06/19/2026
People need to understand that pressure to overcome things is not bad. Itâs needs to help with growth and change!
-"Stress Signs" is a reflection of very bad training, right? -
A lot of force free trainers love to attack videos posted by balanced trainers with sayings like, "the dog looks stress", "the behaviours are just being suppressed" etc.
I like to discuss this based on my own first hand experience â both as a force free trainer (first 5 years of my career) and a balanced trainer.
This is important because this misconception has caused lots of owners to miss the golden opportunity in receiving the help that they so desperately needed.
There are 4 points I would like to bring to your attention:
1. With proper balanced training, stress in training is purposeful, not harmful
When dogs train with proper balanced training method:
⢠Early sessions may look stressful
⢠But stress is paired with clear consequences and guidance
⢠Dogs learn fast: âReacting = interruption; calm/neutral = freedomâ
⢠Over months/years, that stress diminishes naturally because the dog internalizes control
So the stress you see in early stages is not a bad sign â itâs part of the learning curve. The fact that training is still holding up years later after they have finished their board-and-train proves that it works long-term, which is the only real measure that matters.
2. Dogs are not humans, and time matters
The life span difference between humans and dogs are crucial:
⢠Dogs have 10â15 year lifespans
⢠Many âtextbookâ force-free strategies assume you can gradually increase exposure over years without real-world access
⢠Highly intense dogs cannot live in a constant low-threshold bubble forever; thatâs unrealistic
Balanced training addresses this by:
⢠Giving the dog practical, functional access early
⢠Teaching boundaries under real-world stress
⢠Compressing progress to a timeframe that actually fits a dogâs realistic life.
This is why you see dogs functioning in shops, traveling, staying in hotels within 1â2 years â something force-free rarely achieves for highly reactive cases.
3. âControlled stressâ in theory vs intense cases in practice
⢠The controlled, gradual exposure model sounds elegant on paper
⢠But intense real-world triggers (other dogs, unpredictable people, loud noises) cannot always be staged at a safe distance
⢠If you wait until the dog âcalms down enoughâ before approaching, some dogs never reach the real-world functional level
Balanced training solves this by:
⢠Allowing the dog to experience manageable stress at closer distances
⢠Using corrections or clear consequences to stop rehearsal of bad behavior
⢠Giving the dog functional skills immediately, rather than relying on idealized âincremental thresholdingâ
4. Real-world outcomes > theoretical purity
Our first hand experience aligns with this:
⢠Dogs trained by proper balanced method can live functional lives for many years
⢠They can navigate the world, meet triggers, travel, and work with owners
⢠That outcome is proof that the stress they experienced was productive, not harmful
This is the practical reality that many force-free philosophies struggle to replicate with very reactive or intense dogs.
Bottom line:
1. Stress during learning is normal and necessary when intensity is high
2. Dogs need functional exposure, not idealized comfort
3. Long-term success (years later) proves the method works
4. Highly reactive/intense dogs cannot progress safely if always kept far from real triggers
I hope this clarifies some of the misconceptions that are widely spread across the Internet.
Thank you.
https://www.perfectcompanionk9.com/post/stress-signs-perspective-differences-between-force-free-trainers-and-balanced-dog-trainers
