Punishment has no place in the teaching phase of a dog’s education!

Reinforcement can take many forms, click and treat, saying ” good dog”, a pat on the head, a short game of fetch. No matter what the reward, the behavior connected with it will get repeated. If we wish to perpetuate good behavior we must reward it in some shape or form.

As dog owners we tend to think of our dog’s behavior in terms of what we don’t want the dog to do; not jump, not pull, not run away. Instead, we should define what we what our dogs to do instead; sit, walk by our side, come when called. Often times because there is no clear behavior that gets rewarded, dog owners resort to punishment in the effort to get rid of the behavior they don’t want.

The problem with punishment is that it is only half of the equation. Punishment stops the dog from doing whatever he was doing at that moment, it does not teach the dog what you wanted him to do instead. In fact if you only punish a dog without rewarding him for what you want instead, the dog will adapt to the punishment and revert to the old behavior. Punishment has very limited uses because it usually requires that we deliver the correction at the moment the dog is doing the wrong thing. Most of us can’t move that quickly, and the dog gets away with the behavior when we are not present. We then begin the vicious cycle of increasing punishment to try to catch the dog doing the wrong thing. All this effort to punish the dog and we still haven’t taught him anything !

Our efforts as teachers, trainers and companions to our dogs would best be spent reinforcing the right behavior rather then punishing the wrong one. Training collars like choke chains, pinch collars and head halters (gentle leaders) are just training aids. Their purpose is to help manage the dogs behavior so that he can be right more often and get rewarded for it. Used incorrectly, they become a game of jerk on the dog, dog repeats the behavior. This becomes a literal black hole of paying attention to the wrong behavior and no real learning is accomplished.

A dog who is not reinforced for walking next to you on for instance may learn not to pull but only when wearinga pinch collar. With the collar on the dog may learn that pulling is not a good idea but when the collar is off he reverts back to his old behavior because it works.. He goes places fasten when he pulls on his leash.

Leash corrections with or without a training collar manage a behavior like pulling and help us control the dog but that is all, they do not teach the dog to heel. In fact some dogs with big thick necks and a high pain tolerance will still pull while wearing them. The bottom line is if you don’t reward the dog for not pulling the dog will not learn to walk next to you. He may learn to avoid correction, but he won’t have a clue as to what you really want.

Head halters, gentle leaders, and other training head collars help control the head and therefore keep the dog from pulling. These do not require any corrections and are a more humane alternative to repeated corrections with a training collar. This again is a training aid, a way to manage the behavior of pulling while you reward the dog for not pulling. Honesty about what we are really teaching is very important if we are to fix unwanted behavior. Punishment really has no place in the teaching phase since we have not yet explained to the dog what we want him to do instead. Training collars and head halters may keep you from being knocked down by your dog on a walk, but they only manage the pulling they do not teach the dog how to walk on a leash.

Punishment is rewarding to us as dog owners because we feel as though we’ve at least done something ! It is gratifying to us at least at first because the dog temporarily stops the behavior we don’t like.

Punishment has a price however that few people take into consideration. That price involves a lack of control over what the dog actually learns when he is punished. A dog that growls at children and is punished with a slap or collar correction may stop growling at children but still be fearful of them.

Punishment in this case has made the aggression worse because we have suppressed the warning that the dog is not feeling comfortable and skipped right to the bite. If we then punish the dog for biting, we have in effect taught the dog that children are even more scary than he thought and he must bite harder, faster to avoid correction next time. These type of dogs start to believe the best offense is a good defense. All this energy has been expended and all we’ve accomplished is a better biter ! No amount of effort has been used to address the dog’s real reason for biting….he’s uncomfortable or fearful around children.

How much better if the punisher had spent time rewarding the dog when children were nearby in a happy voice with plenty of treats and at a distance. How much safer for child, trainer and dog if the punisher had spent his time rewarding the dog for not growling, lunging or snapping and made the sight of children mean good things were about to happen.

Overall, punishment is only half the equation, it has no place in the teaching phase. If it is used to manage behavior the right behavior must be rewarded instead. Most importantly, punishment should not be used in cases of aggression because we never know what the dog is learning. There is a better way to train your dog and it’s up to you to find it.

Providing your dog with the proper motivation is essential to any training program. Motivation means food, toys, games, play…anything that your dog will work for. In most cases food is the easiest and most motivating source of reinforcement. There is nothing wrong with using food to train your dog, but it must be used appropriately so that your dog obeys despite its absence.

Some dog owners refuse to use food for a variety of reasons. They use force or just don’t train their dog altogether. My answer to the food phobics is simple- would you go to work every day for free? No? Then you shouldn’t expect your dog to either! If someone drove you to work, pushed you through the door and sat you down (however gently) would it make YOU want to work?! If every time you tried to leave they brought you back and sat you down again, day after day with no end in sight, no rewards, no promise of rewards…what would happen to you? Don’t you think eventually you’d shut down and stop responding to the people around you?

Food is a primary need of all living things, no creature can exist without food, so what’s wrong with using a basic need to motivate and train your dog?

There are several basic rules that should be followed when motivating your dog with food. Use food to introduce new behaviors and show your dog what to do. Once your dog knows what to do, hide the food and vary when you give it. For instance, when teaching the dog to sit, food is used initially to lure your dog without force into the desired position. Once the dog is sitting reliably, you replace the lure with a hand signal and vary when you give the reward.

Hiding the treat and varying when you give it is called variable reinforcement. This means that food is now hidden most of the time when asking for the behavior and is given sporadically, ie every other time, every 3rd time, etc. This keeps your dog guessing and makes his performance reliable and sharp every time you ask for it.

A real life example of variable reinforcement is a slot machine. People play the slots because every once in awhile they win! They can lose $150.00 in five minutes, but if they pull the handle and win just once the likelihood of them trying again is greater.

Getting your dog to come in from the yard is not an easy feat especially since you are probably late for work, cold or ready for bed. There really isn’t anything earth shattering about how to accomplish this feat quickly. Mostly what has to happen is you have to think about what the circumstances are when you call your dog.

Do you ever call him to come in and then release him to go back to playing again ? Do you ever call him to come in and when he looks at you throw him a cookie and let him stay out for a while longer ? If your dog doesn’t like to come in when you call him it’s probably because nothing good usually comes of it.

You call him and put him in a crate and then leave for work, for instance. If he runs around the yard and ignores you when you call him, he gets several more minutes of freedom ! If you were a dog which would you choose ?

To get your dog to come readily try something new. Ten minutes before you need your dog to come in, go out and call his name, then throw him a cookie and go back inside. Go out about 8-10 times before you really need him and toss him a cookie and go back inside. If you are in a hurry and can’t do a training session like this then use a leash to let him in the yard so you can make him come back right away, that way you can prevent him from running off and rewarding himself. Preventing your dog from ignoring you by letting him in the yard on a leash may not directly teach him to come in from the yard quickly but it will prevent him from rewarding himself, making it easier for you to teach him more acceptable behavior.

Put the time in to teach your dog what you expect of him and stop letting him reinforce himself for ignoring you. In just a few short training sessions on a consistent basis you should see a huge improvement in your dogs enthusiam to come in from outside.