Give a general definition.
List some tools a positive trainer would use.
List some tools a positive trainer would not use if there are any.
Give some examples of famous or well-known positive dog trainers if you know any.
Any additional thoughts?
Fur and Fiction
Favorite Answer
I believe it was Pavlov who said there are four ways to teach:
Positive Reinforcement
Positive Punishment
Negative Reinforcement
Negative Punishment
Positive Reinforcement has proved to be the most effective form of teaching obedience and minor behavioral problems, though it may not be as effective with major behavioral problems (such as aggression).
The most useful tools in Positive Reinforcement are:
Reinforcers (food, toys, petting)
Marking signals (a clicker, "yes", "good")
Release words ("all done", "free")
Patience
A positive trainer would not usually force their dog to "sit" to teach the command "sit". They would, instead, lead the dog's nose into the air in order to allow the dog to sit on its own.
The same goes for "down", except the treat is lowered (under the legs on a person if the dog is particularly difficult) until the dog gets into a "down" position.
Some great examples of positive dog trainers are:
Pamela Dennison (author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Positive Dog Training")
Zak George (disc dog trainer- www.youtube.com/zakgeorge
Additional thoughts: I use positive training with my 3 1/2 year old adopted Border Collie and it has worked wonders! She is SUCH a fast learner.
I also believe we should use more positive reinforcement methods in the law. IE: You are pulled over for going the speed limit and rewarded with $500. Heck yeah!
EDIT: Fluffy_aliens: Positive dog trainers DO use punishment. It's called negative punishment, and it involves taking away something the dog wants. IE: The dog is jumping on you, so you take away your attention in order to tell the dog that jumping is NOT allowed.
EDIT: Alright, I need to think about this one.
Positive: Giving
Negative: Taking
Reinforcement: To strengthen or encourage a behavior.
Punishment: To eliminate a behavior.
Positive Reinforcement: Giving the dog something it does want (IE: Treats or attention).
Negative Reinforcement: Taking away something the dog does not want.
Positive Punishment: Giving the dog something it does not want (IE: a shock from a shock collar).
Negative Punishment: Taking away something the dog wants.
Boss
A positive trainer uses positive reinforcement, in the form of praise or reward as a means to encourage desired behavior from a dog.
Positive trainers are big on food and toy motivators, as well as markers and clickers. They're not big on restraints, remote collars or pinch collars. I'm a little rusty on my knowledge of famous positive trainers, since I'm more into a balance between positive reinforcement, operant conditioning, classical conditioning and aversion training.
fluffy_aliens
Positive trainers are all about using positive reinforcement and little, if any, negative reinforcement and absolutely no punishment of any kind. They tend to be big on clickers to mark and 'shape' behaviour.
I can't think of any well known positive dog trainers but I tend to use a blend of training styles because I feel it works better than locking myself into one method.
Edit to Stina: I was taught that depriving a dog of your attention is negative reinforcement (taking away what they want) not punishment.
Lyn B
Positive trainers do not use punishment. It's a waste of time. The dog does not know what the punishment is for. He just knows the hand that loves him also hits him. When the dog is bad, ignore him, do give him attention because it re-enforces the bad behavior. Pet and love and give attention when they do the right thing.
My favorite dog trainer is http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/
Anonymous
When anyone says says the slang phrase "puppy" they ususally imply pal. "He's my puppy" = He's my rather well pal Sometimes puppy is used rather for "dude". Like whilst you listen anyone say, "Dog, are you for truly" it is synonymous to " Dude, are you critical?"