There are many stimuli that are perceived by a dog as aversive. It can range from something startling, a danger clue in the environment, the behavior of another, or some sensation.
The latest garbage by online dog training gurus is that an e-collar isn't aversive. It is. There is no honest way to claim otherwise.
If it isn't aversive, then why use it at all?
If I run a city and hire a police officer to give out tickets to speeders, those penalties dished out are aversive. They aren't pleasant. If I was to use an e-collar to teach a dog to avoid a snake, alligator, boa constrictor or Kiwi bird, the sensation from the collar is unpleasant. That is the entire purpose of using aversives in any type of training, whether animal or human.
On one hand, you see so-called "all positive" trainers say they don't use aversives in training. But they do, they just use ones that aren't typically used in their dog training lectures, whether they recognize it or not. If they really did believe in their rhetoric, they wouldn't talk like Karens, with scorn laced voices, to virtue signal to the world.
On the other hand, online dog training gurus who claim that aversives (pick your flavor... voice, exposure, e-collars, tables for bite work, leash and collar, touch, boundaries ... including doors and gates, or even negative punishment) are not unpleasant, they are selling a lie. It is a marketing gimmick.
Let's all have a little honesty here.
There is a place for aversives in all training. Everyone uses them, regardless of their rhetoric. They are used because they have a place in trial-and-error learning. Even failure is aversive, so even if you are free shaping a dog with a clicker and treats, each time the dog tries something and it doesn't get the click and treat, that is aversive.
Plan accordingly.
No comments:
Post a Comment