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Behavior Adjustment Training - BAT for Fear, Frustration, and Aggression in Dogs
Think “functional” to solve your dog’s reactivity issues.
Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) was developed by author Grisha Stewart to rehabilitate and prevent dog reactivity. BAT looks at the function of growling, lunging, or fleeing and helps dogs learn socially acceptable behaviors that serve that same function. In a nutshell, BAT builds confidence by giving dogs a chance to learn to control their environment through peaceful means. That makes BAT very empowering to your dog or puppy, in a good way. It’s also empowering for you, as you learn how to understand your dog and help him learn to safely get along with people, dogs, and other “triggers.”
You will learn:
• How to encourage or shape a “replacement behavior” that provides your dog the same “functional reward” as reactivity.
• Why it is important to keep your dog calm in the presence of a trigger while teaching him to make good choices.
• Step-by-step instructions needed to stage BAT set-ups to work with your dog in a controlled environment.
• Practical ways to keep your dog from being pushed into a reactive state in and around your home and on walks.
• How to use BAT preventively for puppy socialization.
Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) was developed by author Grisha Stewart to rehabilitate and prevent dog reactivity. BAT looks at the function of growling, lunging, or fleeing and helps dogs learn socially acceptable behaviors that serve that same function. In a nutshell, BAT builds confidence by giving dogs a chance to learn to control their environment through peaceful means. That makes BAT very empowering to your dog or puppy, in a good way. It’s also empowering for you, as you learn how to understand your dog and help him learn to safely get along with people, dogs, and other “triggers.”
You will learn:
• How to encourage or shape a “replacement behavior” that provides your dog the same “functional reward” as reactivity.
• Why it is important to keep your dog calm in the presence of a trigger while teaching him to make good choices.
• Step-by-step instructions needed to stage BAT set-ups to work with your dog in a controlled environment.
• Practical ways to keep your dog from being pushed into a reactive state in and around your home and on walks.
• How to use BAT preventively for puppy socialization.
- GenresDogsNonfictionAnimals
226 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2011
44 people are currently reading
561 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 12, 2012
As I've been working with my dog-reactive border collie, I've read a lot of dog training books. Many of them have great suggestions, but I feel powerless to implement many of the set-ups that are described. I did *not* feel that way after reading this book. While some of the BAT protocol involves very specific set-ups, two things were encouraging to me: 1) There were countless suggestions given for how to implement this protocol in the "real world", where you can't control every variable, and 2) The number of repetitions needed for different cases were discussed, that made this whole process suddenly seem doable to me.
While I love giving treats to do counter conditioning, I felt like I had stalled with this technique with my dog. While treats are used as a bonus reward in BAT, the technique fundamentally teaches your dog to choose different behaviors, and "functional rewards" are given instead. (i.e. You're worried about that dog? Give me a calming (appropriate) signal, and you'll get your functional reward, which is to move away..... all of this of course, under threshold).
I would suggest this book for folks with reactive dogs...including those that are savvy with dog training language and those that aren't. The author makes concepts and ideas clear with simple language and diagrams throughout.
While I love giving treats to do counter conditioning, I felt like I had stalled with this technique with my dog. While treats are used as a bonus reward in BAT, the technique fundamentally teaches your dog to choose different behaviors, and "functional rewards" are given instead. (i.e. You're worried about that dog? Give me a calming (appropriate) signal, and you'll get your functional reward, which is to move away..... all of this of course, under threshold).
I would suggest this book for folks with reactive dogs...including those that are savvy with dog training language and those that aren't. The author makes concepts and ideas clear with simple language and diagrams throughout.
December 5, 2011
Before I get to the actual content, I just want to talk about how exceedingly well the material is presented. Regular training books can suffer from being overly dry, unclear, difficult to apply, de-motivating, and other issues that either make useful information that would in fact work for a given dog anywhere from unhelpful to useless due to learner difficulty on the human’s part or make a given book unhelpful for/inapplicable to a given dog or of little use in general to dog kind, especially the average pet owner. This is enough of an issue when people are trying to learn how to learn along with their dogs in order to teach basic household manners and obedience cues. It is even more so when they have “problem” dogs and may feel that the situation is hopeless or that they personally just are not up to it, either skills, time, or progress-wise. Grisha’s BAT book is technically much longer than my treasured Cautious Canine by Patricia McConnell, but it shares the same sensibility of giving people what they need to know, including the encouragement and the “this is the real world so things aren’t always going to go perfectly so here’s what you can do when it hits the fan,” so that they can get on with the process of helping their dogs and making progress with doing so. This then reinforces ‘them’ for the time and effort they have put in and encourages them to stick to the training and keep going even with the natural ups and downs involving in any training and with behaviour problems that sometimes are going to take a long while to resolve in full. To this end, the info graphics are invaluable. Paired with the prose explanations, they accommodate different human learning styles as well as providing repetition of key information while presenting it in a new way each time. Information may not be fully grasped or retained on the first pass but beating a dead horse is also ineffective in keeping a learner engaged with material and ensuring retention because they will start to tune out the information-provider or pair that mental departure with a physical one (closing a book in this case). The clear, concise info graphics bypass this problem and their “cute” nature, which I admittedly enjoy for its own sake, also helps keep the learner engaged and puts them at ease, because owning, no less trying to rehabilitate, a “problem” dog can cause a great deal of continual stress and tension so a “friendly”-looking manual is helpful.
Now, on to the actual methodology and content in general. I love the elegant simplicity of skilful, humane use of negative reinforcement for training and serious behaviour rehab and BAT clearly fits the bill. Especially as explained in Grisha’s lovely manual, it is easy to understand and apply, even and especially for the average pet owner, kind and effective for the dog, and while not ideal, it can be done and progress can be made, and safely, even if one is not able to procure the training decoys and spaces necessary for formal BAT set-ups. CAT (Constructional Aggression Treatment) also partakes of the elegant simplicity but having the trigger move away is something that is unlikely to happen naturally or regularly or that you can prompt to happen with regularity on everyday walks either at all or without alarming your dog, since you would need to tell someone, possibly at a distance away, meaning raising your voice, to put distance between themselves and any dogs with them and your own dog once you had marked a more appropriate distance-increasing social signal (say, a head turn as opposed to an old behaviour of lunging, snarling, etc). BAT places the onus on you to provide the distance that rewards your dog’s new, more appropriate social signalling, so regardless of the potential amenability or not of triggers encountered on daily walks to being roped into a training set-up, you will still be able to successfully and repeatedly perform informal set-ups. Of course, real life happens, which is why the chapter on safety and management is invaluable and worth the price of the book on its own. If you follow Grisha’s directives, and the book makes it, as I already mentioned, very easy to do so, the deck will be strongly stacked in your and your dog’s favour so that strong rehearsal of “problem” behaviour is unlikely (i.e. that your dog ends up with a bite history or more of one or becomes even more and extremely fearful if it was a cautious-but-highly-bite-inhibited dog) and you will know when and how to intervene if your dog starts to go over-threshold.
The appendices could count as a small book or large booklet on their own and like the chapter on safety and management essentials are worth the admission price. I have my own favourite training manual and general approach but Appendix I makes a great, already there at your disposal intro to clicker training and to a selection of core behaviours that are useful and desirable in general and especially so to readers and clients with “problem” dogs. Feeling overwhelmed can be a major factor in quitting or in giving up before even beginning so including a small and once again “friendly” primer for basic training is a great way to keep people “in the game” and able to succeed easily. There is a nice mix of prose, info graphics, and photos of actual people and their dogs and the information is already there in the same small paperback as the behaviour modification info. That is key, because then the reader or client does not feel overfaced by a large reading list on top of all of the management and training they will soon be doing and they also only have to read, remember, and have at hand one volume. The other appendices are also excellent, although those who are not serious non-pros, trainers, and behaviorists may want to accept Grisha’s free-pass to skip over them totally or for the moment to prevent information overload, especially when it does not directly relate to being able to apply BAT to their dog. My caveat though is that reading Appendix 4, “Trainers and Clients Share Their Experiences with BAT,” might help readers and clients feel encouraged and empowered to start and to stick with the training, since the stories in those chapters include a variety of dogs with a variety of issues and how BAT was able to help them and some of the stories are from pet owners themselves, not from pros. Ending out of order, I loved, though it is probably the least practicable/relevant to the average pet owner, is Appendix 3, “For Trainers and Behaviorists: Geek Speak on Terms and Quadrants,” especially for dealing with the thorny and sometimes divisive issue of what operant conditioning quadrants are and are not “good”/acceptable for clicker/positive/purely positive/etc trainers to use and whether BAT will get your clicker membership card revoked. :) I may have to just refer people to that section of Appendix 3 in the future since Grisha’s views echo my own and offer a more concrete way of explaining to people that I am a Suzanne Clothier-style “light in the dog’s eye” trainer and let the dog define what is humane and effective instead of becoming caught up in quadrants at the dog’s expense and at the cost of an open, flexible mind and creative, humane, encompassing training.
Now, on to the actual methodology and content in general. I love the elegant simplicity of skilful, humane use of negative reinforcement for training and serious behaviour rehab and BAT clearly fits the bill. Especially as explained in Grisha’s lovely manual, it is easy to understand and apply, even and especially for the average pet owner, kind and effective for the dog, and while not ideal, it can be done and progress can be made, and safely, even if one is not able to procure the training decoys and spaces necessary for formal BAT set-ups. CAT (Constructional Aggression Treatment) also partakes of the elegant simplicity but having the trigger move away is something that is unlikely to happen naturally or regularly or that you can prompt to happen with regularity on everyday walks either at all or without alarming your dog, since you would need to tell someone, possibly at a distance away, meaning raising your voice, to put distance between themselves and any dogs with them and your own dog once you had marked a more appropriate distance-increasing social signal (say, a head turn as opposed to an old behaviour of lunging, snarling, etc). BAT places the onus on you to provide the distance that rewards your dog’s new, more appropriate social signalling, so regardless of the potential amenability or not of triggers encountered on daily walks to being roped into a training set-up, you will still be able to successfully and repeatedly perform informal set-ups. Of course, real life happens, which is why the chapter on safety and management is invaluable and worth the price of the book on its own. If you follow Grisha’s directives, and the book makes it, as I already mentioned, very easy to do so, the deck will be strongly stacked in your and your dog’s favour so that strong rehearsal of “problem” behaviour is unlikely (i.e. that your dog ends up with a bite history or more of one or becomes even more and extremely fearful if it was a cautious-but-highly-bite-inhibited dog) and you will know when and how to intervene if your dog starts to go over-threshold.
The appendices could count as a small book or large booklet on their own and like the chapter on safety and management essentials are worth the admission price. I have my own favourite training manual and general approach but Appendix I makes a great, already there at your disposal intro to clicker training and to a selection of core behaviours that are useful and desirable in general and especially so to readers and clients with “problem” dogs. Feeling overwhelmed can be a major factor in quitting or in giving up before even beginning so including a small and once again “friendly” primer for basic training is a great way to keep people “in the game” and able to succeed easily. There is a nice mix of prose, info graphics, and photos of actual people and their dogs and the information is already there in the same small paperback as the behaviour modification info. That is key, because then the reader or client does not feel overfaced by a large reading list on top of all of the management and training they will soon be doing and they also only have to read, remember, and have at hand one volume. The other appendices are also excellent, although those who are not serious non-pros, trainers, and behaviorists may want to accept Grisha’s free-pass to skip over them totally or for the moment to prevent information overload, especially when it does not directly relate to being able to apply BAT to their dog. My caveat though is that reading Appendix 4, “Trainers and Clients Share Their Experiences with BAT,” might help readers and clients feel encouraged and empowered to start and to stick with the training, since the stories in those chapters include a variety of dogs with a variety of issues and how BAT was able to help them and some of the stories are from pet owners themselves, not from pros. Ending out of order, I loved, though it is probably the least practicable/relevant to the average pet owner, is Appendix 3, “For Trainers and Behaviorists: Geek Speak on Terms and Quadrants,” especially for dealing with the thorny and sometimes divisive issue of what operant conditioning quadrants are and are not “good”/acceptable for clicker/positive/purely positive/etc trainers to use and whether BAT will get your clicker membership card revoked. :) I may have to just refer people to that section of Appendix 3 in the future since Grisha’s views echo my own and offer a more concrete way of explaining to people that I am a Suzanne Clothier-style “light in the dog’s eye” trainer and let the dog define what is humane and effective instead of becoming caught up in quadrants at the dog’s expense and at the cost of an open, flexible mind and creative, humane, encompassing training.
October 12, 2013
I got this book, along with several others, to help with my fear-aggressive and reactive dog. While many of the other books were helpful, I wasn't really making that much progress with her until I read this book, and the changes were AMAZING!
The methods in this book are extremely easy to follow, and are accompanied by photos and drawings to help the reader visualize exactly what they are supposed to do, and what to look for in your dog as far as body language goes. It works by rewarding the appropriate responses from your dog by allowing them to get away from the object/person/animal they are reacting to. It's great because it actually re-shapes the way the dog thinks, so they end up adopting this method all on their own, after a deal of repetition. Using this method alone, my dog stopped chasing and barking at bicycles completely, and her reactivity towards people has gotten so much better. When we see people coming towards us on walks now, she will break her fixation on them and ask me to turn around so that we can walk away- I don't know of any other training method that teaches a dog to do that!!
Of course, it's always great to have lots of different methods in your arsenal, so I do recommend several different training books (Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt, Click to Calm by Emma Parsons, Fired Up Frantic and Freaked Out by Laura VanArendonk Baugh are all great) but if you have an aggressive or reactive dog this should be the VERY FIRST book you buy, because it's absolutely invaluable!
The methods in this book are extremely easy to follow, and are accompanied by photos and drawings to help the reader visualize exactly what they are supposed to do, and what to look for in your dog as far as body language goes. It works by rewarding the appropriate responses from your dog by allowing them to get away from the object/person/animal they are reacting to. It's great because it actually re-shapes the way the dog thinks, so they end up adopting this method all on their own, after a deal of repetition. Using this method alone, my dog stopped chasing and barking at bicycles completely, and her reactivity towards people has gotten so much better. When we see people coming towards us on walks now, she will break her fixation on them and ask me to turn around so that we can walk away- I don't know of any other training method that teaches a dog to do that!!
Of course, it's always great to have lots of different methods in your arsenal, so I do recommend several different training books (Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt, Click to Calm by Emma Parsons, Fired Up Frantic and Freaked Out by Laura VanArendonk Baugh are all great) but if you have an aggressive or reactive dog this should be the VERY FIRST book you buy, because it's absolutely invaluable!
January 23, 2019
I found this book overly complex and repetitive. I have no doubt Ms. Stewart knows dogs and is a great trainer, but writing a book for the average dog owner is not her forte.
I will concede it may be I simply chose the wrong book for my needs. As the owner of a “feisty Fido” I desperately wanted clear cut methods for eliminating my dog’s reactivity to people, especially children, who have a tendency to automatically reach out and pet her.
This book made my eyes cross with jargon (I did see the glossary, but plain language would have been preferable), and incessant references to this book’s previous incarnation, Behavior Adjustment Training 1.0; one reference to BAT 1.0 would have been more than sufficient.
I found what I needed on pages 160-165 and wrote the information on 3 3”x5” index cards. Done, and glad to be so.
I will concede it may be I simply chose the wrong book for my needs. As the owner of a “feisty Fido” I desperately wanted clear cut methods for eliminating my dog’s reactivity to people, especially children, who have a tendency to automatically reach out and pet her.
This book made my eyes cross with jargon (I did see the glossary, but plain language would have been preferable), and incessant references to this book’s previous incarnation, Behavior Adjustment Training 1.0; one reference to BAT 1.0 would have been more than sufficient.
I found what I needed on pages 160-165 and wrote the information on 3 3”x5” index cards. Done, and glad to be so.
October 11, 2017
Got some things clear!!
April 9, 2020
What an interesting, helpful way to look at dog behavior. Implementing BAT on walks has changed both my Setter's behavior and my understanding and coping with her.
June 19, 2021
Elaborate "set-ups" totally unrealistic for urban dwelling amateurs. Probably a good book for professional dog walkers or trainers in training.
April 18, 2012
This is an awesome book for any dog owner. I think a lot of dog reactivity is sometimes fueled by well meaning owners behavior and this book is an excellent piece of the training puzzle to overcome such habits.
I like that she starts out with a discussion of basic safety and training equipment. This is a key discussion that a lot of books do touch on, however not in as much detail as Grisha does. IMO this section is essential.
The actual book isn't that long and it is very clear and concise. The illustration charts are invaluable and adorable. Really the body language ones especially should be handed out to every person who wants to get or already has a dog. I also very much like how its written for both lay people and those of us who train much more in depth than the average pet owners, including those trainers/behaviorists who help owners of reactive dogs in their business.
The excercises are explained in great detail and all the what if's are covered. The pictures are great and if you go to her website there are plenty of videos on BAT set-ups. The appendix is also very useful in its disscussion of some basic training issues that may need worked on and etc.
All in all a very useful book to have/read.
I like that she starts out with a discussion of basic safety and training equipment. This is a key discussion that a lot of books do touch on, however not in as much detail as Grisha does. IMO this section is essential.
The actual book isn't that long and it is very clear and concise. The illustration charts are invaluable and adorable. Really the body language ones especially should be handed out to every person who wants to get or already has a dog. I also very much like how its written for both lay people and those of us who train much more in depth than the average pet owners, including those trainers/behaviorists who help owners of reactive dogs in their business.
The excercises are explained in great detail and all the what if's are covered. The pictures are great and if you go to her website there are plenty of videos on BAT set-ups. The appendix is also very useful in its disscussion of some basic training issues that may need worked on and etc.
All in all a very useful book to have/read.
January 20, 2012
When I first hear about BAT, I dismissed it as illogical. Moving my dog away from people is going to help him stop lunging and growling at people? No sense! But I'm a person who thinks like a person, and luckily Grisha Stewart is a person who can think like a dog. The more I read and more videos I watch, I think this might be the only thing that will give me and Banks real, long-lasting results. Classic counter-conditioning and desensitization were, over the course of a year, very slowly having a small effect, but two incidents set us back basically to the very beginning. Now that I understand the concept behind BAT, I realize that this is exactly what Banks needs: the opportunity to have control over his environment through the choices he makes. I'm a dog nerd. I'll probably update this review, too, as my dog and I make progress.
February 29, 2016
The appendices are by far the most useful part of this book. They provide clear and concise advice and insight into the training process and I will be trying to incorporate some of these suggestions into helping my reactive dog. The main body of the book gets bogged down in repetitive ideas without the clarity of purpose that is seen in the appendices. I preferred Fired up, Frantic, and Freaked Out" by Laura VanArendonk Baugh, which provided a clearer overall book (and helped produce noticeable improvement in my dog's behavior). I will update this review once I have more practical experience with the application of these methods.
January 7, 2017
Read this book because I was hearing about BAT from an online source and wanted a better behaved puppy. I'm happy to know that I've already incorporated similar concepts in my puppy training without labeling it. Stewart does provide more information and clear drawings to explain the BAT concept better. And, her appendices were informative, and stories from those who have used BAT were very interesting and inspiring.
December 26, 2013
I bought this at her seminar and it gave me a lot ideas to help my dog become less leash reactive. It also help to explain what is happening when your dog reacts or " goes over threshold ".
Though it may seem tedious it really helps because it works with the dog rather than against it.
Though it may seem tedious it really helps because it works with the dog rather than against it.
February 7, 2015
Easy to read. Real world examples and common sense approaches to Behavior Adjustment Training. Written in such a way that anyone who wants to learn how to correct bad or unwanted behavior in a dog can comprehend. Highly recommend this book for training your dog.
September 5, 2014
The method Ms. Stewart is recommending worked great for my dog - I would say most of his Fear-Induced Aggression is gone. The reasons beyond aggressive behavior are well-explained, and so is the "philosophy" beyond the BAT - and it makes following the advice, day after day, way easier.
December 15, 2014
Although I was familiar with most of the concepts, I found this book useful for its step-by-step instructions and various suggestions for training variations.
I had to be patient until I reached the interesting part, but it was worth it.
I had to be patient until I reached the interesting part, but it was worth it.
March 11, 2024
výborná kniha, výborné techniky, empatické, efektívne, založené na vedeckých prácach, nie subjektívnych dojmoch. miestami naozaj ťažké čítanie – nebude to síce "povinná literatúra" pre každého bežného majiteľa, ale malo by to byť povinné čítanie pre každého kvalitného trénera.
January 26, 2013
this is what I want to become certified in.
June 17, 2013
A must for all dog owners and especially those with reactive, nervous or amped up pups.
March 13, 2015
So much to process. Great learning tool.
September 16, 2016
awesome, very clear instructions
July 11, 2022
Kniha, kterou by měl mít v knihovně každý pejskař, ne jen majitelé tzv. reaktivců.
April 26, 2017
I read and applied the methods in this book and Grisha's BAT 2.0 version on multiple fear-aggressive dogs over a three-year period. I worked with the assistance of two certified CBATI trainers (the letters Stewart will permit you to attach to your name after you've purchased and successfully passed her training protocol). While reactivity was sometimes reduced, in no case was any dog completely "cured" and trustworthy around their triggers and there were many relapses.
Both books advocate pure positive methods where the dog is allowed to approach a trigger, observe it, and rewarded for not reacting. Punishment is avoided entirely, and replaced with complex "set-ups" and positive reinforcement procedures designed to address the "underlying cause" of the reactivity. Many of the set-ups require the assistance of other trainers and decoy dogs. Coordinating everyone's schedules to implement the program was a definite challenge. When you measure the amount of effort on the part of everyone involved the results were very disappointing.
When I expressed dismay to the CBATI trainers, they suggested the method had not been implemented properly. Of course. It is a very complex method requiring precise design of environments, correct reading of signals and exact timing of responses. Lots of opportunities to make mistakes. The method is pure and elegant and will work flawlessly if we imperfect humans just try hard enough!
After two years of this I'd had enough. I put a prong collar on my dog and learned how to use it. I take my dog out into the community where there are dogs, skateboards, bikes and other triggers but where I can somewhat control the proximity to them. If he is about to react, I correct with a mild two finger pull and ask him to do something (sit, down, etc.). Then we move on. I've found that I can get him into richer environments with few initial corrections. Once there, the desensitization can begin. We can just hang out outside an off-leash area and practice being relaxed and watching the dogs pass by. He learns that the sky won't fall if a dog passes him. The anxiety evaporates. This worked quickly with no relapses. Yes, there were some unpleasant corrections that gave me no pleasure to apply. But now the dog enjoys going out way more and has forgotten the corrections.
Does my dog harbour secret resentment because I punished him for unacceptable behaviour? Has the application of punishment eroded the quality of our "friendship"? Have I somehow crushed his spirit? I don't thinks so. If I were to anthropomorphize his behaviour at all, I would say he is relieved to have received a clear signal about what not to do. The lack of clarity of BAT made him more anxious!
Because BAT and BAT 2.0, and other pure positive approaches avoid all punishment, there are no opportunities to tell your dog what NOT to do. Instead, the dog is presented with a complex set of interactions with no clarity. Anything to avoid the unpleasantness (for us) of correcting the dog.
Fortunately, most of the failed graduates of BAT found help from other trainers. Some died dashing into traffic or had to be put down due to continued aggression. No joke.
Bottom line... by all means if you have all the time in the world and have lots of friends who also have lots of free time and who have non-reactive dogs who can be decoys, try BAT. Maybe it will work for you! But it did not for us.
Both books advocate pure positive methods where the dog is allowed to approach a trigger, observe it, and rewarded for not reacting. Punishment is avoided entirely, and replaced with complex "set-ups" and positive reinforcement procedures designed to address the "underlying cause" of the reactivity. Many of the set-ups require the assistance of other trainers and decoy dogs. Coordinating everyone's schedules to implement the program was a definite challenge. When you measure the amount of effort on the part of everyone involved the results were very disappointing.
When I expressed dismay to the CBATI trainers, they suggested the method had not been implemented properly. Of course. It is a very complex method requiring precise design of environments, correct reading of signals and exact timing of responses. Lots of opportunities to make mistakes. The method is pure and elegant and will work flawlessly if we imperfect humans just try hard enough!
After two years of this I'd had enough. I put a prong collar on my dog and learned how to use it. I take my dog out into the community where there are dogs, skateboards, bikes and other triggers but where I can somewhat control the proximity to them. If he is about to react, I correct with a mild two finger pull and ask him to do something (sit, down, etc.). Then we move on. I've found that I can get him into richer environments with few initial corrections. Once there, the desensitization can begin. We can just hang out outside an off-leash area and practice being relaxed and watching the dogs pass by. He learns that the sky won't fall if a dog passes him. The anxiety evaporates. This worked quickly with no relapses. Yes, there were some unpleasant corrections that gave me no pleasure to apply. But now the dog enjoys going out way more and has forgotten the corrections.
Does my dog harbour secret resentment because I punished him for unacceptable behaviour? Has the application of punishment eroded the quality of our "friendship"? Have I somehow crushed his spirit? I don't thinks so. If I were to anthropomorphize his behaviour at all, I would say he is relieved to have received a clear signal about what not to do. The lack of clarity of BAT made him more anxious!
Because BAT and BAT 2.0, and other pure positive approaches avoid all punishment, there are no opportunities to tell your dog what NOT to do. Instead, the dog is presented with a complex set of interactions with no clarity. Anything to avoid the unpleasantness (for us) of correcting the dog.
Fortunately, most of the failed graduates of BAT found help from other trainers. Some died dashing into traffic or had to be put down due to continued aggression. No joke.
Bottom line... by all means if you have all the time in the world and have lots of friends who also have lots of free time and who have non-reactive dogs who can be decoys, try BAT. Maybe it will work for you! But it did not for us.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews