clipped from www.boston.com

The debate over the Dog Whisperer

His TV show is a hit and celebrities swear by him. But his tough-love training has detractors barking that positive reinforcement is less cruel and fetches better results.

clipped from www.boston.com

Now widely used around the world by animal trainers in zoos, performing-animal handlers, and domestic pet trainers, the clicker method and other positive, noncoercive forms of training have scientific evidence backing up their effectiveness, according to Dr. Nicholas Dodman, director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at Tufts University.

Now pediatricians and schools and parents have swung to a reinforcement-based model. In the dog world, I think that operant techniques are gradually sweeping the system.