Cesar Millan vs. Positive Reinforcement with Treats: Must it be All or Nothing?

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Is it me, or are all the dog trainers in the country ganging up on Cesar Millan? I really don't get it. We all know treats work. We all know leadership works.  We all know exercise helps our dogs calm down. A calmer dog is better behaved. It's really a no-brainer. Yet the banter continues.

A blend of the best of both methods has always been my most successful way to go with most of my dog training. What do you think? I'd really like to know. After you read this post, take my poll and give me some feedback. We'll see if we can get some dialogue going here.

My opinion? I use treats for training new or undeveloped behaviors. Then I wean them, or as trainers call it--fade the lure. Praise and positive reinforcement of other kinds (petting, playing or other forms of attention they enjoy) are probably my biggest reinforcers for daily activities and behaviors that I want to maintain or build on.

Now comes the tougher stuff. When Tanner developed a bit of excitement when restrained, it took more than treats to get him through that. A couple of wonderful trainers at my agility group assisted me with working him through his over-excitement upon coming into the field on-leash. Off leash, Tanner was a social butterfly. On a leash he became a barking, wildly-excited crazy man. He wanted--needed--to greet every dog in the place. It was easy for people who do not understand dog body language to think that Tanner was being aggressive, when in fact, he was trying to be social. We taught him a better way.

Success in breaking Tanner of this difficult behavior took a combination of a collar with more control for those excitable moments, and treats to reinforce correct behavior. It also took some time and experience in understanding that the behavior was not acceptable--period! That is simply not a lesson a dog can get from treats alone. He must be disciplined in some way to show him when he is "misbehaving".

If your child yells wildly at people in a grocery store, you would have to discipline the child. By this, I do not mean spank or hit; I mean a stern voice and a serious talk about proper behavior. Removal from the location sometimes is necessary. Most of us moms have had to leave a restaurant and a dinner behind when a temper tantrum made our presence unbearable for others. The child learns the lesson when he has to give up dinner, as a result. Sure, it may take a few times of this happening, but the lesson eventually gets through.

As long as the consequence matches the bad behavior, you're probably heading in the right direction. When Tanner jumped up to kiss a visitor this weekend, she appropriately turned her back on him. The behavior stopped after only a few tries. How often do your visitors know this excellent correction that involves no physical harm to either?

Had Tanner been jumping with the intention to bite or attack (yeah, right!! Submissive Tanner?), my discipline would have been entirely different--on his side until he completely relaxed in her presence. That is how I know he is submissive to my visitor. Nothing cruel about it; it simply helps the dog understand what's what.

Enough about behavioral issues; let's touch on Cesar's biggest bandwagon--exercise. The foundation of his soapbox is lots of exercise. He lists this as his number 1 most important technique. Why do you suppose that is?

If you own a dog, you may already know that an under-exercised dog is likely to develop anxieties, hyperactivity, aggressions and other issues. Just like humans, exercise burns off stress that would normally create bad behaviors. My primary strategy with my dogs is to get them plenty of exercise. We use walks, bike rides, fetch games, swimming, and dog park visits. With two daily exercise sessions, my high-energy dogs are able to be calm, happy housemates that I can enjoy and expect relatively good behavior from--most of the time.

I'll skip Cesar's other strategies for this post. I'll also save my opinion on how successful his techniques are for most dog owners. Check back later for more on that topic. For now, just let me know your opinion on training and behavioral corrections. You can comment and/or take the poll above. I'll consider both as I compile your thoughts for a later post. Go on now: get those tongues wagging!

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