Dog training- what was it like 50yrs ago?

[Kase]

Around the end of January I have a presentation about how the animal industry has changed over the years and what will it be like in the future, I have to choose one field to go into detail about. The bright spark that I am decided it woud be a brilliant idea to look at dog training even though I don't know as much as I would like lol.

I know there are many different methods of dog training and I don't have to go into huge amounts of info as its only a 15 min presentation.

I have to looks at:

Skills people in the industry had 50yrs ago, what techniques they used.

Skills people have now in the present

Skills/techniques people will have/use in the future


I was wondering if anyone had any useful links that would help me collect information together or just any usefull information?


I hope it doesn't sound like I'm asking people to do my assignment for me lol because I am not I'm just collecting info using a source of my choice. I'd rather get honest answers from chaz people than read biased info from peoples websites I don't 'know' if you see where I'm coming from lol . Thanks in advance to anyone who replies :).

[Julie]

It would be nice if you could find some very old dog training books. :D
I am sure training was more "heavy" handed back then, and now it is more
about positive reinforcement.
I don't have any links, but maybe some of the "more experienced" members (okay older) can give you some real memories of how it has changed.
Good Luck.

[Charliesmommy]

Sounds like some really interesting research! I agree with Julie that your best bet is to try to find some old books. I'm sure you can find TONS of websites on current training methods but past training methods will be much harder. I do know that it's only been the last 20-25 years that the method of positive reinforcement has become so popular and now seems to be the only "acceptable" training method so I would look for books at least that old. Unfortunately, it sounds like your time is limited and antique dog training books will probably be hard to find and expensive. Wish I had better advice for you! Goodluck!

[whatszmatter]

I don't think training has changed much. I read old books, from the early 1900's and they talk about compulsion and positive training and in fact put down a lot of things that seemed to be very popular in the 60's and 70's, and put an emphaisis on the working relationship between dog and handler and not "dominating physically" at every turn.

What I think has changed has been the attitude of the majority of people. A few decades ago it was all compulsion (thought of as majority even though many people were doing the exact things that are called "new" and "advanced" today). in the early to mid 90's you started to see a shift towards purely positive. The pendulum started swinging towards that extreme, and seems to be still moving in that direction.

I suspect in another 10 or 20 years it will start to move back towards the middle again, maybe 30 years, I don't know, but since everything else in life seems to follow a pendulum type action and most often the correct answers are found somewhere in the middle of two extremes, I don't see why dog training would be immune to that

[elegy]

i recently got a copy of william koehler's dog training book, published in 1962. it was.... unlike anything i've ever read before. wow. i have a hard time believing that the average joe dog owner used the more outlandish of his methods, but i am SO glad that training has moved away from using pain and intimidation to train.

[IliamnasQuest]

i recently got a copy of william koehler's dog training book, published in 1962. it was.... unlike anything i've ever read before. wow. i have a hard time believing that the average joe dog owner used the more outlandish of his methods, but i am SO glad that training has moved away from using pain and intimidation to train.

I was going to suggest looking into Koehler's methods, but wasn't sure what decade he wrote his original book in. 1962 is nearly 50 years back, though! I have the book somewhere (refuse to get rid of it as I never want to forget how bad some of that was) but it's packed away right now.

Kase, I'd be willing to bet that at least in the U.S., Koehler's methods were what was typically accepted as "THE" training method. It was pretty much all compulsion, including some very harsh techniques. For example, if your dog dug holes in the backyard, he suggested filling the holes with water and holding your dog's head under water while it fought to get loose. He was also a major promoter of the alpha roll, and it was used for everything that could be construed "aggressive" (even if it wasn't actually aggressive).

Another popular book was "How To Be Your Dog's Best Friend" by the Monks of New Skete. They were also quite forceful in their methods. I do still have that book here and it's dated 1978, so we're looking at 30 years back. They advocated the alpha roll too, as well as two other methods of discipline: slapping hard under the chin (to be used on puppies too) and grabbing the dog by the jowls on either side of the dog's face, picking it up and shaking it. In the book they state that the slap under the chin should be hard enough to make the dog yelp, and the lifting and shaking of the dog should last a good 30 seconds - and you should be yelling at the dog and maintaining eye contact the entire time. Thirty seconds is a LONG time to be disciplining a dog! They say the dog should be shaken up mentally and physically when you're done.

Both Koehler and the monks recommended choke chains for training, and a lot of popping on the leash. I tend to think of Koehler and the monks of New Skete as the "old school" trainers. It's the way I was originally taught.

Thankfully people have evolved (well, many have!). I think that more people want to understand their dogs and not simply make them mind. This has led to better and closer relationships between dogs and humans. Unfortunately this has also led to some being overly permissive (with their human kids too). But as always, there is a balance between the two that is where dog training will settle more, I believe.

It's hard to speculate what may be the training choices in the future. Maybe someone will design a collar that will measure brain waves in our dogs and give us a scientific explanation of what they are feeling or trying to express .. think how much we could do if we truly knew what they were thinking!

Sounds like an interesting project - good luck!

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

By the way, here are a few of the listings at the back of the Monks of New Skete book:

"Family Dog" by John Holmes, published 1958.
"The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior" by Clarence Phaffenberger, published 1963.
"Working Dogs" by Elliott Humphrey, published 1934.
"Training the Dog" by Will Judy, published 1958.
"Training Dogs, a Manual" by Konrad Most, 1954.
"Expert Obedience Training for Dogs" by Winifred Gibson Strickland, published 1965.
"Companion Dog Training" by Hans Tossuti, published 1942.

[pancho]

There are many old book still available. Many are owned by old dog owners. Most are not available on line. It takes more effort than clicking on a web site. Most people are satisfied with clicking on a web site and taking what is stated there as the way it was back in the old days. Finding the old books and reading them is usually too much work when there is lots of info on the web. It doesn't matter if what is on line is the truth or not, it is readily available.
I just looked in my library and saw 4 books that might help you.
The Farmers Dog, by John Holmes, published in 1960
Water Dog, Revolutionary Rapid Training Method, by Richard A Wolters, published in 1964
Dog Breeding Theory & Practice, by Will Judy, published in 1958
This is The German Shepherd, by Captain William Goldbecker and Ernest H. Hart, published in 1960

[Doberluv]

I remember reading that Koehler book and the Monks of New Skete. I remember being horrified by what I read in Koehler. This was in the 70's. There was no way I was going to do any of that. The Monks book, I recall wasn't as hard core. Then there was Barbara Woodhouse on TV....didn't read any book. She was also more compulsive but I don't recall if she was that bad. So I would guess the trend was that of a compulsive way, varying in degree of harshness.

I remember reading one book back in the 70's...forget the name of it but it was written by Paul Loeb. He trained his Weim to go to the corner store and buy his own dog food and bring it home. He'd go in, get a hand carrying basket, go to the shelf, knock a few cans in, take it to the counter where the clerk rang it up. Paul had an account so there was no money exchanged. Then the dog carried the bag home....just a short way, I guess. He described in detail how he step by step taught the dog. It was all positive reinforcement and baby steps....very fun book.

I remember taking my GSD to a class and he was a strong puller. He was still young and that trainer just said, "yank him!" He'd drag me around the ring and I couldn't hold him back. She kept yelling at me, "Yank him!" Well, I was and it wasn't working. Finally I said, "Here, you yank him!" And she got dragged around the ring. LOL. I got nowhere and quit. He needed more time at home before any class situation. I never went back to any class and he turned out to be very nicely trained, explicitly obedient and happy. I did use more compulsive methods but was not rough on him. I don't think I used treats, but lots of praise. My Doberman is the first and only dog I've taken to obedience class since. All the dogs before I just trained myself.

People talk about shock collars to train hunting dogs. Back in the 60's, my Dad hunted with several friends who had hunting dogs and all of them used very gentle methods...no shock collars, no harshness at all. These people absolutely adored their dogs and they were treated as family members. They were beautifully trained, fantastically trained. So, when people say you need a shock collar, that I don't buy either. So, there were some people in the 60's and 70's who did not believe in compulsive, harsh methods.

I'm sure it all varied then, as it does now. There may have been some trends one way or the other, just as always with everything.

Good luck on this interesting project.

[RD]

Yes to all of the above, but also in the '50s, positive training by way of classical/operant conditioning was taking its first steps. Marion and Keller Breland (among others) were beginning to train zoo/marine animals using conditioned reinforcers.

[Kase]

Oh wow thankyou so much everyone! :) I feel so bad but I actually forgot to come back to this thread sooner! I'm really gonna have to work hard on this at some point soon and will let you know how it goes. If I feel brave I'll show you the draft of my presentation lol. Thanks again guys :).