There is a large movement among dog trainers today that claim to be ‘purely positive’ trainers. Is this really true, however, or just a marketing tool to help people feel warm and fuzzy?

It is my contention that there is no such thing as ‘purely positive’ training. If you look at any force in the world there is always an opposite. Down always has an up. Left always has a right. The only reason you know what sad feels like is because you know what happy is. The only way you have been able to experience victory results from defeats you have had. There is always an opposite.

So how about applying this to ‘purely positive’ dog training methods? If something is positive that means that there has to be a negative to balance it. If training was truly ‘purely positive’ that would mean that you reward your dog with a treat for every single behavior he performs.

If you reward your dog for sitting on command with a treat that also means that you aren’t rewarding your dog when he doesn’t sit. Is withholding a treat ‘purely positive’? Your dog builds a negative association with disobedience because there is no treat. How can he build a negative association if you are using ‘purely positive’ methods?

Imagine what would happen if we applied this same principle to humans. What if the only consequence for drunk driving was the withholding of $5 from your paycheck? What if the punishment for stealing was that you didn’t get a pat on the back from your boss? The world would be chaos.

‘Purely positive’ dog trainers and dog training methods are not only misleading but a horrible way to train a dog.