understand the consequences of crossing boundaries, which may include aggressive behavior if those boundaries are not respected. If they don’t understand them, their safety is at risk from other dogs that require boundaries for their safety and respect, including during play, eating, meeting, and mating. Stiff body, Bark, growl, bite, in a boundary learning sequence. The dog may skip the sequence if boundaries are completely ignored and consequences are the only thing enforced.
Cooperation Boundaries: Owners must establish clear rules and maintain safety boundaries that are not argued over, for safety and to build a cooperative relationship with dogs with strong-willed, protective, or dominant temperaments. The relationship must include humans not treating dogs like humans or dogs perceiving humans as dogs. A dog with these temperaments must know we are different and able to lead with boundaries to gain respect for personal space, avoid over-protecting owners, and not challenge owners through manipulation, threats of aggression, or controlled aggression.
Puppies vs. Adult Dogs: Young puppies need to develop good habits without consequences and learn about the world safely. As they mature, if they become strong-willed, protective, or dominant, they require a different training approach.
The Fatal and Success Flaw in Positive Reinforcement: Focusing solely on positive reinforcement without boundaries for these temperaments reverses leadership roles, leading to them setting boundaries, unresolved behavioral issues, and safety hazards, resulting in fatal outcomes for these dog temperaments. The flaw in this success is that these trainers rely on positive reinforcement because it is effective with puppies, timid and shy dogs, sensitive dogs, and fearful-aggressive dogs that need to build trust. They also find that it works well for dogs eager to please their owners. However, they mistakenly believe that this training is suitable for all dog temperaments.
Misplaced Nurturing in Positive Reinforcement Trainers with Strong-Willed, Protective, or Dominant Dogs: While positive reinforcement trainers' intentions are good and fair, their misplaced nurturing leads to issues with strong-willed, protective, or dominant dogs, in some cases, even with dogs who want to please their owners but see them as weak. Trainers create an illusion of obedience and compliance by rewarding behaviors in a controlled setting, assuming that sit, down, stay, place, and come will resolve the owner's issue. The trainers' misplaced nurturing and failure to set boundaries reverse the leadership dynamic, leading to manipulation and destructive behavior in these dog temperaments. These dogs' temperaments differ, leaving owners struggling to maintain control at home or in public. Effective training with these temperaments requires establishing boundaries and consequences to foster respect in leadership, rather than seeing nurturing love as a weakness to exploit or to protect unpredictably. Failing to establish effective, fair boundaries poses safety risks for both dogs and owners, as instinct-driven behaviors and temperament can lead to aggression and serious consequences when the dog's leadership and boundaries are crossed, with the owner and the people the dog encounters. A trainer's misplaced nurturing good intentions can lead to safety outcomes and even behavioral euthanasia for dogs.
Please stay tuned for my next post on "Misplaced Anger and Control with Correction-Based Trainers." These trainers pose a safety risk to all dog temperaments, unlike "Misplaced Nurturing Positive Reinforcement Trainers," which only affect some. However, writing about Misplaced Anger and Control with Correction-Based Trainers will take me at least twice as long as it took me to write this post. Be patient, it's in the works.
