Competitive Edge K9 Solutions

I have always struggled with this concept of purely positive as it seems counterintuitive to the way animals learn and live in the natural world. People included. Look at newborn children with no cognitive rational but instincts. They trigger you to do things through aversive and non-aversive feedback. They scream and cry till you feed them or hold them. They throw temper tantrums when they don’t want to wear the shoes you picked out but, smile and are calm when they get what they want, etc. They are teaching you what to do and not to do through the exchange. Pressure is applied until you make the right choice, then you are rewarded for doing so.

This is biologically embedded from birth. Once you and your child build upon your communication strategies, they STILL do things that result in some kind of pressure. Do better in school or you won’t be successful, get a job or you won’t have things you value, be kind or you won’t have friends. If you steal, you can go to jail, if you don’t take care of yourself, you can get sick. Many times, these things are done despite knowing the “better” way until they must reap the consequences, then they magically don’t do it again because there is context or reason why the other choice WAS better. To assume an emotional and thinking being (that includes dogs) could not make those choices or act out on instinct is a discredit to them.

For dogs, most of their mistakes may come with dire consequences unknown to them. They sn**ch something off the counter that could poison them, they nip or mouth the wrong person while learning to play appropriately and they get put down from a city ordinance. The dog jumps on a house guest, knocking the person over and gets rehomed because they are too excitable. Dogs rarely have a chance in our world to make a mistake. Its our job as their owners to ensure they don’t choose poorly, or they will suffer the repercussions of your inability to rectify.