Punishment vs Reward in Dog Training

Punishment vs Reward in Dog Training

In order to build a strong relationship with our dogs they must trust us. Some dog trainers use methods that appear to dispute this and train through fear and punishment. This weakens the relationship between owner and the dog and makes us appear unpredictable to the dog.

Physically man handling your dog, such as forcing it to the ground is sometimes called an Alpha roll. Muzzle grabbing, Alpha rolls and the twisting of body parts are all based on outdated theories of dominance and pack leadership.

Modern science has now proved that studies done on wolves many years ago were inaccurate. These wolves were captive and forced to live in groups which were made up through human selection and not natural selection. This created conflict and appears to be where the dominance theory originates.

Dogs do not strive to dominate their human carers. When a dog is displaying behaviours that are perfectly natural for the dog, such as growling or lip curling, we might find those behaviours offensive but this usually means there is some form of conflict going on.

People who train using fear and punishment cause anxiety in the dog which suppresses the dog’s behaviour. For example yanking a dog with a choke chain, the dog may stop pulling in the presence of the punisher because of fear. However the dog may carry on pulling when being walked on the lead by someone other than the punisher.

Punishment can make some dogs resort to using aggressive behaviours through fear, whilst other dogs can get depressed and some will shut down completely which is very sad.

The other thing to remember is that you can do a lot of damage to a dog by yanking a collar on the neck area. As well as containing the cervical spine there are also important arteries and veins as well as the trachea (windpipe) which can be traumatised. I also wouldn’t advise forcing a dog into a ‘sit or down’ position as this could cause pain as some dogs may have undiagnosed hip or spinal problems.

Reward based training not only creates trust but gets quicker results and is more enjoyable for both owner and dog.

Most modern dog trainers have a ‘hands off ‘approach and get the dog to work through motivating the dog. This could be through toys or food depending on what the dog enjoys, the dog also has to use the brain by working out what it is we are trying to teach them.

So if we were teaching a ‘sit’ one of the ways would be to use the lure /reward method. By holding a treat just above the dog’s nose and when the head goes up the dog automatically goes into a ‘sit’ position. The dog is then rewarded and once doing this reliably you can then add the cue like saying sit. When the behaviour is reliable you can then look at rewarding just the quickest or best ‘sits’ until eventually your dog gets used to sitting without needing food every single time.

I know that I want my dogs to work for me because they enjoy it and not because they are fearful of me. One last word if someone tells you to do something to your dog that you feel is not right then do not do it. - Hilary Hardcastle Registered Veterinary Nurse DipCABT

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