The Right Way To Train Your Dog
Dogs will naturally do things that we don’t want them to do. They will chew anything that they can get their teeth on, they will bark like there is no tomorrow, they will pee and poo where they please, they will dig holes and destroy the backyard, and so on. If we want the dog to behave, we must train him. Dogs do not possess the ability to learn proper behavior on their own.
There are two basic methods of dog training – positive and negative reinforcement. Most experts in the field of animal behavior recommend positive reinforcement as a primary method of training.
Positive reinforcement is a punishment-free training method where the trainer rewards a dog for good behavior. A desired behavior is reinforced with rewards such as treats, verbal praises, toys, and so on. The dog will associate something positive for specific behavior and this will increase the likelihood of performing that behavior in the future. Eventually he or she will do it with no tricks or treats.
Negative reinforcement, sometimes called a harassment training, is the opposite of positive reinforcement. It uses punishment as its main motivating factor to discourage unwanted behaviors. Punishment is a negative consequence that causes a specific behavior to occur with less frequency.
Most experts agree that dog friendly training based on positive reinforcement is more effective that negative reinforcement. It’s not associated with fear, discomfort, pain, or avoiding something and in general produces better results.
Negative reinforcement has its benefits and it would be quite unrealistic to think that you can properly train a dog using only positive reinforcement. But because it can have serious long-lasting consequences, it has to be used very sparingly and carefully.
I use mostly positive reinforcement methods to train my dogs and I can say that the results are really great. This is a great way to build a strong relationship and learn to communicate with each other in a positive manner. Remember, a well trained dog is a happy dog.
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Tagged with: dog training • Dogs • pets
Filed under: Dogs
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