Thread: Teaching NO !

Here's the issue with tonal training, and why some will naively believe it gets them a result. Dogs respond to an elevated tone because it is always followed by action from the handler. Inherent in this lesson is the lack of action with the quieter command which preceded it.

Over a short period of time the handler will find only the gruff/growled command is obeyed.

When i started to learn from Paul Hutton it amazed me how his quiet commands were always complied with and there was never a growl or tonal warning of impending action... when queried he offered that he placed the same importance on the quiet command and so the dog knew if not complied with the handler would take action... most dogs learned quickly the handler would give a command which could be ignored, next would a stronger tonal command which would be followed by action... this was complied with. By giving a quiet command and following it with action resulted in the quiet command being complied with... always.

The other fault, obvious in light of this, is that tonal commands required repeated commands a no no in any book on dog training, even the bad ones... it's just a poor way to handle.

Like many things in dog handling it can appear to give a result, when in actuality it represents more confusing handling, a breakdown in dog handler relationships and people still believing that because the dog, eventually, did as asked it is effective.

Primarily this is because to 90% of handlers out there, any compliance is a victory... it can be so much better than that with less effort.

A secondary point, which cannot be ignored at all, is that it is subservient dogs that growl at other dogs.. not dominant ones. This is often a behavior misinterpreted... it's the subservient dog with a bone that growls... a dominant dog with a bone glares and then bites, rarely growls... the growl in subservient behavior... doing that to your dog is not going to help anyone aye?