Great post, Joy!
I'll tell you why I'm a "positive trainer": because it works!!!
I, too, listened in the past to the old-time experts who insisted that dogs must be "broken" and "dominated" to make them obey. Never again. It just isn't necessary.
Joey isn't the first dog that I've clicker-trained. I've used clicker-training to teach other dogs to do tricks. Joey IS the first dog I've had for whom clicker-training is a way of life. Positive training isn't just for tricks. It's for problem-solving as well. I'll say it again: positive training is a way of life.
It's knowing that positive reinforcement works MUCH better than negative reinforcement. It's knowing that our dogs want to please us. It's knowing they don't have to be "broken" or dominated. They just have to be shown in a very clear manner what pleases us.
Behavior that is rewarded will increase in frequency. Period. It's knowing that it's much easier to teach a dog
what to do than to teach him
what not to do. It's knowing that to stop an inappropriate behavior, train a different, incompatible behavior.
Clicker training uses a clicker (or a word or sound) to mark the exact second that the dog is doing something right. The dog then gets a reward. Often, the reward is food. But, it can be anything that the dog finds rewarding. A game of tug or fetch. A belly rub. A chance to "go sniff".
My dog doesn't obey me because he's afraid of the consequences of not obeying. He obeys me because there's something in it for him, too. I'm much happier having that kind of relationship and I've got to believe that he is, too!
