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| How Gentle Dog Training Techniques Will Make You a Better Dog Mom |
It’s
the age old debate when it comes to dog training: positive rewards or
corrective punishment. Today we are going to show you how gentle dog
training techniques are not only better, but they will make you a better
dog mom.
You’ve seen the zappers, the prong
collars and the electric fences. If you’re like me, they make you
nervous. But when your dog is driving you a little crazy they start to
look tempting. Back away from the ultrasonic dog bark zapper and hear me
out for a second.
How Dogs Learn
Last week we kicked off our new dog training series with dog psychology and how dogs learn. We talked about learning and conditioning which is related to rewards and punishments.
Basically, the general idea for these
two sides is that when a dog does a good behavior, he deserves to be
rewarded. If he does the opposite, he should be “corrected,” which is a
fancy, less guilt laden way of saying “punished.”
Proponents of rewards based dog
training often determine what appeals to their dogs the best (it can be
food, treats, affection, praise, attention, or even toys), then use
these to help motivate their dog to behave properly. Of course, the
rewards are only given when the dog behaves correctly. Any misbehavior
will result to the lack of treats.
On the other side of the spectrum,
there are people who believe that the way to instill the right behaviors
in their dogs is to scare them into behaving. People who advocate
punishment based training often promote the use of shock collars, prong
collars, and/or physical or verbal punishment in order to get their dogs
in line.
That being said, which one of these two camps is more effective in training your dog to become a good doggie?
Part two of the question is which camp allows you to have the kind of relationship you want with your dog?
Part three of this question is just
as important. Which one of these two camps allow you to be the kind of
person you want to be?
Camp Dog Punishment
Let’s face it. When your dog messes
up, it’s hard to keep your cool about it. Especially if you’re still a
new dog parent, and the misbehavior has led to the destruction of
something pretty valuable (I’m still thinking about all those chewed up
shoes and I’m tearing up).
Your first instinct is to yell at
your dog, point out their transgression, and hope that they make the
connection for it not to happen again.
But how well does that actually work?
Apart from making your dog look
scared out of her wits and putting the fear of God (or dog mama) in her
heart, it doesn’t accomplish anything in the long run.
Here’s a newsflash: Dogs Don’t Speak
English (at least mine don’t!) You can yell at your dog until you’re
blue in the face and they won’t understand what the deal is.
Despite the fact that there was an observable difference between reprimanding a dog before and after
a misbehavior was done, the general consensus afterwards was that
reprimanding a dog does not guarantee that the misbehavior will not be
repeated.
Granted, catching them just before
the act and stopping them then will most likely be effective, but how
often do we catch our dogs before they mess up, right?
Also, the further the time interval
between the time your dog misbehaved and when you reprimand them for
what they did, the less effective it is. The only thing it does is scare
them and make them even more fearful of the entire activity instead of
just when it’s done wrong.
Even worse, people in camp punishment
have also employed shock and prong collars to introduce pain into the
equation. The idea is that associating the negative feeling of getting
shocked or the painful feeling of the prongs against their skin would be
enough to stop dogs from misbehaving or pulling on their leash while on
a walk.
As we have mentioned previously, would you use a shock collar on your beloved dog if you wouldn’t wear one yourself for a personal weight loss program?
Remember, that look on your dog’s
face may look like guilt to us humans, but it’s actually more of fear.
And not fear because they recognize the error of their ways, rather fear
because of the negative feelings that your yelling or physical swatting
are producing.
I know a lot of dog owners (some of
my family members included) whose instinct is to shove a dog’s face into
the mess that they created (whether by pee, poop, or destructive
chewing) then yelling “BAD DOG!” really loudly.
But while I and my family have
recognized that this method is never really effective, other people
haven’t. And it’s still a pretty common occurrence in pet owning
households, sadly.
But the thing is, why should dog
owners resort to these inhumane methods when they can treat their dogs
better, with more effective results?
Camp Dog Rewards
Meanwhile, there are people who train their dogs by encouraging good behavior with rewards.
As we’ve already mentioned before, the idea of a reward can vary from
dog to dog, and only by knowing what makes your dog tick (not ‘flea’ ha
ha get it) can this method be effective.
The extent to which punishment is
given in this type of training method is the mere lack or absence of a
reward. Attention, at the very least, can be considered as some form of
reward.
So basically, you discourage misbehaviors by ignoring them. But when your dog performs well, then you give them a reward to encourage the reoccurrence of the behavior.
For example, your dog begs for treats
while you’re at the dinner table. Instead of encouraging the behavior
by giving them what they want, you ignore them and only feed them when
it’s time to eat.
If your dog was patient while waiting
for their meal, you can reward them with praise or extra cuddle time
(or dessert, whatever floats your dog’s boat).
So as an alternative to prong
collars, let’s say your dog likes to pull on the leash when you’re out
for a walk. Camp Rewards would tell you to simply stop walking until
your dog calms down and rewarding them when they do. Camp Punishment
would encourage the discomfort that your dog will feel while pulling
because that’s what the prong collar is designed to do.
No Man’s (or Dog’s) Land: Is There A Middle Ground?
Now you’re probably wondering, does
that mean everyone that uses a shock collar or ultrasonic bark zapper is
a horrible human being? Absolutely not!
We are not Judgey McJudgersons here
at Good Doggies Online. Remember, our dogs (and our lives in general!)
are far from perfect. But we have made the decision that we don’t want
to use those things on our dogs.
As one of our commenters has previously enabled us to see, sometimes punishment methods like shock collars can be used in a responsible way. Does that mean I’m going to do it? No.
Bottom line, we want to be the best doggie parents and human beings we can be.
Conclusion
Here at GoodDoggies, we believe that
gentle dog training techniques make you a better pet parent. The truth
is that punishment causes more problems than it fixes. It can affect
your dog’s temperament and behaviors in the long run.
You wouldn’t want to set out to turn
your dog’s misbehavior for the better, only to end up making it worse.
Plus, nobody wants to be a dog bully, right?
What camp are you in? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. We love hearing from you!
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