February 16th, 2011
By Eric Letendre
Yesterday I posted a video on this blog. You can watch it below this post.
The video was from the 1930′s Little Rascals.
When I was a kid, I would watch The Little Rascals every morning after I did my paper route. LOVED that show and found some old videos on YouTube.
I laughed at the way Spanky grabs the other kid under the table like a dog and gets a dose of Tabasco.
Taste deterrents are used in some situations – chewing, begging, etc.
You can find commercial taste deterrents in most pet stores. They come flavored as bitter apple, sour grapes,
etc.
In the dog training world, there are STRONG opinions on using any type of aversive in dog training.
What I have found in 20+ years of training dogs is that there are times when you use positive reinforcement and there are times when you can use a negative consequence to get the desired result.
Now, before I get a flood of hate mail, please let me explain.
Using a negative consequence does NOT mean you hurt or harm your dog. For instance, I have used breath spray for years to teach dogs to stop barking on command.
Would you think breath spray is harmful to a dog?
NO, it is not, but it is a negative consequence and the dog quickly learns to stop barking on command.
And that is what dog training comes down to. TEACH your dog by positively reinforcing behaviors. Sit, down, stand come, etc, are ALL taught by rewarding the behaviors. These commands used to be taught with a choke or prong collar which is wrong, wrong, WRONG!
You stop behaviors (jumping, barking, begging, chewing) by using a negative consequence.
A negative consequence is NOT hitting, slapping, shocking, choking or anything harsh.
A negative consequence can be water, sound, spray, etc.
You can apply a negative consequence that will stop the behavior without hurting your dog.
Here is the last bit of advice I’ll give you on applying a negative consequence. The negative consequence should NEVER be associated with you.
All negative consequences come from the environment, everything positive comes from you.
I discuss this much more in depth on the Good K9 Manners website.
You can get $10.00 off the regular price by using the coupon code: 10-OFFK9MANNERS
You can think of it as a late Valentine’s gift from your friend, The Amazing Dog Training Man.
All the best,
Eric
Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States and has been training dogs for over 20 years, teaching regular, average, every-day owners all over the world how to get the training results they want as fast as possible. Eric is also the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Improve Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
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Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States. For more than 20 years, he has been developing dog training techniques that have worked for dog owners all over the world. Eric operates from a home office or a laptop while traveling and draws on his experience and passion for dog training to show others how to develop a dog that is truly “Man’s Best Friend”.
Eric is the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Hack Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
ADTM- We have a 2 year old German Shepherd and a 9 year old chocolate lab. Both are neutered and we were told after we had the shepherd neutered his aggressive attitude would decrease, it has been 1 year and it still is present. We can not have both dogs in the same room at the same time. The first 6-7 months there was no problems and one day all broke loose. What is the best way to settle the shepherds attitude? The shepherds dad is a fully trained K9 police dog to attack and release on command. Our 2 y/o has had no formal police training.
Great blog and I love the content on here! Very informative for newbie dog owners. These are all topics that responsible dog owners should follow (like if they would, lol) I’ll tell you one thing though, I’ll be sending people here to read some of your stuff. It’s great!!
Thanks Cherie.
Hello would you mind stating which blog platform you’re working with? I’m planning to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a hard time making a decision between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique. P.S Sorry for being off-topic but I had to ask!
Hi Truman,
Thanks for your question. I use WordPress. Very easy to use and I like it more than other platforms I have used.
Good luck with your blog.
Eric