Why are service dogs trained with punishment?

[goldenpaws]

Throughout my life I have realized and taken notice about how service dogs are trained. I go out and see working dogs getting leash corrections. They sniff the ground, correction. They get up out of position, correction. I feel like in this day and age, ALL service dogs would be trained using the latest science based training. I could maybe understand for the visually impaired, because they cannot see the dog but I still feel that there are other ways to approach this. Once I saw a guide dog puppy get a very harsh leash correction and angry "NO" from the handler because it wanted to sniff another dog. Do you know why service animals are trained this way? My nephew is looking for a guide dog school in the US that doesn't train with punishment as he lost most of his vision due to diabetes. Thank you so much for the help.

[Dibbythedog]

I'm glad to say In the Uk assistance dogs such as hearing dogs and guide dogs are taught using Positive reinforcement.

[jacksdad]

I seem to remember a recent article in Whole Dog Journal about one of the service dog orgs transitioning to clicker training.

Its changing, but of course no where as quick as we would like