Today's Topic:  Ask any dog trainer about which type of dog training methods they believe works best, whether it's predominantly rewards-based (treats), aversive-based (punishment), or balanced (treats and punishment), and you'll discover an abundance of differing, and incredibly passionate, opinions.  For some, they believe that the use of any punishment on dogs is akin to dog abuse, while others believe that punishment is absolutely necessary to train dogs "right".  But has anyone ever asked dogs what type of training they themselves prefer?  To help us answer this question, we invited Catarina Vieira de Castro, a postdoctoral researcher on canine welfare and behavior, and the author of the recent research paper, Does training method matter? Evidence for the negative impact of aversive-based methods on companion dog welfare, to the pod, to tell us what the science says, particularly, what the short- and long-term effects of  aversive- and reward-based methods are on our pet dogs.

Guest Bio: Catarina Vieira de Castro has a BSc degree in Biology and a PhD in Experimental Psychology and is currently a researcher at i3S – Institute for Innovation and Research in Health, University of Porto, Portugal. She has been carrying out scientific research on animal learning and behavior since 2008 and, more recently, has focused her work on canine welfare and behavior. Her recently completed post-doctoral project, where she investigated the effects of training methods on the welfare of companion dogs and their bond with the owner, aroused great interest in the scientific community as well as prominent media coverage at an international level. Catarina has also worked as a dog trainer and is passionate about dog sports.