Positive not permissive: Ethical gundog training explained
Spend any time in the gundog world and you’ll soon hear the same claims repeated about ethical, reward-based training.
For example: Dogs trained this way don’t understand when they’re wrong. They never learn there are consequences for mistakes. And while the methods might be suitable for pet gundogs, they simply can’t produce working gundogs and handlers adopting these methods need to accept a “low performance ceiling”.
Having spent the last 30 years training countless pet and working gundogs, as well as working our own labradors, spaniels and HPRs on shoots (big and small, commercial and syndicate, beating, picking up and rough shooting), we simply don’t believe that to be true.
Many of these criticisms of ethical gundog training stem from a misunderstanding of what this style of training actually involves.
People see the clicker, the food rewards and the early stages of training, but they don’t always see the months, and often years, that follow.
They don’t see the proofing, the gradual increase in difficulty, the work that goes into preparing a dog emotionally for more demanding situations, or the continual assessment and refinement that takes place every time something doesn’t go to plan.
Perhaps most importantly, they don’t see that ethical training places as much responsibility on the handler as it does on the dog.
Instead of asking, “how do I stop my dog from doing that?”, we’re more likely to ask:
· “why did my dog make that mistake?”
· “have I explained the exercise clearly enough?”
· “did I increase the difficulty too quickly?”
· “is the environment too challenging?”
That doesn’t mean dogs are allowed to do whatever they like. It doesn’t mean there are no consequences for mistakes, or that standards are lower.
Quite the opposite. It means that when things go wrong, we first look critically at our training before assuming the dog is being stubborn, disobedient or deliberately difficult.
In this article, we’ll explain what we mean by ethical gundog training, why positive reinforcement is only one part of the process, how we deal with errors, and why producing a reliable working gundog is about far more than simply teaching behaviours with a clicker.
How gundogs learn and why “R+ only” is a myth
Before we rush off to discuss different training methods, it’s really helpful to zoom out and have a basic understanding of how dogs learn.
While learning theory has moved on a long way, with many other factors now recognised for their effect on our dogs’ learning (discussed below), we can still start with the core concept of operant conditioning.
The four quadrants, sometimes called boxes, describe how behaviours are strengthened or weakened based on their consequences.
R+ Positive Reinforcement is the addition of something the learner finds pleasant in response to a behaviour, making them more likely to repeat that behaviour again in the future. For example, giving a treat for recall.
R- Negative Reinforcement is the removal of something the learner finds unpleasant, which also makes them likely to repeat the behaviour. For example, the loosening of the lead when the dog stops pulling (stopping pulling = relief from the tight lead).
P+ Positive Punishment is the addition of something the learner finds unpleasant in response to a behaviour. For example, smacking a dog for barking. Behaviour in this instance is likely to be avoided.
P- Negative Punishment is the removal of something the learner finds pleasant in response to a behaviour. For example, leaving the room when a dog jumps up. Again, behaviour is likely to be avoided in the future.
The key thing to remember here, and it’s something that’s often misunderstood by people who are overly obsessed with labels, is that all boxes exist together.
In reality, there really is no such thing as “R+ only”.
We all operate in all the quadrants at one point or another because that is life. Dogs have to be managed. They might find the addition of the lead and removal of their ability to do certain things (chase wildlife, steal food, retrieve an article) punishing.
That doesn’t mean we should be looking to intentionally add negative reinforcement or punishment into our training to get results. But more people do need to understand, and accept, that positive reinforcement training does not mean permissive. More on this, and how we correct our dogs later.
We also cannot exclusively work with operant conditioning because our dogs are not robots or lab rats. We must consider and accept that our dogs have emotions and that these have a big impact on their ability to learn, and behave.
Emotions are one of the most overlooked and ignored factors to the detriment of training as so few are willing and able to help their dog work with and through excitement, for instance. More on this, and proofing behaviours later.
What is ethical gundog training?
Force free, reward-based, balanced, traditional, alpha theory, yank and crank, ethical… The dog training world is obsessed with labels.
While it’s a nightmare to really boil down the process of training a living animal into one or two words, and it can encourage dogmatic behaviour and lead to people making assumptions about a trainer, we do still need a cohesive way of communicating how we train to help dog owners make informed decisions.
At the Gundog Trainers Academy we choose to describe ourselves as ethical gundog trainers.
As discussed, “force free” or “R+ only” just simply aren’t possible when dealing with dogs, especially ones we share our lives and homes with.
There are times when you have to “force” them to do things they don’t want to do like go to the vet, or stay behind a closed door, or be kept on a lead. There are also times when you might have to communicate effectively (aka shout) to stop them from doing something that would put their life at risk.
But understanding and accepting that negative reinforcement and punishment exist in our dog’s lives alongside positive reinforcement doesn’t mean that we are balanced trainers or need to rely on them to effectively train a dog.
Our training focuses on science-based, non-coercive methods which prioritise positive reinforcement, choice-based clicker training and avoids using confrontation, force, harsh handling, bullying, intimidation or coercion whether verbally or physically.
Our accredited gundog training instructors, as well as the handlers on our courses, all agree to adhere to our Code of Practice which you can read in full here.
It is also worth noting that when we talk about being ethical gundog trainers, we are not just referring to the dogs. We believe that trainers should also conduct themselves and uphold the highest professional standards.
This means acting with integrity and respect to other humans. It means taking welfare and safety into consideration, crediting others and not passing off ideas as their own, not exploiting relationships or using disingenuous marketing techniques, refraining from misleading claims, accepting the limits of their knowledge and skills, and generally conducting themselves in a way that does not undermine public confidence in their ability or that of other dog trainers and other animal professionals.
The dog training industry would certainly be a much more pleasant industry if trainers behaved ethically towards one another and did not feel the need to attack one another publicly or behind closed doors.
How we deal with our gundog’s errors
One of the biggest misconceptions with ethical gundog training is that there are no consequences for unwanted behaviour, that dogs only know what is right and don’t understand what is wrong, and that there is therefore a “low performance ceiling” on what standards can be achieved.
To be clear, positive does not, and should never, mean permissive.
Contrary to what a lot of people assume, ethical trainers do not just turn a blind eye to a dog’s errors. You will not find us aggressively yelling, growling or cursing at them, nor will you see us hitting, yanking or shocking. But you will also not find us with our heads in the sand, ignoring mistakes, while our dogs roam free doing whatever they fancy.
Happenstance, circumstance, sabotage
Dogs are not robots and like humans they are prone to making mistakes.
When it comes to dealing with errors we choose to approach it in the following way using a famous quote from Ian Fleming’s “Goldfinger”: Happenstance, circumstance, sabotage.
The first time a dog does something wrong, it’s happenstance.
If a dog makes the same mistake again then this is circumstance. We need to stop what we’re doing, look at why the dog went wrong, and make adjustments before trying again.
Allowing a dog to make the same mistake a third time is what we call sabotage. If you didn’t stop and make changes to your training set up after two mistakes then you only have yourself to blame.
Never try to work through the error without assessment. It is not always obvious (especially to new, inexperienced handlers) what the dog is finding reinforcing. The fact that they’re allowed to keep training could be reinforcing enough to ingrain the error as a habit.
Remember - insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Teaching an interruption cue
When a mistake happens, it’s vital that we interrupt the dog as quickly as possible, regain control (which usually involves popping the lead back on), and moving away from the situation.
If you would normally struggle to do this in a neutral way, the key is to accept that errors are just information and feedback about your training.
Your dog isn’t trying to get one over on you or show you up. There doesn’t need to be any anger or frustration involved and if there is it certainly shouldn’t be aimed at our dogs.
If you struggle to get your dog under control after they’ve done something wrong, then to help with this error correction process, we prefer to teach our dogs an interruption cue.
The cue might make your dog stop where they are, or come rushing back, but the cue itself should be separate from your recall or stop whistle as you never want these working cues to be linked to error correction.
Ultimately your interruption cue means “that was wrong”, “game over”, “we’re stopping and not continuing”.
One thing that a lot of people find confusing here is that our interruptor cue should always be paired with a high value reinforcer.
It’s crucial to understand that you’re not rewarding the dog for the error, you’re paying them to respond to the interruption cue. This is because to interrupt them effectively, you need them to stop what they’re doing immediately, and the activity they’re engrossed in might be something incredibly reinforcing to them like hunting on, running in, or chasing.
Negative punishment and loss of reward
If the dog errs, we do not pay them for that task. We just reset and try one more time. And if they make the same mistake again, stop that exercise or even the session if necessary until you’ve assessed what needs changing.
For our clicker trained dogs, who are used to hearing the click and anticipating payment for correct behaviour, there is undoubtedly an understanding that no click and subsequently no reinforcement means that whatever they did was wrong. You can often observe them processing this feedback and trying to correct themselves on the next attempt.
But you can’t effectively test this or demonstrate it with a dog who hasn’t been clicker trained before because they won’t be anticipating the click or reward, so won’t understand the concept that you have withheld it because they’ve made a mistake.
It’s also important to note here that loss of reward is not the same as removing the reinforcer which falls into the negative punishment box.
We often get asked why we don’t pick up the dummy if the dog has run in, or has ignored a stop whistle or directional cue. The issue here is that you need to fully understand the personality and mindset of the dog you have in front of you.
For some dogs, finding and picking up the dummy is the reinforcing bit and for those dogs picking up the dummy might be necessary to stop them from thinking they have done the correct behaviour.
However, other dogs don’t find that part of the chain reinforcing and withholding the reward at the end of the retrieve is sufficient.
What's more, sensitive dogs can find a dummy thrower’s interference quite intimidating or offensive and we’ve seen many completely put off retrieving after it’s happened to them a few times.
On the flip side, we’ve also seen many very high drive competitive dogs egged on by this “game” and all they learn is how to judge how far away a dummy thrower is and to decide if they will have time to get to the dummy first as to whether it’s worth running in or not.
The biggest problem with ethical training
An unfortunate human trait, that is only worsening, is the constant need for instant gratification, a lack of patience and a disdain for anything that requires hard work over a period of time.
People want it, and they want it now, from their sofa, without having to put much effort in.
And while it might be handy to have groceries and medication delivered to our door within hours, this mindset is extremely harmful when it trickles down to how we approach dog training.
Done properly, ethical gundog training, unfortunately, takes time.
With clicker training, some skills can be instant for the dog. It can take an incredibly short amount of time to teach them to pick up a dummy and put it in your hand, for instance.
But there is an entire process that comes after this that people rush, or worse, overlook entirely. And skipping this is what gives clicker training a bad reputation as part-trained dogs are dropped into situations they’re not ready for and don’t appear to know what they’re doing.
Only once we have fully trained our dog to perform a behaviour, and we are happy it is the final finished behaviour, do we give it a cue.
This cue (word, hand signal, whistle, etc) will then need to be attached to the behaviour over hundreds of repetitions, and paired with reinforcement.
Next, we need to proof and isolate the cue to ensure the dog learns to perform the behaviour, on cue, reliably, no matter where they are, what’s going on around them, or how long they need to do it for.
This however is not a quick process.
A helpful way to think about it is to imagine your dog’s brain as a photo album. Every time your dog successfully does a behaviour, they’re taking a photo and adding it to the album. But they can only work with what’s in that album.
So, just because your dog can sit beautifully, on cue, in the kitchen doesn’t mean they’ll know to do the same at a training class, or in a field full of pheasant scent.
Our job is to fill our dogs’ photo albums with as many pictures as possible of the same behaviour, but in lots of different locations, with different distractions, for different durations, and at different distances.
We also need them to distinguish and discriminate your chosen cue from other cues they might be picking up on. For instance, you will want your dog to understand that the cue sending them on a marked retrieve is their name, not the fall of the dummy, or the sound of shot.
Proofing and isolating the cue is the way they learn, “this cue always means the same behaviour, no matter where we are or what’s happening around us”.
The more variety we give our dogs, the more confident and consistent they’ll become. And over time, all those “pictures” add up to a dog who can respond reliably, even when things get a bit more exciting or challenging.
Ethical training therefore avoids dropping dogs in a situation they cannot deal with, expecting them to perform because they can do something in your kitchen, in your garden, or your training field.
We still challenge them in this process, but it is approached with a training mindset and understanding that they are not being disobedient, stubborn or ignorant; it is because they are still learning.
There is then also a process required to withdraw the clicker and gradually teach the dog to work for longer periods or complete more repetitions before reinforcement is delivered.
Emotions, ego and ethical gundog training
At its crux, ethical training is all about looking at things from the dog's point of view. The issue here for a lot of handlers is that this requires putting their own ego aside and learning to understand their dog on an emotional level.
When we break behaviours and chains down into small steps, we focus on setting the dogs up for success and while we do challenge them we do so within reason. We avoid jumping so far ahead that the dogs cannot cope and start making mistakes over and over again.
During this process, it also means that we are focused on eliminating problems early on instead of waiting for our dogs to make mistakes at higher, more advanced levels.
But this is often not sexy or exciting enough. And in the early days it looks very similar to pet dog training, which can be cringeworthy for some hardy gundog folk.
It might not look like serious outdoorsy gundog work, but if your dog can’t be steady when someone throws a piece of chicken on the floor in a sterilised training barn environment, how do you expect them to be steady to the fall of a pheasant on a shoot.
Equally, there are times when we need to take better consideration of a dog's emotions. This should form part of the proofing process, but it is worth noting here because in the gundog world it seems that too many trainers and handlers expect their dogs to be void of emotion.
Arousal is something that’s talked about in such a negative way, as if our dogs should always be “calm” when training, but when you’re about to go beating or picking up, if you and your dog aren’t excited then there’s something seriously wrong!
We don’t want our dogs to be over aroused to the point where they can’t think but we also need to work through the process of gradually increasing the excitement and increasing their threshold so they can still respond to cues and aren’t put in a situation where they’re going to get everything wrong.
Sometimes that means humbly going backwards a step in our training and it involves looking at the other half of the team and not just pushing forward to suit your own training goals or ego. If they are not coping, or having an off day, you need to know when to quit.
Instead of being too quick to blame the dog for their “shortcomings”, handlers need to put their ego aside and take more responsibility for their training, or lack thereof.
If you have truly taught your dog something properly, and they really understand the cue and you have proofed it in that scenario, under those emotional conditions, then you really shouldn’t need to be repeatedly making error corrections, especially not at a high level.
And if the dog does something wrong once, remember they’re a living being, not a remote controlled tool. Laugh it off, reset and enjoy your time training or working together. They’re not here forever.
What gundog standards are we aiming for?
As well as being more open minded to modern methods of training, the traditional gundog community also needs to accept that the average gundog owner does not know, understand or even care about field trials.
The Royal Kennel Club registers more gundogs than any other breed group each year. The reality is that most of those dogs live as family pets, with owners who have no interest in shooting or competitions. They simply want to train them in the basics and make sure they are meeting their dog’s needs.
And yet, there is a long held view in parts of the gundog world that someone can only be taken seriously as a professional trainer if they have reached the highest levels of competition and have won multiple field trials.
While we have respect for people who choose to pursue that path, it is not the only valid route into becoming a professional gundog training instructor.
Nor is it a realistic or necessary benchmark for supporting the many gundog owners who simply want well-trained dogs they can enjoy living and working in the field with.
If you want to learn tennis, you do not expect your coach to have won Wimbledon, and in most sports the people competing at the very highest levels are not the people teaching beginners at a local club.
The skills needed to perform at the top end of competition are not the same as the skills needed by those who are just starting out or who simply want to do things well for their own enjoyment.
There is a role within the gundog training world for those who are looking to help handlers build clear, solid basics that will allow them to work on a shoot, or have a reliable, happy pet gundog at home.
At the Gundog Trainers Academy we do exactly that.
Often, the ethical approach welcomes newcomers into the world of gundogs in a way that feels safe, giving pet gundog owners, and pet dog trainers, a place to learn about breed-specific needs and training without being judged for lack of prior knowledge or lack of interest in working their dog.
All of our accredited gundog training instructors have experience of working their dogs on a shoot, and the majority go beating, picking up or rough shooting every season and many are also competing with theirs.
They are perfectly positioned to help gundog owners put good quality foundations in place and get their dog to a standard that they can work successfully on a shoot if they choose.
And if a gundog owner does decide they want to move into trials or higher level competition, with these foundations in place, we can confidently point them to seek out the guidance and support of a trainer who has achieved in this area.
We are here to get handlers to the level where the dogs can move forward without having to be punished for everything but this does not mean a low ceiling of performance.