London - When Barbara Woodhouse famously ordered dog-owners to bark “Sit!” and “Walkies!” at their pets, they all obeyed.
But new evidence suggests that a gentler approach might be better for our four-legged friends.
The strict training methods championed by Mrs Woodhouse in the 1970s and 1980s might even do more harm than good.
Experts say efforts to gain the upper hand over a dog could cause it mental trauma and have an impact on its long-term welfare.
A study claims pets that are trained using such “aversive” techniques are far more likely to show symptoms of stress than those trained using more positive methods.
It found that giving pets a treat as a reward for good behaviour and using a softer voice led to happier animals – and a better relationship with their owners.
The findings cast doubt on the widely used dog-training programme advocated by Mrs Woodhouse, who claimed there were “no bad dogs” – only bad owners who failed to assert themselves over their pets. The research, published in the Journal of Veterinary Behaviour, involved monitoring two dog training schools working with a cross-section of breeds and ages.
One relied primarily on “negative reinforcement”, in which pets were encouraged to perform tasks using harsh tactics such as having their collar pulled.
The other school involved “positive reinforcement”, with dogs receiving treats or being petted, praised and played with when they obediently performed a task.
The two groups were then observed undertaking simple tasks, such as being told to sit. Sixty-five percent of dogs trained using the negative reinforcement methods showed signs of stress – such as mouth-licking, shaking or whining – compared with just eight percent in the “positive” group.
Dogs trained with rewards were also far more likely to gaze at their owner – a sign of a healthy relationship.
Dr Florence Gaunet, from Aix Marseille University in France, who led the study, told the Sunday Telegraph: “What we noticed is that it was bad for the relationship to be trained ‘negatively’.
“These dogs were more likely to show a lower posture and more signs of stress.”
But Dr Roger Mugford, an animal psychologist and author of The Perfect Dog, said relying on “positive” training could lead to spoilt and badly behaved pets.
Mrs Woodhouse, who died in 1988 at the age of 78, became a household name with her TV series Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way. - Daily Mail