Chat
07-25-2016, 11:02 PM
I actually do not rub an animal with the whip unless he is unduly frightened of it because I agree that this could be confusing to a green one. He needs to respect it, not treat it like a toy. When first teaching with a whip I want whip movement and contact to always mean something. Once they are more experienced then they seem to lose fear of the whip naturally without me having to deliberately train them not to fear it. As an example, when the whip lash gets away from me on a windy day and flies into the horse by mistake, the green one jumps but the experienced one doesn't. Why? Because the older horse has learned that the whip itself is not to be feared and that my body language, voice commands, and eye contact in conjunction with the whip are what lends it significance.
Pushing an animal to the point of self-destruction is not something I advocate, nor does it work well in terms of training. As a recent example, Phil and I have been working to get our driving goats to walk calmly past some large barking dogs. No amount of tempting with treats is going to induce them to go near the threat because no reward in the world is worth risking their lives (as they see it). I gave a firm "Go forward!" command with voice and several whip taps on the harness. I did not wish to induce pain because this would only multiply the fear of the dogs. But rather than choose to obey me, the goats turned tail and ran the other direction. Now, at this point a bad trainer would try beating the goats to force them past the dogs, or getting out and physically dragging them past. But I think this is where patience and understanding are in order. All the goats needed was reassurance, so Phil walked a little ahead and to the side between the goats and the dogs to show them that he was not afraid and that he was willing to put himself in the most vulnerable position. Soon the boys were in a state of mind to be able to accept treats in the presence of the barking dogs and I fully expect that our next lesson there will be much smoother. Had I given the boys the option to flee the situation, I believe they would have done so and learned all the wrong lessons, the most important one being that they can't trust us. That said, it is imperative that we don't overface our animals with a problem they are not ready for. We knew they had the training, trust, and experience to handle a scary situation of this calibre, even if it took a bit of hand-holding at first.
The biggest problem I see with letting an animal choose to disobey is that this can be very dangerous for you and him if one day he decides that he'd rather whack you with his horns than take that nasty worm medicine, or he'd rather kick you and stomp on your foot than stand nicely to get his hooves trimmed. At some point no amount of bribing with treats is enough to persuade him to make the "right" choice. It's a very stupid kid who is fooled into liking the orthodontist just because he is offered a piece of candy to go there. At some point, the kid is probably going to have to be told he must sit in that chair and behave "or else!" because there is honestly nothing in the world you can offer him that is better than not going at all. I was a very picky eater as a child so I had to do a lot of eating "or else". The reward of getting dessert (positive reinforcement) was never enough to persuade me to eat my meal, so the consequence of going to bed hungry and having to face the same meal served cold for breakfast was applied. It was amazingly effective. I only ever ate one cold supper for breakfast. I was afraid of this punishment for the rest of my childhood, but it did not make me afraid of food. Nor does a properly applied sting from a whip make an animal forever fear it. If that were the case, I would never be able to drive cattle with a whip while riding my horse, Jet. He's been "stung" with a whip a few times in his life, but I can swing that lash over his head and crack it around his ears because he knows it's not directed at him and is not a fearful object in itself. He trusts me to handle the whip responsibly. If I direct the whip at him, he knows what to do. If I direct it at someone else he knows to disregard it.
I guess to sum up I am not put off by the idea of using the fear pathways in the brain as part of training. They are perfectly natural for both humans and animals alike. A person who uses only positive or only negative stimuli to train is using half a toolbox. You can probably get the job done, but it will be a longer and more difficult job than if you used both, and the end result will be less satisfying for everyone concerned.
Pushing an animal to the point of self-destruction is not something I advocate, nor does it work well in terms of training. As a recent example, Phil and I have been working to get our driving goats to walk calmly past some large barking dogs. No amount of tempting with treats is going to induce them to go near the threat because no reward in the world is worth risking their lives (as they see it). I gave a firm "Go forward!" command with voice and several whip taps on the harness. I did not wish to induce pain because this would only multiply the fear of the dogs. But rather than choose to obey me, the goats turned tail and ran the other direction. Now, at this point a bad trainer would try beating the goats to force them past the dogs, or getting out and physically dragging them past. But I think this is where patience and understanding are in order. All the goats needed was reassurance, so Phil walked a little ahead and to the side between the goats and the dogs to show them that he was not afraid and that he was willing to put himself in the most vulnerable position. Soon the boys were in a state of mind to be able to accept treats in the presence of the barking dogs and I fully expect that our next lesson there will be much smoother. Had I given the boys the option to flee the situation, I believe they would have done so and learned all the wrong lessons, the most important one being that they can't trust us. That said, it is imperative that we don't overface our animals with a problem they are not ready for. We knew they had the training, trust, and experience to handle a scary situation of this calibre, even if it took a bit of hand-holding at first.
The biggest problem I see with letting an animal choose to disobey is that this can be very dangerous for you and him if one day he decides that he'd rather whack you with his horns than take that nasty worm medicine, or he'd rather kick you and stomp on your foot than stand nicely to get his hooves trimmed. At some point no amount of bribing with treats is enough to persuade him to make the "right" choice. It's a very stupid kid who is fooled into liking the orthodontist just because he is offered a piece of candy to go there. At some point, the kid is probably going to have to be told he must sit in that chair and behave "or else!" because there is honestly nothing in the world you can offer him that is better than not going at all. I was a very picky eater as a child so I had to do a lot of eating "or else". The reward of getting dessert (positive reinforcement) was never enough to persuade me to eat my meal, so the consequence of going to bed hungry and having to face the same meal served cold for breakfast was applied. It was amazingly effective. I only ever ate one cold supper for breakfast. I was afraid of this punishment for the rest of my childhood, but it did not make me afraid of food. Nor does a properly applied sting from a whip make an animal forever fear it. If that were the case, I would never be able to drive cattle with a whip while riding my horse, Jet. He's been "stung" with a whip a few times in his life, but I can swing that lash over his head and crack it around his ears because he knows it's not directed at him and is not a fearful object in itself. He trusts me to handle the whip responsibly. If I direct the whip at him, he knows what to do. If I direct it at someone else he knows to disregard it.
I guess to sum up I am not put off by the idea of using the fear pathways in the brain as part of training. They are perfectly natural for both humans and animals alike. A person who uses only positive or only negative stimuli to train is using half a toolbox. You can probably get the job done, but it will be a longer and more difficult job than if you used both, and the end result will be less satisfying for everyone concerned.