Humane Society open to working with Michael Vick
USA Today, 5/20/09

The humane thing to do:  Give Vick a second chance
by Tom Tryon, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 5/24/09

Campaign against dogfighting comes to Atlanta
Event comes on eve of Michael Vick’s release from prison
By Alexis Stevens, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/19/09

Does Michael Vick really mean it when he says he’s sorry?  He hasn’t apologized to the dogs.   Is he just claiming remorse so he can get on the good side of a new football team and get his game back?  Or will he demonstrate that he’s changed not only his attitude but his behavior as well?

The latter is certainly to be preferred.  I’ve thought from the beginning that a constructive approach would be more effective for helping him change direction than a rigidly punitive approach — see my Web of Life blog right around the time of his sentencing hearing for a bit of historical context.

Think about it:  If you accept the logical premise that any animal can be trained to be either calm or vicious, or deliberately provoked to the point of becoming aggressive, then you may be receptive to the main idea behind positive training.  In essence, this kind of training rewards the desired behavior.  When an animal performs an undesirable behavior, that is simply not rewarded.

There are plenty of variations on that theme — counter-conditioning, desensitization, negative reinforcement, and others.  You can teach an animal what you want by trading an undesirable behavior (aggression) for an acceptable behavior (sit politely, the equivalent of saying please before granting something of higher value, also known as “no free lunch”).

And I suggest that you can use these same principles on people, to direct their behavior as well.  Works with kids, works with college students.  Perhaps even with tough guys, too.  It’s not for counselors or rehabbers who want a quick fix for their clients, but rather, for those who are willing to invest in the long haul.  With dogs, the difference between positive training (think Victoria Stilwell) and dominance (think Cesar Milan) is that with positive, the dog learns to give the behavior because he wants to.  In contrast, with dominance, the dog gives the behavior out of fear of what will happen if she doesn’t.  Make the reward for good behavior so attractive that it effectively becomes the only choice.

So yes, maybe getting to play football again is such an attractive reward for Michael Vick that doing good with The Humane Society of the United States becomes a behavior he would actually be eager to demonstrate.  If that comes to pass, the practical result would make him an ambassador for both humane education, reform, and sport.

Breeds that mislead
Cary Smith, DC Pets Examiner, 5/20/09

What’s next for Michael Vick?
Wayne Pacelle blog, The Humane Society of the United States, 5/20/09

If anyone was ever in need of an extreme makeover, it’s Michael Vick
Published by Tim Collette on SeahawkNationBlog.com, 5/13/09
(Note — Collette suggests a good list of “rehab” community service projects for Vick)

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Is Michael Vick genuinely sorry for what he did?

Can he be effective in helping HSUS combat dog fighting?

Can he be an effective role model for disadvantaged kids, as Wayne Pacelle suggests?

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