Why Can't I Just Punish My Dog?"

I actually laughed when my new client asked that question, albeit in frustration. You see, she just retired and her kids gifted her an adolescent dog to keep her company.  While my client is clearly a dog person, she wasn't necessarily ready for this dog, a high-energy, head-strong, Shepherd mix.  She told me she'd punished her kids when they drove her nuts, but everything she's read says she shouldn't have done that (LOL!) and she certainly shouldn't punish her dog.  She wanted to know what she SHOULD do then, if her dog misbehaves or is defiant.  I'm awfully glad she asked (and that she said it was okay to share her story here!).

I'm not going to dive deep into a discussion of positive reinforcement, versus negative reinforcement, versus punishment.  Suffice it to say, there's a ton of research on this topic.  Here are just a few bullet points from a summary study in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior 3, no. 5 (2008) that  I want you to remember:

• Owners who use only positive reinforcement when training their dogs are the least likely to report behavior problems such as aggression, fear, etc.
• The most pronounced levels of aggression and fear were reported in dogs trained using the balanced training method (balanced trainers use a combination of positive reinforcement and positive punishment.  Positive punishment refers to you adding in something after your dog does a behavior, like kneeing a dog who jumps up, in an effort to get them to stop jumping on people).
• Regardless of size of the dog, owners who use punishment note more aggression and excitability in their dogs.
• Dogs whose owners use positive reinforcement in the form of treats, are quicker to learn new behavioral tasks than those whose owners used other forms of positive reinforcement (petting and/or verbal rewards) or punishment. 
• Dogs trained using punishment are less playful with their owners and less interactive with new people.

And finally:

• More than one study has found that confrontational dog training methods result in dogs who respond aggressively, attend less to their owners, and show heightened stress responses.

So, no matter how frustrated my client was with her dog, yelling at him, yanking his leash, or swatting him on the nose wasn't going to improve his behavior, and might in fact make it worse.  Fine, she said.  Then what should she do when he surfs the kitchen counters, won't come inside when called, pulls her down the street on leash, and charges at other dogs? I'm pretty sure you already know what I told her.

Dogs who surf counters should not be left unattended in the kitchen.  Dogs need boundaries and structure; he couldn't surf the counters if he was in his pen, crate, or tethered to her.  And if he did try to surf when tethered to her, she could say "OFF" and redirect him to what he should be doing.  She could also teach him the place command so he has to stay on his mat during food prep. If he gets up, he gets a time out away from her.  Social shunning (time spent away from us) is by far the best "correction" to use if you must use a correction.  First, however, show your dog what they should be doing by using redirection; it's only when they refuse to do that, that a time out is warranted. 

Won't come when called?  Why aren't they on a leash or long line then?  Any dog without good recall needs to be tethered for their own safety, even in your own yard.  Use an upbeat voice and treats to reinforce coming when called. I actually did this on a long line with my client's dog and he came EVERY TIME I CALLED.  Yep.  The magic of chicken jerky!

Leash pulling and charging at other dogs will be a work in progress for my client.  We needed to get him into a different kind of harness to begin with, and added in a head halter as well, thus walking him using two leashes.  She will need to walk at off peak times in off peak places while she encourages her dog to sniff and explore rather than pull and charge.  We will be adding in relaxation and resetting techniques for them both as we move forward with their training. 

My grandmother used to say "You get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar," meaning if you're nice, you'll get more of what you want.  When it comes to training dogs, you'll get more reliability and happier pooches with treats than with harsh leash corrections and a smack on the nose. Don't get me wrong; I know we all make mistakes, yanking our dog away from something on the sidewalk or yelling at them to slow down so we can dry their feet.  Don't worry about those little blips, just make sure that they are the exceptions and not the rule in your interactions with your dogs.  And remember, you can always give yourself a time out as well, if you need it.  Nothing in the world wrong with that.

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.  

                                 

These two floof-balls love training exercises.  Here we were working on a dropped leash stay for Westley and a no leash stay for Ozzie.  We definitely dished out treats when we released them from the stay as you can clearly see, they were relaxed and happy to stay in place, even with distractions on the trail that day.