What You Know As Dog Training Is A Mess – Let Me Tell You Why.

Just where did the quadrants of dog training come from? And why is there a chorus of dog owners saying “Why isn’t this working?!?” I’m going to answer both of those questions for you.

First of all, how often do you hear Zak George use the phrase “scientific consensus”? It’s all the rage these days. Do you understand what scientific consensus really is? It’s science by vote. If you can get enough birds together that are willing to chirp the same song? There is your science. And ladies and gentlemen – that’s all that dog training is – scientific consensus. But it’s actually pseudoscience. Lets begin.

Dog owners are the only ones that can exact change in dog training. And that takes asking questions – and someone has to start pushing actual science back on dog trainers. The number one issue I see today? Lack of relationship with the dog. Trainers have you so focused on “training” the dog that you don’t have a relationship with. Why?

What you know as “dog training” is “operant conditioning” which is the “quadrants of dog training”. How do trainers define operant conditioning? A method of behavioural modification using rewards and punishments. Positive and Negative Reinforcement, Positive and Negative Punishment – the quadrants. Go look it up for yourself.

And for that, they blame B.F. Skinner. A man that openly opposed punishment. Skinner wrote papers on the negatives of a punitive society. But yet, dogs are living in a punitive society and he’s being blamed for it. Now, the only reason I talk about Skinner is due to the fact that every dog trainer out there is blaming him for the quadrants. Skinners quadrants. My ass Skinners’ quadrants.

That is the biggest lie in dog training – Skinner had nothing to do with the quadrants of dog training. And if you think that trainers aren’t openly lying to you about it? Go listen to Ivan Balabanov trip over his own tongue in a video blaming Skinner for the quadrants. While in other videos Ivan states that it wasn’t a moral issue for Skinner – he openly opposed punishment. How do you blame a man that openly opposed punishment for creating the positive and negative punishment quadrants? It’s an outright bald faced lie. Nobody wants to answer that question – I’m going to answer it for you. It’s important to understand the underlying cause of all this nonsense.

A fellow named Konrad Most was the father of the quadrants. He wrote a book – a manual back in 1910 – he trained German Shepherds for World War 1 in Germany. Konrad spoke of spikey collars in his book. Well, funny enough, Herm Sprenger was a fellow German of the time – and he created the prong. Skinner held a PhD in Psychology – the study of the mind and behavior. What did the good Colonel have? Can’t find anything. Konrad could be called the father of modern day Schutzhund – that’s what the quadrants are based on – obedience and nothing more. But they are trying to bring it into your home and get you to apply it to your family dog. Do you see a problem with this? I see many issues – destructive issues.

What Konrad didn’t know about behaviors could fill volumes, he was all about obedience.

Cortisol is your fight (aggression) and flight (reactivity) hormone – and it wasn’t discovered til 1935, long after Konrad. Serotonin, endorphins, dopamine etc were discovered long after that. These are important things to understand when it comes to behavior – but Konrad didn’t have any knowledge of it.

Still on the fence? Leerburg sells his book – but take a minute and read the entire description. First of all – says point blank “Today’s dog trainer can trace the roots of modern training to Training Dogs by Colonel Konrad Most.” Then look at what’s said about B.F Skinner. Want to try something that make you go hrmmm? Look up the names of the book reviewers. Jon S. Bailey, Mary R. Burch and Sheila Booth.
https://leerburg.com/955.htm

What you know as “positive reinforcement” is part and parcel of this system of Konrads quadrants – applying things, adding things. I wish people would read Skinner – search the website for “A Page From Walden 2” – you would understand how Skinner defined positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement – and punishment. But trainers have you adding things that the dog doesn’t need. When did it become normal for a dog to have a toy box? I can only scratch my head – trainers have normalized excitement – but excitement is the enemy. What you really want is overall calm dog no? Calm dogs are never an issue, funny that?

Applied behaviour analysis is applying the understanding of the animals behaviour. Behaviourism is something that needs to be understood – not applied.

When I walk into a pet store, all I see is rows of treats, toys, clickers, prongs, e-collars, crates, muzzles, and the list goes on. This is all stuff that the dog doesn’t need – but it’s part of a $70 billion dollar industry that is called the pet industrial complex. Trainers created that over the years, it’s them that’s driving the bus – ask yourself why? It didn’t just magically happen. How many trainers get sponsored by these companies? How many balanced trainers are “sponsored” by Herm Sprenger? I see this as a problem – don’t you?

15 years ago, positive reinforcement trainers weren’t pushing treats the way they do today, it was a use it and lose it. Now, always carry a treat bag. Why? 15 years ago, balanced trainers weren’t pushing tools the way they do today. Back then, use it and lose it – last resort. Now the e-collar is an insurance policy, why take it off? Why indeed? Dog training is getting worse and worse over the years. Now people are cheering on the likes of Dog Daddy – this is how far it’s gone. Dog training is now a spectator sport and it’s embarrassing to watch. And mark my words – after what I’ve seen dog owners normalize in the last 15 years? Dog training will become a blood sport.

20 years ago, Ontario, Canada banned pitbulls and they were serious about it. Labs and Boxers and other breeds were getting caught up in all the nonsense, and the owners had to prove the dog wasn’t a “pit”. Well, 20 years later – bite rates and attack rates are through the roof? Experts are all baffled? We don’t know what’s going on? What’s changed in 20 years?

Dog trainers invaded the behavioral ring with their tools, protocols, and quadrants – they stuck their nose where it didn’t belong. That’s what happened. Let me explain.

The very object of the science of behavior is discovering it’s causes – B.F Skinner. Once you understand the cause – focus on the cause – fix the cause – the behavior will go extinct on it’s own. Aggression, reactivity, barking, pulling etc – these are all symptoms – the outcome of a problem. But yet, youtube is full of videos of dog trainers both PR and balanced showing zero concern for the cause of the behavior. They only want to shut the behavior down, stop the behavior – and now you can do it in 5 minute or less with crank and yank. Well, when you stop or shut down behaviors – that’s called suppression of behaviors. Any animal with severe suppressed behaviors will never be trusted – and that is the very reason why “control and management” is so rampant in PR and balanced community – because they are suppressing behaviours. That’s whats the quadrants dictate. And it’s control and management that can destroy your life – under a trainers orders because “they” didn’t understand the cause of your dogs behavior in the first place – they could care less about the cause. That IS the very science of behavior – they threw it in the garbage.

How does control and management affect your life? Well, I couldn’t count the number of dog owners that I’ve spoken with privately over the years. I’ve spoken with owners that are so depressed, they are on prozac and other meds because every dog trainer tells them to kill their dog. I’ve spoken with owners that have become alcoholics, drug users, and even contemplated suicide because of all this nonsense. I’ve also spoken with many owners that have spent $5000, $10000, $20000 on trainers, vets and behaviorists to no avail – just a bill that the owner has to pay, and they get a death sentence for the dog. Oh, and they also get blamed because the “training” failed to ice that cake. The system can’t fail. I have full respect for dog owners that have gone through the gamut of dog training – I feel for you.

How many owners with “Positive Reinforcement”? Because it’s the good one right? Well, when that fails – what other options? All 4 quadrants – Balanced training – now there is some good news. Think about that long and hard – and you should begin to understand that it’s all about divide and conquer.

Dog owners are watching all these BS training videos from positive reinforcement to balanced, now they are expert dog trainers themselves. The overall negative effect that it has on dog owners in public is insane. Owners that have dogs displaying aggression or reactivity are being shat on by the public – and many of these “experts” are telling them to train their dog and how to do it. There is so much negativity in the world today – and it’s all caused by nonsense called “dog training”.

Who is taking any accountability for any of this? Dog owners – you are being forced to take accountability for all this nonsense – and it needs to stop. And on top of it – trainers will blame you because the training failed – the system itself can never fail. All hail the quadrants. It’s time to start holding trainers accountable for all the damage – but instead – they want to be put on a pedestal and happily have dog owners kiss their arse. I watch some dog owners approach trainers, and I get the visual of Oliver Twist with his bowl asking “Please Sir, can I have some more?” Are dog owners scared of dog trainers? I don’t like it when people approach me like that, I’m a fellow human being trying to help the owner to understand the dog.

But lets look at the “war in dog training” – dog trainers have dog owners at each others throats. In the very words of Robert Cabral and others – “it’s us versus them”. Why? What’s the purpose for “us versus them”? It’s balanced versus positive reinforcement – 4 quadrants versus 1 quadrant of the same system called the quadrants. That’s what everyone is fighting over – the same old garbage that’s over 120 years old with zero scientific backing. Even Zak George blames Skinner – but pushes Konrad. Why do dog trainers want dog owners at each others throats? Views – followers – follow the money on sponsors from the pet industrial complex. Cause that’s what happening – it’s owners that are up to their asses in the war in dog training, not trainers. There are trainers that are getting death threats, threats of bodily harm, threats of family harm – from dog owners because of all this nonsense. That’s how invested some dog owners are in dog training – is there any hope to change any of this? It’s not only embarrassing, but disgusting.

There are many great trainers out there working in agility, body recovery, search and rescue, herding, hunting, nose work etc – but they all have one thing in common. These trainers know to steer clear of behavioral issues – and stick to actually training dogs. My hat is off to you.

You cannot train behaviors – you need to figure out what’s causing the behavior in the first place. That’s the very object of the science of behavior – discovering it’s causes – that’s Skinner. If you don’t understand the cause of a problem, you’re not fixing anything. If you get in your car, turn the key and it doesn’t start – not understanding the cause of why the car won’t start can cost you alot of money. Well, in dog training – not asking questions is costing people alot of money. Why is the dog exhibiting these behaviours – and genetics is the bottom of the list.

When dog “trainers” invaded the behavioral ring with their treats, toys, clickers, prongs, ecollars, crates, muzzles, protocols and quadrants? That’s when things went sideways – they got out of their lane. They threw the very science of behavior in the garbage. They threw the dictionary in the garbage. They redefined the dog into something that it is not. They took the dog out of the animal kingdom and put it somewhere else to justify what is being done to the dog. Now it’s “dog behavior”, and we have “dog behavior experts”? Seriously – what happened to animal behavior? It’s throwing Skinner in the garbage – but still blaming him. Trainers would argue black and blue with Skinner himself and the sad reality is – most wouldn’t realize they are doing it. They learn what they learn – and tend to keep themselves locked in this “dog training” box. I don’t get it.

That’s what Skinner proved – that human behavior has the same causes as other animals. Skinner did experiments on animals in a lab in order to understand US – the human animal – we were his target, not the dog. Skinner wasn’t an animal trainer, he wrote zero books on training – he wasn’t even a behaviourist like you think of them. That is the very reason they blamed Skinner – to keep up the illusion called “dog training” and to hide Konrad – in plain sight no less. You don’t get to choose how you behave believe it or not – it’s not an internal act of free will. Your behavior is your body’s reaction to an external stimulus – nothing more. Something makes you smile – you don’t smile for no reason and a smile is a behavior. The dog is no different. So what pisses you off? What makes you “aggressive”. What scares you? What makes you “reactive”? Should I shock you because you’re pissed off? Punish you? Suppress your anger with a slap in the face? That’ll work right? Then why are we doing it to the dog?

The real science will tell you that none of this is necessary. And I’ll get into that further down.

Now – ask yourself a question? Is “aggressive” a diagnosis? A 5 year old child can bear witness to a dog raging at the end of a leash and declare it aggressive. That doesn’t say very much for trainers skills to diagnose a dog. There is no such thing as an “aggressive” dog – it’s not a condition at all – let alone fixable. It’s an emotional response to the environment. The question should be – why is the dog showing aggression.

How is that “aggressive” dog while in a calm state by the way? Funny how dogs in a calm state are never a problem? So, why do trainers have you focused on controlling the aggression when you should be focused on calm – the default state for every animal. A calm state is what every animal desires – and that in itself is the biggest positive reinforcement there is. “Fear aggression”? Another made up phrase, so scary right. No, the dog is displaying aggression because the dog is afraid – If I made you really afraid – you would probably show aggression too – or at least reactivity. What is fear but lack of trust and understanding? You’re being told that you can train that. You cannot. Trust and respect are earned – so too are mistrust and disrespect.

The environment creates a stress or trigger. The animal body produces cortisol etc in response to the environmental stress or trigger. The animal is reacting to the excess cortisol load – not the environmental trigger. Did Konrad know this? No. What is the cause here? Cortisol, a chemical. CBD can help lower cortisol loads – so can hard targeted exercise and combined – they are potent. What is cortisol – your fight (aggression) and flight (reactivity) hormone. It’s no different for the dog.

In the face of a negative reinforcement – your positive reinforcement is to fight, flight, or become indifferent. What is indifferent? Socialised, you made the negative reinforcement “not a big deal”. That’s Skinner by the way. If you are afraid of spiders – then spiders are a negative reinforcement to you. You can “fight” – kill the spider or throw it outside, that’s your PR – the removal of the NR. You can flight – remove yourself from the negative reinforcement – that’s your PR – the removal of NR. Or you become indifferent – overcome your fear of spiders – that’s also positive reinforcement – the removal of negative reinforcement. But it needs to be looked at through the dogs eyes – not through yours.

There are 2 animals on the planet that will take abuse – find a way to blame themselves and come back to the abuser. That’s dogs and humans. People say horses? Don’t know enough about horses to say yay or nay. You can get away with abusing humans and dogs – at least for a while. Try shocking your cat with the e-collar, there’s not enough treats in the world to get that cat to trust you again. But dogs will take so much and they will keep coming back to the abuser. The reality of dogs – they are such forgiving animals – and we as humans are taking advantage of an animal that will do anything to be with their human. Your cat, not so much.

The worst part is – dog trainers threw “Man’s Best Friend” in the garbage. What makes a human being your “best friend”? It’s a bond between 2 animals based on mutual trust and respect – cause that builds confidence in any relationship. That’s supposed to be Mans Best Friend too. But how many trainers do you hear talk about respecting the dog? What about trust? I hear many trainers telling owners not to trust their dog – they are telling to you to destroy the relationship with your dog. Like him or hate him, Cesar Millan has been calling that a toxic relationship all his career – and that’s the problem. If one of trust or respect is missing, then a relationship doesn’t exist, it’s toxic. You don’t need “dog training” – you need a relationship intervention. Humans have a choice to leave a toxic relationship, the dog doesn’t.

Behaviorists are the ones that are supposed to work in behaviors, not trainers. But all they learn is the quadrants of dog training too 120 year old garbage with no scientific backing. A method of behavioral modification using reward and punishment.

Dog trainers in general have managed to remove everything that the dog really needs. Dogs need to learn how to be a dog from other dogs – a human cannot teach a dog how to be a dog. This is the very reason you see Monty in my videos – he’s teaching the dog how to “dog”. How many trainers out there are pro dog park? And owners as a result – never having stepped foot in a dog park – are spreading that message cause “professionals” say not to. Dogs shouldn’t be left unsupervised around children? We never had this issue – why does it exist today that you shouldn’t trust your dog? But this is for a separate blog.

I’m watching trainers tell owners based on a single facebook post to kill their dog. Or on youtube reading an email from a clients – and telling them to either rehome the dog or suggesting putting it down. That begs 2 questions – why do trainers think they have a right to tell an owner to destroy their dog in the first place? And you are diagnosing a dog by flipping proxy – a dog that you haven’t met.

That aggression is genetic – especially in certain breeds like the pit. Well, dog owners are doing the same – telling an owner to kill their dog based on one post. The rest are chiming in with treats, toys, clickers, prongs, ecollars, muzzles, crates etc etc etc.

My question is – at what point do we stop calling this nonsense “dog training”. Just how bad does it need to get before people start questioning all this? This question haunts me.

That’s all there is today – the quadrants of dog training – and nothing else is allowed. And don’t dare question it – cause trust me, I’ve taken all the abuse direct from dog trainers from PR to Balanced because I question it heavily.

Want to talk science? How about Dr. Gregory Berns who heads up “The Dog Project”. Dr. Berns has been watching the dogs brain live and in color in MRI for over a decade. He’s long proven that the dog is sentient, and really not that different from humans. Berns outright says that “dogs are persons too”. I don’t see too many in the dog training community pushing the science of Dr. Gregory Berns. Why? This is a quote from Dr. Berns’ book – read it carefully. This is the outcome of his research – this is the science dog owners need to follow up on.

“Eventually, I came to the conclusion that the key to improving dog-human relationships is through social cognition, not behaviorism. Positive reinforcement is a shortcut to train dogs, but it is not necessarily the best way to form a relationship with them. To truly live with dogs, humans need to become “great leaders.” Not dictators who rule by doling out treats and by threatening punishment, but leaders who respect and value their dogs as sentient beings.”

Temple Grandin, a real animal behaviorist – PhD in animal sciences. Lots of horse sense in Temple, people really should put aside everything and listen to her speak of animals – especially dogs. Yet, much of what I see about Temple is negative. Why?

Why are some dog trainers outright denouncing the work of people that hold a PhD in Psychology – the very study of the mind and behavior. Why?

Is there no shame left in dog training?

If you made it this far? Your anger is fully justified. Please, leave a comment and share this with people – especially dog trainers. I would love to hear their response.

This will be updated as time goes on.