1- Because they work- since not all dogs shut down with its use, it has achieved its affect.
2- Because these techniques were used on us- tickets, firing for poor job performance, getting yelled at or spanked. We do not reward obeying the speed limit.
3- Because the act of punishment itself, can be rewarding to the punisher- serves as revenge for perceived acts of defiance

Sit Means Sit trainers do not employ punishment to get our dogs to perform a desired cue. You will not even find us yelling at our dogs. We have a system that works without yelling or employing punishment.

Behavior drives are the instincts that make a dog act the way he does.
Almost everything a dog does can be attributed to a specific behavior drive.
The key is to manipulate a dog’s natural drives to create wanted behavior.
Recognized main drives are; the sociability drive, the food drive and the prey drive

Temperament can be defined as an individual’s way of behaving or reacting to specific or general stimuli or situations. Reactions can include fear, curiosity, willingness, courage, aggression, etc..
Temperament is a combination of genetics and environment. Genes define the outer limits of how and what an animal can learn. However, environment and experience can shape the moment-to- moment reactions and overall disposition of the dog. Training can go a long way toward modifying undesired behaviors but genetics are always a factor in how successful a training program is.

Obedience Training-Is generally teaching a dog to perform specific behaviors, such as sit, down, and heel on cue. A dog can still be ill-mannered (jumping on people etc) even if he has been completely obedience trained.

Activity Training- Is teaching a dog a specific activity. These may include agility, herding or fly ball for example.

Behavior Modification- Is the elimination, curtailment or management of complex and sometimes dangerous behaviors. These can include dog on dog aggression, dog on person aggression, separation anxiety, phobias, and compulsive disorders. The treatment plan generally requires an advanced amount of knowledge and skill.

Problem Solving- Is the elimination, curtailment or prevention of common behaviors that are labeled undesirable by dog owners. Dog owners will have different ideas of what they consider ‘problem behaviors’.
A behavior not believed to be an issue with an 8-week old puppy will become so when the dog is older.

Prior to WWI, most dogs were members of family with important jobs (herding, ratting)
The dogs became “trained” as a result of the working arrangement.
During WWI, dogs were needed to assist the soldier, many dogs became casualties
A need to train vast quantities to replace those lost.
This need for rapid training brought about the compulsion revolution and the birth of formal dog training.
Many dogs were broken by the training and thought to be “inferior”
This resulted in the idea that all but the hardest, most alpha were incapable of learning.
WWI ended and the trainers brought their skills to the public.
The idea of obedience training the family dog through punishment caught on.
Similar cycle ensued with WWII etc
Our society does view learning through punishment and “rewards” constitute bribes
1970’s brought modification with less aversive techniques.
1980’s brought scientific research based on wolves- dominance.
Idea that dog had to be dominated or he would dominate you came prevalent, unfortunately
1990’s brought popular usage of operant conditioning.
While positive reinforcement is the primary tool, neg punishment, neg reinforcement, and positive punishment are also components.
Sit Means Sit revolutionizes the dog training world with their system of training.

There are many different reasons why dogs bark. In most cases, the barking is actually a signal that another behavior problem exists and if that problem is addressed- many times the dog will stop barking on his own.
These are six common causes for barking.

Excited Play Alert Barking
Fearful Alarm Barking
Dominance Barking
Territorial Barking
Boredom Barking
Learned Barking

Your trainer can help you distinguish which one is the problem and how to correct it.

Is the puppy engaging in friendly nipping and mouthing or serious nipping and mouthing.
Friendly nipping occurs during excitable greetings or during playtime with a puppy that is less than 5 months in age.
Puppies explore their environment by touching and tasting everything.
Puppy nipping is also a form of social play between puppies and dogs.
A small percentage of puppies and dogs engage in serious nipping as a way of saying “No, I don’t think so”.
This dog may be testing or even exerting his perceived dominance and or territoriality. This likely occurs in an environment where the expectations and consequences of his behavior is inconsistent. If this is the case, Leadership exercises are required. The relationship needs to be addressed before using any anti-nipping techniques

Using a physical correction (i.e. leash) can be counter productive.
Case in point- the dog jumps up on people and you use a leash to correct him. The dog could develop a negative association. The dog may learn not to like people as it is a cue that something bad is going to happen. An oversimplification, yes, but something important to remember

The idea is to provide the dog with every possible opportunity to learn that the new alternate behavior is more rewarding then the previous problem behavior.
The owner needs to supervise the dog and it’s environment so the dog is not able to perform the undesired behavior.
Since the “problem” behavior is rewarding, the dog will not get trained until the owner is consistent in managing the dog and it’s environment.

Focus on being proactive, (i.e. praising the dog whenever he performs any acceptable alternate behaviors), instead of reactive, (i.e. leash and collar corrections, yelling, etc)
Many dog owners ignore their dogs when they are behaving (i.e. lying quietly).
As the dog receives attention when he is engaging in inappropriate behavior, the dog figures out that “bad” behavior gets them attention.
For a social animal like a dog, negative attention is often viewed as better than no attention at all.