It only takes a little reflection on our own lives to see how much of our behaviour involves avoiding consequences that will hurt us. We avoid touching a hot stove, driving through red lights, and making jokes in immigration queues at airports. We do these things not because somebody has rewarded us for doing so, but because the world in which we’ve evolved naturally arranges aversive consequences. And we learn very quickly and efficiently to avoid them.
We share this evolutionary history with other animals, including dogs. So it’s both surprising and misguided that the dog-training profession has been so strongly influenced by an ideology that demonizes the use of punishment. We should, apparently, never even say ‘no’ to our dogs. This philosophy of only allowing our dogs to use half of the learning system they’ve evolved to have not only results in training methods that are time-consuming and often ineffective, but betrays a serious misunderstanding of learning principles researched through 100 years of behavioural psychology, including unjustified appeals to research that has been debunked long ago.
Tully Williams’ important book draws on both his extensive experience as a dog trainer and on his confident understanding of learning principles. It is a much-needed and bracing corrective to the misguided ‘reward only’ approach, and it’s also an engaging and entertaining read. This book should be required reading for all dog trainers, and probably for all dog owners as well.