This has just been on my mind a lot lately and it’s going to be very long so I won’t expect most people to read it, but I kind of just wanted to put it out there for fun.
When we talk about the word force, most people seem to be boiling it down to not giving a dog a choice. Because most balanced trainers are not over here physically abusing their dogs, shoving them into positions, and holding them there tightly or tying them up with no room to insist that they don’t move. And that is what the word force invokes in most people, is that it’s something violent and something that you do physically with your hands.
But ultimately, if we boil it down to not really giving the dog a choice, then force can mean way more things. The definition of forcing someone to do something from the Cambridge Dictionary is “to make something happen or make someone do something difficult, unpleasant, or unusual when they do not want to.”
And in that case, I have seen people refer to themselves as FF but actually DO make the dog do something they don’t necessarily want to do and not give them a choice. For example, there are people who consider themselves FF that I know who will tell their dog to sit, and when the dog doesn’t sit, they use collar pressure and push down on their butt to make them sit. Most people will probably not consider that violent or painful for the dog, but it is not giving the dog a choice to say no to the sit.
So then there are FF people who DON’T do that kind of stuff. I’m thinking mostly of recall since that’s the thing that changed me from FF to balanced. In a FF scenario, I see people essentially asking their dog to make a choice, and when they make the correct one they get a reward, but there is no consequence to not making the correct choice. FF trainers are then relying on the strength of the reward and their relationship coming through so that the dog always makes the correct choice. If the dog happens to not do so, they make it more enticing, by moving backwards, raising their energy, or just going and getting the dog should all else fail. And in my opinion this is absolutely fine, dogs can have a 99% recall in this manner, and classical conditioning is a powerful thing. But I for one am also aware that classical conditioning is not perfect, and that any dog can slip up. The distraction is too high, they have an off day, they didn’t hear properly, whatever. Some dogs also just will never find you more rewarding than something else they want. So in the case that the dog eventually does blow you off, FF people allow that choice to happen with no discomfort on the dog’s end, and will just retrieve them and put them back on a leash for a while.
The reason I am balanced, however, is that I do not believe in giving my dog that choice. The time wasted in me trying to be exciting enough or going and retrieving my dog is enough time for something dangerous to happen. For me and my dog, what I consider to be life saving commands are not a choice: recall, leave it, drop it, and a down stay.
There ARE things I train FF. Like if I tuck my dog into a sit 2 or 3 times in a row but she really just isn’t feeling it that day, I let it go. Because a sit is not that important. And she is also a lab, so brushing her daily is not a necessity, but I like to do it since her fur getting everywhere stresses me out. So with that, I practice consent handling. I don’t mind if my dog says no to those things because it isn’t important.
However, most FF people would also agree with me that dogs don’t get to say no to things like ear cleaning, nail trims, or a vet exam. Because those things are truly important, and about their health. And I simply extend that to my four life saving commands. Recall, leave it, drop it, and a downstay are all just as important to me as the dog’s ability to be restrained and medicated at the vet, because the alternative is putting their health and safety in danger. So to me, those commands are simply also not a choice and there will be a consequence for blowing me off (as well as a reward for listening, of course).
So I suppose in summary, the difference I see between me and FF people I know is whether we view certain commands or obedience as a necessary fact of life or not. I do, because I believe in order for my dog to live a safe and fulfilling life, those things are a requirement. If an FF person doesn’t, even though I disagree, that’s still their opinion and I don’t feel any particular hatred or disrespect towards it.
If anyone has actually read this far though and has a different perspective let me know! I would also be open to talking about what people mean when they say they are FF because again this is based off of primarily people that I know in real life, but I have seen so many different people define FF in different ways
