Balanced Dog Training and Corrections in Dog Training - Robert Cabral

[@DougHinVA]

whew... until you do dog rescue and handle dogs in CGC exams and go into shelters and actually rehab a dangerous dog yourself (with pro help)... you don't realize how big this short message is. He gave you something you will very seldom hear said. And it is true.

[@oldsagerat]

Hi Robert ! Love your videos and training methods. I have a 5 month old Australian Shepherd pup who is boisterous. I can't seem to keep him focused. He is treat driven, but when the front door opens, chaos ensues. I don't recall any mention of vibration collars from you. I don't want to use a shock collar, just a buzz to snap him out of unwanted behavior. Extremely smart pup ! Admittedly he lives in a much faster world than I. Any thoughts on vibration collars ? Appreciated. Thanks

[@maxcatedrilla6303]

Hi Robert if my dog doesn't obey the command the first time , you give it a correction then when they obey , do you give them a reward even if they did not obey the first time ?? Thanks

[@SuperGGLOL]

max catedrilla yes. He did what u wanted. U reward him. U need to let ur dog know he is doing good.

[@sammanns]

Recently I watched a man who had an instructor with him doing balance training. The man forced the dogs head into the cement, choked him until the dog couldn’t breath and the dog was whimpering. I’ve seen no positive reinforcement at all by this guy . He’s just punishing the dog. This is animal cruelty. What can I do to help this poor dog

[@cressidacochran8706]

Humane discipline is a key part of positive training. But that discipline involves teaching a dog to make the right choices by giving them alternatives, not constantly 'correcting' them. We have to give these highly intelligent, emotional animals the opportunity to think and learn. They aren't robots that we can program with a "balanced" system of physical correction and reward. Your leash jerks, choke and prong collar corrections, and use of electric shock might stop the behavior in the moment, but what are you really teaching the dog that is going to be at all productive? You might feel good yourself because you managed to suppress behavior for that moment and yes, maybe have some longer term success. But at what cost to your dog and ultimately to you? There's nothing "balanced" about a dog that's in a state of learned helplessness after being constantly corrected and "put in his place". Nothing good about having a dog that responds out of fear of what you might do next.

[@RobertCabralDogs]

obviously this is a knee jerk reaction. if you think my dogs are in a state of learned helplessness, you either don't understand the term or you are completely ignorant.

[@cressidacochran8706]

@@RobertCabralDogs These findings suggest that reward-based training may be more effective, although the researchers state that this might be because the positively reinforced dogs already understand food-based training methods. The punitively trained group might learn more quickly if an aversive method was applied.

[@SpitfireMKX]

When a dog goes after a porcupine and gets a face full of quills, it will likely remember that VERY negative experience and give porcupines a wide berth in the future. People who advocate balanced training aren’t saying to inflict “porcupine level” damage on a dog. A quick shock on a collar or a pop on the leash is enough to make them build a habit of aversion without inflicting fear or trauma. It’s like if you had a light switch that was very sensitive to you rubbing socks on the floor… you might accidentally get a static shock a few times, but it wouldn’t take you long to learn how to avoid that feeling. I’ve had static electricity shock me hundreds of times and I’m not traumatized by it. I’ve been stung by bees and bitten by animals and scraped my knuckles-and it has all taught me what not to do. Dogs do this to each other-they growl and/or bite dogs that don’t leave them alone. I don’t understand why people think purely positive is going to have a better effect than the law of natural consequences.