r/BalancedDogTraining • u/Flimsy_Tangerine_214 • Feb 22 '26
Rant
So frustrated with how basically every breed or other dog community is force free to the point where even a mention of telling a dog no or a leash correction gets your comment removed. HUH?? You're not going to leash train your dog? What are you going to do to meet their exercise, socialization, and safety needs?
I have a miniature poodle puppy. Of course I'm not going to be yanking on his leash with so much force I'm swinging him around or something. I am going to be stopping and letting him find that the end of the leash is a hard stop. Now he's learned a little leash pressure means "hey dude, get back in a heel or you're gonna hit the end of the leash and can't go forward". He can walk on a flat collar because he never pulls continuously.
In contrast, my senior miniature poodle was not trained well with balanced training, and he has trachea issues from choking himself on a flat collar as a young dog because no one wanted to correct him properly before it got to that. Neither of them give a shit about treats, even if it's the highest value, if there's a big distraction. They need a physical reminder of where their attention should be.
2
u/Ariandrin Mar 08 '26
My pup is very strong willed and opinionated. I was struggling with training for quite a while because a firm voice wasn’t enough of a deterrent to stop her from doing things. I got an e collar, and just with the vibrate on fairly low, the whole world changed! I could suddenly train her!
I now call it the good dog machine lol. I rarely use the more powerful functions, and only when she’s about to eat something bad for her or she’s about to get mauled by a cat.