Find the joy and delight for fearful, shy, aggressive or reactive dogs
I have specialized in the training of dogs with extreme problem behavior for over 15 years. The biggest challenge with these animals is not simply the problem behavior, but finding stuff they love to do, eat, chew, chase (or even roll in if it wasn’t so often horrifically stinky).
It’s not just about reinforcement or distraction, it’s about being able to help someone else get back to feeling safe enough, and good enough to enjoy life, and learn what we’re trying to teach them. We can remove the aversive conditions, and should, but learning should not be primarily about how to get bad stuff to stop. Can this work, sure. It’s not fair to use dogs as examples of the success of new methods, protocols or techniques because they are probably one of the easiest species to train. Easier than cats, easier than kids.
First things first. Find what they love. Look for what lights them up.
