What is Force-Free Training?

There are a lot of labels in the dog training community. Some adopt them for themselves, some apply them to others, and some avoid them all together. Just like any other concept, a given term might mean different things to different people, so I thought it would be helpful to explain my training philosophy in my first blog post.

We do have a definition of force-free training, coming from the Pet Professional Guild (of which I am a member). It states:

“No shock, No prong, No choke and No Pain, No fear, No Force are ever employed in the training, behavior modification, care, or management of any pet.”

I maintain a certification with the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, which endorses “strict adherence to scientific and humane methods”, and I am also a Fear-Free Certified Trainer, which means I work to “prevent and alleviate fear, anxiety, and stress and improve an animal’s emotional wellbeing during veterinary care and home care”.

Let me tell you what being force-free means to me: I will not use tools or methods that cause (or rely on) pain, fear, discomfort, coercion, or intimidation in training. I strive for that same goal in all of my interactions with the animals that share our lives, but I’m human, and I make mistakes. I might yell at my own animals in frustration after a trigger stacking day, or I might give a correction I’ve tried hard to leave behind, but those events do not make up my training approach and I work hard to avoid repeating them.

I might also introduce what is generally accepted by most animals to be non-threatening - such as a clicker or engaging with a toy - but this particular learner may find the noise or action scary. That’s excellent feedback for me to immediately change what I’m doing - I may need to go back several steps or pivot to another method of approach all together, and I rely on the feedback by way of their behavior. My intention was not to cause fear or discomfort, but I did, so I shift to try to avoid it happening again. In the examples above, perhaps I muffle the click or use a verbal marker instead, and I toss the toy more gently and laterally away or introduce a different toy. There are lots of options!

Note that this does not apply to emergencies. In an emergency, we do whatever is required to keep everyone safe - whether that’s shout or yank on a leash or physically and forcefully remove a dog from a situation.

However, what really sets us up as force-free is what happens next.

We review what happened, assess the situation, and think through how to avoid it in the future. That might mean we do the next training set up at an easier level, or we avoid a specific area due to a danger, or we train a new skill or strengthen a known one for that particular level of difficulty. What we don’t do is continually put our learner in the situation they’re not prepared for, such that we must continually respond with force or fear - because that would mean our learners aren’t practicing what we want them to be doing and we’re likely not teaching what we intend to teach, and no one is being set up for success.

It is my job to work with you and your dog (or cat) kindly, ethically, and effectively, with patience and compassion, in a way that you can all be successful.

Let’s find joy together.