Reacting to the Biggest Controversies of my Last Series

Reacting to your most critical comments from my series with Moira. Thank you Nom Nom for sponsoring this video! Go ​ to get 50% off of a 2 week trial!

To learn more about ”opposition reflex” check out this article by Eileen Anderson and the accompanying sources:

For more daily dog training tips and videos follow @zakgeorge on Instagram: ​

I’m on TikTok now! ​

Like me on Facebook! ​

Support my videos by making a contribution on patreon: ​

Order the NEW book here (detailed dog training advice) ​

Or check out my other book (broad overview of choosing, raising and training a dog) here: ​

Our latest series reality dog training With moira the german shepherd dog Received over a 97 Thumbs up ratio which is incredible However there are still some criticisms That i want to tackle head on today This episode is brought to you by one of My favorite dog products on the market Nom nom is fresh Super high quality dog food that is Designed by a veterinary nutritionist Specifically for your individual dog you Just give them A few details about your dog and you Have an optimized Fresh food for them just like that and Yes nom nom meets afco Standards those who know no so nom nom Will ship Fresh ice cold meals to your door every Two weeks When you get it it is really cold and by The way the plastic is completely Recyclable If you think about it it has never been This easy to give your dog Fresh high quality meals each day these Ingredients are unmistakable when you Look at them you can see sweet potatoes You can see chicken you can see the Squash but i got to tell you inertia Spoiled rotten so let’s see how she Likes it hey you want some nom nom Here you go she’s such a dainty eater

But she loves it Sometimes your dog might be in the mood For the beef formula but look in the Beef formula you can see the individual Peas in there and the potatoes and the Eggs And the good news is that she licks the Bowl so clean you don’t even have to put It in the dishwasher afterwards it’s Ready to go If you think your dog would love nom nom You can get 50 off of a two week trial At my special link trinom.com Zack i’m gonna have that link in the Description below by and large you guys Really seem to like the moira series so Much so that we’re going to be Repeating this format with at least one More dog you’re going to be hearing About him A whole lot more real soon nonetheless This series was not without criticism or Controversy at times You guys know from the comment section i Read virtually all the comments you Leave And when i start seeing the same comment Over and over i feel like Okay that’s probably something i need to Explore a little bit more And explain or learn from so today i Really want to talk about a lot of those Issues that people were noticing One considerable controversy in moira’s

Series as well as other videos i’ve made In the past Really involve my using a harness when I’m teaching a dog Not to pull on a leash i frequently get Comments along the lines of Harnesses you encourage a dog to pull Especially when i’m working with a very Powerful strong dog Like moira it might be reasonable to Think that because sled dogs or Weight pulling dogs wear harnesses that The harnesses themselves are the things Causing the dog to pull in reality those Harnesses are designed to distribute Large amounts of weight as safely as Possible to make it easier for those Dogs to pull But the harnesses themselves don’t Encourage or Discourage pulling at all times when People talk about harnesses during leash Training They might bring up something called Opposition reflex Which is theoretically triggered when a Dog feels resistance between the harness And the leash So if they’re pulled in one direction Their instinct is to pull The other way but it turns out that the Term opposition reflex Doesn’t exist in any textbook or Scientific literature and the only place

That you really See anything about opposition reflex is When you’re reading about dog training Or horse training But it tends to be a lot of references Without any scientific background There’s a great article by eileen Anderson i’m gonna have a link in the Description but she goes into a lot of Detail on this topic if it’s something You’re interested in That said i do appreciate what people Who are using this rather confusing term Are trying to say i mean it would make Sense that dogs have a resistance to Coercion just like all of us do When people try to get us to do Something we don’t want to do it’s very Natural for us to resist But using the term reflex which is a Very specific physiological response With a clear definition Is misleading and problematic because It’s false and it perpetuates the idea That dogs have no choice but to pull When they feel resistance It seems far more effective and Intelligent to me to acknowledge that We’re trying to get dogs to do Something they would prefer not to do You know like walk slowly next to us and Not Lunge towards another dog instead of Attributing their leash pulling behavior

To a fake reflex that doesn’t seem to Exist I use a y-shaped harness when i’m Training dogs to walk nicely because They put the least amount of pressure on A dog’s most sensitive areas and they Don’t restrict a dog’s range of motion Or put extra stress on their joints So when i’m training a dog i really just Think of the leash and the harness or Even a leash and a collar as a safety Net as a way to keep a dog out of harm’s Way and to keep them relatively under Control but my job is to get a dog to Listen from the Inside out not the other way around a Lot of you throughout the series were Asking Why we continue to do a lot of the same Types of training On consecutive days i actually love that You guys picked up on that because that Really is the essence the reality of Training dogs That requires enormous amounts of Repetition and redundancy and that’s True especially when you’re working with Reactive dogs like moira that is dogs That tend to be triggered or act out Really disproportionately and Interestingly it’s not all identical Repetition i mean you have to find Different ways to train the same thing By changing one variable

At a time so for example you might teach Something to your dog like sit lie down Stay Come in your living room but then when You try to teach them outside it becomes A little more difficult which is why you Have to do a lot of repetition By changing one variable at a time in That case it would be the environment I’m sure that many of you have seen Things on tv Youtube even on my channel that might Lead you to believe hey I can train these things in one lesson Or just a few days But in reality when you’re trying to Achieve true behavior modification There’s no way to speed that up however Long it takes is how long it takes And that can vary a lot from dog to dog So in moira’s case I think that she probably needs a few Months of this but we got her off to a Fantastic start And when i’m working with reactive dogs My general game plan is to really Desensitize Start there get them used to the things That caused them to behave in that way In moira’s case it was other dogs that Caused her to react In this way the most so like you Remember from the series i gave her a Lot of room to

Experience dogs from a distance over Many days in a row To try and get her more and more used to Seeing them and we really started to see Some pretty significant progress i was Quite pleased with her Greater progress and of course Counter-conditioning another huge part Of working with a reactive dog that’s Where we try to change their emotional Response to a more Favorable one by providing a more Desired outcome Around the thing that causes them to Behave in that way traditionally so if a Dog sees another dog and that causes Them to bark by providing a Few seconds with a tug toy or even some Treats we’re changing their perception Of what that event causes them to do and The hope is by exercising them Desensitizing them and Counter-conditioning them we can really Begin to see some awesome results as Long as we continue to do those things Over an extended period of time with Most dogs Speaking of which the next thing i Really want to talk about is the Controversial time period Of this series there were a lot of you Who were saying that getting a dog like Moira to behave should just take a day Or so

Nowhere near two weeks but even more of You Who understand a little bit more about How dogs learn were saying Two weeks is nowhere near enough time to Get those kind of issues resolved Regardless almost all of you thought two Weeks was not the right amount of time But i wholeheartedly agree with a second Group of you Who agreed that yeah two weeks really Isn’t enough time to completely resolve These issues Now of course we did see moira make some Pretty exceptional progress over that Two-week period with me And that’s because i was really putting In a lot of focus time with her Every single day my overall goal with This series was to give moira a really Solid foundation of training so that Arena her adopter would have a Clear place to pick up with her training Moving forward then at the other end of The spectrum we had a Number of people in this series who were Strongly suggesting That i should be much harsher when moira Acted out like this Their logic was that if i would deliver Firm well-timed corrections with a tool Like a prong collar around her neck That this would have resolved those Behaviors very quickly

But i did try to make it clear Throughout this entire series that i Really wanted moira to behave and Understand me on a deeper level than That Which is why i went through significant Effort to teach her important skills Like impulse control Basic obedience and how to have an Appropriate outlet for her desire to run And chase after things See my goal is really to show a dog how To behave because they Understand the concept i’m trying to Teach them and because they look forward To Positive outcomes when they do behave Desirably not because they fear a Correction Not to mention that this approach can Often actually backfire As a dog can begin to associate the mere Presence of another dog with an Unpleasant correction which can cause Them to perceive dogs in a more Threatening way moving forward and Actually escalate the reactivity Long term and that is a key point and Guys it’s not like i Invented this approach to dog training The american veterinary society of Animal behavior the international Association of animal behavior Consultants the association of

Professional dog trainers and every Other credible organization dedicated to Training and welfare of dogs condemns The use of punishments like cron collars In favor of a more proactive approach That shows a dog what we want them to do Instead of punishing them for doing Something wrong in order for me to Consider using something like a prong Collar a choke chain or an electric Collar when i’m training a dog I would have to disregard an enormous Body of science And that’s just not something i’m Willing to do and remember in training Our dogs we want to use The least aversive method that’s likely To work Your comments really do shape the future Of this channel so keep them coming And go to trinom.com zach to get 50 Off of a two-week trial of nom nom Subscribe to my channel and follow us on Instagram facebook and tick tock and Check out both of my books too where i Really elaborate on a lot of things we Talked about today I’ll have all the links below we are Hard at work right now preparing our Next series And we’ll see you in the next video bye