As a professional dog trainer, it’s no surprise that I love dogs. Even the most slobbery or ornery dogs melt my heart. So when I’m training a dog, I want to use the most pleasant training method available.
In my experience, rewarding a dog for behaviors you like and being careful to not reward behaviors you don’t is effective and has the pleasant side effect of making your dog love you even more than she already does. Taking away your attention, which most dogs crave, works well as a punishment for some unwanted behaviors. Harsh training methods, on the other hand, may get faster results in some cases (definitely not all) but often have some pretty nasty side effects.
The training methods I will discuss are the four types of operant conditioning, which is the scientific term for creating an association between a behavior and a consequence, such as a dog learning that sitting earns a treat. Most dog training involves operant conditioning techniques. Often the dog learns that the relationship between the behavior and the consequence is only true in certain circumstances, such as after a verbal cue like “sit” is given.
As a professional dog trainer, it’s no surprise that I love dogs. Even the most slobbery or ornery dogs melt my heart. So when I’m training a dog, I want to use the most pleasant training method available.
In my experience, rewarding a dog for behaviors you like and being careful to not reward behaviors you don’t is effective and has the pleasant side effect of making your dog love you even more than she already does. Taking away your attention, which most dogs crave, works well as a punishment for some unwanted behaviors. Harsh training methods, on the other hand, may get faster results in some cases (definitely not all) but often have some pretty nasty side effects.
The training methods I will discuss are the four types of operant conditioning, which is the scientific term for creating an association between a behavior and a consequence, such as a dog learning that sitting earns a treat. Most dog training involves operant conditioning techniques. Often the dog learns that the relationship between the behavior and the consequence is only true in certain circumstances, such as after a verbal cue like “sit” is given.
As a professional dog trainer, it’s no surprise that I love dogs. Even the most slobbery or ornery dogs melt my heart. So when I’m training a dog, I want to use the most pleasant training method available.
In my experience, rewarding a dog for behaviors you like and being careful to not reward behaviors you don’t is effective and has the pleasant side effect of making your dog love you even more than she already does. Taking away your attention, which most dogs crave, works well as a punishment for some unwanted behaviors. Harsh training methods, on the other hand, may get faster results in some cases (definitely not all) but often have some pretty nasty side effects.
The training methods I will discuss are the four types of operant conditioning, which is the scientific term for creating an association between a behavior and a consequence, such as a dog learning that sitting earns a treat. Most dog training involves operant conditioning techniques. Often the dog learns that the relationship between the behavior and the consequence is only true in certain circumstances, such as after a verbal cue like “sit” is given.
Based on the potential side effects of each type of operant conditioning technique, I recommend using two of them and generally avoiding the other two.
If you are unfamiliar with operant conditioning, the terms might seem a little strange. To help you out, here are a few things to keep in mind about the individual words that make up each term:
- “Positive” means adding something
- “Negative” means taking something away
- “Reinforcement” means something that causes a behavior to increase in frequency
- “Punishment” means something that causes a behavior to decrease in frequency
Recommended Methods
I recommend these two types of training methods because they are effective and have limited unwanted side effects:
Positive Reinforcement– giving something pleasant to increase the likelihood of a behavior (causing happiness), such as giving a treat when your dog sits. For practical examples of how to use positive reinforcement, see How to Housetrain Your Dog and The Essentials of Crate Training.
Positive reinforcement is powerful for learning, creates a strong bond between the dog and the trainer, and causes the dog to love training sessions. Some people argue that they don’t like this method because positive reinforcement is “bribery.” I’ve always found that response rather silly. Because, after all, rewarding a behavior (which yes, is basically bribery) is an effective way to motivate an animal. That’s why our employers pay us for going to work. If employers expected us to go to work for no reward week after week, we would laugh at them. Dogs are no different.
I had one client whose dog just wasn’t into the store bought treats we were using. I tried at least five different varieties of treats, but none of them motivated the dog to focus on training. She preferred to roll around on the ground, wiggling in a silly way that never failed to make me and the owner laugh.
So I thought we should try other rewards. I suggested the owner save a favorite toy to be used as a reward. That worked a little better than the store bought treats had, but using a toy as a reward slows down training considerably because you have to spend time letting the dog play. Gulping down a treat is much faster.
So then I suggested we try some chopped, boiled chicken. I knew it would be a lot more effort for the owner than grabbing a bag of store bought treats, but luckily she was willing to go the extra mile. She brought in chicken the following week, and the moist, fragrant meat got Abby’s attention immediately. Training was much smoother after that.
I had one client whose dog just wasn’t into the store bought treats we were using. I tried at least five different varieties of treats, but none of them motivated the dog to focus on training. She preferred to roll around on the ground, wiggling in a silly way that never failed to make me and the owner laugh.
So I thought we should try other rewards. I suggested the owner save a favorite toy to be used as a reward. That worked a little better than the store bought treats had, but using a toy as a reward slows down training considerably because you have to spend time letting the dog play. Gulping down a treat is much faster.
So then I suggested we try some chopped, boiled chicken. I knew it would be a lot more effort for the owner than grabbing a bag of store bought treats, but luckily she was willing to go the extra mile. She brought in chicken the following week, and the moist, fragrant meat got Abby’s attention immediately. Training was much smoother after that
I had one client whose dog just wasn’t into the store bought treats we were using. I tried at least five different varieties of treats, but none of them motivated the dog to focus on training. She preferred to roll around on the ground, wiggling in a silly way that never failed to make me and the owner laugh.
So I thought we should try other rewards. I suggested the owner save a favorite toy to be used as a reward. That worked a little better than the store bought treats had, but using a toy as a reward slows down training considerably because you have to spend time letting the dog play. Gulping down a treat is much faster.
So then I suggested we try some chopped, boiled chicken. I knew it would be a lot more effort for the owner than grabbing a bag of store bought treats, but luckily she was willing to go the extra mile. She brought in chicken the following week, and the moist, fragrant meat got Abby’s attention immediately. Training was much smoother after that.
Don’t give up on positive reinforcement if your dog is picky. For many picky dogs, there is some food that they consider to be extra special. And other things can be rewards as well. A favorite toy is one example, but anything a dog finds pleasant can be a reward: a walk, a game of tug, a chance to smell something interesting, and a belly rub are just a few examples of rewards I use with my own dog.
Negative Punishment– taking something pleasant away to decrease the likelihood of a behavior (causing disappointment), such as leaving the room when your dog jumps on you
Negative punishment is also powerful for learning, and disappointment is an unpleasant emotion that dogs handle much better than fear or pain. For example, if my dog jumps on me when I walk in the door, I walk back out and shut the door in her face. I know the punishment is powerful, because I can sometimes hear her crying on the other side of the door and her jumping has greatly reduced.
Methods to Avoid
I do not recommend the following two types of training methods because, although they may be effective in some circumstances, they often have some nasty side effects:
Positive Punishment– adding something unpleasant to decrease the likelihood of a behavior (causing pain or fear), such as using a shock collar when your dog runs away from you
Negative Reinforcement– taking away something unpleasant to increase the likelihood of a behavior (causing relief); usually involves the use of positive punishment so there is something unpleasant to take away, such as using a pinch collar that stops applying pain when the dog releases the tension
I do not recommend these types of training methods because causing fear or pain can have terrible side effects. Your dog may associate the pain or fear with things other than the intended behavior, which could cause her to become afraid of you or something else in the environment. Some dogs become chronically stressed as a result of harsh training methods, and dogs (like people) don’t learn as well when they are stressed. Stress can also lead to new behavioral issues.
Harsh methods may lead to poisoning of the cue, meaning the dog has an unpleasant association with the word or hand signal you use to cue the behavior. For example, if you say “come” and then shock the dog when she doesn’t come running to you, your dog might start panicking when you say “come” due to her fear of the word
The Story of Bailey
I once had a 9 month old golden retriever puppy named Bailey in a private training class whose owner relied heavily on a shock collar when he was training the dog at home. I had to be very careful to maintain a neutral expression as he described telling Bailey to “come” and proceeding to shock him as the dog bolted in the other direction. I warned him of the potential side effects of such a harsh method and explained to him why I thought my positive reinforcement method would have better results. But no matter how I phrased the information, he contended that my methods would result in the dog “walking all over me.”
I insisted, of course, that in my training classes we would use my methods and that the shock collar would be left at home. He seemed happy to give my way a try, despite his obvious skepticism. In my training classes, I had him encourage the dog to come to him by luring (showing the dog food) and prompting (using your voice and body language), following it up with a treat when the dog complied. I explained that we would start with short distances and no distractions, building up from there.
The Story of Bailey
I once had a 9 month old golden retriever puppy named Bailey in a private training class whose owner relied heavily on a shock collar when he was training the dog at home. I had to be very careful to maintain a neutral expression as he described telling Bailey to “come” and proceeding to shock him as the dog bolted in the other direction. I warned him of the potential side effects of such a harsh method and explained to him why I thought my positive reinforcement method would have better results. But no matter how I phrased the information, he contended that my methods would result in the dog “walking all over me.”
I insisted, of course, that in my training classes we would use my methods and that the shock collar would be left at home. He seemed happy to give my way a try, despite his obvious skepticism. In my training classes, I had him encourage the dog to come to him by luring (showing the dog food) and prompting (using your voice and body language), following it up with a treat when the dog complied. I explained that we would start with short distances and no distractions, building up from there.
But I couldn’t overcome the owner’s belief that the dog simply “should” come when he called, even if the dog was off leash, far away, chasing a squirrel, and/or simply hadn’t learned the proper response to the verbal cue “come” yet. If Bailey didn’t do what he was “supposed to do,” in the owner’s mind he deserved to be shocked.
The worst part was, Bailey seemed to already be showing some unwanted side effects of the shock collar training, which greatly impeded progress during my classes. Bailey would frequently become very anxious and make frantic attempts to escape the training area, even though the training we were doing was all positive reinforcement. It occurred to me that Bailey was probably afraid of training, since his experiences with it had been so unpleasant in the past.
By the end of the 6 one hour sessions of class we had together, Bailey still wasn’t ignoring all distractions and turning on a dime to run back to his owner every time he called. That was, of course, no surprise since that type of response is fairly advanced and most of the time in class Bailey was too anxious to pay attention and when he went home the owner wasn’t following my suggestions. In the owner’s mind, I had proven his point. My “soft” methods hadn’t worked, and I’m sure he went back to relying on that shock collar despite my repeated warnings about the possible side effects.
To the owner’s credit, he had tried the shock collar on himself before he ever put it on the dog. If you’re willing to use harsh training methods on your dog, which I strongly advise against, you should at the very least be willing to try them on yourself first.
Considering the Options
Sometimes, an owner will choose a harsh training method because they think it’s the only possible way to train a behavior that is very important. I once met a young woman who asked my advice about her dogs’ door darting. Her dogs would slip out the door at the first opportunity and run away without so much as backward glance. She had been so concerned about their safety, that she had reluctantly fitted them both with shock collars and trained them to expect a small shock if they went near the open door unleashed.
She didn’t want to shock her dogs, but she was concerned about their safety. She asked my opinion. I told her about a positive reinforcement method she could use to train her dogs to wait for permission before crossing a threshold to the outside. Once trained in this way, dogs will hesitate at the open doorway until they hear the release word. It is similar to training a dog to stay until you say “okay.”
The young woman had never heard of my method before. She truly thought the only option was a shock collar. She knew that shock collars could cause unwanted side effects, but she felt she had no choice. It’s important to remember that there are often multiple ways to train the same behavior, and it’s well worth the time to do the research.
Training a dog to hesitate at doorways using positive reinforcement is certainly not as quick as using a shock collar. The dog will need to be rewarded many times for hesitating at the door. Distractions will have to be added in gradually so that the dog will hesitate even if something exciting happens on the other side of the threshold. It’s also a good idea to manage the situation even after training, meaning you don’t tempt the dog by leaving the door wide open and walking through it without her.
However, in my opinion, the positive reinforcement method is well worth the effort. Causing an innocent animal pain is a terrible alternative, especially when you consider the potential side effects.
Think About it This Way...
To put my recommendations in perspective, imagine a teacher gave you a test to take and every wrong answer you gave resulted in you getting an electric shock. Now imagine instead a teacher gave you a test with the same questions, but wrong answers did not result in electric shock and every right answer earned you a dollar. Which test do you think you would do better on? Which teacher would you like better?
You would probably do better on the test without electric shocks, because you would be so stressed during the other test that you wouldn’t be able to focus. Dogs are the same way. They learn better when they aren’t stressed, which is one of the reasons positive reinforcement methods are a better choice than harsh training methods.
You would most certainly like the second teacher, who gave you a reward for each right answer, better than the first teacher, who gave you electric shocks for each wrong answer. Think about which teacher you want to be to your dog. As for me, I choose to be the second teacher.
Further Reading
If you would like to learn more on operant conditioning and how dogs learn, I recommend reading the following books:
- How Dogs Learn, by Mary Burch and Jon Bailey
- Excel-erated Learning – by Pamela Reid