You should read this first to understand where I’m coming from.
https://roberthynesdogtraining.com/2024/04/14/b-f-skinner-at-82-grows-pessimistic-that-world-will-accept-his-ideas/
If you haven’t read the article I posted about Skinner, you should sit and read it. Toward the end of his career, Skinner was all about Positive Reinforcement and he was against the use of punishment – the application of negative reinforcement. Psychology is supposed to be the study of the mind and behaviour – but that’s not really the case. People ask me what went wrong over the years why the science of behaviour has been thrown in the garbage – this is the reason. They are now focused on the mind – the feelings over facts. Cause feelings are much easier to manipulate than facts.
“But Skinner’s hope that psychology would be taken over by behaviorists foundered. Of the 60,000 members of the American Psychological Assn., only 1,200 today list themselves as Skinnerians. Psychology has returned to its roots, probing the mind and the importance of feelings, emotions and free will.”
Do humans have free will? Do you understand what that means? When you do – then the very ideal of Behavioural Euthanasia is out the window. This one minute video destroys everything dog training. The reality is – you cannot control your behaviours – they are not an act of free will. Same goes for the dog – they cannot help their own behaviours. Why are killing dogs behaviourally?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYEpCKXTga0
That very article explains why dog training is in such a bad mess today. There are no facts, there is no science – it’s all about feelings and emotions and that’s not psychology. There is no psychology in dog training today and that’s a bloody shame.
“I’m not comparing myself to Darwin,” said Skinner. “But the kind of changes I’m asking people to make with respect to human behavior is the change he was asking them to make with respect to the creation of the species.
“I have to tell people that they are not responsible for their behavior. They’re not creating it; they’re not initiating anything. It’s all found somewhere else. That’s an awful lot to relinquish,” he said.
What all this comes down to is this. Humans don’t consider themselves as animals anymore, and we have taken the dog out of the animal kingdom with us. We don’t treat dogs like dogs anymore – we humanise them. But we don’t even understand what being human is – Homo Sapien – the hariless ape.
Always said it – if you want to understand your dog – then go take a long hard look in the mirror at the reflection of the animal staring back at you. Learn to understand the animal that you are – the hairless ape – and then you’ll understand animal communication.
Skinner tried to wake the world up to the power of “positive reinforcement” and how Negative Reinforcement is currently used to control you in ways that you can’t imagine.
But all society knows is “have a treat” and that’s terrifying. Begs the question – how did we get to this point?
When you understand why dog trainers blame Skinner – while hiding Konrad Most in plain sight? That’s when things are going to change for the dog. Dog training has damaged society itself in massive ways.
“The object of the science of behaviour is discovering its’ causes”. And that has been thrown in the garbage. Trainers talk about cause, but then go to war with the dog. All we hear now from PR/PP to Balanced is shut down behaviours, stop the behaviours – but that’s only suppressing behaviours and that can be dangerous. It takes questions and discussion to understand the cause – but that’s not happening anywhere anymore. It’s always treats, tools, protocols and quadrants that were meant for Schutzhund. And we wonder why so many dog owners are in bad shape with their dogs.
If you don’t understand the causes of your dogs behaviours – you’re not fixing anything. Dog training is a solution without diagnosis – without understanding the cause.
If you sit in the car and turn the key – and the car doesn’t start? Someone better start asking some questions to understand why the car isn’t starting. Otherwise, you can spend thousands on parts to fix the car – and still not fix it.
Zak George would throw treats at the car. Dog Daddy would take a sledgehammer to it.
Stop training your dog – you cannot train a dog to behave. Step back and understand WHY the dog is acting out – and focus on the why.