What Does “Positive Dog Training” Mean?
The term “positive reinforcement dog training” is used as a marketing catchphrase by many dog trainers who use a wide variety of methods. If a dog trainer doesn’t explain what positive reinforcement means, without adding terms like “dominant”, “alpha” or “pack leader”, they probably aren’t using positive dog training methods at all. Similarly, if a dog trainer uses prong collars, choke collars or e-collars, they’re using aversive based methods that are known to cause lasting harm to dogs.
Positive reinforcement” is actually a term from behaviour psychology. In the context of training a dog, It means giving the dog something they want right after behaviour to increase the likelihood of a voluntary repetition of that behaviour. Positive reinforcement dog training never involves the use of fear or tools designed to cause discomfort.
