Is it an American thing?

There appears to be a wide gulf between the way Brits and Americans train. Is this a general thing?
In the UK people IMO are slowly moving to non-aversive methods (apart from blips caused by CM). But most of the US people seem to still use pack theory and punishment.
Why is this? Are we not getting a fair representation of American dog owners? Or is it just that the ones who use positive methods speak softly?

Pack theory and adversive methods are really still quite relavent in the every day person... they watch CM. In my city, trainers are approx 1/2 and 1/2 now, granted, I am Canadian, but in reality, we're not much better in that regard. Nope, in my opinion, based on what I see on dog forums, UK people are MUCH more positive based than Americans.

I'm on a forum (non-dog related) with a mix of US and UK members (more US really), and lots of them do believe in positive training methods. Probably about a 60:40 split, positive vs negative. And there's the odd UK member who still believes in pack theory etc. but only one or two out of maybe 6 or so other UK members who are very open about being anti-CM, pro +R stuff.

IMO UK is much more positive in it's training than the US. E Collars seem widely available, Prong Collars I see a lot on dogs being walked, don't fence your garden , put up an electric invisible fence instead . Dogs attached to running lines in yards .

I often roll my eyes, and mutter at the dog park, when I see someone CM'ing their dog. I think maybe the whole dominance thing, and being Alpha of your pack, is regarded as the right way to treat and train your dog.


There are some lovely positive trainers and dog owners too

The US has given us some fab dog trainers and behaviourists (Jean Donaldson, Pat McConnell, Terry Ryan, James O' Heare, etc) but overall I'd think that Uk people seem to be less into seeing aversive procedures/equipment as the norm.

For example prong collars seem to be more accepted, also shock collars seemto be more accepted.

A friend of mine uses a dog park in the US and she sees a large proportion of the dogs wearing shock collars, often with quite depressed looking dogs. The owners sometimes can't even get their dogs to play. Yet don't seem to question why?

Also US peeps seem to be more accepting of keeping dogs in crates for longer than we might consider.

Hope I'm not offending anyone, I am generalising a bit of course..

Wys
x

Strangly enough this subject cropped up a couple of years ago at the CLA. There was an American stall next to us selling shock collars and he was suprised at the attitudes of the GP towards him.

hey all,canuck here!..good question!1st....pack..iv been calling at pack for as long as i could speek, my grandfather was the dog guy,i idolized him..he was my hero...my father same thing..i heard the word all the time..i was never into collecting info from books ,web,or any other means other than my souroundings,family...i am APACHE, all things mother nature and the word pack, is a fimiular word in my culture....usually refereing to..K9....they not a brood,a gagal,there not a heard......so.its comfortable for me to say,,,pack...are they?, who cares,when i or anyone else calls it that ...dont we all know what we mean...a bunch of dog....and the pack theory...to each there own..im not bombarded here in CAN when i use the word,,,here? not pesonaly but,it seems to be assoseated to c/m...i find pack and his name alot in the same sentance,,,im not use to that.....respectfully....are we hard on our dog over this way?sounds like it to me .are we infueced,,sure, i hear, thet mans name everywhere i go...and with up most respectfull to Clair...you are the first to tell some one ,pack stuff ,its ,bubbish, and to read some book...im the first to say put the book down and come see my pack!!!....good thread Claire..your a doll!

Which I find interesting, considering America are at the forefront with animal-assisted interventions.

You can't train a dog for the disabled with an e-collar.

True but the pack theory isn't all cock & bull, because there ARE more uh... esteemed members of a dog pack then others, the ones with the strongest personalities always run the show, weather its a dog, horse, pig, cow or what.

As for me, I'm mainly positive, teaching with treats for new behaviors, but I gradually wean them off treats & replace with praise. But nothing in life is free, no means no, leave it means leave it & I'm the boss .

I'm an American and I use all positive methods. I belong to an obedience club with 100 members, that all use positive methods. I also belong to an agility club that has 100+ members, and also only use positive methods.

That said, I do know people who still use outdated dominance theory, this is usually due to ignorance of any alternatives. Most can be persuaded to try positive reinforcement when properly educated.

I get kind of sick of the "americans are barbarians' thinking that I encounter here sometimes. There are good and bad on every continent.