Negative Reinforcement means removing something a dog dislikes or causes pain (example:pressure on it’s neck) to increase a behavior (example the dog sits to get the pressure to stop).
Positive punishment means adding something a dog dislikes (a leash correction or a startling noise) to decrease a behavior.
In the US where I live dog trainers do not have to go through any training & can set up a business & say I am a dog trainer. In more recent times dog trainers have called themselves “balanced trainers. ” This can be a very deceptive term as it can mean a variety of methods. Most “balanced trainers” use positive methods & negative/punishment/correction in their methods, the degree of what they will do varies by trainer. Some focus heavily on correction & aversion methods, where others may only use them as a last resort.
The 3 above collars (choke chain/no slip, Pinch/Prong, & Shock/e-collar) are all aversion methods, which are Negative reinforcement or positive punishment, they all are used to correct a dog through pain/discomfort in the name of teaching a behavior. I have heard they don’t hurt, but that isn’t true or they wouldn’t be illegal in 10 countries & soon could be more because they are considered inhumane. Sadly they are not illegal in the US. I feel sad because really well meaning dog owners have been deceased to believe these collars don’t cause pain. They trust the “trainer” but sadly they don’t know better. Just think about it & even parts of their names should be enough to make you think “choke”, “pinch” or “shock.” Personally these are not things I would want to feel while I was being taught something new, or ever have used on me or someone/something I love.
I won’t say some negative/punishment methods don’t work occasionally, but at what cost? These methods can instill fear in a dog, which can take a long long time to get over, if ever. Can lead to anxiety, stress, submissive urinating, a dog that cowards, fears of new things or people, lack of confidence, break the dogs spirit, loss of trust in the owner, aggression (response to fear), & can hurt the bond with the owner.
On some dog trainers websites you will see photos of 5-8 dogs all sitting or laying on mats & not moving & they will say they are all so well trained, those who can read dog body language (especially if its there is a video) would see signs of stress & dogs don’t learn well under stress. Many of the dogs are shut down which basically means they gave up they are so stressed they just shut down. Some of the places, which I have contacted & found out under the cute bandannas were shock collars & the dogs wouldn’t risk moving or be zapped with a shock (not a buzz sound). When I was in rescue I would contact trainers within an hour or so of me, so I could have lists of recommended trainers for adopters to take their dogs to. My next published post may be on how to find a good trainer for your dog.
If you used these types of training methods recently or in the past, please know you can change the way you train your current or next dog. Dogs that are adults can learn, dogs actually can learn their whole lives just like you can. You can also find a great force free/fear free trainer that only uses positive reinforcement training (see post #99).
I have heard you can’t train aggression through positive methods, Aggression is not a training thing it is a behavior thing & a dog with this issue needs to be seen by a Veterinarian Behaviorist Specialist. Training classes for a dog are for sit, stay, come, lay down, off, leave it, don’t jump, walk nice. Also fun things like: agility, dock-diving, nose work, parkour, tricks & more.
I hope I have helped you to understand the different training methods in this series so far. I have probably one more left to write in this series . If you have questions you can email me directly at echoinggreatpetcare@gmail.com I write this blog to help educate pet owners, I feel if your reading this blog, you want to be the best pet parents you can be. None of us know it all & we can always be learning, so we can help our beloved pets. Please help me get the word out there about my blog by sharing on your social media platforms, or emailing it to friends & family that have pets. Please consider subscribing so you don’t miss newly published posts, you won’t get spam, just an email notice. If you like my posts please click the “like” button at the bottom of the posts. Comment on what you have learned or liked from my posts. Visit often & check out all the other 99 posts I have so far, coming up on a year of writing this blog, I look forward to reading your comments about my posts. Thank you, Debbie
Echoing Great Pet Care 