Gary Wilkes
In our modern, sophisticated, always polite society, suggesting the use of positive reinforcement is considered good, regardless of outcome. Conversely, the use of punishment is automatically considered abuse - again, regardless of outcome. If it's abuse to hit a dog with a pillow or squirt him with a squirt gun to stop him from jumping on people, what must it be to cut the mats out of a Lhasa's coat? How about that whole vet medicine thing where they routinely cause pain, suffering and trauma for things as simple as expressing anal glands? And have you seen the way most dogs react when you nick the quick on a nail?
The bottom line is that America's dogs don't die from mats, impacted anal glands or bloodied toe nails. Each year, about 40 million dogs die because they don't know how to be polite. Jumping on the kids is far more likely to kill a dog than parvo virus, corona, distemper and all the orthopedic problems combined. So when someone says that punishment is never an option, they aren't talking ethics, they are talking trash. Ah, now we start to see the illogical extension of their philosophy. If a minor amount of pain is abuse, then you have to stop taking your dog to the groomer and the vet. If you are at all interested in the ethics, morals and practice of saving dogs by changing their behavior, don't miss this hour-long presentation.
Gary Wilkes
Gary Wilkes worked for eight years in animal shelters in every capacity: poop scooper, shelter manager, euthanasia tech, dog catcher, humane investigator, educator and board member of one of the largest shelters in the country. He has worked for the last seventeen years offering behavior services by veterinary referral including the position of staff behaviorist for a veterinary neurological clinic. He has physically handled tens of thousands of animals over more than 25 years and a goodly number of those animals were certified whackos.
Gary is most known for developing the practical side of clicker training. Wilkes' methods and techniques are, above all, effective. This isn't the "bribe the doggie with a biscuit" or a "swing them around by the neck" sort of thing. Contrary to the whimsical rules of modern dog training, you don't need to be abusive or permissive to teach an animal that there are rules that need to be obeyed. This is a simple, effective way to predict and control behavior and any professional will benefit from learning these methods.
