Commanders and Coercers!
Which Style of Trainer Are You?
You might coerce a dog with a treat but, eventually, it must feel compelled to follow a command.
I was presenting at a gun dog training seminar and, after a brief demonstration using one of my dogs, I began my intro. “There are basically two kinds of trainers - Commanders and Coercers. Commanders will physically demonstrate to dogs, using positive techniques, what is desired. During training sessions the goal is for the dog to learn and complete the task on command. Coercing is considered by some as the ultimate in positive dog training; a practice that entices a dog to learn a task by a cajoling tone and/or tempted with a morsel of food.”
An example in comparison is when a Coercer tries to get his dog to sit by wielding a treat over the dog’s head and says, “Sit!” Almost falling backward before a seated position is accomplished, the dog is then rewarded. Similar techniques are used for lie-down and even heel; the dog does what it feels is best to get a treat . The owner sees it as compliance to a command - which is NOT necessarily true.
A Commander would likely train the dog to sit by lifting the dog’s head by the collar while simultaneously pushing down the rear-end and use the command, “Sit”! Not threateningly, just enough force to get the young dog to comply. Then, praise and/or add a treat. Either way, the pup should eventually learn to remain in the sit position until released.
Since there were varying levels of experience amongst the group, I knew there were folks practicing one or the other - or both - styles to some extent. I believe the best technique uses an appropriate combination of the two. However, even the training methods that use both should move away from total reliance on treats after the dog has been adequately conditioned. Progress toward a more strict commanding technique usually develops a more reliable response. More on that later.
First, before I continue, allow me to state that, like most (reasonable) methodologies used to train dogs, I have no strong negative feelings toward treat training. However, I do have some observations that I would like to share.
During a short break between sessions, one of the training students walked up and shared how wonderfully trained his nearly one-year-old pointing dog was; that the dog was beginning to heel nicely, excelled at “kennel,” and came directly when called. The young owner (everyone is young to me, nowadays) finished his portion of the discussion by explaining how he uses treats to kennel his dog. “All I have to do is rattle the treat container and hush-puppy (not its real name, obviously) dives into his kennel,” the lad proudly proclaimed!
I asked for a brief demonstration on his dog’s call-back, “Release your dog into the training field and call him back when I ask you to.” The gentleman eargerly complied and the young dog beautifully galloped through the field in search of whatever caught its fancy. I waited a few moments for the dog to get throughly engrossed then, asked the owner to call in his dog.
The dog’s response wasn’t very snappy, as could be expected with so much going on, but, after a bit of dawdling, it eventually complied. The dead giveaway was the dog’s actions that followed. The dog trotted to his owner and continued passed with a brief sniff for any treat being offered. Then, when none was detected, the dog looped around us and bolted back to the field. After a half-dozen or so calls, they - dog and owner - eventually met at a middle ground where the dog was reclaimed.
“Cooper - Come!”
The dog’s response should be happy, immediate, and complete without the need for tid-bits. The check-cord is there if needed.
This is what I refer to as a “drive-by”; when the dog heads toward the owner but does not halt at the owner’s side. To be honest, either training style - Command or Coerce - can develop this misque. I have witnessed dog owners use the return command (come or here or both) but may actually want to just change direction, (say, about-face). The owner calls the dog to “come” but that’s not what the owner really wanted and doesn’t require the dog to comply. When the return command is used in this way, the dog learns that “come” can mean race passed to get ahead of the owner and continue. Eventually, a confused dog will assume all commands to return simply require a drive-by. In this case, the dog is not reliably trained to return when called.
Not wanting to crush his spirit, I offered a “mulligan” to the owner. “There’s a lot of distractions out here today,” I excused. I did continue to briefly explain the need to have the dog come and stay at his side - standing or sitting - but be consistent and make it stick! Perhaps, use a different term for a change in direction; something like, “come” to return to you and “here” to make note of a change in course.
Now, about testing his dog’s level of understanding “kennel” as a command. I suggested that, when the owner returned home that evening, he doesn’t even leave his comfy chair when he commands his dog to kennel. My guess was that the dog would not even make a move until the owner got up and at least moved in the direction of the treat container. I’ve seen several of these dog behaviors that I call “tricks”; they are a Pavlovian response also known as classic conditioning.
To complete coersion training correctly in gun dogs, treats should be combined with a command (audible and/or visual) and the treat is eventually weaned away from the process while the command(s) (audible and/or visual) remain. Both styles should require the dog to remain in the commanded position, (sit, come, kennel, etc.) until released by its owner. Therefore, to my way of thinking, the term “stay” is redundant and rarely used.
“Kennel - Stay!”
Whatever the technique and the term, you will need to make certain your dog eventually enjoys doing it for YOU.
The process is similar to any other trained command. For example, while in puppyhood, I can entice pups to come to me by rewarding with praise and/or treats. Eventually, the adolescent dog will come to me when called in the anticipation that it will be rewarded by a cheerful reunion or a fun task. Most dogs will eventually require several (consistant) uses of a forceful tug on a check cord to get the point across that there are no options.
Once that is established, the command may evolve into the use of a whistle cadence; one blast for direction and two for come to me. Even the beeping noise or vibration from an e-collar can be used. I prefer not to talk or yell while I’m hunting.
My point is this; the dog can be conditioned using either technique but, once conditioning has been achieved, continued coercion is not required and, sometimes, not as effective. The dog’s obedience to the command signal should be its own reward. It is similar to my dog’s response when I go to the gun vault or put a whistle around my neck, I become the center of attention. So, the practice of using rewards doesn’t necessarily require food, only something that the dog finds exciting and rewarding.
Make Training Fun!
Find what excites your dog and use that to encourage and condition command complience.
After the dog has demonstrated that it knows what the command means, you must make it comply - and be quick about it! Don’t command your dog a half-dozen times and then use (reasonable) force or worse - give up. Nor should you then return to enticing your dog with food. All you will be doing is developing a dog that will not respond until it gets what it wants. You should require complience as soon as compliance is tested by the dog and everytime the dog hesitates. That means you must have control (leash, check cord, or e-collar) of the dog and be ready to apply it before you make the command.
In either style, the end-goal is for the dog to reliably respond to your commands. Though it’s okay to offer a treat now and then as a reward - sparingly - even Coercers must eventually require their dog to respond to commands. Command-style training is generally quicker due to the practices of physically showing the dog what you want it to do, while Coercing relies on rewarding the dog after it eventually completes the task on its own. Then, repeat several times until the dog realizes why it is getting the reward and that it can control the act of recieving a reward. In either case, the dog begins to respond to a command stimulus as a conditioned response after several reps.
As we have seen, both styles should require the dog to faithfully execute tasks on command and how you get there is determined by the trainer’s personality - Commander or Coercer. We can all agree that it is more fun for everyone to hunt with a dog that reliably follows commands, so train responsibly and…
- Enjoy Your Dog!
