Positive-only trainers aim to avoid all aversives in dog training.
So, no punishment at all, no matter how mild, in fact no coercion of any kind.
Very few working gundog trainers are truly ‘positive-only’ trainers.
And that includes those that use some clicker training techniques.
To find out why this is, check out ‘some challenges for clicker gundog trainers’.
Some clicker trainers feel that those who use aversives at any time, are not ‘true’ clicker trainers. A full explanation of the scientific principles on which clicker training is based can be read in ‘how dogs learn’ and in ‘operant conditioning in a nutshell for gundog trainers.
A different meaning of punishment
[wp_ad_camp_1]The word ‘punishment’ used in the context of clicker training is not used in the sense that most of us would use the word in normal conversation.
But is the scientific definition of punishment.
The breadth of it’s scope may surprise some readers.
You can find out why in ‘what does punishment mean to a clicker dog trainer’.
The challenge of gundog training
Many clicker trainers strive to use no form of restraint or coercion whatsoever on their dogs at any time, whether during training sessions or during any other interactions with their dogs. Training a gundog using positive only methods can be very challenging
To find out why, you might like to read ‘some challenges for gundog clicker training‘
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