Padfoot On Balanced Vs Force Free Training

At Padfoot we often get asked what our position is on balanced vs force free training. So, here’s the short answer (please note, the long answer is much more nuanced).

Basically, not everything can be reliably taught IN A REALISTIC TIMEFRAME & WITHIN THE SKILLSET OF MOST PET DOG OWNERS using force free methods only. In fact, the term force free is designed to be appealing to a certain demographic - it’s propaganda. A better term would be ‘positive reinforcement only’ and 99% of people will fail to achieve this in practice. But the point is, to teach a reliable behaviour you should have both reward and consequence. The proportions of each will depend on the situation, the complexity and desirability (to the dog) of the behaviour and the character of the individual dog in front of you. This is why it’s important to work with a tertiary qualified behaviourist or certificated trainer. We understand the nuances of these things.

But here’s where we at Padfoot, as behaviourists rather than trainers, sometimes differ from many pet and sport dog trainers. If we choose to use pressure (which can be unpleasant) to teach a behaviour, the behaviour we’re trying to teach must be important for the dog to know (for example Stay, Recall or Snake Avoidance). In the case of pet dogs, for their (or their owner’s) safety and welfare. In the case of working dogs, for their safety, welfare and their ability to do their job.

We feel that there is an ethical issue using pressure to teach an unnecessary or unimportant behaviour (such as behaviours in a competition setting, for example) in a non-working dog. Most dogs don’t need to learn these things (note MOST. Some pet and sport dogs DO need to be taught these things for a range of behavioural reasons - and this is where our first point about an acceptable rationale being that the dog must benefit from the behaviour comes into play). But the vast majority don’t. And using pressure and aversive methods to teach a behaviour that only benefits the person (for their hobby or entertainment, for example) is not acceptable to us. This is our real issue with competition. Taking a dog to do agility, for example, can be fun and enriching for the dog. Add the arbitrary elements of competition, and you’re now using pressure to get dogs to do things a certain way, for no other reason than to win an award. That’s where the dog’s welfare can easily be compromised, and without a reasonable rationale.

At Padfoot, everything we do is dog-welfare-centric. Whether we’re working with pet or working dogs, our primary interest is ALWAYS the dog’s welfare. And the use of aversive training methods to teach unnecessary behaviours is not what we do. And is not something that should be done for an owner’s convenience, entertainment or amusement alone.