I’m in the business..of staying pawsitive.
I get a lot of questions about why I choose to be a positive reinforcement trainer. There are many different types of training out there. There are trainers who use fear, dominance, and force in an attempt to train a dog. In the long term, most of these methods fail and can lead to damage to the relationship of dog and handler. The method of training I use is called Positive Reinforcement which I will label as +R throughout this post. +R is when we add something pleasant like a treat, toy, or affection in order to increase the likelihood of the dog repeating that behavior. This in turn makes it a positive experience that the dog will want to repeat!
The problem I see a lot these days with some of the big trainers who are in the spotlight and media is that they contribute every single behavior issue to dominance. The truth of the matter is that most behavior issues are NOT AT ALL related to dominance. And even more than that, the problems will not go away if you “dominate” the dog because that wasn’t the issue in the first place! More than likely a dog’s “bad” behaviors are from being rewarded by the people, environment, or both OR can be related to the dog’s natural tendencies and no one has taught them any differently.
I’ve talked about my dog Jake before and how he had some aggression issues. None of his aggression was due to him wanting to dominate me, despite what I was told at the time. Most of it stemmed from his natural tendencies and the things he had to endure during the early weeks of his life. For example; he dug a hole in my yard. Did he did it because he wants to dominate me and take my stuff and hide it in there? NO! He did it because he’s a Jack Russell and that’s what Jack Russells do!
There are 4 different ways of training and conditioning our dogs. As I’ve stated, I’m a +R trainer. There are 3 other methods that can be used to train a dog. Just so you are aware of them…here they are:
Positive Punishment. +P is when we add pain/fear (something unpleasant) to decrease a behavior. An example of this would be smacking a dog on the nose whenever he nips at you. This type of punishment can trigger emotions that slow down or completely prevent a dog from learning. It causes frustration, discomfort, fear, and pain that can damage the relationship between dog and handler even to the point where the dog avoids the handler because he fears them. This can lead to more behavior and training issues including defensive aggression which can be very dangerous.
Negative Reinforcement. -R is when we start with discomfort/something unpleasant and then we take it away in order to increase the behavior. An example would be using a shock collar and shocking a dog that’s chewing on a chair leg until they let go of the chair leg and they stop. This can have similar risks as positive punishment, but there is a humane way to use this method. This method can be used on dogs that are fearful of other dogs or humans. When doing this you subject the dog to being as close to the human as the dog can stand without getting overly upset, when the dog accepts it and acknowledges it without any type of reaction, the human moves away providing the relief the dog wants. This should be done only under the direction of a qualified trainer as if it is not timed correctly it can have negative effects on the dog.
Negative Punishment. This is when we take away something pleasant to decrease a behavior. This can also be used in a humane way. The problem is that we never want to take anything away from our dogs without giving them an alternate item. Imagine someone walking up to you while you were eating a sandwich and stole it out of your hand before you got a bite, you’d be pretty upset! Now, imagine someone grabbed that sandwich from you and then put a steak and lobster dinner in front of you…you would be excited! And the next time that person comes around to grab that sandwich you’re going to be handing it to them so you can get that steak and lobster! Same goes for dogs. We never want to take anything away from them without giving them something of equal or higher value. If you are using this method to get your dog to stop chewing on your favorite pair of shoes, you might take them away and offer him a brand new bacon peanut butter Kong you just made him. The next time he has your shoes I guarantee he will give them up more easily.
As a trainer that’s new to the business, I am continuing to learn new ways to teach different behaviors every day. Sometimes I use my dogs as guinea pigs even. I am constantly looking for ways to make my dogs’ lives and my clients’ dog’s lives a little bit easier and a lot more fun. I love training which is why I decided to do this. I want other people to love training their dogs too! And I definitely want all the dogs to look forward to and enjoy training as well! It should be fun, exciting, and joyful! So let’s stay as PAWsitive as possible!
