Are you searching for "cures" to a problem with your bird dog? Before you let someone from the "whip-'em, stomp-'em, shock-'em, shoot-'em" school get to you, read a chapter called "Bronco Busting -- The Easy Way versus the Hard Way" in a book called Meet Mr. Grizzly by Montague Stevens (High-Lonesome Books, San Lorenzo, NM, ISBN 0-944383-00-9).

Originally written in 1943 by a man too far ahead of his time, the chapter cites the value of using logic and reason in training, rather harsh the methods some traditionalists advocate. For example, a man from the "old school" told Stevens the "best" way to get a balky horse to move when pulling a wagon or cart was to burn newspapers around its feet. Instead Stevens drove the horse into an ice-cold, stream that was two feet deep and let it balk there. When the horse had enough of the icy cold and finally moved ahead on its own, Stevens encouraged and praised him. The horse quickly learned that his own balking "caused" his discomfort and that moving put an end to the unpleasantness. Soon he learned to keep the discomfort from occurring at all by never balking again.

Principles Involved
In his own way, Montague Stevens had applied several basic principles of behavior:

Negative reinforcement -- The successful termination of something unpleasant (the cold water) reinforced the horse for moving out.

Escape and avoidance learning -- was a part of this. The horse learned to "escape" being chilled by the water the first time by moving ahead and out of the stream. Then he learned to "avoid" the cold as much as possible by moving swiftly through it in the future.

Positive reinforcement -- in the form of praise from the horse's driver helped the animal learn what it needed to do to be successful in the future.

Operant conditioning was the underlying principle behind it all. In effect, the horse learned to "operate" or control his own behavior in a way that gave him what he wanted -- relief from the cold. By deciding to balk, the horse chilled his own legs. By moving out, he brought about his own relief. Ultimately, the driver got what he wanted, and with no bad side effects.

Highly Effective
These techniques are highly effective with dogs as well. Good trainers have used them for years, even when they might not have known the scientific theories involved. They work because:

1. -- They involve no punishment from the owner/trainer, so the dog doesn't become resentful.
2. -- They give even the most headstrong animal a "reason" for doing things in a way that produces the result you wanted in the first place.
3. -- And they let the animal know what is required of him to be successful in the future.

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