- Home
- Board and train
- Force-free vs balanced board and train
Methods compared
Force-free vs balanced board and train
This page tries to describe balanced training the way its practitioners would recognize it, then sets out what researchers found when the approaches were tested side by side. The difference matters more in board and train than anywhere else, because you are not in the room while the methods are used.
Side by side
The difference is what follows a wrong answer: a balanced program adds a correction, a force-free one withholds the reward and resets
Balanced trainers teach new behaviors with food, toys and praise, much as force-free trainers do. The split comes when a dog knows a cue and does not respond, or does something unwanted. A balanced program then adds an unpleasant consequence, such as pressure from a prong collar, a leash correction or stimulation from a remote collar, often at a level its users describe as communication rather than pain. Many of these trainers care deeply about dogs and see the tools as a route to off-leash freedom.
A force-free program handles the same moment differently. The reward is withheld, the exercise is made easier, and management, such as a leash, a gate or more distance, stops the unwanted behavior from paying while the dog learns what does. Dogtown's training is fear- and force-free and built on positive reinforcement, so a Foundation or Advanced stay involves no prong, choke or remote collars and no leash corrections at any stage.
| Force-free board and train | Balanced board and train | |
|---|---|---|
| Teaching new skills | Markers, food, toys, play | Markers, food, toys, play |
| When the dog gets it wrong | Reward withheld, exercise made easier | A correction by leash, prong or remote collar |
| Tools that may come home | Flat collar or harness, leash, long line | Often a prong or remote collar, with instructions |
| AVSAB 2021 position | Recommended for all training | Aversive methods should not be used |
| Stress signs in comparison studies | Fewer during training | More during training |
| Owner-reported improvement | High in studies | Also high in studies |
| At Dogtown | Every program | Not offered |
The evidence
Tested side by side, both approaches satisfied owners, and the dogs trained with aversives showed more stress
Balanced trainers point to results, and owners do report them. In a 2014 study by Cooper and colleagues, 63 dogs with recall problems were trained by experienced e-collar trainers nominated by a manufacturers' association, by the same trainers with inactive collars, or by reward-based trainers, and around nine in ten owners in each group reported improvement. The same study found the e-collar dogs spent more time tense and yawned more than the reward-trained dogs, and their owners were the least confident about carrying the training on.
A 2020 paper by China and colleagues, from the same research group and with the same three-group design, analyzed video of the training and found no difference in how often dogs disobeyed, while the reward-focused group answered come and sit faster. A separate 2020 study in Portugal, by Vieira de Castro and colleagues, followed 92 dogs at seven schools and found more stress behaviors and larger cortisol rises in dogs from aversive-based schools, plus more pessimistic choices in a later test. Its authors note that their design cannot prove cause.
AVSAB's 2021 statement draws its line from that body of work. It grants that many methods of changing behavior are effective and that survey studies cannot separate cause from correlation, then concludes that there is no evidence aversive methods are more effective than reward-based ones in any context, and that they should not be used in training or behavior treatment.
Fallout
Fallout is the cost that shows up later, and in a stay it can follow the cue home
AVSAB calls the consequences of aversive methods well documented: increased anxiety and fear-related aggression, avoidance and learned helplessness, with dogs less motivated to train and less likely to engage with the people they live with. One finding matters most for board and train. Dogs taught a cue with aversive methods went on showing stress behaviors when that cue was given, suggesting the cue itself had become unpleasant. In a stay, the cue is exactly what gets handed to you at pick-up.
There is a practical fallout as well. A behavior held in place by a correction tends to depend on the tool, so the collar often goes home with the dog and its timing becomes your job. In the 2014 study, owners in the e-collar group were the least confident about continuing. A reward-based stay sends home a leash, a treat pouch and a set of cues, and the go-home lesson teaches you to deliver them.
- Watch for lip licking, yawning, a tucked tail or a lowered body during sessions
- Watch for a dog that avoids the trainer or turns away from the cue
- Ask whether a collar or other tool comes home with the dog
- Ask what you will have to keep doing, and for how long
Fair questions
Where a balanced program looks stronger is the speed of visible change, which is worth testing before you pay
The honest case for a balanced stay is that a correction can stop a behavior quickly, so a dog may look quieter or more obedient by pick-up, and owners who have struggled for months find that persuasive. Some balanced trainers are skilled and careful, and some owners are content to use a remote collar for life. If fast visible suppression and a tool you will keep using are your criteria, a balanced program will appeal; the studies above are the reason we do not run one.
What the comparison studies did not find was a dog that learned more. Suppressed behavior can pass for calm on video, while a dog that has learned a situation is safe looks loose and keeps taking food. AVSAB adds that when a trainer struggles with a case, the next step is another reward-based trainer, a veterinarian, a board-certified veterinary behaviorist or a certified applied animal behaviorist, not a heavier tool. Put the same questions to every program, ours included.
- 01
Ask for the equipment list in writing, including anything sold separately
- 02
Ask exactly what happens when your dog does not respond to a cue
- 03
Ask to watch an unedited training session from start to finish
- 04
Ask what the trainer does when a dog shows stress signals
- 05
Ask what you will need to use at home afterward, and for how long
- 06
Ask how many owner lessons come with the stay
On Cape Ann
On Cape Ann, a recall built on rewards has legal places to be tested once the season allows
Most owners who consider an e-collar want an off-leash recall. AVSAB notes that recall training is the most common reason owners turn to remote shock collars, and the 2020 comparison found no recall advantage for them. Cape Ann offers places to build one on a long line instead: at the time of writing Gloucester allows dogs off leash on Good Harbor on even-numbered days from October 1 to March 31 and on Wingaersheek on odd-numbered days from October 1 to April 30.
To start a force-free stay, send the training form. The assessment with Gabriella Pope comes first, then the free evaluation on a weekday morning between 6:30 and 9:30 with Rabies, DHPP and Bordetella on file and a current dog license. Families in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea can have the Pup Van make the drop-off for $10 each way. Tell us what your dog wears today, and we will plan what replaces it.
- Good Harbor: off leash on even-numbered days, October 1 to March 31
- Wingaersheek: off leash on odd-numbered days, October 1 to April 30
- Both closed to dogs in summer, so build the recall on a long line first
At Dogtown
Force-free training at Dogtown
Every Dogtown program, board and train included, uses rewards and management only.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Is balanced training cruel?
What does low-level e-collar training mean?
My dog already wears a prong collar. Can it do a force-free stay?
What if force-free training does not work for my dog?
Do you use corrections of any kind during board and train?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
- AVSAB position statement on humane dog training, 2021
- Cooper et al. 2014, PLOS ONE: e-collar training compared with reward-based training
- China, Mills and Cooper 2020, Frontiers in Veterinary Science
- Vieira de Castro et al. 2020, PLOS ONE: training methods and dog welfare
- City of Gloucester: beaches
Rules and dates change. We re-check every beach, licensing and ordinance page each spring and fall; the source above is the current word.
Keep reading
Next step
Training with rewards, start to finish.
Tell us about your dog and any tools it wears today. The training team answers within the hour on business days and books the assessment with Gabby.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
