12/10/2026
A lovely ready about a personal journey training dogs ….
Why I Don’t Use Aversive Tools to Train My Dogs. It didn't happen overnight and it wasn't a deliberate or conscious choice. I didn't set out to discard aversives. It just sort of happened.
When it comes to training my dogs, I operate a system of dynamic assessment and risk management.
Do I assess every dog in the same way? No, I don’t. Do I expect every dog to respond in an identical manner? Absolutely not.
All my dogs are individuals. They each have different personalities, motivations, strengths, weaknesses and levels of experience. My responsibility is to understand those differences, work with them and make sensible decisions about what I can reasonably expect from each dog in any given situation. I don’t do “One size fits all.”
I don't regard a less-than-perfect performance as justification for introducing positive punishment. That doesn't mean I ignore mistakes, tolerate dangerous behaviour or lower my standards. It simply means I address problems differently. I see failures as a training problem, not an obedience problem. They are not the same thing.
I look at why something went wrong. There are so many reasons why it may have happened.
Was the environment too challenging? Was the dog sufficiently prepared? Had I overestimated its ability? Did I overestimate MY ability? Was there something more rewarding competing for its attention?
Are any of these valid reasons to punish my dog? I chose the environment. I prepared my dog for the exercise. I judged his level of ability. I failed to ensure the motivation I was offering was sufficient. I overestimated my level of skill in a particular situation.
So, when things go wrong in training, as they sometimes do. Then I adjust the training, improve the management and work towards a better outcome. I don’t reach for the aversive tool.
Does this approach work?
Well, over the years I've rehabilitated three of my former Military Working Dogs. All three had previously been trained to detect, pursue and apprehend people. These were not dogs lacking drive, determination or the ability to use aggression. Two out of the three had on occasion took a bite out of me. (They took exception to the harsh methods I employed with them) All three had experienced live bites, on bad people.
And all three were successfully retrained for civilian life, and all could eventually be exercised off lead around people and other dogs. All three lived out their remaining years without a single incident of aggression.
That didn't happen by accident. Nor did it happen overnight. It required patience, experience, consistency, sound judgement and an understanding of each dog's individual strengths, needs and occasionally, limitations.
I often say that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. But in dog training, that's usually a bloody long meal. It means a lifetime at the all you can eat buffet. In all environments and in challenging real-life situations, which are seldom recorded on a mate’s mobile phone for Facebook.
It doesn't mean a two-minute Instagram clip demonstrating an apparently obedient dog after months of increasingly severe corrections. These tell us very little about the quality of the training, the dog's emotional state or how reliably that behaviour will hold up over time.
I don't reject aversive tools because I don't believe in boundaries, discipline or reliable obedience. I believe that discipline starts with me. Not my dog. I reject aversive tools and techniques because I've learned that I can achieve those things without them.
With experience I’ve found that I don't need an e-collar, prong collar or other aversive device to achieve a short cut, or to compensate for a training failure - I need to fully understand the problem and develop a better solution.
My objective has never been simply to produce a dog that obeys. It's to produce a dog that understands, trusts, responds reliably ( all essential in an operational dog) and can enjoy as much freedom as is safely possible.
And if I can achieve that without deliberately causing pain, fear or discomfort, why would I choose otherwise? A well-behaved dog shouldn't have its welfare compromised. It's not either/or.
Cosford Dog Training
Ethics – Education – Experience
