Positive Training: What is it? Why Use it?

A few months ago the New York Times Business section featured Cesar Millan and his highly-lucrative dog training enterprises. Surprisingly, the article devoted a total of three sentences to positive training -- little more than a footnote. Though the writer noted that positive trainers disagree with many of Millan’s methods, there was no explanation of why there’s disagreement, what positive training is or how Millan’s methods differ. In this trainer’s humble opinion, that was a disservice to dogs everywhere and the people who love them.

Positive reinforcement training is a significant departure from Millan’s “dog whispering” techniques. Positive training is based not on mystical glimpses into the animal mind, but rather on science – applied behavioral analysis and the science of how dogs learn.

Positive training, sometimes called reward-based training, is based on scientifically-proven principles of behavioral science that are played out every day in all sorts of species, humans included. Behavior that’s rewarded increases in frequency and intensity. Behavior that isn’t rewarded eventually disappears.

In a nutshell, positive training rewards dog for behaviors humans want to see more of. Rather than focusing on the unanswerable question, “What’s Fido thinking?,” positive trainers ask, “What exactly is Fido doing? When and under what circumstances is he doing it? Do we want more or less of that behavior? If we don’t want behavior X, what do we want Fido to do instead?” In stark contrast to many of Millan’s methods, positive training doesn’t involve anything that hurts, scares, intimidates or forces dogs to do anything. There are no shock collars, leash jerks, leashes that constrict dogs’ necks, scolding, yelling, hitting, pinning or flooding dogs with things that frighten them.

Humans are the proverbial masters of dogs’ universes. We control dogs’ access to everything in life they need and want – food, exercise, play, water, cuddles, attention, toys and time with other dogs. Positive training capitalizes on that by manipulating consequences to dog behavior to motivate and train dogs to behave in desirable ways.

Contrary to many assumptions, positive training doesn’t mean “lenient” or “permissive.” Clear consistent limits are crucial to a well-behaved dog. Inconsistency presents training and behavioral setbacks: like us, dogs become confused by inconsistent shifting limits and their behavior suffers as a result. To stop unwanted behavior, positive trainers train dogs to behave in ways that are incompatible with the unwanted behavior and use “negative punishment.” This means removing tangible rewards (like food and play), and intangible rewards (like human attention) for a brief period of time – in other words, a time out.

Unbeknownst to many, punishment-based training frequently backfires in ways that are dangerous to humans and dogs. (That may be why Millan’s shows and materials warn not to try his techniques at home.) Simply put, aggression begets aggression. Punitive techniques such as yelling, infliction of pain, and the infamous “alpha roll,” are likely to elicit aggressive behavior from dogs, and/or make existing behavioral problems worse.



Expert trainers and dog behaviorists have long known these facts, which were confirmed in a 2009 study by the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school and published in Applied Animal Behavior Science . In the study of owners who use confrontational or aggressive methods to train dogs with aggressive behavior, researchers found that most of the animals would continue to behave aggressively unless training techniques were changed. Researchers concluded that confrontational/ aggressive training doesn’t do much to change problem behavior, and runs a good risk of inciting aggressive behavior in dogs. Aggressive training methods studied included staring a dog down; hitting or kicking a dog; growling at a dog; using an “alpha roll” (physically forcing the dog onto its back and holding it there); grabbing a dog by the jowls and shaking it; and physically forcing a dog onto its side.

Fear is the root cause of much aggressive dog behavior. When punishment-based training is used, dogs learn to fear their owners because they’re meting out nasty/scary/painful consequences. When fear increases, it’s a good bet that aggression will too. That’s not a chance I want to take, nor is it one I’d dream of recommending to clients.

Aside from being risky to humans, punishment poses risks to dogs’ well-being. Depending on the particular dog’s temperament, the timing and degree of punishment, and the consistency with which it’s used, punishment-based training can shut a dog down. Instead of a well-adjusted happy dog who’s excited about interacting with humans and training, you may easily wind up with a dog that’s too afraid or stressed out to do much of anything – dog not as dog, but dog as rug.

Dogs thrive with positive training. So do relationships between dogs and humans. Dogs enjoy positive training because it’s a fun rewarding activity, and behave politely because it’s rewarding for them to do so. Instead of associating their humans with painful/scary stuff, dogs associate them with rewarding fun stuff. The end result is a dog-human relationship built on consistency, cooperation, clear communication and trust, rather than one founded on fear, imperatives and pain/avoidance of pain.

We can train dogs to behave politely using only positive techniques, which are effective, safe and completely humane. In light of that, punishment-based training just isn’t necessary.

Flickr Photo Credit: MossyOwls, X Pose

Lisa-Anne Manolius is the multi- talented owner/trainer of Oh Behave! in San Francisco. A graduate of the S.F. SPCA's Academy for Dog Trainers and U.C. Berkeley's Boalt School of Law, she's available for dog behavior consultations, private training sessions, and to teach a variety of group classes. She can be reached at lisaohbehave@gmail.com.