A behaviourists vue on a problem

A laugh (or not?) over the weekend

A telephone call from a pet owner to a dog trainer:

Brown here, good morning Mrs. Green
Good morning, Mr. Brown how is little Bobby today? Are you making progress?
That's why I'm calling, Bobby has just sunk his teeth into my leg and he's shaking it.
Oh, that's a bit of a setback but we both know that Rome wasn't built in a day.
Yes, Mrs. Green, I know. But what can I do? The pain is excruciating.
Mr. Brown, your own sensitivities have to take a back seat now. How far has little Bobby penetrated your leg? More than 50% of a half of a tooth?
Just a moment - yes, and it's bleeding heavily.
Okay, that's bite grade 4.
That's very aggressive.
Have you tried to get Bobby away by brute force, have you tried hitting him.
Of course not!!
Thank God for that! Very good. Negative influences have a much stronger effect on the dog than positive ones.
Oh...oh...oh....
Mr. Brown, please!
Of course your dog should realise that you are not exactly pleased with him but be careful that you don't frighten him!
He's not used to such loud and aggressive tones from you and you could disturb his mental balance.
OK, I understand.
How good is his "out" Mr. Brown?
So good with nothing, oh... that hurt's - the rascal only "outs" if he gets a biscuit - and that's not always sure.
OK, then that's useless. We only give commands if we are able to follow them through - isn't that true Mr. Brown.
Yes.
Now we have to make an exception and use a rather rough method, Mr. Brown. Tell him "NO" energetically but not nastily and without threatening him. Just loudly enough that he's surprised. Bobby is an apprehensive little dog . We don't want the little chap to have a nightmare.
No, no, of course not, I'll try it.
What's Bobby doing now?
Shaking my leg.
Alma! Come here and clean up my blood off the floor. Darling little Bobby is getting wet paws!
Mr. Brown, I think it would help if you would just ignore him.
Avoid looking at him, don't speak to him, don't touch him and avoid anything which could reinforce his behaviour.
I can hardly see anything and I find it difficult to speak. I'm getting very tired, probably from loss of blood.
Of course, Mr. Brown, I understand. Call your wife, so that she can be at hand with clicker and biscuits.
As soon as he has lost interest, and stops biting your leg, please reinforce with clicker and a biscuit.
The timing is very important but you know that, don't you Mr. Brown!
Mr. Brown, Mr. Brown.....
This is Mrs Brown. My husband has just conked out but I've heard everything and I've got the clicker and the biscuit in my hand!
Well done, Mrs. Brown, I see you are on the right track!

And 6 months later the dog is euthanised because to dangerous......


Greetings

Johan

love it

Dont think it is meant to be a joke, if it is its not funny, but I suspect its just a rediculous argument for the Ecollar

Aw Johan - I have a sense of humour and can see the funny side, but sadly it's just a poke at clicker trainers etc isn't it?

Have you seen Geert de Bolster? He teaches fab manwork etc which I know you are interested in, and he uses the clicker. A friend I know is so keen on what she's learnt with him, she's intending to travel to Europe once a month with her dog to learn more from him.

Let me underline, he's a clicker trainer...

Looked just like a pisstake to me ... sorry if I offended anyone....

Thought it quite apt myself, clickers are great but not for everything.

You got it

Dogtraining is 99% reward in whatever form that suits you AND your dog. unfortunatly you need 1 correction and here it is also in function of the dog and yor abilities to work with the tool in question.

To my knowledge there was no mention of an e-collar in the original text.

Greetings

Johan

Problem is Johan to some if you say you correct or reprimand your dog, they seem to think you beat the cr@p out of it. Don't ask me why though.

Great post Johan. Illustates well the level of anthropomorphism creeping into so called modern training methods.

Wys, you speak of training methods as if they are mutually exclusive. I would imagine the best trainers to have an open mind and use methods appropriate to each individual situation.