A Comparison between Humanistic Psychology and Modern Day
Dog Training Practices.
Many Professional trainers when describing themselves will
refer to a specific style or time period in the dog training model. Some of them are “Old School” trainers,
some rely on “Positive Reinforcement” training, and some will even refer to
celebrity trainers like Dr. Ian Dunbar, Cesar Millan or Victoria Stillwell who
are the most common. The question
really is what is the difference and why has this evolved.
The purpose of this article is really to make a comparison
of Humanistic Psychology and modern day Dog Training practices. Humanistic Psychology essentially
evolved from practitioners of psycho analysis and behavioralism. Yes we are talking about Freud and Skinner. The Humanistic approach focused more on
an individual and their treatment verses a blanketed diagnosis and
treatment. Humanistic
psychologists theorized that people are innately good and that physiological
and social problems were because of some deviation from their natural tendency
not matter what the reason. This
reinforces the idea that there is no one right method for everyone as to how to
treat a problem but more of a most appropriate treatment method for each
individual. It can be argued that
with the addition of humanistic psychology the science focused less on right
and wrong but looking for a holistic approach to better the individual.
How is this similar to Modern Day dog training?
What is commonly called “Positive Reinforcement” training in
Professional Dog Training circles resembles Humanistic Psychology more than
Behavioral Psychology. Behavioral
Psychology can be thought to be a more pure science than many other schools of
Psychology. I like to compare
Behavioral psychology to math, there is usually an absolute right and wrong
answer, the answers are not very subjective where as Humanistic Psychology as
well as future schools of thought gave more room for variable outcomes and
variable causes. For instance. If
we look at a simple problem like a dog chasing kids a behavioral approach would
start by reducing access, the modify the behavior in a controlled setting and
end with introducing a rewarding alternative behavior. A humanistic approach would ask
questions like what kind of dog is doing the chasing (herding breed?), how long
has this been going on, what is the dogs mental state while chasing, how old
are the children and what is the frequency of the behavior. All of these questions can lead to
different reasons why the behavior started and will lead to being able to allow
the dog to make different choices in the end. They may use several techniques from medical interference to
several conditioning methods.
In conclusion a closer study for professional trainers to
psychological methods specifically humanism could benefit clients and encourage
more creative methods of behavior problem solving and it is clear there is no
blanketed right or wrong approach to behavior problem solving just a most
appropriate method.
