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Forward to the book, "The Power of
Positive Dog Training"
"When many of us began dog training, almost every available book
spoke of the human-dog relationship in ominous terms such as
discipline, dominance, and punishment, or used euphimistic terms such
as corrections, with dogs needing to be made responsible.
If you looked up how to solve a behavior problem, the range of
options consisted of different flavors of punishment. There
were all kinds of frowny discussions about which implements to use
(throw chains, keys, booby-traps, noxious chemical sprays, one's
hands or fists), discussions about where on the dog's body to strike
him (on the muzzle, the backside, under the chin so he doesn't see it
coming, on the part of his body that committed the "crime"),
and discussions about what sort of collar to put around the dog's
neck in order to deliver pain efficiently and to startle.
If dogs could read, it must all have seemed like some sort of dark
science fiction. They are, like all living organisms, just
trying to get through their days accessing as much pleasant stuff as
possible and avoiding as much unpleasant stuff as possible. In The
Power of Positive Dog Training ... Pat Miller speaks
eloquently of her epiphany, the beginning of her crossover to
positive training methods. This is the most profound
realization a trainer can have - that gaining control of the reinforcers,
the pleasant stuff in the dog's environment, is as effective
a means of behavioral control as administering pain and startle ...
... There are many dog trainers who, in their heart of hearts, view
the dogs as victims, the owners as perpetrators (or hapless
middlemen), and the trainer as the hero in the play. The truth
is that dogs have not been the only victims.
Owners have been victims of the dearth of correct and accessible
information about dogs - about the true propensities of breeds, about
what kind of time and effort is involved, about the basics of
management and training. Phone six trainers at random about six
different kinds of training questions. The range of answers
would leave any consumer confused and in despair. In fact, if
the same quality of consumer information existed about, say, cars,
people might well be told by different car "authorities" to
never change the oil, change the oil every day, or replace the oil
with lemon juice...
... Pet dog behavior counselors have been victims of the poor quality
or low relevance of much of the trickled down information from the
pet dog training "ancestor" endeavors: traditional,
militaristic training; competitive obedience training and academics.
However, in spite of this spotty history, pet dog training and
behavior counseling has blossomed. Pat Miller embodies all that
is right in this thriving specialty. She is tireless in her
championing of training techniques that, first and foremost, do no
harm and, almost as importantly, are based on sound, well-understood
learning principles, rather than the gut-level intuition and
hocus-pocus that seduces so many in this field.
Dogs have intrinsic value in addition to their value to us, and this
(book) dictates the use of the most benign techniques available to
educate them ..."
Jean Donaldson, April 2001
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