In short
The AVSAB humane training position says only reward-based methods should be used for dog training and that aversive tools should never be used in any context. We disagree with the blanket ban: AVSAB's own 2021 paper admits its survey evidence cannot separate causation from correlation, and some dogs need more than treats and management.
We read AVSAB's statements, quote them fairly, and answer each claim with evidence and 28 years of results using our omni-technical methodology. For a shorter, more even-handed read of the same statement, see What AVSAB Gets Right (and Misses) on Dog Training.
Who this is for: Pet Parents choosing a trainer, a method, or a tool, and tired of being told the debate is over.
On this page
We quote AVSAB before we answer AVSAB.
AVSAB's 2025 board statement (position statements page, retrieved 2026-09-16) restates its 2021 paper:
Separately, the FAQ in AVSAB's 2021 statement advises clients against hiring a trainer who discusses "dominance," "leader of the pack," or "alpha" theories. The 2025 board statement adds that AVSAB's goal is "not to certify or promote individual trainers or credentialing bodies."
Reward-based training is the base of everything we do. Fair, minimal, well-timed correction is part of the rest.
We teach with positive reinforcement first. When a dog knows the right answer and chooses the wrong one anyway, fair correction enters: minimal, well-timed, at the lowest perceivable level. Our Hard Lines prohibit abuse and dogma, not correction.
Definition: Operant conditioning is the learning process where behavior changes based on its consequences. Rewarded behavior repeats, corrected behavior fades. (Our Methodology)
AVSAB calls reward-based methods "both safer and more effective" for "all aspects of dog training." But positive-only pressure turns aversive itself when the dog or the Pet Parent grows frustrated. A 90-pound adolescent rehearsing a lunge-bark pattern needs the pattern rebuilt through the five D's, with fair correction where the plan calls for it. That lunge-bark pattern has a name: reactivity. (our complete guide to reactive dog training)
"A blanket ban erases the difference between abuse and conditioned communication."
First step
Tracked across nine dimensions, so your dog's program is built on measured fact, not method labels.
A conditioned tool communicates. Abuse is pain with no teaching behind it.
AVSAB calls prong collars tools that "involve pain," to be avoided in "any use," and its 2025 statement bans aversives "under any circumstances."
A prong collar that is conditioned, fitted and introduced in the Teach phase applies brief, even pressure the moment the dog decides: it releases the instant the dog responds. Abuse is unconditioned tools, correction as the entire plan, no taught alternative, anger in the handler's hands. Our Hard Lines draw that line.
What conditioning looks like in practice: in the first session, the tool goes on at a level the dog barely notices, and the trainer pays the dog for responding to the lightest signal. Over several sessions the dog learns that the signal predicts guidance, not surprise, and the handler learns to read the dog's thresholds before anything matters. Only then does the tool enter real training. That is the difference between communication and confrontation, and no photograph of a collar can tell you which one you are looking at.
The alternative to an effective tool is often worse, in our experience. Take an older Pet Parent walking a medium or large dog on a harness: the harness spreads pulling force across the chest, so the dog may pull harder. One squirrel puts an older handler at risk of a serious fall. Effective tool use plus training can keep that person upright and that dog in its home. (Do Harnesses Encourage Pulling? What Trainers Know)
AVSAB defines management as avoiding situations that lead to the unwanted behavior. Management is safety. Management is not punishment. A crate manages. A gate manages. Neither teaches the dog what to do instead.
The research AVSAB cites is weaker than the certainty of its conclusions, and its own document says so.
Start with the biggest admission (2021 Humane Dog Training paper, retrieved 2026-09-16): "Survey studies cannot differentiate between causation and correlation." AVSAB lists two possible explanations: aversives cause problem behaviors, or owners of dogs with problem behaviors reach for aversive tools.
The International Association of Canine Professionals disagrees: its certificants promise humane tool use and forbid letting a preferred method take precedence when the dog's response shows otherwise (IACP Certificant Code of Ethics, retrieved 2026-09-16).
Dogs do form social hierarchies, minus the cartoon alpha-roll version.
AVSAB's 2021 FAQ advises clients against hiring any trainer who discusses "dominance" or "alpha" theories. Dogs negotiate who eats first and who gets the couch. That negotiation is real and shifts with context. Pretending it does not exist does not help the Pet Parent whose younger dog guards the couch from the older dog. What does not exist is the cartoon: the alpha roll, the "dominance down." Our Hard Lines prohibit dominance-theater handling too.
A trainer who cannot use the word dominance at all will struggle to describe the social structure running in a multi-dog home. It is hard to work on a relationship you cannot name.
Read the labels and do the risk math yourself.
AVSAB's 2021 statement says treatment plans for serious behavior concerns include "environmental management, behavior modification, and, in some cases, medication." Reconcile (fluoxetine) is an FDA-approved medication for canine separation anxiety, used together with a behavior modification plan (DailyMed Reconcile label, retrieved 2026-09-16). Its most serious listed side effect is seizures, "which in rare and severe cases can result in death." Field studies: calm, lethargy, or depression in 32.9% versus 10.4% on placebo; decreased appetite 26.9% versus 6.2%; vomiting 17.1% versus 13.3%; diarrhea 9.7% versus 8.1%; weight loss of 5% or more in 29.6% versus 13% of controls. The label states it is "not recommended for the treatment of aggression."
Trazodone, another commonly used behavior medication, lists sedation, vomiting, and behavioral disinhibition among reported adverse events in a published JAVMA study of 56 dogs (JAVMA 2008, retrieved 2026-09-16).
Medication has a legitimate place, and starting, stopping or changing any medication is a decision for your veterinarian, not for an article. Every intervention carries trade-offs, and the label rates above show it. If a tool is too risky "under any circumstances" while these medications sit inside the recommended plan, the standard is not applied evenly.
| The claim (AVSAB, quoted) | The fuller picture |
|---|---|
| "Only reward-based training methods be used for all aspects of dog training and behavior modification." | Positive reinforcement is our base. Positive-only pressure turns aversive under frustration; fair, minimal, well-timed correction belongs in the picture. |
| Aversive methods "should not be used under any circumstances," "in any context." | In our experience the alternative to a tool is often worse: an older handler with a large dog on a harness faces a fall risk that conditioned tool use plus training can reduce. |
| Survey studies link aversive methods to aggression and anxiety. | AVSAB's own document admits surveys "cannot differentiate between causation and correlation." |
| Treatment plans may include "in some cases, medication." | The Reconcile label (a medication for separation anxiety) lists lethargy, appetite loss, weight loss, and rare fatal seizures, with vomiting and diarrhea at rates close to placebo. |
From here
Start with a PD360 Assessment: your dog's plan built on measured fact, not method labels, tracked across nine dimensions. The assessment is recommended before every camp and required before Behavior Camp and Transform Camp. For dogs with behavior patterns to rebuild (reactivity, fear, guarding), Behavior Camp is our 21-night boarded stay, rebuilding behavior patterns around the clock with the full method, not half of it.
| Myth | Fact |
|---|---|
| Banning prong collars protects dogs. | Abuse is unconditioned pain with no teaching. A conditioned collar is brief pressure that releases. |
| Studies prove aversive training causes aggression. | AVSAB's own statement admits surveys "cannot differentiate between causation and correlation." |
| Reward-based methods work for every dog and every problem. | The base of every good program, including ours. But positive-only pressure turns aversive under frustration. |
| Medication is the safe alternative to training tools. | Medication labels list side effects too: the Reconcile label documents lethargy, appetite loss, weight loss, and rare seizures. Any medication decision belongs to your veterinarian. |
Key takeaways
AVSAB (the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior) states that only reward-based methods should be used for all dog training and behavior modification. It also states that aversive methods, including prong collars, E-Collars and leash corrections, should never be used under any circumstances.
A prong collar is not abuse by itself. Abuse is unconditioned pain with no teaching behind it. A fitted, conditioned prong collar applies brief, even pressure the moment the dog decides and releases on response. Judge the hands behind the tool.
Balanced training uses all four quadrants of operant conditioning: positive reinforcement as the base, plus fair, minimal, well-timed correction after the dog understands the alternative and chooses wrong anyway. Force-free training restricts itself to rewards and management, with no correction option available.
Start with the PD360 Assessment. It tracks behaviors across nine dimensions through four learning phases, so your trainer builds the plan from measured fact instead of method labels. It also flags sudden, new and out of character changes that are worth having your vet look at.
Book a PD360 Assessment at either Partners Dogs campus: Scottsdale at 8642 E Shea Blvd, 85260, or Cave Creek at 4640 E Forest Pleasant Pl, 85331. We have served the Phoenix Valley since December 1997, so you get a measured read on your dog.
The training world will keep arguing about labels. Your dog does not care about labels. It cares whether the pattern changes, whether the home gets calmer, and whether it still gets to live in that home. That is what we measure, and that is what we are accountable for.
For most Pet Parents, this is not a thought experiment. It is the 7 a.m. walk on the Scottsdale sidewalk, the lunge at every passing dog, the quiet question of whether the pattern can change before the landlord's patience runs out. Bring the dog and the question. We will read both with you.
Scottsdale: 8642 E Shea Blvd, 85260. Cave Creek: 4640 E Forest Pleasant Pl, 85331. Serving the Phoenix Valley.