Does balanced dog training really exist? Being a balanced trainer is part of my background in dog training. In many discussions about dog training methods, you will frequently hear about the four quadrants, so I’m going over what those quadrants are and how our experiences can tip the balance. We’re covering the science of operant conditioning and how dogs actively learn.
In the episode you'll hear:
- How I started to learn about dog training from a book called “How to Raise and Train a Chow Chow”.
- About the four quadrants and the meaning of +R, +P, -P and -R.
- An explanation of the terms Positive Reinforcement, Positive Punishment, Negative Punishment and Negative Reinforcement.
- The importance of understanding that punishment suppresses behavior.
- How the key with positive reinforcement is that only the dog knows what is reinforcing.
- Examples of using the four quadrants in dog training, and how we really want to optimize positive reinforcement.
- The reason why no dog trainer is truly balanced.
- The decision I made in 1993 only to use positive reinforcement and what I learned.
- How our core values, education, curiosity, mentorship, and peer group impact our dog training.
- About what pressure and frustration can do to our dog training decisions.
- The most valuable lesson I learned from Feature when she was a puppy, and when I realized I’d come the full circle in my dog training.
Resources:
- Podcast Episode 94: How the Best Professional Dog Trainers Use Reinforcement
- Podcast Episode 88: Barrier Frustration: Help for Fence Fighting, Leash Reactivity and Window Guarding
- Podcast Episode 34: Time Outs for Dogs: Does Your Dog Need One?
- YouTube Video: Susan Garrett Riffs on Transfer of Value in Dog Training (and water loving Labradors)
- Podcast Episode 40: Using A Head Halter On A Dog, Why My Approach Is So Different
- Podcast Episode 16: The Thing Before Your Dog’s Thing
- YouTube Playlist: Crate Games and Crate Training for Puppies and Dogs with Susan Garrett
- Book: Shaping Success by Susan Garrett
- TikTok presentation with Sarah Richter, CDBC on the 4 Quadrants
- Podcast Episode 11: The Power of Permission in Dog Training
- Podcast Episode 102: Transitioning Your Dog Training: From All That Is Wrong To That Which Is Right
- Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube
When I started listening to your podcast … I was in tears … Feature was a friend, a child, a mentor and a teacher … so so sorry for your loss.
It was really good to hear how your training has changed over the years. I am now 73 yrs old … using your now methods. My first training book was by Blanche Saunders … dad got it for me along with my first Standard Poodle. It did not go well at all … I think I was about 7 … and of course dad was in military and was not around much … mom was at home with Ali all day … not teaching … I was in school and was expected to care for him. Ali was a German Kunish (king) standard poodle. Largere than todays standard poodles. My dad was 6’4” and our dog by the time he was a year old stood on hind feet with front paws on my dads shoulders … we lived in an apt setting … I was expected to walk him first thing in morning before school and when I came home … this dog practically dragged me down the stairs … roughed up my knees by dragging me on sidewalk. All dad would say is you have to be tougher … a 7 yr old against a puppy that weighed at least as much as me if not more … lol surprised that I still love dogs, much less poodles. When I was in High School I received another standard poodle but had learned a lot from books and that last experience. I was Tougher … When hubby and I married … got my first Labrador … bought all of Richard Woulters books on retriever training and James Lamb Free. I had been invited to be a city dog training person along with others … and of course you what kind of training I taught. I have gone to good dog training classes the past two years with better methods … but I will now only do your🥰 I can still play and have fun with my pooch even at 73 🤗
Thank you for another great podcast, special thanks in that you shared the sad loss of Feature with us. Much love to you during this time of bereavement.
Thank you. It is not easy for most of us to be vulnerable. Sharing your story about Feature while you are grieving takes great strength. That you can think of helping others while you are still so fresh in your loss speaks volumes about who you are. Your philosophy has helped many dogs to live better lives because of the help you have given their humans through your courses and podcasts. You are an amazing woman and a true inspiration for those of us who also want to leave the other three quadrants far behind. Hugs to you.
wrapping u in a bearhug. rudyard kippling on dogs is my fav essay upon losing a best friend.
i love your training, and as a61yr old who had my dad the DVM teach “there are no bad dogs, just bad owners”. i gravitated from mostly positive to total positive. i use ONLY your advise & teachings.
and on this day i have a basenji w 100% recall, even when chasing a deer. he is just freakin amazing great behavior. never lets me down. ( for a breed thats counseled never have them off leash, fenced yard a must).
and…..i have a border collie who still goes ballistic seeing a man on the street if hes in the car. reacts to peoples negative thgts, i swear it. i rarely take him with me, bc my patience is always tested. just today, special treat, took them to LOWES. both dogs were on a brace leash. i said sit, stay, while i reached for plants up high. in that instant, Z (border) CHARGES toward a beagle, barking. he drags bodhi with him ( basenji, 1/2 his weight) the man grabbed my dogs and literally “lynched” them off the ground. i raced the 10 ft and said “not necesary!” and grabbed my dogs,
Z was absolutely unaffected. bodhi was traumatized, his tail completely went straight. he was 200% innocent. the guy was yelling, but his dog was fine. not touched. i said “id suggest you quiet down and decelerate”.
my solution was to leave. i chose to end the outting in an antique bazaar close by where dogs are oh so welcome. Z could do his “leaning on every one” and bodhi got over the ordeal. there were 20 strangers who loved seeing them.
i am very strict w Z, bc despite the same training, he makes “his” choice and theres nothing that i can do to change it.
i used to think it was his past and ill never figure his triggers, then you worked thru so much w TATER that blew my theory,
he is loving, fun, super intelligent, but like you said about the swat to the pup, i think something happened. i can never ever play tug w him. he actually WANTS a fight if its tug. aggressive.
Wow, thank you Susan…..I consider this podcast one of your best….why? because it hit home with me so hard. I am struggling with a pup right now…..never had one so challenging but this podcast really turned on some light switches upstairs. so thankful for the advice given here. So now I know I need to regroup and focus on being better prepared and innovative for training my youngster. Thank you and my sincere condolences to you regarding Feature
so so sorry for your loss. But thank you for sharing your experiences with us so that we can learn. Your podcasts are so informative and my dogs say thank you. I was in tears listening to you. Each and every dog brings us so much love and joy. I have certainly learnt so much from your podcasts, recallers, agility nation and all the others. Plus I continue to learn each day. Sending lots of love and hugs to you. x x x x
Dear Susan, I’m so sorry about your loss of Feature. I loved seeing her in your videos, she was such a charming, kind accommodating and lovely girl.
Thank you for this podcast. It is something that I needed to re-enforce me while I have a now 15 week old puppy who is chasing and hurting my cats. I have smacked her and that isn’t going to do either of us any good, and her big brother is upset by it too, as I never did this to him. A timely podcast for me and I thank you for it wholeheartedly.
Susan,
So sorry for your loss. There are never the right words. Please know your podcast came at the perfect time. My 13 week old puppy is going through a terrible teething phase and despite MANY, MANY tug toys and practicing “thank you” with the tug toys, she prefers my arms. I’ve come close but haven’t resorted to physical punishment. Thank you for reinforcing all of us who are trying our hardest to raise a dog with positive reinforcement!
Love this. Brought some tears to my eyes – some joyful, some regretful. Thanks for the timely reminder about our expectations of our dogs on our journey together.
Susan, so very sorry to hear about Feature. We love them, learn continually from them, remember them dearly when they aren’t physically here anymore. I’ve learned from every single puppy I’ve been privileged to have… Each is beyond special. Thank you for sharing and thank you so much for helping us all to live more lovingly with our puppies.
I think of balance as being between the dog and the handler ie is the dog doing the training or is the handler doing the training? The balance between who gets what they want. Is it the dog, or the handler or balanced – they both get what they want.
I hate that the term has been hijacked by the punishment and adversives people.
When I got my Labrador Puppy (#3) 6 yrs ago, I went to ‘dog training’ for “pet dogs.” It was basically socialization and give cookies to pretend your are a positive reinforcement trainer. I knew I wanted to do MORE with my dog, I was interested in Canine Freestyle, maybe Obedience, maybe Rally. I joined the local dog club and attended their “beginner advanced” class. The instructor was teaching “corrections”, “pop that leash”. I was going thru the course w/ my own believes and ignored the instruction to “pop that leash.” At one point I was put on the spot in front of the class and at the instructors command, I popped the leash. The look on my dog’s face and she cowered, her look at me broke my heart. All I could think was WHY WOULD I DO THAT TO HER? That dog club teaches corrections the same way they did 30-40 yrs ago. I distanced myself mentally from that training style, remained in the club for the remainder of the year. I had to work pretty hard to regain my dog’s trust in me after that day of “pop the leash”. I cannot say that I’ve 100% not ever used collar corrections, but my intent in my heart is to leave that behind forever. It is me unlearning that (as that is what I was taught 26 yrs ago w/ my Labrador #1 and 50 yrs ago as a teenage with my first dog. I am working on it (that automatic relapse to my own frustrated behavior). HOWEVER, I absolutely know that I will never be able to train my dog in Canine Freestyle using corrections. I took “home school the dog” during the pandemic. I listen to Susan’s podcasts… Susan, I am sorry for your loss with Feature! We said goodbye to our beloved Labrador #2 Mar 1, 2022, we miss her so much. I am determined to get this P+ quadrant right… and not drift into those other quadrants out of frustration or lack of my training skills. I’m working on it. It is hard to watch those club instructors continue to teach w/ corrections. They fully believe that is the “right” way to get a dog to do their bidding. Susan, thanks for this podcast. Your story of popping Feature on the chin at 8 weeks is exactly how I felt when I followed the dog club’s instructor to pop that leash with my beloved Callie. I still feel terrible about it. I know my girl still remembers that moment, and that was 3 yrs ago. I was lucky to be befriended by a lady in that club that is all about P+, and introduced me to other resources for P+ training.
Thank you so much for what you have said. I felt like I was the only person in the world who had obeyed a dog trainer and then regretted it afterwards, wondering why I would treat my best friend badly just because I was told to do so. Would I have done this in the concentration camps of WW2? I’m still trying to stop being obedient, which has obviously been ingrained in me, and so I don’t go to schools but enroll in Susan’s online classes so that I can learn how to engage my dogs and be kind and happy with them. I still have slips, my new puppy (14 weeks) chased and hurt my cat and I cuffed her. Still learning and hopefully always will be so that I can fully engage with dogs and they will be confident with me. .
Then, I was angry with myself. Why did I yank the leash of a dog I could have predicted would fear bark in our pre-dawn Sunday neighborhood? Human frustration and embarrassment should never result in harm to a dog or living being. Just as you described (#146), I resorted to a habit or unexamined reflex. Where you were when your 8 week old Feature bit you, likely, I recently have been.
My condolences for your loss. “The main job of a dog is to break our hearts” can be interpreted in a number of ways, or as First Nation’s people remind us, “Dogs make us human.”
Valuable words of wisdom. Something to absorb and retain for myself in a future pressured moment.
Valuable words of wisdom. Something to absorb and retain for myself in a future pressured moment. Was fortunately on line today, and everything happens for a reason. I hope that other dog owners/trainers watch this. It’s a gold-mine.
Thank you So much! Great podcast and advice/insight.