by Patty Homer

What is punishment? Webster defines punishment as “suffering, pain or loss that serves as retribution; or severe, rough or disastrous treatment.” When a knowledgeable dog trainer talks about punishment, the definition is much less severe; so much less that it should really be called consequences instead of punishment.

Teaching Appropriate Behavior
The definition we use is “anything applied to or taken away from a dog so that a specific behavior will decrease.” When teaching a dog appropriate behavior in the human world, using any harsh punishment will hinder learning by associating fear, intimidation and/or pain with verbal cues and/or hand signals. When you teach with patience, rewarding the good and providing appropriate non-violent consequences for unacceptable behavior, your dog will learn faster, retain the knowledge longer and be eager to learn more.

So why do people still use punishment? Some will tell you “because it works,” but scientific research as well as professional observations tell us that punishment suppresses behavior — it does not change it. When you suppress a dog’s behavior instead of changing or modifying the behavior, the dog becomes frustrated over time. Frustration will build until they reach their emotional limit and then they will strike out. Most of the time, the dog does not strike out at the person who has done the punishing because the dog is scared of or intimidated by the punisher; the dog strikes out at somebody else — a child, stranger, other dog, cat or the “weaker” person in the home.

Changing a Behavior
Changing a dog’s behavior has to be done through appropriate, non-violent consequences for the unwanted behavior coupled with repeatedly rewarding the wanted behavior. Both consequences and rewards need to be present for change (or learning) to happen and change happens faster when you give more rewards than consequences. Think of rewards as saying “yes, do this” and consequences as saying “no, don’t do that” and reach for a goal of 10 yeses for every no. When you use consequence with no rewards — you are a disciplinarian, when you use rewards as well as consequences — you are a teacher.

When trying to change your dog’s behavior, before you decide what consequence should be used for any given behavior, you must first determine the root of the behavior. I classify behaviors into 4 different categories. The 4 categories are:

1. Schooled — behaviors we teach, such as sit, down, stay, come.
2. Self rewarding — behaviors such as jumping on the soft furniture, some digging, chewing and most forms of barking in that the act itself is rewarding.
3. Reinforced — behaviors that are rewarded by an outside source such as jumping, barking for attention, bolting through a door or rushing the food bowl.
4. Defensive — behaviors that are based in fear, status or self protection such as chasing joggers, dog to dog reactivity, aggression or submissive urination.

Defining the Type of Behavior
Each category of behaviors is dealt with differently, so before you can correct or modify any behavior, you need to first establish what category the behavior falls into. If you suspect that a behavior stems from the Defensive category, please seek professional help from a qualified, positive reinforcement dog trainer. Behaviors rooted in this Defensive category can be complex and sometimes dangerous. Trying to modify these behaviors on your own can result in worsening the behavior and increasing the risk of harm to the dog, humans and other animals. Below is an explanation of and guidelines for addressing the other 3 behavioral categories.

 

Schooled Behaviors

Consequences for schooled behaviors can be a little tricky. First, no consequence should ever be given unless you are sure that your dog understands what you are asking him to do. If you ask him to sit, but you have not taught him that sit means put your bottom on the ground, giving a consequence for not responding is pointless and unkind. The same goes for a schooled behavior that has not been generalized. Dogs do not generalize information, so you must do so for him. For instance, if you teach your dog to sit by practicing in the kitchen while standing in front of him, looking him in the eye, he will not understand that he needs to sit on cue if you have your back turned, he is across the room, around other dogs or people or outside. You must practice “sit” in all different locations and with your body in different positions.

Constructive Feedback
To determine whether your dog understands a cue, he needs to be able to respond to the cue at least 90% of the time in whichever environment you are in. Only after you are positive that he understands the cue can any consequence you give contribute to your dog’s education.

Consequences for schooled behaviors need to be as benign as possible; you could really classify this as constructional feedback or constant communication. If you ask for a behavior that your dog knows and he doesn’t respond, a mild voice correction like “no”, “too bad” or “eh-eh” in an unhappy tone of voice is sufficient followed by repeating your hand signal or luring your dog into place. Repeating the cue is not recommended because when you repeat yourself you de-value the cue (you are teaching him that he doesn’t have to do as you request the first time). Jerking on a leash or forcing him into position can create a negative association with the cue which can reduce your dog’s desire to learn and/or respond.

Self Rewarding Behavior
Consequences for self rewarding behaviors are a 3 step process which gives your dog instructional feedback teaching him what he shouldn’t do as well as what he can do This process consists of - Correct/Interrupt — Praise — Redirect. Correct (verbally say “NO”, “HEY” or “EH-EH”) to interrupt the behavior, praise the instant your dog stops the inappropriate behavior and redirect him to something appropriate. For instance, your dog is chewing on the leg of the kitchen table, you say “EH-EH” in a clear, loud, sharp voice (correct/interrupt), he stops and looks at you, you immediately say “good boy” for stopping the chewing (praise) and then you provide him with a chew toy (redirect).

When you include all 3 steps, learning happens at an accelerated pace because you are not just telling your dog what NOT to do, you are also telling him what he CAN do. It also forces you into the role of teacher instead of disciplinarian, making life more positive for your dog and your family.

Reinforced Behavior
Consequences for reinforced behaviors take a little more investigation. The term “reinforce” can be interpreted as “benefit” or “pay off”. Dogs are self serving creatures — they want what they want... when they want it... and will do whatever it takes to get it, therefore, dogs will not repeat behaviors that don’t have a benefit, pay off or reinforcement. In order to modify reinforced behaviors, you must first determine what the dog is getting out of it - what is the pay off? Once you determine what the pay off is, it is as simple as removing the payoff when they offer that behavior, then providing the pay off for a behavior YOU like. This is called “rewarding an alternate behavior.” Below is a list of simplified examples.

Correcting Behaviors
Correcting behaviors in this manner is not an overnight fix, but the lesson learned will stick with your dog for his lifetime. Behaviors (especially unwanted behviors) become habituated quickly, so the longer your dog has been allowed to repeat a behavior, the longer it will take to modify it - consistency and patience are the key.

There are several behaviors that fit into more than one category. For instance - digging can root from hunting (self rewarding and sometimes reinforced when they find the prey), physical comfort — digging down to the dirt to be cooler (self rewarding), escaping (reinforced) or boredom (self rewarding). Barking is another behavior that can fit several different categories — barking AT you for attention (reinforced), barking at strangers (defensive or reinforced — either scary thing goes away or the nice person talks to me), barking at noises (reinforced — dog barks, you get up to investigate and/or talk to the dog or a guest comes in the door) or boredom (self rewarding).

Identify then Modify
Identifying the root of your dog’s behavior is the first step to modifying that behavior. When you understand why your dog is behaving in a certain way, you can develop a training strategy to modify his behavior. Once you have decided on a plan of action, patience and consistency along with more rewards than consequences should help you create a well behaved dog.

Patty Homer has worked as a vet tech for 10 years and has been training pets for over 20 years. She offers in home training, behavior consulting and private obedience classes for dogs and cats as well as Pet First Aid and CPR classes. Patty is certified through the Certification Counsel of Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT-KA) and is the founder and president of HEARTland Positive Dog Training Alliance. Her experience in the veterinary field as well as training gives her a unique approach to dog training, considering the mind, body and spirit of each pet she works with. You can find her at www.goodpupkc.com, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 816.699.2260 and follow her on facebook.