Positive training
Graduation research at Wageningen University (Suzy Deurinck) at 9 dog schools shows why a positive and friendly dog trainer is essential for the interaction and the good bond between owner and dog.
The trainer has a great influence on the owner-dog relationship through the didactics, the interaction with the owner and the organization of the training.
Objective of training: to understand the dog better.
If the instructor does it well, things will go better between owner and dog.
Much problem behavior is an expression of a lack of understanding on the part of the dog’s owner.
If owner and dog could understand each other better, fewer dogs would end up in shelters.
Training has a positive effect on dogs: it makes them calmer and more sociable. More interaction and more care lowers the dog’s heart rate.
Owners who spend more time with their pet experience fewer behavioral problems with their dog.
If commands are not followed, it is often the case that the dog does not understand what is expected.
Trainers should therefore say less about what is expected of a student, but should demonstrate the exercises more with a dog.
How the instructor interacts with the owner determines the bond between the owner and the dog. Advice: see if the training suits you.
At dog schools that work with negative corrections, dogs show more signs of stress and more problem behavior.
The researcher prefers training methods that indicate what went well and ignore unwanted behavior. For example, with the clicker.
The goal of the lesson is a pleasant interaction, not whether the dog ‘walks best in the hollow of the owner’s knee’.
Conclusion:
The dog trainer has a great influence. Positive reinforcement is preferred.
Dogs become happy when you smile
From an evolutionary perspective, the dog is the most domesticated pet. A dog is particularly good at perceiving and interpreting posture, touch, eye contact and facial expressions of people.
Current Biology contains an article that ties in with this.
Dogs can ‘read’ people. They know when people are angry or happy, research is being done on this. It is much easier to teach dogs to push on smiling faces than on angry ones. Even ‘half faces’ with happy eyes or happy mouths are recognized.
