Puppy Diaries #8 : Treats and E-fences

This week’s entry is written by Jill’s husband Henry, also a journalist for the Times. He discusses the evolution of his attitude toward dog training and then asks the readers a question.

One of a trainer’s biggest challenges is getting the whole family involved. Consistency is a key factor in any program, whether it’s a simple basic obedience program or a complicated behavior modification project. Having just one member of the family not involved or worse yet, actively resisting the trainer’s recommendations, can doom the entire engagement.

Somewhere well north of 80% of the people that seek out and secure dog training services are women. (I think it may be over 90%. I’m hedging and am having problems finding the number online.) So who do think is frequently the spanner in the works? Yep.

In addition to the coaching skills needed to successfully train people, dog training requires a bit of sales too. Sometimes it’s simply getting the rest of the family involved, but almost as frequently it’s convincing someone (usually a man) that treats are OK and showing the dog “who’s boss” has more to do with well-communicated rules and some rewards than it does coercion.

Henry discusses the family’s problems with keeping Scout in their yard and asks for opinion on electric fences. I’m not a fan for a few reasons:

1. They don’t always work. One frequent reason people use them is, as Henry says this week, for a “backup.” Henry even specifically mentions Scout taking off after a rabbit. Many dogs will blow right through an e-fence when chasing game. Predation is remarkably hard to stop. The end result when this happens? A dog that is now stranded on the wrong side of the fence and may be reluctant to come home.
2. They only keep the dog in, they don’t keep other animals out, making the scenario above more likely.
3. Many dogs left alone in a yard will start to take an interest in nearby traffic, both vehicle and pedestrian. That interest, combined with running too close to the border and getting the collar’s warning signal (remember: the warning signal predicts punishment, making it unpleasant for the dog too) or a shock, can create aggression problems. I have seen this happen a few times.
4. I don’t think dogs should be left outside unattended anyway, certainly not for extended periods of time. It sets up opportunities for nuisance barking (which just gets worse as time goes by), digging, and other mischief.
5. Last, but not least, I don’t like equipment and training programs that rely almost completely on positive punishment (adding punishment to eliminate a behavior) or negative reinforcement (remove something bad when an undesirable behavior stops) and I don’t like electric shock in particular.

I am especially leery of the “do it yourself” electric fences sold at the big stores like PetSmart. The commercial installers at least involve some with some skill and experience in properly training the dog after the “fence” is installed. If you insist on getting one, a professional installer should be part of the plan, and the training involved is just as important as the technology. Probably more important.

No weekend update this week. I’m probably going to be offline this weekend for family stuff. Have a good one!

Related Posts

1. The Puppy Diaries on New York Times
2. The Puppy Diaries: Part 3
3. Puppy Diaries: Pet Insurance
4. The Puppy Diaries: Swimming and Day Care
5. Weekend Update October 3, 2009 (with Puppy Diaries update)