The Diane Rehm Show

I finally was able to listen to the show online and am so glad that I did. What a great show! I am such a dog-loving and -respecting person, and it is so wonderful to hear someone talk about how important these animals are in our world.
On the other hand, what I find quite disturbing is some of the comments that I have read here, especially concerning the use aversive "training" techniques. Being a strictly positive-reinforcement trainer, I find it so frustrating to hear people say that their dogs could not be trained using these techniques and they had to use choke chains/prong collars/shock collars. If these people really understood the most basic ideas of learning theory and how dogs perceive us, in their language, they might be able to understand that their dogs are also able to learn, and not be forced to do everything. If I hear the word "dominance" one more time, I think I am going to go ballistic!
Oh, and by the way, I do not include using an electric fence in the same light as using a shock collar for "training." I do not like electric fences, but I do understand that in some neighborhoods, they may be considered necessary. In the case written here about keeping the retriever safe from coyotes, I do not think the electric fence will keep the coyotes out of your yard. I know that there are several cases here in NE Ohio, in which coyotes have come into yards and taken their dogs away.