Let’s say your requirement for hiring a dog trainer is that you only want to use positive reinforcement (R+) training. What does that mean for your dog?
Instrumental Learning: All skills are learned using reinforcement, and all undesired variations that can’t be replaced with reinforcement are limited using Punishment. The use of only positive reinforcement (R+) means teaching all responses by using pleasant rewards. This is normal and good sense for the overall concept of teaching the typical commands (some would say “cues”), such as Sit, Down, Come, Heel, Up, Off, and Drop It. That will get you quite far in the basics which is why I prefer to start all dogs with R+ in obedience training.
Negative Reinforcement can also be used to teach these skills, using any consequence that increases the probability of a response in the future, using an uncomfortable stimulus, either physical or psychological. You could teach a dog to get on a platform, such as Place, by making it uncomfortable so long as they are not on a platform. I prefer not to use negative reinforcement in training.
Punishment is used to eliminate all remaining undesired alternative responses when teaching these artificial skills. Punishment, using the term as it is defined in science textbooks, is not the same thing as abuse. It is a scientific description of a consequence and a probability prediction of decreasing future actions: that is all. Punishment is any influence, uncomfortable or not, which decreases the probability of a response… meaning, in my world, the focus on eliminating or minimizing undesirable responses, which can’t be worked around using Reinforcement. If you insist on purely R+ training, you will be required to either tolerate that undesired response or you won’t ever let your dog perceive any attractive or aversive stimulus which might override their R+ training. [I should mention that many “balanced trainers” are too focused on punishment, turning dogs into carpets that lay motionless on dog beds or walk like chained prisoners on a death march. To me, “balanced training” is an excuse for many to be inept bullies and should never touch another dog the rest of their lives.]
What is off the table when using only R+? What must be eliminated if you want a purely R+ trained dog?
No Equipment or Barriers. No leash, collar, halter, harness, or any other restraint, can be considered R+. If you use the leash on those devices in any way to stop a dog from doing anything, such as running into the street; going out a door; not pulling you over to a bush to pee on; not letting your dog visit another dog; not allowing your dog to jump out of the vehicle; not lunging at anything; not sniffing; not picking up garbage and eating it on a walk; or preventing your dog from chasing a squirrel. The immediate impact of using a leash of any sort, attached in any way to a dog, is either going to be a punishment or negative reinforcement, depending on how it is used. Even closing a door so a dog can’t go out is punishment. Having a dog Sit/ Stay to not run off, out a door, or across a street while waiting at a stoplight, are all usually some kind of punishment.
No “Reactivity”. I do not like this term at all. It is meaningless in the real world of behavior science. It is a catch-all term, ranging from an aroused and happy puppy to dealing with Godzilla. You might be able to R+ an alternative desired response when in the presence of some stimuli, but you won’t be able to stop an undesired response with purely R+ training, no matter how advanced your skill level. To not trigger any “reactivity”, you must avoid putting your dog in any situation that raises their arousal beyond what you can control with your R+_ training. That means, these dogs must live in a bubble. Which leads to…
Real World Situations. There are many situations in the real world that will influence your dog and compete with whatever you have as an R+ trained dog. A purely R+ trained dog must live in a bubble. That is what the purely R+ trainers do with their dogs. The hardcore, fanatical R+ advocates are not R+ with their audiences: they are scolds (angry and condescending) and trolls (seeking to provoke rather than persuade); a strange contradiction. You will find they are hypocrites regarding animal welfare and the actual ways they live their lives.
For example: that wild animal or scent, that threatening dog across the street, that bicycle or running child, and such can easily override all the R+ training you have done. This is why all the purely R+ trainers tightly control the lives of their dogs and don’t expose them to nature, and many social situations, and even when they do, their dogs are on some kind of leash and collar (violating their proclaimed R+ methods).
To really do this R+ only program, a dog must be made to live in a bubble. The truly R+ trainers out there do exactly that. Their dogs are always in a crate, room, competition field, or fenced yard. They are not taken anywhere to be like most dogs.
Furthermore, there are many situations that will never be R+: Greetings between unfamiliar dogs isn’t R+. Rough play between socializing puppies isn’t R+. Rough play between dogs in the home isn’t R+. Doorbells aren’t R+. Thunder and Fireworks exposure isn’t R+. Taking away a toy, keeping dogs off furniture, taking an item from a dog when they won’t drop it isn’t’ R+, breaking up a dog fight isn’t R+. There is no way that you can reliably teach a dog to leave a rattlesnake, or a variety of other wild animals with purely R+ training.
If you have ever worked with a scenthound, such as a Redbone Coonhound, you’ll know you can’t use purely R+ training to make them stop pulling and sniffing most of the time when they are outdoors. If you own fighting breeds, you know that sometimes you are going to have to interfere with or break up fights. Herding dogs are going to be territorial and guard your property. Bird dogs are going to be fascinated with birds and butterflies. The service K9’s are not going to be held back purely with R+ training when fully in drive.
I can give a lot more examples, but you get the idea.
Do you really intend to have a strict R+ program for your dog? Is it even possible for most dogs of most breeds to even come close to having a normal life with purely R+ training? I have never witnessed that in my life, and I’ve seen and read the materials from the best trainers, and they can’t do it either. The only top trainers that do purely R+ have their dogs in a bubble, and I don’t think that is humane. If you can’t take your “trained” dog for a hike, off leash, in a forest or park, or be sure you can save your dog in an emergency, then maybe you shouldn’t own a dog. Purely R+ trainers are actually novices, regardless of the number of years they have been teaching.
Yes, I prefer to teach all the fundamental skills using R+. That will not be enough, however, to have a normal pet in the real world. Even nature isn’t purely R+. Even dolphins aren’t trained using purely R+.
Plan accordingly.