The art of dog training.....Or is it?

[Sugardog]

Debatable issue I guess so I thought this would be the best place to put it.

Do you consider positive reinforcement dog training to be an art? Why or why not?

For my English class, we have a research essay we have to do later on in the semester. The topic is art and how it's influenced by society/how society influences art. We were reminded that art was a broad term and isn't limited to paintings or sculptures.

So naturally, being an animal person, I'm trying to find a way to manipulate it to get it on a topic I want to do and could do well with. So my first thought was dog training.

I personally think that dog training can be considered an art. There is nothing more beautiful and expressive than a human/canine team working together to achieve communication through positive reinforcement training or working together to achieve a common goal (like herding, agility, hunting etc). It's also an art in the sense that it kind of takes a special extra something to do at an above average level. Just like drawing or painting, there are those who seem to have a natural ability to excell at it.

So I'm trying to gather more opinions on the topic. Please debate the issue to your hearts content

[Punkygirl0101]

I think dog training can be considered an art as well. Some people are better at it than others, there are lots of things you can do. I think it is art! (I actually never thought about it before, lol).

[Rivsky]

I certainly think dog training can be considered an art - particularly rewards based and clicker training - you need to get the click/praise spot on or you end up rewarding your dog for the wrong thing - so I think yes getting this right certainly is an art - for some people it comes naturally and others need to work at it a bit harder.

[trainingrixie]

Absolutely dog training is an art. It's on the same plane as pairs figure skating or ballroom dancing. You have to be able to know what your partner (the pooch) is going to do, and your dog must be able to read you as well. It is a very close partnership as I am quickly learning.

ps. If your English teacher is a good one, she/he will accept it as an art as long as you can defend your point validly. (I have a master's in English and Curriculum and that's what they taught us)

[britishbandit]

Yes, I believe dog training can be considered an art, but I don't believe that "positive reinforcement" is the ONLY effective training method.
I do however think that one command in general should be accompanied with postive reinforcemnt EVERY time, and that is recall.

[rmci]

I agree with everyone! Dog training is an art; even more impressive is a trainer that knows that one method will not work with all and adjusts without batting an eyelash.

[Sayuri]

You sound like one after my own heart - when I was in high school, I found a way to make EVERY project about dogs, including two historical debate topics. So of course you know what I'll say - it's definitely an art! Go for it - your papers are always better when you write what you know and love.

[rmci]

Not much of a debate, is it?

[Sugardog]

Apparantly not! :P

I don't think I'll have a problem establishing my point that dog training is an art. I don't care much for writing, but I'm notorious for being able to manipulate words and ideas and putting it down on paper and adding alot of fluff to make it sound good. I wrote an essay on a book once that I didn't read and got an A on it. I used nothing but cliff notes and didn't even read the entire cliff notes book either for that matter. This was after the teacher told us that doing that wouldn't work

But with dog training, I can be really creative......I'm all positive reinforcement, but not every positive method you find in the books will work in every case. This is when the gift of being able to think outside the box comes in handy and you can find a different approach while still using positive reinforcement. I've worked with parrots a little, most bird behaviorists will tell you once a screamer, always a screamer. I believe that I'm the first person to come up with a proven effective way to cure a screamer of screaming, all positive reinforcement.

[rmci]

Sneaky.....
Good luck on the paper!

[sammy]

I think good dog training is based in science, is a mechanical skill and is also an art.

[oc_spirit]

I believe if you are only going to touch on PR training you still at least state that there are other forms of training that still do work and can work quite well. Y'know?