Force Free Dog Training | Uncle Stonnie's Opinion 

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The arguing and rants that have been going on between other trainers and their followers have gotten ridiculous. Stonnie, I'm glad you addressed this. You did an excellent job explaining things and also used great examples. I am a big fan of your training style, and it's clear that any dog would want to be around you!

You would have to force me to hang out with the force free people. Love it!

Simple, practical, and sensible. Well said, Stonnie

What 'force free' people don't understand is that once a dog realises they don't have to think for themselves anymore all their worries disappear. The anxiety goes away, they become more confident and they come to to bond with the handler much more than they would otherwise. They come to realise that they can just be a dog and the handler will take care of the stressful stuff, all they have to do is listen and in exchange they get a lot more freedom.

When you own a predator, you’ve got to be willing to use some level of force. I own dogs and sheep, and I had to use force to remove my dog from the pasture when she thought chasing sheep was a good idea. It’s either that or a pile of dead sheep. It’s a fantasy to think dogs will behave without consequences for misbehavior. Where people get it twisted is thinking control comes from aggression and rigid dominance. Control is a dynamic give-and-take process, not a fight

Keep us posted on how this turns out. I have a husky that I can run with a 4 wheeler 10 miles, have him follow me on a tractor but the second I turn around to turn some wrenches he's bored and off he goes to entertain himself with something a half mile away

Husky type dogs are great, lots of fun, but they ARE bred to RUN. It's who they are. They're a little ADHD in that regard, and are often quite intelligent dogs, as well as strong willed. Ya gotta reign 'em in if you hope to hold their attention long enough to do any training. Love seeing you work with such a dog, Stonnie.

I worked in shelters and did a good few courses on dog training (not an expert at all but I've seen and heard multiple different training styles in real life) and I LOVE your training method. As you said, the proof is in the pudding. Happy, relaxed dogs and a happy, relaxed Uncle Stonnie. What more could you want?

Interesting. I haven't heard force free as much, but I agree with your thinking. I would lean towards error free learning, where I just praise the good and don't do much correcting. But even that is not 100%. I have 15 years of mostly informal experience, and what I find is safety takes priority over any preference on methodology. If I need to use some force to keep my dog from running across the road toward the trailhead, because cars, so be it. Force free is a well intended overcorrection from Dominance/Alpha style dog "training" that was more abusive control. We need to have patience and respect for dogs as living creatures, but that doesn't mean all discipline or "force" is bad.

I like this analogy- well done Stoney you are spot on ❤

Gee you should advertise this as a parenting video for kids and dogs!!!

Allways the voice of reason. But also a real master of his trade, you cannot argue with Stonnie's logic..

Simply true … Force free is a non sense argument… you cannot train humans, soldiers, police officers or even professionals with force free stupidity whenever there is training there have to be restrictions and forced boundaries involved….

Force-minimized seems like the practical/actual approach.

The World must be ending! I thought Stonnie would never take on a Husky.

Dogs with off leash reliability live better lives. Period.!!! My “force free” friend only walks her dog to go potty, otherwise dog refuses to leave the house, and my friend doesn’t wanna force her to… What do you think a good argument would be when the dog is, allegedly, too afraid to have fun adventures outside?

😂You had me howling! You are so right! Personally I think most dogs would love to go live with Uncle Stonnie!

I’m so happy to hear you say what you have stated in this video. You’re right on.

dear mr @stonnie dennis: haters always gonna hate, but please dont mind them. just continue the good work 🙏

Beautiful words as usual Stonnie! I used your techniques to train my Labs and we hike every day. Everyone always asks how I got my dogs to behave so well and I refer them to your videos!

Not force free here, but we do cool stuff and two of three of my dogs would still want to go hang out with Uncle Stonnie. The Heelers are always down for an adventure. 😂 The third, my Aussie, wouldn’t go. He won’t even leave with my SO if I’m not going with them. He’s my service dog and knows his job is to be with me.

I like that long leash bc you can just step on it instead of carrying it all the time. Plus the dog MIGHT learn his boundaries. (I know Huskies that love to run) Force free training is like free range parenting. Sometimes you have to say no. There are many ways to say no.

True. The Force-Free approach is used by some of these trainers to train a dog without corrections; which is, in my honest opinion, just extremely dumb. If I were not to constantly correct my 1 year old Malinois x Dutch Shepherd, she'd end up walking all over me. And that's not something I can't afford to happen. Not for my safety and not for hers either.

The force free community have become extremists. I'm all for using treats and luring a dog as well as using rewards, however there are things to dogs which are much more satisfying than any treat or praise. Corrections are just a part of training a dog and raising kids! I would love to see a force free trainer take on aggressive dogs and show success. Instead they usually recommend euthanasia as the dog can't be helped. Stonnie, you have a great balanced approach to dog training and love watching your videos.

Nice relaxed dogs And some current discussions are just not good for the most folks involved. Positiv-only or force free being one of them Hi from a mean mom who forces her kids to brush their teeth Aaaand wash their feet…

When Stonnie dropped the long line, I was waiting for the husky to notice he was free and take off.

I love Stonnie Dennis's knowledge and wisdom. I love how he treats dogs and the joy he gives to them and receives from them. He inspired me to deep dive into behavioral science. This video challenged me. I thought he was being very shallow and felt disappointed because I respect him a lot. So I stepped back and found what triggered me, it is because I am a woman and it wasn't that long ago that women were owned and at the mercy of who owned them. So I like the fantasy of my present autonomy being force free, but it is not. There are rules, I have been taught and guided in specific directions. My takeaway from this is that dogs are at our mercy so make their lives as fun and enriching as possible within the boundaries set by the human society they are in.

I love this explanation ! Thank you, for taking the time to address this and for stating so clearly, what should make perfect sense. My dog is grateful,too, as she and I have trained using your principles and logic.

Stonnie, I've been following for a while & watching a few videos here and there & I really don't understand what you do to get these dogs to behave so well with you. Don't get me wrong, you're absolutely doing something right but in the time I've been following I haven't seen much of training "tools", usually you're just using a leash. What would you say you specialize in? Confidence building through basic agility? What makes you trust these dogs off leash? Would you trust them off leash in a new area such as a trail for the first time? Would love to hear your answers! I've been training my dog through e collar training over the past several months & we're now at a point where offleash hikes are 100% an option. Personally for us, without ecollar training we'd be using a long line forever - not because we can't trust him but because our city leash law is "leash or other means of control" - which means "ecollar" because there is no other form of control other than a leash or "digital" leash Also, how long have you been working with dogs? Every video I watch you definitely seem to know what you're talking about & you have all of your marbles together. Seriously, for someone who doesn't use any tools I wouldn't have guessed you'd have a comeback video to the "force free" epidemic. Hell, as a kid I wanted to run around and explore every mall in America. My momma had me on a childs backpack leash!! Ain't no way Jayson was running away haha. I was forced to stay! Today she'd be called a bad parent all for wanting me to be safe... It's crazy... Anyways, would love to hear back from you on my few questions. Thank you for your time Stonnie!

I also see a lot of "force free" trolls infantizing their dogs as "fur babies" and such. They're animals that will grow up knowing boundaries and limits or be nightmares to handle. It's "no!" When they try to handle a behavior and the dog completely ignoring them. Will I correct a dog? Absolutely. I will do it fairly. Dogs need corrections. My brothers dog at a year and a half consistently jumps on people as a greeting. Had he simply leashed him in the house and practiced greeting people without jumping, fairly, this wouldn't be an issue. But instead it's "No" and the dog completely ignoring him.

Siberian Huskies love to run….25 miles is nothing for a full grown Siberian…he/she looks like it’s having a good adventure with you and the other dogs !

I want to board at uncle stonnie's. No, not my dog, ME. I want to be out there like that everyday! God bless.

Probably force their dogs to have a vegan diet too.

Anybody think the W on the side of the Washington Redskin's New helmet stands for WOKE? Force free sounds pretty woke to me. Woke to me means people choose to believe something they think is a good idea, but is not reality.

I enjoy your videos, your perspective and the very fun things the dogs get to do with YOU!

Stonnie, you are my kind of trainer. Love your videos and your philosophy. Keep bringing us great videos. ❤

You rock! I adventure hike with my GSP every day. I am your exception though. I used to not hike so much. I got a high energy dog, but I did changed my lifestyle to go hiking with the dog. It's been super rewarding.

I bet every one of them forces their dog to be spayed. What dog would say okay if they knew what spay/neuter entailed.

Hi Stonnie, I just found your channel and I really enjoy your videos. I live in an apartment and mainly use treats to train my little Lagotto Romagnolo. Luckily we live close to the mountains so I can take her out on adventures. I keep her on a leash when hiking. The leash saved her from getting into trouble with a large bull elk yesterday. There is no way she would have come back for treats once she picked up his scent. She doesn't have enough experience to reliably make good decisions so a leash lets her get out and learn safely. Kara says thanks for the idea to blow out her coat after adventures with the forced air dryer (I got that from your golden doodle video) It lets us get outside instead of spending all day in the bath😂

This is such a well articulated point! Ive always felt that force free training isn't exactly truthful. If you have a fenced in yard or keep the dog inside your home, arent you forcing it to live with you? To some extent, force affects all of us - for example, if a storm comes along, I'll be forced to take shelter. The best option is a flexible one that provides both freedom and safety. Great work, Uncle Stonnie! You nailed it. I'm envious of your lifestyle, though I recognize it's also a tremendous amount of work. It must be so rewarding for you! Be well

Mt Sterlin? Don't you mean Mt Pilot?

There's always some force even with force feel training. The collar and lead are force right? But I think most people are referring to hard corrections, prong collars and general rough handling etc which you don't do! Love your channel stonnie!

Exactly, you've just hit the nail, the proof is in the pudding. What all those pure-positive, force free is about is pure talking, they never show any reliable work, they say "yes, i'm able to train any kind of dog, even the most difficult without corrections, force and with only love and positive reinforcement", that's the moment when i shoot the challenge, "ok, do it, record it and show me your magic" what happens then is crickets and silence, no more talking

Force free is a virtue signaling term. These people have also taken positive reinforcement as another example of a way to show how nice they are while not having an understanding of the term negative reinforcement.

THE DOG TRAINER IS IN CHARGE, NOT THE DOG.

Our black lab Hooley walks in the woods for 2 hours a day... but aged 12 months she decided to chase deer. She came back quickly eveytime. But she risked getting gouged by barbed wire or the deer theselves. She has spent 4 months on a lead Walking the woods for 2 hours a day but learning not to chase animals. She now spends most of the time off the lead and is much less of a risk to herself. She was only doing what she was breed to do. But it was putting her at risk. Teaching her boundaries was to protect her and was the only responsible and loving thing to do

Whoop! I needed a Stonnie video. They calm the brain and focus the mind.

Thanks for all you do Stonnie I really appreciate all your content and have learned so much from your videos!

The thing I always say to people who give dumb, touchy feely advice like "force free"... Where are you going to be when something terrible happens from your advice? Are you going to apologize or make it up to me? No, you'll be conveniently absent, and I'll get to live with it.

What an absolutely perfect way to put this into a simple perspective.

That is a pretty Mal puppy

I'm frustrated by the seeming hypocrisy within the 'force-free' dog training community. Learning something new often requires facing challenges and some pressure. For instance, when I bring a dog reactive to other dogs on a positively led socialization walk, the very situation can create pressure, even though we use a reward-based training system and maintain a safe distance. While I firmly believe in conditioning and reward-based training as a foundation, setting boundaries, teaching a dog to manage emotions in tough situations, confronting challenges, and using personalized corrections can be integral to the training process. These elements apply whether you identify as 'force-free' or 'balanced' (labels I find limiting and dislike). The importance of a well-rounded approach to dog training, recognizing that effective training often includes elements beyond purely positive reinforcement. People should just acknowledge that various methods and tools can have their place, depending on individual circumstances.

Stonnie....you keep doing what you are doing and how you are doing it. The theories behind your dog training are also theories in which a person can "train" up a child. I am talking theory, not physical dog training aids like leashes or collars being used on children. This culture has gotten too far away from holding one (dog or person) responsible for their own actions, which then can lead to consequences. CARRY ON, Stonnie 😊

All breeds are different for sure. Huskies love to run, so you have to use force on some breeds. The dog is so much a better dog! You are spot on Uncle Stonnie!

Keyboard warriors espousing ideologically derived models of nonhuman animal stewarship which are largely detached from reality! 🤣 I'm a retired professor of anthropology with lots of exposure to primatology and human behavioral sciences. I've got into some "debates" with some of these types on reddit about such topics.

Force free seems like something that works if your life is 100% in line with your dogs wants. And also if the world is 100% in line with your dogs wants so you never have to force them to mind other people. Maybe there’s a breed where that’s possible. I don’t know. What I do know is husky’s are 100% NOT that breed.

You are so right, I had to laugh but only cause it’s so true. That’s the world force free raising kids , that’s why the kids are so damn friendly now-a-days.

i would be interested to hear your opinion on "tools" like corals, shock-collars etc...

Lame video. Classic straw man fallacy. Force free training isn't about not using a leash. It's about not shocking, hitting or choking the dog when there are alternatives. They would use a long line just like Stonnie. They just wouldn't shock or choke the dog. Frankly I don't know if their methods can be as effective, but Laura from Kikopup dog's seem to have a lot of fun. I'm not a trainer but I let my high prey drive dog off-leash in the woods all the time without shocking or choking them

WOW! well put! I'v never heard any one explain it better. Thanks. I'l be using that, cause here in Israel things are headed that way to...

💯💯💯 I have hunting dogs for years.. i they get to adventure all over the country.. they must have recall & manners.. I use positive and negative reinforcement (force) some need almost no pressure some require quite a bit.. but I’m here to say stopping one hundreds of yards away.. turn from a road, cliff, partially frozen river…..whatever to likely save their life. I use a GPS collar and all of my dogs check in on tone & steady/slow on vibrate but they were all nicked at different levels.. my current Lab (black) 2 which I can hold in my hand with almost no notice like a tickle.. my English Setter 9-11. She’s 6 now and I haven’t nicked her since she was 3 and she’s steady through shot but will track bird after and I missed a pheasant and she was not turning from a road and at over roughly 28-30 mph I needed her to turn back right away. Done right creates a far more zen hunting environment

You tell ‘‘em Stonnie!!!!!!!!

This man said YOUR dog will leave you for him. 😂 Tell it like it is!

House breaking a dog is force training. I’m sure my dog would rather crap in the house when the weather is bad outside.

Again 100% with ya. Met a force free dog trainer once. She trained dogs and horses, and she owned two border collies and 5 sheep. Absolutely lovely, wacky Lady. She was excellent with horses, as far as I can tell, but in the evening, had to bring in the sheep herself. 😂 Her two dogs, 5 and 3 yrs old, were absolutely unimpressed with whatever she told them ...

I see your point. There are limits on pretty much everything in society, if we are to function cohesively. Same for domesticated animals. What I’ve watched and read about force free training seems to label any other type of training as abuse. They have comments on their videos about prong collars, electronic collars and the like as abusive tools. They feel that any dog, regardless of its breed, temperament amid background can be trained/ managed with treats and kind words. Now, a lot of dogs can be trained successfully that way. I had a wonderful West German GSD female for 11 1/2 years who was the easiest dog in spite of the worst trainer (me). People with dog phobias would cite her as a dog that got them over their fear of dogs. But that is the exception. ( Which I discovered after she passed away and we got other dogs) Anyway, a rambling post to say that I agree with you.

That Husky is a “designer dog”. Designed to run away from ppl pulling on lines. Kinda natural for it to want to run. Run any place with ppl behind it. Huh?

Not me clicking on this one because I thought Uncle Stonnie was already doing force free training lol! I feel like Stonnie uses the least amount of force that is realistic

Force-free training, Doodles, furbabies and their dog moms. No-pull harnesses, halters, gentle leaders,. Flexi leads and still call it force free. Oh...and treats, treats, treats! ONe trainer said, "If your dog doesn't throw up on the way back (from class), you have not used enought treats."

Force, being strict, words like, "no" are OK, so long as you remember one key rule: Never punish your dog while s/he is learning. DO this, and your dog will always want to be with you.

I have read discussions where "positive only"trainers would rather recommend to put down a problematic dog than correct it weird world, and the irony around here slip leads are banned as far as I know, instead I often see dogs with a three-belt-harness pulling like mad and never checking in with their owners again, I am convinced if you correrected them at an earlier time and communicated clearly, they would be much better off, stop pulling etc, get relaxed yea, and I guess, around here 3/4 of the doggos live in a sub-optimal environment, like, urban, under-walked and over-bored

We live in a force world. That's why we stop at red lights, etc

Stonie is the man!!! Use the “force” lmao

Lol i love your philosophy on training vids, like this and the “look in the mirror” vid. Nobody else talks about that stuff. Make the dog like you…makes sense lol

Love how people boast force free. Until you walk down the street. With your unleashed, non neutered, Unvacinated animal. Then the force free goes out the window. As they clinch their dogs leach tight. Why isn't your dog on a leash? My dog doesn't leave my side, yours does. 😂 The purists I see at a dog park. Running and waiving a treat in the air. Trying to get pookie to come back. Purists remember. The minute you took that dog from Momma. You did it, by force. Force free, is a dog that can roam freely. Freely and be a dog. With no one to answer to.

When i see your black labs i see my Archie black lab that died on our arms in battle over cancer 03/13/2011- 09/02/2023

Excellent video. The positive only/force free stuff started with kids years ago. It was a matter of time before it made its way to the dog world. I wouldn't own a dog if I found out it had been "trained" that way. You can spot these people because they usually refer to themselves as a dog guardian, not an owner. 😂

These people talking trash are ( TALKING WHEN THEY SHOULD BE LISTENING ) keep up the great work! Keep up the great work Sir !

Stone, my dog will mind sometimes on command but most of the time he will not. Let's put it this way--if there is a squirrel he would like to chase it rather than mind and cars make that a real dangerous situation.

I came back hoping for some arguments in the comments. Looks like the force free gang decided to stay away from this one…..smart.

I’m confused on the criticism that you would get. You don’t even use e-collars or prong collars, right? Not that I’m against those, but those tools are the ones that have the negative associations in the positive only tribe.

The fact that that also applies to children explains a lot.

Force can mean pushing your dog away from the table, or tugging the leash or removing something gross from its mouth, things that alot of us cant avoid doing for their own good, but equally it could mean an e-collar shock or being hit in the face or even worse forms of abuse to force compliance. Its too broad a term to get to the point properly really in my opinion as it truly is a big spectrum of methods that vary in how severe they are. I for once would never abuse an animal directly, but if given the choice of a dog eating chocolate off the sidewalk or getting run over by a car? That leash will get pulled with all my strength to remove the dog from making that decision without question. As stonnie implied, life isnt about 100% luxury even for dogs.

I do not believe in force free training but I have to say I had 2 dogs in my life at different times that would rather be miserable with me then be with anyone else no matter what. The rest of the dogs I have had would definitely choose your lifestyle.

I think 99% of dogs would pick your place, including our Golden!

so good to see you and hear from you Uncle Stonnie!! Looking well. And yeah, we moved from tropical rainforests of North Queensland to suburbian Melbourne... missing our epic mountain hikes as was just a 4 minute walk to the hills from home. Walks and backyard ball have been keeping him happy and tired. Still, we miss our radventures and being owners who did rad stuff. Also seriously miss the beaches!!

you are right.....there is no such thing as force free

Stonnie, your channel is the best resource on dog training I have seen; but also the best channel for people to educate them on specific dog breed requirements before purchase or adoption. Watching dogs perform exercises and hiking in the open with a variety of dog breeds is the best method I have seen to truly uncover the best breed choice based upon the lifestyle of the human wanting a dog. Most people with canine behavioral issues never researched the needs of the dog breed before purchase or adoption. This also applies to parrots. Keeping a Cockatiel is distinct from keeping a Macaw or African Gray in terms of diet, exercise, habitat size, type of exercise required, and the amount of physical contact necessary on a daily basis. People that purchase a Husky or Malamute will have very different relationship/training requirements than people choosing a Labrador Retriever or Standard Poodle, although there will always be shared similarities no matter breed choice. I highly recommend watching this channel to help determine the training requirement difficulties and challenges before bringing any dog breed into your home. Thank you again for sharing your wisdom and experience with us, you are truly a zen master of dog training.

Keep doing what your doing!

Great stuff Stonnie!

Discipline = Freedom

Not everyone can or will be saved. Jesus said so.

You are my favorite dog trainer. I wish I could bring my dog to work with you. Force free training sounds silly, if they had my two year GSD they would know that it is impossible!

Force free people are the one's that let their kids run wild too.

My understanding is Force Free Training is simply training without punishment or intimidation. I believe what you describe in your video is permissive training, not force free training. Based on all your videos I've watched, you are a Force Free Trainer, and a very good one. ;-)

If I was 100% force free my dog would be dead or walk all over me

Haters are gonna hate

force free dog training is the same as vegan dog food.

Force free training sounds a lot like neglecting to train.