Post by Kona on Jun 7, 2005 18:38:01 GMT -5
I picked up Paul Loeb's book "Smarter Than You Think" because of the blurb on the front that touted his method as a "Revolutionary approach to teaching and understanding your dog in just a few hours," plus a quote from the Wall Street Journal on the back that said, "Paul Loeb is to the canine world what B.F. Skinner was to the study of man."
I know that truly "revolutionary" methods in dog training come about every couple of decades at most, but still I figured that there must be something worthwhile to generate such hype. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Loeb spends quite a bit of the book rambling in all directions, and I'll get to some of that in a bit, but his main training technique he calls the "Magic Touch." Sounds intriguing, right? Read on. The magic touch is no more or less than hitting or throwing something at your dog, and Loeb uses it to "teach" almost every behavior.
How do you teach your dog not to go to someone else if they call him? "A well placed slap on the behind, or if you can't reach him, throw something." (page 43).
How do you teach your dog to heel? "If he does not follow you, throw something at him." (page 43). "Instead of snapping the lead for control, you can now have this same control by throwing." (page 111).
How do you teach your dog to come when called? "Whenever you want your dog, call him. If he doesn't come to you, go find him and throw something." (page 49).
What if you call him and he's distracted by other dogs? "If he doesn't (come back to you), throw the leash or something else at him, and he'll come back. That's called control." (page 51).
But what if you find that you have to call him again and again? "At this point, don't call him at all. Just throw something at him." (page 112).
How do you teach your dog to sit nicely for teeth-brushing? "If your dog won't sit well for a brushing, then put the brush down and tell him in no uncertain words to stop fooling around. This is done by taking ahold of his collar and giving him a good shake or a light cuff. Repeat this procedure until he stops fighting ..." (page 75).
But surely at least we've all learned by now not to hit our dogs if they urinate or defecate in the house, right? "... find him and drag him over to the mess by his collar, or carry him over to the mess, and not in a very nice way. Show him what he did by picking up the mess with the paper towel. Let him smell it, let him see it, then put the towel back down, give the dog a slap on the behind and let him go." (page 141). So exactly how quickly will this method work with my dog? "Housebreaking is a very simple matter. And when we say overnight we mean exactly that." (page 146).
OK, but what if you know for a fact that the urinating is purely submissive? Loeb must admit that hitting a submissive dog will only make matters worse, correct? "Some call it submissive, we call it happy .... Whenever your happy pee-er pees, quietly take him by the collar, give him a little pop or tap on the behind to let him know that you're not happy with his happiness." (page 196).
Alright, but he has to know that dogs are "in-the-moment" creatures, and catching them in the act is vital to their understanding of consequences, yes? " ... even if you find the mess a year later, you can still punish him." (page 195).
What if your dog gets tired of all of the hitting and throwing, and finally bites you? "If your dog bites you, you should give him a good slap and tell him not to do it again." (page 175).
What if it's just a play bite? "Leave that hand where it is... With your other hand slap the side of his mouth, and tell him to stop it, or that's enough, or whatever else you feel comfortable saying." And if he doesn't let go? "If he doesn't, slap him again, until he does stop." (page 176).
But surely if the dog is a fear-biter, all of this hitting and throwing will just make it worse, right? "Our throwing technique is custom made for this particular type of problem. Step back and throw something." (page 179).
What about the truly aggressive biter? Let's say for instance a really big, really aggressive dog? "With the biting dog you have two choices. One is throwing, and the bigger and more aggressive the dog, the bigger the object should be. The other option is a well placed slap..." (page 201).
Dog fights? "Generally a good slap on the behind will stop a dog fight" (page 183).
Barking? "Barking can be solved very quickly with the throwing technique." (page 185). And if that doesn't work? "If he barks again, go back and repeat it until he stops." (page 186).
Running to the door? "You walk up to the door; he should be behind you or at your side. If he isn't, and he is in front of you, throw something at him." (page 188). And if that doesn't work? "... repeat the process ... The problem is solved within fifteen minutes." (page 189).
Jumping on furniture? " ... when your dog jumps up on the couch, take him by the collar, give him a pop on the behind, and make him get off the couch." (page 192).
Mounting? "Mounting is still aggression. If your dog mounts you, give him a slap and push him off." (page 194).
Begging at the table? "When he goes for the food ... use our throwing technique ..." (page 80).
You get the point. That's his "revolutionary" technique - hitting your dog, or throwing something at him. He claims that his methods are the be-all and end-all of training ("This book will give you all of the tools you'll ever need." [Intro., page xiv]), and he discusses other tools merely to dismiss them ("We don't need to use such training aids as cages or crates for housebreaking or controlling destructive habits, or choke collars, pinch collars, or leashes for control when walking." [Intro., page xiii]).
More specifically -
Leashes: "If you must take him with you on your exercising journeys, then teach him to stay with you off a lead." (page 12). "An umbilical cord is removed at birth because it's unnecessary after that." (page 32).
Prong collars: "These should be temporary training tools until he learns what you want. Then get rid of them." (page 102).
Electric collars: "... incredibly inhumane ... torture collars ..." (page 103).
Crates: They are "... an unthinkable, inhumane, prison sentence." (Intro., page xx). "In times of emergency, a cage or a crate can become the ultimate trap." (page 47).
Aversives: "They only work until the dog figures out that they are silly and no threat to him. That will happen overnight, or at the most a couple of days." (Intro., page xiv).
Food rewards: "We're not going to tempt him with food rewards ... (b)ecause the minute someone comes along with a better treat, he's going to listen to them, and not to you." (page 6). " dog's are very smart and learn very quickly to hold out for bigger and better bribes." (page 39).
Practicing: " don't practice. There's no need for it and it will bore your dog to tears." (page 48). "There just isn't enough time in a day for you to practice your doggy lessons. So ultimately you're doomed to fail ... You can have a well-behaved, responsible dog in no time at all, and without endless and overbearing practice sessions." (Intro., page x). "That is why I can now give you a blueprint for successfully teaching your dog immediately, with no practice ..." (Intro., page xii).
Trainers: "To us that's not your trained dog, that's the trainer's trained dog. We want your dog to hate the trainer and to love you." (page 17).
But while the main thrust of the book is training, Loeb goes on to opine about many other subjects, from advising feeding your dog "people food," to offering dangerous medical advice; from giving preposterous guidance on communicating with your dog to suggesting that breaking laws about dog access is perfectly ok.
If it sounds like I’m dismissing the entirety of the book, I am. It is difficult to find complete paragraphs that are accurate or safe. The book is comprised almost completely of nonsense, inaccuracies, and horrible advice. A best-case scenario, as always with bad training, is that you might end up with a good dog in spite of your efforts to utilize this horrible book. I don’t even want to think about a worst-case scenario of a puppy that is taken from his mother and littermates as early as possible; given products like mouthwash and toothpaste that were formulated for people and not dogs; spoken to in long sentences rather than easy-to-understand short commands; punished for mistakes he made years earlier; and trained by being hit, with hands and objects, over and over and over…
[edited for spelling]
I know that truly "revolutionary" methods in dog training come about every couple of decades at most, but still I figured that there must be something worthwhile to generate such hype. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Loeb spends quite a bit of the book rambling in all directions, and I'll get to some of that in a bit, but his main training technique he calls the "Magic Touch." Sounds intriguing, right? Read on. The magic touch is no more or less than hitting or throwing something at your dog, and Loeb uses it to "teach" almost every behavior.
How do you teach your dog not to go to someone else if they call him? "A well placed slap on the behind, or if you can't reach him, throw something." (page 43).
How do you teach your dog to heel? "If he does not follow you, throw something at him." (page 43). "Instead of snapping the lead for control, you can now have this same control by throwing." (page 111).
How do you teach your dog to come when called? "Whenever you want your dog, call him. If he doesn't come to you, go find him and throw something." (page 49).
What if you call him and he's distracted by other dogs? "If he doesn't (come back to you), throw the leash or something else at him, and he'll come back. That's called control." (page 51).
But what if you find that you have to call him again and again? "At this point, don't call him at all. Just throw something at him." (page 112).
How do you teach your dog to sit nicely for teeth-brushing? "If your dog won't sit well for a brushing, then put the brush down and tell him in no uncertain words to stop fooling around. This is done by taking ahold of his collar and giving him a good shake or a light cuff. Repeat this procedure until he stops fighting ..." (page 75).
But surely at least we've all learned by now not to hit our dogs if they urinate or defecate in the house, right? "... find him and drag him over to the mess by his collar, or carry him over to the mess, and not in a very nice way. Show him what he did by picking up the mess with the paper towel. Let him smell it, let him see it, then put the towel back down, give the dog a slap on the behind and let him go." (page 141). So exactly how quickly will this method work with my dog? "Housebreaking is a very simple matter. And when we say overnight we mean exactly that." (page 146).
OK, but what if you know for a fact that the urinating is purely submissive? Loeb must admit that hitting a submissive dog will only make matters worse, correct? "Some call it submissive, we call it happy .... Whenever your happy pee-er pees, quietly take him by the collar, give him a little pop or tap on the behind to let him know that you're not happy with his happiness." (page 196).
Alright, but he has to know that dogs are "in-the-moment" creatures, and catching them in the act is vital to their understanding of consequences, yes? " ... even if you find the mess a year later, you can still punish him." (page 195).
What if your dog gets tired of all of the hitting and throwing, and finally bites you? "If your dog bites you, you should give him a good slap and tell him not to do it again." (page 175).
What if it's just a play bite? "Leave that hand where it is... With your other hand slap the side of his mouth, and tell him to stop it, or that's enough, or whatever else you feel comfortable saying." And if he doesn't let go? "If he doesn't, slap him again, until he does stop." (page 176).
But surely if the dog is a fear-biter, all of this hitting and throwing will just make it worse, right? "Our throwing technique is custom made for this particular type of problem. Step back and throw something." (page 179).
What about the truly aggressive biter? Let's say for instance a really big, really aggressive dog? "With the biting dog you have two choices. One is throwing, and the bigger and more aggressive the dog, the bigger the object should be. The other option is a well placed slap..." (page 201).
Dog fights? "Generally a good slap on the behind will stop a dog fight" (page 183).
Barking? "Barking can be solved very quickly with the throwing technique." (page 185). And if that doesn't work? "If he barks again, go back and repeat it until he stops." (page 186).
Running to the door? "You walk up to the door; he should be behind you or at your side. If he isn't, and he is in front of you, throw something at him." (page 188). And if that doesn't work? "... repeat the process ... The problem is solved within fifteen minutes." (page 189).
Jumping on furniture? " ... when your dog jumps up on the couch, take him by the collar, give him a pop on the behind, and make him get off the couch." (page 192).
Mounting? "Mounting is still aggression. If your dog mounts you, give him a slap and push him off." (page 194).
Begging at the table? "When he goes for the food ... use our throwing technique ..." (page 80).
You get the point. That's his "revolutionary" technique - hitting your dog, or throwing something at him. He claims that his methods are the be-all and end-all of training ("This book will give you all of the tools you'll ever need." [Intro., page xiv]), and he discusses other tools merely to dismiss them ("We don't need to use such training aids as cages or crates for housebreaking or controlling destructive habits, or choke collars, pinch collars, or leashes for control when walking." [Intro., page xiii]).
More specifically -
Leashes: "If you must take him with you on your exercising journeys, then teach him to stay with you off a lead." (page 12). "An umbilical cord is removed at birth because it's unnecessary after that." (page 32).
Prong collars: "These should be temporary training tools until he learns what you want. Then get rid of them." (page 102).
Electric collars: "... incredibly inhumane ... torture collars ..." (page 103).
Crates: They are "... an unthinkable, inhumane, prison sentence." (Intro., page xx). "In times of emergency, a cage or a crate can become the ultimate trap." (page 47).
Aversives: "They only work until the dog figures out that they are silly and no threat to him. That will happen overnight, or at the most a couple of days." (Intro., page xiv).
Food rewards: "We're not going to tempt him with food rewards ... (b)ecause the minute someone comes along with a better treat, he's going to listen to them, and not to you." (page 6). " dog's are very smart and learn very quickly to hold out for bigger and better bribes." (page 39).
Practicing: " don't practice. There's no need for it and it will bore your dog to tears." (page 48). "There just isn't enough time in a day for you to practice your doggy lessons. So ultimately you're doomed to fail ... You can have a well-behaved, responsible dog in no time at all, and without endless and overbearing practice sessions." (Intro., page x). "That is why I can now give you a blueprint for successfully teaching your dog immediately, with no practice ..." (Intro., page xii).
Trainers: "To us that's not your trained dog, that's the trainer's trained dog. We want your dog to hate the trainer and to love you." (page 17).
But while the main thrust of the book is training, Loeb goes on to opine about many other subjects, from advising feeding your dog "people food," to offering dangerous medical advice; from giving preposterous guidance on communicating with your dog to suggesting that breaking laws about dog access is perfectly ok.
If it sounds like I’m dismissing the entirety of the book, I am. It is difficult to find complete paragraphs that are accurate or safe. The book is comprised almost completely of nonsense, inaccuracies, and horrible advice. A best-case scenario, as always with bad training, is that you might end up with a good dog in spite of your efforts to utilize this horrible book. I don’t even want to think about a worst-case scenario of a puppy that is taken from his mother and littermates as early as possible; given products like mouthwash and toothpaste that were formulated for people and not dogs; spoken to in long sentences rather than easy-to-understand short commands; punished for mistakes he made years earlier; and trained by being hit, with hands and objects, over and over and over…
[edited for spelling]