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How To Use Natural Instincts in Dog Training

Aidan's picture
Wed, 08/01/2007 - 12:26 — Aidan

I hear a lot about "dog whisperers" or "dog listeners", people who reportedly use the dog's natural "instincts" to bring about a state of harmony or balance which somehow solves behavior problems.

That's an interesting idea. I trained as a Bowen Therapist, and that's exactly what we said we did when trying to fix people's bung knees, creaky backs and frozen shoulders. Who am I to argue? Sometimes it worked. Often enough to have some very happy clients.

So I like this idea of 'balance' and I do believe in it. But I also like to understand things. I suspect most of us go through life never really understanding anything. We are reinforced so often for our "beliefs","intuition" and "personal theories" that we really don't need a true understanding of any topic.

It is this understanding that I strive for, and strive to bring for you.

So I thought I'd look at how we use a dog's natural instincts to change behavior, without any beliefs, intuition or personal theories getting in the way. I've put up two blogs on my site, http://www.positivepetzine.com that look at conditioning, and how we use what nature gave us.

This is the nuts and bolts of behavior as it applies to someone who wants to train a dog using positive methods. The topic is huge, so I've deliberately left out the bits that don't apply to us as positive dog trainers. If you're not a positive dog trainer it still applies, nature doesn't change because we espouse one style of dog training over another.

The first blog is Dogs Do What Works For Them. It is a grandiose piece sure to put a few noses out of joint and make me look like the arrogant, self-aggrandising fool you always suspected I was. Just don't harsh on my mellow too much if you think it's overly pompous.

The second blog is Conditioned Reinforcers - Part 1, which takes a good look at reinforcers and conditioned reinforcers. Despite the title using a technical term, the article is "plain english" and I'm happy to answer any questions on either of these pieces.

Don't forget to browse the other blogs while you are at the site. There are blogs about dogs who get too excited with children, tail chasers, separation anxiety, and eating and training schedules for little dogs.

If you really like what you see, don't forget to check out the product that funds all this free information - The Positive Petzine Collection. If you're a dog trainer you will really find it useful as you are allowed to copy some of the pages as hand-outs in your classes (contact me first to find out the conditions). Worth a look if you haven't already!