Fern's Guide to Pet Care

The Power of Positive Training

Woof! As soon as Master told me what we were going to write about today I couldn’t stop wagging my tail. I still occasionally have ringing in my ears from my previous humans. These days I hate it when people shout at me. So to know you’ve done something right by getting a reward is really good. All pack leaders should know this.

Most dog training experts accept that the most effective and humane way to train your dog is through positive reinforcement training. Posh words for a very basic theory. Positive reinforcement training means that you reward your dog for behaviour that you want to see. Any behaviour that you don’t want to see you just ignore. your dog then quickly learns what to do to earn a reward. Since dogs are very keen to earn rewards (aren’t we all?) Your dog will quickly learn to follow the behaviour you want.

Contrast this with the training methods that used to be recommended. Using physical pain, aversion therapy such as shock collars, and screaming or shouting at the animal. (I wonder how many dogs are convinced that their name is “No”). These methods used to leave dogs with some very negative attitudes — “If I don’t do this when mistress makes that noise, then my ears hurt.”

Positive reinforcement, on the other hand, Allows your dog to use his, or her, or brain. Your dog wants to please you. Positive reinforcement allows the dog to work out what you’re asking for under their own steam. This means that the lesson will tend to “stick” a lot quicker. You end up with a happy dog, a happy human and harmony through out the pack

The rewards you use of course should be meaningful. Just a pat on the head will soon lose its benefit. Anyway, do you like being patted on the head? So why should your dog? The best reward, or incentive, will depend, of course., on the dog. Many are heavily motivated by a food treat, but not all dogs. Some prefer physical affection or a game with a favourite toy. For an example of this, watch some of the TV programmes about working police dogs. Notice the different rewards different dogs get on completion of a “job”.

For this training technique to work you have to be consistent and accurate. Every time your dog obeys the command you must mark the obedience immediately and give the treat. It’s no good at giving to treat a couple of minutes after the mark because your dog will then be thinking “Thanks for that. Was it for anything in particular?” And you must mark and reward every single time the dog obeys you. If you only mark and reward sometimes the dog will not come to associate mark and reward with obedience, which will ruin the whole idea.

So what do we mean by “mark”? If you watch the experts on TV then you will see that most of them use a clicker. What’s that? Something that makes a clicking noise. You can either use one of those silly toys that comes out of a Christmas cracker (do they still?) or you can buy one at your local pet shop for a few pounds. But a clicker is not the be all and end all of positive training. You don’t have to have one. Just to say “Yes!” in a happy, excited voice will do. You could even click your fingers for the same effect. But you MUST do it every time. If you can be consistent with this then your dog will soon realise that he or she has done something right whenever they hear the marker and that a treat will soon come.

You have to be consistent with your commands, too. Even the brightest dog cannot speak English. They need to learn that one particular sound means they have to do one particular action. So, if your dog jumps on the furniture and you want them to stop doing it then if you say “don’t jump” on one occasion and “stop that” on another or, very firmly, “No!” then your poor dog will end up really confused. If, however, you give the same command every time, followed by a mark and treat as soon as the dog obeys then your pet will soon learn that that means “get off the furniture”.

What do you do when your dog is disobedient? The answer to that is fairly simple. Nothing. Dogs love company, praise and attention. To ignore a disobedient dog is enough to make that dog pretty miserable. And if there is a big contrast between bad behaviour, which is ignored, and good behaviour which gets praise and treats than a dog will soon get the idea that bad behaviour is very undesirable.

So there we have it. Positive training doesn’t require big investments in money or equipment. Just some time and a little effort to praise your dog when she does what you want. That will make you happy, your dog happy, and the whole pack will have a happy, harmonious relationship.

Obviously, this is a fairly complex subject and we’ve only been able to give you an outline in this article. The book referenced below is an excellent guide to dog training with an emphasis on positive reinforcement.