Dominance Controversy

Dr. Sophia Yin does an excellent job explaining how dominance plays into and does not play into dog training.  She also shows video clips from The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan showing how dogs are not trying to establish leadership or humans as purported by Millan and old style trainers.  http://www.drsophiayin.com/dominance.php

Like Dr. Yin, Michael is a balanced trainer who focuses on rewarding desired behaviors and taking away rewards for undesired behavior to teach desired behaviors.  In some cases, negative reinforcement can be an effective teaching tool.

Punishment in some situations may also be appropriate to stop undesired behavior.  If a form of punishment is necessary, it should be done to stop the undesired behavior and not out of anger or to cause pain to the dog.  It should also be done in consultation with a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant as it can have it's fall outs too.

However, if one focuses on teaching the dog "what to do" instead of "what not to do", the need to use negative reinforcement or punishment remains very low.  To learn more about effective and humane dog training in Michigan, visit Michael Burkey's website at http://www.MichiganDogTrainer.com.