As a Certified Dog Trainer who learned in the 'jerk and pull, Alpha-Dominance' method of training, I can tell you, this type of training is an insult to a willing, intelligent puppy like the Toller and most willing intelligent dogs or puppies of any breed.  I am a convert to the power of kindness, rewards, and dog psychology.  There is a measure of luring and baiting, and it is known as 'Positive Reinforcement'.  I tend to prefer not to use a clicker, and very small pieces of food, weaned off right away because the tendency to become dependent on food to get your dog to do something is VERY tempting.

Splash was my first dog, and I pressured and yanked her through hundreds of hours of classes and drills, not speaking to her for weeks at a time and refusing her access to any furniture.  Many times she shut down, became neurotic, displayed fear and calming signals which my 'Mentor' called Avoidance, Manipulation, and Dominance.  I was just supposed to work harder to 'break' her and this started to go against my instincts.  I then did the same thing to Topaz, but he was a stronger dog and was much better able to take my heavy-handed training, some of which I actually believe in hindsight was mean-spirited abuse.  I wish I could take it all back.

Now I know better, after doing a lot of research and taking other people's classes.  Why wouldn't you want to be on your dog's side, through a loving and compassionate, patient approach, especially if it achieves the same results, or even better ones?  All social animals appreciate acceptance.  Even mother dogs act in a playful way toward their puppies, never shoving or grabbing at them, asserting dominance in gentle ways and only on rare occasions.  We could learn a lot from this.

If your dog pees on something or someone, it is not 'revenge', 'dominance', or 'manipulation'.  First of all, they don't think their pee is 'bad'.  They pee on things the way a child colors on things.  It's a method of expression, scented like them, and can mean they had to pee, they like the thing they are peeing on, or they want to claim it as their own or leave a trace of themselves on something.  It never means they want to get back at you.  That is something a human would do.  (By the way, they pee on rugs and fabric before choosing the lino or hardwood because they instinctually want their pee to be absorbed, not to sit there in a pool.  It is not because they want to wreck your stuff or make you do more laundry.  Enough about pee for today!)

There are some fantastic training resources out in the world, including Cesar Millan, who is mostly dealing with serious cases of aggression or owners who don't understand their dogs' basic needs.  He is not a trainer who is necessarily an expert on the foundation of a pup, but rather on 'fixing' issues down the road.

Some of my other favorites include:

Tamar Gellar, The Loved Dog books and videos (Oprah helped launch her career into the mainstream)

Jean Donaldson, Behaviourist for the San Fransisco SPCA and author of The Culture Clash, one of my favorite dog psychology books.

Suzanne Clothier, who writes some absolutely spot-on, easy to understand articles on dogs and how they think, which allows us to better relate to them and stop punishing them for harmless actions, and to better understand how to communicate with them

Kevin Behan, Natural Dog Training which uses your dog's natural instincts and desires to bring out the behaviours you want and discourages the ones you don't.  His theory is based on the fact that you are the centre of your dog's universe, and if you play your cards right, you always will be, even when there is a snowshoe hare on the front lawn.

Neil Sattin, a graduate of Natural Dog Training who blogs regularly about his training experiences and his dog Nola.