Ethical Puppy Training and Positive Reinforcement

21.45 in and, Dog, ethical, positive, puppy, reinforcement, training

So you got a new puppy and couldnt be happier with your new little bundle of joy when they chew your favorite shoes, piddle on your rug, and jump all over your visiting in-laws. Oh no! Just like baby humans, puppies love to cause trouble and make messes! Also like baby humans, new puppies need to be taught how to behave properly.

When adding a new puppy to your family, good training is vital to ensure a happy relationship with your pet. There are so many ways to train a puppy, but your cute and fuzzy new friend deserves ethical puppy training. 
Ethical puppy training means using positive reinforcement for desired behaviors and avoiding punishing bad behaviors. Your job as an ethical puppy trainer is to make the desired behavior as attractive as possible to the puppy and distract them from unwanted behaviors. For example, if your puppy loves to chew, provide plenty of chew toys and praise them when they chew the toy. When you catch your puppy chewing furniture, calmly redirect their attention to the toy. You will have to repeat this often before it sticks!

Your puppy needs you to work with it to learn how to behave properly. Starting as young as possible, practice walking on a leash without pulling. If your puppy likes to jump on guests, ask someone to help you practice by going through the visitor scenario over and over again, rewarding your puppy when they remain calm.
Reward-based training will not only improve the behavior of your pet, it will improve your relationship with your pet. You will enjoy your pet much more when they are well behaved, and your pet will trust you and see you as a source of treats and love. 

If you are busy, search for a pet trainer who specializes in ethical puppy training to assist you in giving your puppy the best possible start in life. If your once well-trained pet is suddenly exhibiting unwanted behaviors, get them to a vet for a checkup - a health problem may be causing the pet to act up.

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Bringing clarity to clickers and positive reinforcement

02.47 in and, bringing, clarity, clickers, Dog, positive, reinforcement, to

You hear the words "Clicker training", "Clickers", "Positive Reinforcement" etc... but whats it all mean? Let me try to help clarify some points:

1. Using a "Clicker" doesnt mean a person doesnt use "punishment" (hopefully not at the same time)... 
2. Positive Reinforcement doesnt mean a person doesnt use punishment.
3. Positive reinforcement doesnt mean a person doesnt use physical force to get what they want! 
4. Using "punishment" doesnt mean a person uses physical force or inhumane methods to teach. 
5. There are two types of "punishment":

• "Negative Punishment": Taking the good thing away
• "Positive Punishment": adding something the animal wants to avoid - a smack, shock, choke, prong in the neck, citronella spray, loud noise, being pinned, etc...

Why do I bring this up? A couple of reasons. There are some trainers out there that say theyre somewhere between "A clicker trainer" and a famous trainer who uses physical force, flooding, fear tactics, and downright "old fashioned" training methods. (Sorry, name withheld to protect privacy and CMA)...

I wanted to say to this person: "What does being a clicker trainer mean to you?" It certainly isnt exclusive to causing no harm to an animal - its just another tool in your trainers toolbox, as it is mine. It "marks" the behavior you wanted your dog (or any animal) to perform...not much more. 

I use a clicker as one of my training tools. I also use "punishment". As a matter of fact I spoke about it today in my Manners Class at the Inquisitive Canine studio. However, the type of punishment I use and teach has to do with "reward removal" -  not hitting, beating, shocking, spraying, coercing, forcing, or bullying! 

No animal learns that way without resulting in some nasty (usually "emotional") side-effects. Do animals learn through beating and force techniques? Sure they do - or should I say, "we" do... But what else are they "learning" besides what the owner/parent wants? - which is usually not the first or main thing they learn... 

My final example: I was coming home from a run, heading in the opposite direction of a man and his dog. Im sure I looked "weird" to the dog...hat, sunglasses, water bottle belt, running right towards it. This can be perceived by dogs as "threatening", right? Something weird running at it... So the dog did the most logical thing it could do in its little canine brain - it started barking at me - I didnt blame it at all. Unfortunately the owner did - and proceeded to smack it repeatedly on the head! The dog looked at me, barked, got smacked and yelled at. I cringed! I think I yelped myself! Then screamed at him to please not hit the dog!!! Why is he hitting him! it doesnt teach him what you want! 

I know, that can be pretty punishing to someone - being yelled at it public. As for "positive punishment" towards humans - of course Im against it (unless its self defense) - However, I did have a secret desire to smack the owner and take the dog... Hopefully they will end up in one of my classes - either at the studio or Ventura College, so I can supply an education in positive reinforcement, learning by both association and consequence, proper ways to get rid of unwanted behaviors, and clickers (or not). 

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Positive Reinforcement and dog training what is is

21.56 in and, Dog, is, positive, reinforcement, training, what

The term "Positive Reinforcement" is such the "in thing" to say nowadays when it comes to training your pet dog - but what exactly does it mean? In a very small nutshell, it means adding something, or giving something, to an animal they find pleasant after a behavior is performed in order to increase the frequency of that behavior. For example: you ask your dog to sit, she does, you give her a cookie. With consistency, she will probably start offering this behavior (sitting) more frequently because of the pleasant outcome. As you can see, it is the consequences that drive the behavior. 

So how can those folks who use squirt bottles when punishing their dogs, or jerking the collars, or rolling them onto their backs call themselves "positive reinforcement" trainers...? As far as I can tell by reading the dogs body language, being squirt, rolled over with force, or jerked and yelled at is not the most pleasant thing...and certainly doesnt tell the dog what you want. 

My philosophy and methodology at the inquisitive canine is centered around positive reinforcement. Which means I like to motivate the dogs with anything and everything they find pleasant and rewarding... food, petting, praise, toys, belly rubs, tug of war, and all sort of other fun and games... Life is full of enough aversives...why add to it - especially when it distorts learning, yes? 

I recommend everyone be inquisitive themselves when looking for a trainer - think about how well you would learn a new skill... being spoken to in a language you understand, being motivated by something you find to be pleasant...not afraid of. Its not just the words, but the actions of the trainer themselves.

Come check us out...sign up for one of our classes... you may be positively reinforced as well. 

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Here are a few reasons why one shouldn’t use Positive Punishment

01.48 in a, are, Dog, few, here, one, positive, punishment, reasons, shouldn’t, use, why

Positive Punishment is defined as adding anything that will decrease a behavior (this could mean anything from saying “no!”, “eh eh”, or using physical Positive Punishment- choking, shocking, kicking, smacking etc)

Here are a few reasons why one shouldn’t use Positive Punishment:


1- Without perfect timing, intensity and consistency, the intended positive punishment actually becomes abuse.
2- The dog learns to avoid the punisher in order to do undesirable behavior.
3- It can cause irreversible emotional damage to the dog or human, even irreversible changes in the brain.
4- Positive Punishment is scientifically proven to increase stress hormones, arousal and aggression.
5- Animals habituate to positive punishment – meaning the intensity will have to keep increasing.
6- You cannot make children, dogs or anything for that matter reinforcing for a dog using Positive Punishment, you can only suppress the behaviors punished.
7- Positive Punishment causes dogs to hide their warning signs before a bite.
8- Dogs trained with punishment feel trapped when with owners, as leaving a ‘stay’ or leaving the owners side to escape from a child can cause punishment. Dogs that feel they have no escape tend to bite rather than move away.
9- Intended punishment can actually INCREASE the behavior you wished to extinguish. As attention was provided.
10- - The punisher becomes less reinforcing to be around for the dog. If you use punishment with your dog, there is no way to compete with the reinforcement value of other things in the environment. Your dog will find other stimuli in the environment more reinforcing than you because the dog has a history of punishment with being near you.
11- Dogs who are punished do not offer behaviors as readily, so they are harder to teach new obedience behaviors, sports or tricks.
12- People who use positive punishment will punish more readily in the future as it is positively reinforcing to use. Using punishment causes ones own behavior patterns to change towards dogs and people. Some people will find that they cannot stop using positive punishment even if they want to, and will need to seek help to change their behavior.

-Emily Larlham

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