Dog Training: The Benefits of Positive Reinforcement

After years of punishment based dog training, many people are now turning toward kinder, gentler training methods. Positive reinforcement training is a great way to train your dog while building your relationship. You'll have fun, too! So what exactly does it mean to use positive reinforcement rather than punishment? Basically, positive reinforcement training involves rewarding desirable behaviors instead of punishing unwanted behaviors. In other words, when a dog does something you want, such as sit, he gets a treat. You are letting your dog know that when he does what you ask good things happen for him.

Let's take a minute to think about it from your dog's perspective. You ask him to sit. He doesn't really understand, so you put your hand on his rear end and push all the while jerking his collar upwards, thus forcing him into a sit. Once he sits, the pressure is removed. It works, but it's probably not the most fun you, or your dog, has ever had. It certainly won't have your dog looking forward to his next training session. Let's try the positive reinforcement method. You ask your dog to sit. You keep a treat in your hand and slowly move it from the tip of his nose to up over his head. The dog tilts his head up to follow the treat, and in the process his rear hits the floor. As soon as he sits, he gets the treat. Now he knows how to sit, and he gets rewarded for doing it. Not only have you taught your dog to sit, you'll have him looking forward to more training!

Positive reinforcement is also a great way to introduce new experiences to your dog. Imagine you adopt a dog who has not spent much time around children. The first time he meets a child, he's a bit nervous and his hackles go up, maybe he growls a little. Using a punishment-based method of training you might jerk on his leash and give him a stern "no". He may not repeat the behavior, but in his mind you've established that when children are around, bad things happen to him. Let's look at the same situation using positive reinforcement. Don't wait for the bad behavior. As soon as your dog spies a child you begin dropping treats and talking in a happy voice. You can have the child gently tossing treats towards the dog as well. Eventually the dog learns, gee, every time one of these little people comes around good things happen for me. Can we have a few more of those little people come over?

The great thing about positive reinforcement is that anyone can do it. You don't have to worry about having the strength to give your dog effective leash corrections or a low enough voice to give a meaningful "no". Even a child can help with this type of training - under the supervision of an adult, of course. Once you start using this method, you'll find your dog quickly becoming a well behaved companion. Even better, your relationship will be stronger and you'll both be having tons of fun in the process!