I find eating broccoli aversive. But not as aversive as going to the dentist to get a tooth extracted!
Slip leads, check chains, prong collars and shock collars (as well as other things) are collectively known as “aversive training tools”. This term is equally well accepted and used by trainers who use these tools, as well as reward-based trainers. It’s not a derogatory term; it’s an accurate description of what they are, just like food and toys are known as “rewards”.
They work BECAUSE they are aversive, meaning the dog finds them unpleasant and will work to avoid them. All these tools CAN be used to cause fear, pain and injury. They can also be used WITHOUT causing those things. But to work they MUST, at a minimum, cause some mild discomfort or annoyance; that point cannot be argued!
Learning is a naturally occurring phenomenon, just like gravity. It’s not something you have an opinion on, it works whether you understand it or not, whether you believe in it or not. Positive Punishment works by adding something the dog dislikes to decrease the frequency of a behaviour. Negative Reinforcement works by removing something the dog dislikes to increase the frequency of a behaviour. And that’s how aversive training tools are used, and why they work.
My very first dog back in the early 90s was trained on a check chain. That’s what we did back then, we didn’t know any different. He wasn’t scared of me (far from it), I didn’t cause him any pain or injury. But he would have found the check chain annoying, irritating, a bit uncomfortable when it was tightening, enough that it worked to train him.
I would say I used the check chain “lightly”, it wasn’t used that way because of any skill on my part, I wasn’t a trainer, just taking my first ever dog to classes. But there was no way I could do otherwise, I could see what was going on around me with check chains being used “harshly” (I will give an example, forever etched in my memory, in a future post).
I feel bad we didn’t know better, but not guilty; you only know what you know at the time. Not too long into his training career thankfully things changed, and reward-based training started to come in, and we switched over.
Aversive training tools CAN be used without causing major harm, but they are still aversive. If I have a small stone in my shoe, it’s aversive, meaning I want to do something to stop or avoid it. I’m not scared of the stone, it’s not causing me pain or injury, but it’s still aversive.
To use aversive tools lightly takes some skill, and if a trainer has that skill, they’d also have the skill to use reward-based training; the question is, why would a trainer deliberately make the choice to use aversives over rewards, knowing the latter is much more pleasant for the dog?
Anyone can use aversive training tools harshly, that takes minimal skill. Avoiding pain and injury is a very strong motivator, so it works, and it works quickly, social media has created an expectation of quick fixes in dog training, which is why it is very top heavy with trainers who use an aversive training style. And “quick fixes” are highly reinforcing to the trainer too!
Using these tools harshly comes with a MUCH HIGHER RISK of causing fear, pain and injury. Most people only get to see the “lighter” versions of the use of (for example) slip leads. If they’re used “harshly” causing the dog to yelp and scream in pain and/or fear, you don’t get to see that, trainers don’t like to share that on social media because it’s not a good look. But reward-based trainers hear about it directly from the owners whose dogs have been subjected to it; just because you don’t hear about it or see it doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
The point is these tools are aversive, it doesn’t matter how they’re marketed, the clever way things are phrased or reframed to make it sound nicer. They work because the dog finds them at best unpleasant (like broccoli), and at worst they cause pain and fear (like the dentist*)
If you see or hear that a slip lead, (for example) isn’t aversive, you now know that’s not accurate. Some trainers do use them deliberately, or inadvertently to cause fear, pain or injury. Others use them more thoughtfully, which I’m not condoning, but those are the trainers who have the potential to use reward-based training; the question is why aren’t they?
The more dog owners understand the facts, the better position they are in to make informed choices that prioritise their dog’s welfare.
*actually my dentist is great, and there was minimal pain, but it was the best analogy I could think of!!
| Tags:Owner Education |
