Does the trainer understand the use and importance of both positive and negative motivation training techniques?
There is a trend in the dog training world that tells people they should only use “positive training techniques”. And although that sounds very nice, it doesn’t really make sense in a dog’s world. What “only positive training” means is that you never give a dog a correction. Imagine I am giving you directions to get from Florida to New York, but I only tell you when you are going in the right direction and I never tell you when you are going the wrong way. You will either get lost or it will take you a very long time to get there. This is the same with dog training. We have often asked “positive only” trainers what they do when a dog makes a mistake, they always change the subject or they say they will use a choke chain (which is negative motivation training). Last year, we had the opportunity to work with an awesome Great Dane. He jumped and lunged at the front door of his home and dogs across the street. He was difficult to walk because he became agitated when runners or bikers went
