The theme for this month’s Positive Pet Training Blog Hop is Unconventional Training.
Even though I look strange squealing “cheesy” at my dog when strangers walk, run, ride, or roll past us, I don’t think my String Cheese Method is unconventional at all. Reward-based training, to me, is the most basic, obvious method of training anyone to do anything.
And yet, we still see prong collars and shock collars and people who think screaming at a stressed dog will de-escalate the situation.
I just got back from another flawless walk with my two German shepherds. For more than a year, I’ve had Leo’s leash reactivity fairly under control. We manage, we train. Two weeks ago, I would have said, “Leo does really well on walks when I can see the triggers coming. Of course, he’ll still bark if a bike or a jogger comes out of nowhere.”
Until last week when a jogger zipped around a corner at us. And I was doing the worst thing ever. I was distracted by Pokémon Go. (Shout out to ZoePhee for finding a way to use Pokémon to aid in training, not distract from it!) Fortunately, Leo was also distracted … by peeing. I saw the jogger before Leo did and I said Cheesy and Leo didn’t bark! It was glorious.
On tonight’s walk, he saw a couple of bicycles, and not only did he not bark, he didn’t even seem stressed.
At the risk of repeating myself: Reward-based training works.
If only there were a training guide to help people with reactive dogs who have been getting the wrong memos.
Oh, wait! There is!
Trainer Annie Phenix’s best-selling book The Midnight Dog Walkers has answers to questions I didn’t even know I had. As soon as I heard the title and saw the cover, I knew this was the book I needed when I struggled with my first reactive dog Isis.
My book about her, Bark and Lunge, is the story of what happens when owners follow “conventional” (old-fashioned) training methods. Now that The Midnight Dog Walkers exists, my greatest wish is that positive, reward-based training becomes the obvious, conventional solution for reactive dogs and their people.
The Positive Pet Training Blog Hop is hosted by Cascadian Nomads, Tenacious Little Terrier and Rubicon Days. Any positive reinforcement training posts or comments are welcome. Linky List open through Sunday.
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Kari Neumeyer 
That’s so awesome that Leo didn’t react to his triggers! Great job managing him! I love your cheesy method! 😀 We do the same thing with a squeeze tube.
I have that book on my list to read. I just wondered if it focused more on aggressive dogs than reactive dogs, or are the principles the same for both anyway?
A lot of the principles are the same, especially for leash-reactive dogs (which people mistake for “aggressive”)
Me too! Portland leans towards positive training thankfully. Fits in with the ethos. Corners are not a reactive dog’s friend. Thanks for joining the hop!
I 100% agree with your last sentence. I want positive and reward based training to be the go to choice and the first thing on everyone’s mind, instead of more aversive techniques.