Training with kindness & compassion
Why did you get a dog?
Companionship, cuddles, fun, exercise, a best friend. Maybe they have developed habits / behaviours that make them less than desirable companions and your looking for ways to get back the vision you had of life with a furry friend. Or your keen to get your puppy off to the right start. Positive reinforcement training methods can help you meet these goals while having a positive impact on your dogs mental health.
Positive Reinforcement in Action
On a recent visit to Australia zoo the tiger show was a demonstration of the power of positive reinforcement in teaching and shaping behaviour. This show was not a tiger performing tricks for an audience. The focus was on training the tiger to willingly participate in husbandry procedures reducing the need for sedation and asking them to perform natural tiger behaviours.
Now a if tiger, which could if it wished take down the trainer with one paw swipe, can be successfully trained with positive reinforcement, there is no reason it can’t be successful with our pet dogs.
Let’s start with a definition.
Positive reinforcement training takes place when something is added after a behaviour is performed (Positive - adding something) to make the frequency of the behaviour go up (Reinforcement - behaviour happens more often) as opposed to Positive Punishment - adding something after a behaviour is performed (Positive) to make the frequency of the behaviour decrease ( Punishment - behaviour happens less often)
How does positive reinforcement work in practice.
We ask, lure or wait for our dog to do a behaviour. A reward immediately follows the behaviour. Making the likelihood of this behaviour being performed again increase. Easy!
We can use it to teach our dogs new behaviours such as Sit; Drop; Come and increasingly complicated behaviours like tidy your toys; wait calmly at doors while someone comes in. Or teach them to do more of the behaviours they naturally do; quiet instead of barking; four paws on floor rather than jumping; lying on their bed.
What it’s not
Bribing your dog - if you do this you will get this treat. With bribing you will always have to have a reward present.
A dog that only works when food is present - see above
Overfeeding your dog - food rewards don’t always have to be treats, rewards don’t have to always be food.
Being a soft touch - your dog needs a reliable, compassionate leader not a dictator
What it is
Ethical - animals are not hurt / intimidated / scared into behaviours
Relationship building - good things coming from a dogs guardian builds their trust
Confidence building - good things happen when a dog gets it right, encouraging them to try new things in the future
Supporting your dog in their learning - working with your dog to become the best version of themselves.
Showing your dog how to live with you - rather than telling your dog what not to do or expecting them to work it out we focus on telling them what to do.
Ok I’m on board how do I reward my dogs behaviour?
There are several things that may be rewarding to a dog depending on the circumstances in which you are training. Food is the most reliable reward to use and my recommendation for beginner trainers. You need to feed your dog, why not incorporate training into feeding.
Why food? Dogs love food, as opportunistic feeders and scavengers they are programmed to seek food when it’s available; it’s quick and easy to use. You have to feed your dog everyday why not use it to train them at the same time.
Play can absolutely reinforce behaviour. It does take longer to play a game than deliver a food treat. Meaning you can’t move on in training as quickly and you may need to calm your dog down before you do.
Pats / verbal praise - there have been studies on the effects of praise on our dogs and the suggestion is unless paired reliably with food the words Good boy/girl do not cause a positive emotional response. With regards petting some dogs love pats but it can be situational. My dog Wolfie has no interest in my pats when out on a walk.
If you feel your dog is not interested / motivated by food, a health check by your vet is recommended. If a dog truly isn’t interested in eating this is a health concern. If your dog eats but appears to not be excited by food there may be food intolerances at play making your dog feel uncomfortable around food. Or is there stress attached to eating, maybe the presence of other dogs or rules around their behaviour at meal times. Perhaps they are too nervous / anxious / distracted to eat. Maybe they genuinely don’t like what you are offering. I know lots of people whose dogs love apple and carrots, my dog would walk away if offered the same.
If your dog is on a specialised diet check for a wet food version you could use in training or try a component of the specialised diet they are on for example roast chicken.
Conclusion
The key takeaway here is when considering your dogs behaviour identify what you would like your dog to be doing and focus on rewarding this. Remember rewarded behaviours will be repeated and quickly become habits.
When looking for training options for your dog I recommend asking potential trainers - Do you use positive reinforcement training? Do you use food to reward behaviour? Do you ever use verbal/physical corrections in training?
Happy Training
