Even though I'm a bird trainer, I follow trainers of all sorts on social media because the same principles apply across species. I recently saw this post from R+ Dogs and loved it so much I just about melted:
It's easy to expect your dog to listen to you. But it's much harder to actually listen to what your dog has to say.
This reflects shifting attitudes we've had toward dog training over the last several decades. With positive training methods becoming more popular, we're moving away from classic obedience and commands towards cues and conversations. When I tell a dog to "sit," I'm not demanding. I'm asking.
A blog by dog and cat expert Zazie Todd explains this cultural shift that includes an acceptance of a dog's natural behavior and their own needs as a sentient being. She continues:
"Dogs aren’t obedience robots who must follow our every command out of respect for their leader. Dogs are living, breathing creatures, with needs of their own, individual personalities and quirks, and hearts full of love for their family members.
Maybe speaking of manners and cues and teaching instead of respect and commands and obedience is just a linguistic shift. But maybe it’s also creating a world in which we let dogs be dogs, and care about their happiness."
This shift has also been seen in the bird training community. If I were training Otto the Great Horned Owl 20 years ago, I would have followed him around the mew until he finally stepped on the glove. That's just how it was done. But from a modern perspective, a bird trained like that was likely afraid and only stepped on the glove because he learned that he could not escape.
Instead, every interaction I have with Otto is a conversation. When I move the glove to his feet, I'm not commanding him to step up. I'm asking. If he choses to step on, great! He'll get lots of rat tidbits. But if he choses to stay where he is, I back up to reevaluate and think, "what can I do better to help him want to step on the glove?"
This type of training recognizes that Otto is an individual with his own needs and preferences. Birds aren't obedience robots, either.
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