Have you ever heard of Pavlov’s dog? Who was Ivan Pavlov, and why is he of interest today?
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was an experimental Russian scientist who lived from 1849-1936. One of his discoveries he made through his experiments with dogs: classical conditioning.
First, he observed that dogs naturally salivated when given red meat. Then, he conditioned a dog, through repeated exposure to a neutral stimulus (a tuning fork), to associate the neutral stimulus to being fed. Once conditioned, his dog salivated at the sound of the tuning fork alone.
Dogs respond best to positive reinforcement because they naturally seek out rewards and want to please their owners. Not only does this teach your dog obedience, new commands, and tricks, but it also encourages them to problem solve and think critically. Dogs want a purpose, and as humans, the best enrichment we can give them is challenges they can overcome.
What is positive reinforcement?
Positive reinforcement (r+) is the practice of rewarding a dog immediately after it performs a desired behavior. That makes the behavior more likely to happen in the future. The reward could be a treat, praise, or play. It teaches your pet that good behavior leads to something desirable for them.
Over the long term, this aligns owners’ desires with dogs’ intrinsic motivation. If this sounds like something you want, book a dog training session with us or contact us online, by text, or phone.
What does positive punishment do to a dog?
Positive punishment is punishing a dog immediately after it performs an undesired behavior. It includes hitting, yelling, shock-collars, and choke and prong-collars. It often leaves animals with lasting physical and psychological trauma.
⚠️dogs of the dunes NEVER uses positive punishment. It’s ineffective, abusive, and unethical.⚠️
Choke collars, which are often improperly fitted, can rupture blood vessels and cause permanent damage to a dog’s trachea (also called the windpipe) and spinal cord, leading to paralysis or death.
Shock collars can burn dogs, causing pain, scarring, fur loss, cardiac arrythmias, and death.
That’s why, at dogs of the dunes, we have never used positive punishment to try to change behavior in animals. Our expert dog trainers based in Valparaiso, IN use positive reinforcement, including giving treats or using a clicker, which is psychologically proven to cause animals (including dogs) to change their behavior.
Fear and pain should not be a part of animal’s life. They harm rather teach. Some people actually come to us because they have used positive punishment and it’s not working. In fact, people we’ve spoken to said it led to:
- Fear and avoidance
- Physical damage
- Increase in reactivity and aggression
- Fear of people
- Dogbed-wetting, destruction of property, snarling, snapping, loss of appetite