Let’s break it down: “Positive” means something is being “added” to the dog–it does not mean “happy.” “Punishment” indicates that the target behavior is one that we want to see less of. Punishment will decrease a given behavior–while Reinforcement will increase it. In fact, if Positive Punishment does not decrease a particular behavior in one to three applications, then, by definition, it is not punishment. It may be painful or at least annoying to the punishee…but if it’s not decreasing the behavior (quickly), Positive Punishment is not working.

Example of Positive Punishment include shock collars used to stop a dog going over an invisible boundary (e.g., electronic containment systems) and leash corrections with a prong collar administered to a dog who does not respond instantly to his trainer’s command (we’ll come back to this tool later).

Spanking is another example of Positive Punishment. Yelling and scolding can be examples as well, but more often than not, the use of Positive Punishment involves physical contact (or intrusion, as in the case of electric shock) by the punisher to the punishee. The use of spray bottles and shake cans to discourage a dog’s behavior are other examples of Positive Punishment.

In the last post, I spoke of the judicial use of Negative Reinforcement. Here too, Positive Punishment requires rare usage in order to be truly effective. (One to three applications, remember? After that you’re wasting time, energy, and a relationship!)

Positive Punishment is really, really tough to get right. Pat Miller, of Peaceable Paws, LLC., has and excellent list of the 12 pitfalls of Positive Punishment. These 12 pitfalls should be considered whenever you decide that “the only thing” that can be done to change a behavior is to apply Positive Punishment.

With at least 12 things to keep in mind, Positive Punishment is not something that should be done on the spur of the moment! You plan for it, set it up just right, administer it properly, and hope you really did do it right.

Of course, we’ve all experienced–or heard of–those moments when the stars and planets were all in alignment and one unscripted punitive outburst or accident taught a lifelong lesson. Trust me, that was dumb luck! Dumb luck can be very effective…but it should never be relied upon.

The real downside to Positive Punishment is that there are always unintended consequences–and those can be serious. Positive Punishment makes use of strong negative emotions. Pain and it’s companion, fear, are big components. A dog will avoid getting shocked at the perimeter of its property because getting shocked is an unpleasant experience….unpleasant enough to avoid in the future.

These unintended consequences, often seem unrelated to the situations in which Positive Punishment occurs. I’ve noticed that many dogs trained on prong collars have heightened anxiety–particularly in situations requiring some sort of gentle restraint. Other dogs trained with punitive mehtods will simply not engage in their surrounding environment–their nature curiosity has been suppressed. These dogs ARE well-behaved. They are Stepford Dogs. It is very, very difficult to train these dogs to do anything new or fun because they are perpetually in a state of fear and mistrust.

A reliance on Positive Punishment has unintended consequences for the punisher as well. First, Positive Punishment, with it’s reliance on force and intrusion, is aggressive behavior. Aggressive behavior is addictive–physically addictive. Whenever anyone aggresses (human or canine) there is a neuro-chemical brain bath that is both euphoric and analgesic. That’s just how aggression works…it feels good in the moment! (and damn the consequences!)

Next post, I will go through Pat Miller’s list of twelve pitfalls of Positive Punishment. It’s important to understand just how complex this component of learning is.

This quadrant of the Behavior Modification tool box is tough.  Many times, Negative Reinforcement looks like Positive Punishment.  The distinction comes down to two questions:

1.       Is the target behavior one we want to see more or less of?

If the answer is “more,” then reinforcement is in order.

2.     Will the result of the behavior be something the subject receives (positive) or loses (negative).

If the dog gains something directly as a result of the target behavior, then in scientific terms (no moral judgments here), the word is “positive.”  If the dog loses something as a result of its behavior, then the word is “negative.”  Again, “positive” does not mean “good” and negative does not mean “bad.”

The short definition of Negative Reinforcement is:  appropriate behavior makes annoying things go away.

Common examples of Negative Reinforcement include nagging and torture.  Used ineptly, Negative Reinforcement can run the gamut from diminishing the quality of a relationship to inflicting bodily harm.  The unintended consequence of inept Negative Reinforcement will be avoidance.

However, Negative Reinforcement used skillfully and subtly can improve the quality of life for all concerned and even make feared objects desirable.

One example of an elegant use of Negative Reinforcement can be found in Temple Grandin’s book, Animals Make Us Human.  (pp 152-156 “Riparian Loafers”) Grandin describes how very subtle use of Negative Reinforcement can deter cattle from ruining a water source, while at the same time encouraging them to hang out at an area a safe distance from the water.  (Free Range cattle are really hard on streams and rivers.)

Another elegant use of Negative Reinforcement can be found in Kellie Snider’s approach for treating dog-aggressive dogs, called Constructional Aggression Treatment.  (http://www.animalbehavioranswers.com)

Both of these women talk about finding the “panic” threshold in the animals they work with, staying below it—but pushing it enough so that the creature is aware of some stress, and then, before the creature reacts, releasing that pressure.  “Phew!” is one of the most powerful reinforcers around.  Both Snider and Grandin are artists in their application of it.

With elegant use of Negative Reinforcement the subject learns to associate relief (that sense of “phew!”) with the target behavior, and ceases to avoid those situations which in the past caused enough stress to evoke an undesired behavior.  When done well, Negative Reinforcement will actually encourage a creature to seek out something rather than avoid it.

With Snider’s methods, dog-aggressive dogs, begin to feel comfortable around other dogs—simply because before they have a chance to aggress, Kellie “rewards” them by increasing their distance from other dogs.  Negative Reinforcement is a very powerful tool for dealing with problem behaviors in which fear is a primary motivator.

If this is making your head hurt, that’s good.  Negative Reinforcement is not a tool to be used by people who aren’t already really good at delivering both Positive Reinforcement and Negative Punishment.  Timing, perception, and physical coordination are critical with most forms of Negative Reinforcement.  That’s why the word “elegant” describes Grandin’s and Snider’s use of it.  What they do is poetry in motion.

There are several dog training tools that fall into the camp of Negative Reinforcement:  head halters, front-clip no-pull harnesses, choke chains,  and prong collars.

Head halters and front-clip harnesses are tools of Negative Reinforcement that generally have little negative fallout.  I use both of these tools daily.  The head halter from genuinedoggear.com is made from a silky soft material and has an ingenious design.   I am very selective in my use of both of these tools.  The head halter works great for outgoing, extroverted dogs.  With me, wearing it becomes the price the dog has to pay to go out in the world.  Since extroverts love to be in the world, these dogs are willing to accept the halter because it means they get to see people and other dogs.  For shy, introverted dogs, I am more likely to use a front-clip harness which is less intrusive and, unlike the head halter, does not give an already overwhelmed dog more to fuss about.

The choke chain can either become completely irrelevant due to misuse, or increase a dog’s likelihood of developing on-leash aggression.

What I really want to talk about here is the dark side of Negative Reinforcement ineptly and routinely done:  the prong collar.

A prong collar is designed to be a tool that encourages polite loose leash walking:  The dog pulls on leash, the dog’s neck gets uncomfortably pronged.  In theory, as soon as the dog relaxes and stops pulling, the collar relaxes and the pronging stops.

In reality? Here’s what I see:

1.       The dog is wearing a prong collar AND a retractable leash.  You know the kind, the ones that only extend if the dog pulls.  So….getting pronged, gets the dog more freedom.  Pulling is no longer a discouraged behavior.  Rather, getting pronged is the cost the dog must pay to move where he wants.  If a dog on a  prong is pulling, he’s decided it’s worth it.

2.     The dog is wearing a prong collar and a regular leash and is sitting still.  The owner wants to move the dog, but rather than clearly directing the dog by using a  targeting cue (most prong collar users have no idea what targeting is),  the dog is unceremoniously dragged to the desired location.  What could a dog associate in this scenario?  Sitting still is likely to get him pronged.

3.     The dog, wearing a prong collar and a regular leash, is walking beside his owner.  A person with another dog on leash approaches.  The dog with the prong collar moves in the direction of the oncomers and gets pronged.  Or, the person on the other end of the leash tenses up and pulls the dog away.  What could the dog associate in this scenario?  Other dogs in sight mean the dog is likely to get pronged.  Or, quite simply other dog  equals discomfort.

Most of the time when I see dogs on a prong collar, it’s clear that they have little control over avoiding getting pronged (even when they sit still or are moving beside their person, they get pronged) and, because pronging happens in so many different contexts, they have little understanding of why they’re getting pronged.  Dogs actually have little control and limited ability to predict when the collar is going to tighten.

When it’s hard to predict when something is going to happen or to control its occurrence–that’s a recipe for crazy.

It is important to recognize that all forms of torture are examples of Negative Reinforcement.  Further, the behavior that is most likely to result from even moderate use of Negative Reinforcement is avoidance.

In closing, let me repeat:  Negative Reinforcement is a powerful tool.   To use it correctly requires an artistic sense of timing and intensity.  Used incorrectly, it will teach your dog to seek to avoid you, other dogs, and even other people.  Use it wisely and sparingly.

Copyright © 2011 ~ Peg Dawson Harrington ~ All Rights Reserved

As I explained earlier: Reinforcement is ANYTHING that increases the likelihood of a given behavior happening again. It’s not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, it’s simply anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior happening.

Conversely, punishment is ANYTHING that decreases the likelihood of a given behavior happening again. It, too, is not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, it’s simply anything that decreases the likelihood of behavior happening.

Now let’s go back to what positive and negative mean in the context of behavioral science. Positive—doesn’t mean a smiley face—it means something is being added to the subject. Negative—doesn’t mean a frowny face—it means something is being taken away from the subject.

Positive Reinforcement is when the dog gets something it desires as the result of a certain behavior. Becky picks up Scipio when he barks. Becky positively reinforces Scipio for barking by cradling him in her arms.

For an example of Negative Punishment let’s take a look at Jake and his chickens.

Jake is my first Blue Tick Hound. (We’ll talk about that “first” later). But Blue Ticks are notorious for their baying. Jake has a beautiful bay. I think it starts at 150 decibels and goes up from there. He makes the windows rattle. Sometimes, when he’s really going, I swear he’s doing two tones at once, sort of like those Tibetan throat singers—when he just misses the harmonic you can hear (and feel!) the buzz.

Jake is an urban hound. We don’t do any hunting. He loves to bay. He will sit looking out the front window, waiting for a jogger wearing a WHITE tee-shirt and bay until he has an out of body experience—or until I put him in the kitchen where he can’t see out that window.

My neighbors directly behind me asked me one day in November if I would mind if they got some chickens in the Spring. Of course not! Especially since I was sure a chicken coop would totally annoy our fussier neighbors. A little spite never hurt anyone right?

Until I thought of Jake and his baying and how the kitchen was the one place I could put him so that he wouldn’t bay his brains out looking at white fluffy things (jogging tee-shirts) fluttering past.

The chickens were destined to live just beyond my kitchen window. Between the joggers and the chickens, my loss of hearing and sanity was a sure thing.

So I spent the next several months doing what I do best when I can’t figure something out: not thinking about it.

March came and with it the designated week for chicken coop building. My neighbor had a number of friends helping with the building project. Cars, adults, kids were all coming and going. Jake, apart from baying at white tee-shirts, simply loves to camp out quietly in the backyard on his dog bed and “spy on the neighbors.” He can do this for hours. Even if the neighbors aren’t home.

Soooooo….as people were arriving in my neighbor’s yard I said “Jakey? Do you want to go out and spy on the neighbors?” He danced around the kitchen lemur-like on his hind legs baying joyfully. “Here’s the deal,” I said, “One bow-wow-roo and your butt is in the kitchen. Get it?”

Since my backyard is not fenced, I moved Jake’s dog bed to a spot in the yard where he could watch the assembly of the chicken coop, and I wrapped an ex-pen around the bed. I put Jake in the pen, with his Gentle Leader™ head halter on and said once more, “If you bow-wow-roo, then your butt is in the kitchen.”

He gave nary a peep all week long. Every day (while I was home) I let him hang out on his dog bed in a special location so that he could see all the action. It’s very exhausting spying on the neighbors, he slept well every night that week.

At the end of 8 days of assembly, four chickens arrived. Jake was in the kitchen. I said, “Do you want to see the chickens?” Again, he danced around like a lemur and bayed with anticipation. I said, “You can watch the chickens, but if you bow-wow-roo, your butt is in the kitchen.” I took him outside on the head halter (and leash) to meet the chickens.

Now, a lot of training had gone into Jake up until this moment. Not with chickens in mind, but definitely with other dogs and cats in mind. From an early age, Jake has learned to “wait” before being released to play and to do a “down and gentle” to invite shyer creatures to approach. He’s very good at both. So, I asked for a “down and gentle” and Jake groveled graciously before the chickens (who were loose in the yard). They approached with curiosity. Jake stood up and gawked at the chickens. He was enraptured. And then I could see it coming from his toes. The biggest bow-row-roo of joy and excitement ever. He couldn’t help himself.

And I said, “That’s it, your butt’s in the kitchen.” And it was…on the way to the living room…when I remembered that if he hung out in the kitchen, he’d be able to see the chickens. So Jake spent the rest of that day out of view of the chickens. Even to go outside for potty breaks, he and I went into the front yard.

The next day I asked him “Do you want to see the chickens?” He wagged a “yes.” I said, “Don’t you bow-row-roo,” and took him to his dog bed in the backyard—it was set up about 15 feet from the chickens’ coop. Jake has never barked at the chickens since. They’ve been here for over a year, and there are more of them. They come over to say “hello” and scratch around in our backyard and Jake is quietly thrilled with their company. He will frequently look out the kitchen window to see how they’re doing. With nary a peep!

Honestly, given who and what Jake is, this is the greatest achievement of my dog training career. And it was all done with well-timed use of Negative Punishment.

Jake’s barking made the chickens go away. If you want to split hairs, Jake’s barking made Jake go away. Or rather, Jake’s barking lost him access to the chickens.

Either way, I still have my hearing and Jake can count his chickens.

So this is a situation where the consequence (losing the chickens) decreased the behavior (barking/baying). Therefore the consequence is punishment. It’s negative because Jake’s access to the chickens was taken away.

You can turn this situation on its head, as well. It’s also a case of Positive Reinforcement. Jake’s silence continues his access to the chickens. Jake desires to watch the chickens. Anything that is desired can be used as a reinforcer. Jake’s silence (the behavior I desire) is reinforced by allowing him to count his chickens over and over again (the consequence that Jake desires).

That’s the beauty of negative punishment, when planned well and used in conjunction with good management (Jake was not able to even glance at a chicken immediately after his lapse), the flip side of negative punishment is positive reinforcement for everyone. In the end, Jake got his chickens and I got my silence.

That counts for a lot.

Copyright © 2010 ~ Peg Dawson Harrington ~ All Rights Reserved

I’m going to do something scandalous here and start well past the beginning and then eventually work my way to where I should’ve started and then on towards the end. I’m not going to use a lot of scientific terms because they make my eyes glaze over and unlike most dog people I actually get really excited about this stuff. In truth, before I talk about Behavioral Science as it was sorted out in the mid-1900’s—I should talk about Pavlov and his drooling dogs. But no, let’s plow right into the middle and see what happens.

I owe this approach to one of my most favorite professors in college. Dr. Gene Franks taught Economics at Carroll College in Helena, Montana. I was an economics major (because it seemed like something my parents could live with—and it grabbed my interest at the time). But I’d never been particularly good with math. That seemed to be the case with a number of us econ majors. Gene would come to a point in his lectures where he had to disclose some important mathematical thingammy. He would look at us and say, “I’m not going to explain this formula to you right now. I want you to memorize it and learn where to use it. After a while, it’ll make sense.”

And you know, he was right! Of course, I don’t remember a thing of what he taught me now, but I do remember understanding it before graduating. And, best of all, at the end of the day, Gene taught me that math wasn’t really all that scary.

I hope to do as much for dog training and you.

When I’m looking at teaching a dog something, there are four rather distinct approaches. There are two types of reinforcement and two types of punishment. I will take each one in turn

i) Positive Reinforcement—behavior makes good things happen

What is positive reinforcement? Let me geek-out for just a moment and break the term down. Let’s start with the second half: reinforcement.Reinforcement is ANYTHING that increases the likelihood of a given behavior happening again. It’s not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, it’s simply anything that increases the likelihood of a behavior happening again.

As I discussed earlier under Emotional Management– Building an Atmosphere of Trust–Removal of force-based training tools and techniques: The reason punishers and reinforcers are labeled “positive” is because something is being “added to” the dog in order to influence a certain behavior.

So in the case of Positive Reinforcement, the dog receives something in return for a certain behavior and the something the dog receives is likely to increase the chances of the dog performing that behavior in the future.

This applies to all behaviors whether appropriate or inappropriate. Why does the dog knock over the trash can in the kitchen? Because rifling through the garbage is SO REINFORCING!!! Why is Trooper quiet in the living room when I’m on the computer? Because sleeping on the couch is SO REINFORCING. Why does Scipio the Pug stand and bark at Becky’s feet? Because it’s so reinforcing when, in an effort to shut him up, she picks him up.

Why does Scipio’s mother, Becky, always pick him up when he stands and barks at her feet? Because it’s so reinforcing when he shuts up!

Oh, wait a minute, put that last example on hold. We’ll talk about Becky and Scipio in particular when we get into Negative Reinforcement.

The bottom line is that a reinforcer is any outcome that increases the likelihood of a given behavior happening again. A Positive Reinforcer is an outcome that is gained, is “added to” to the dog (or person).

If this is beginning to get a little complex, don’t worry, we’ll come back to it time and again and after awhile, you’ll pick it up and get pretty good at finding positive reinforcers in your dog’s life. (And in your own, too!)

A good rule of thumb is that anything a dog desires—whether it’s food, play, or a simple behavior such as sleeping on the couch—can be used as a positive reinforcer to train the dog to behave more appropriately.

Another thing to be aware of is that in general, training, as a component of any good relationship, is a two-way street. In the example of Becky and Scipio, they are both using reinforcement to train the other…in fact, at the moment, Scipio is a better trainer than Becky.

Copyright © 2010 ~ Peg Dawson Harrington ~ All Rights Reserved

Once the other pieces are in place: the dog is getting good nutrition, is being physically managed so she can’t get into trouble, and all forced-based methods of training are out of the way, then training can begin.

I’m not talking about basic obedience training here. Sit, down, stay, and come are all useful in their place, however, the training I’m talking about is the day to day stuff that makes living with another being a pleasant experience. Too often, we only notice our dogs when they’re being bad. This piece of the puzzle is simply noticing our dogs when they’re being good.

Frequently we want to hang out with our dogs and just do nothing. Yet rarely does it occur to a dog owner to reward their dog for simply doing nothing. Yes, I go outside and train my dogs to walk politely on a leash, to come when called, and to politely greet others. But honestly, the best trick I’ve taught any of my dogs is to lie quietly in the room while I’m working on the computer or watching TV. And the way to do that? Reward them for DOING NOTHING.

I will go into this in greater depth later. But start paying attention to your dog when you’re not paying attention to your dog. Because chances are, if you aren’t paying attention to your dog it’s because he’s doing nothing to demand your attention. Spend a few days making a list of all the things your dog is doing when you’re not paying attention. Some of these will be things you don’t want to reward like digging through the garbage. Many of these things will be behaviors you want to reinforce. Even better, many of these behaviors will be self-reinforcing. Once again, Trooper is sleeping on the couch quietly. What’s the reward for sleeping on the couch quietly????

Sleeping on the couch quietly, like virtue, is it’s own reward!

b) How do I perceive Positive Training?

“Positive Training” is a phrase that’s bandied about by a number of trainers whom I do not consider “positive.”

For me, Positive Training draws heavily on the principles of Behavioral Science and the way problems are solved happens along a continuum. At one end of the continuum the methods are based in instilling fear and aversion in the individual being trained and at the other end of the continuum the methods are based on the attainment of rewards. It’s not quite that cut and dried…even as a continuum…because the escape of a feared or aversive outcome instills the reward of relief and that is a VERY POWERFUL reward which should never be underestimated.

You’ll notice that I said “individual being trained,” not “dog.” That’s because the principles of Behavioral Science pretty much apply to us all. Dogs, dolphins, people, even cats and cockroaches. We are all seeking reinforcement. Now, the reinforcers can be highly individualized. Yes, my pugs and I are both reinforced by food. I, however, find that eating cat poop is repulsive. Ludovic will jump tall buildings in a single bound for access to the cat box!

Another thing you might’ve notice about the word Positive is that it can be applied to punishment as well as to reinforcement. As stated earlier, positive punishment is not a happy thing. It is grounded in fear and, frequently, pain. I could say I’m a positive trainer and simply leave out the fine print that I’m a Positive Punishment Trainer and I will beat, choke, and shock your dog into submission.

It’s always important to read the fine print.

So, here’s my personal spiel as a Positive Trainer:

My training methods are predominantly reward-based, I seek to strengthen the bond of trust between the dog and its people. To that end I do not do the following: choke/prong collars, shock collars (of any kind), alpha rolls, spray bottles, shake cans. I believe in teaching dogs (and their people) how to live with boundaries. A situation must first be managed, then a behavior can be trained. Key among my management techniques is an unflagging commitment to proper nutrition.

Copyright (c) 2010 ~ Peg Dawson Harrington ~ All Rights Reserved

In keeping with giving a dog a stable emotional environment and building an atmosphere of trust, it’s important to remove all forced-based training tools and techniques as a matter of course. In other words, these are tools that are to be used only when everything else (including management and prevention) fails. Further, if these tools are used at all, they must be used effectively no more than three times. In fact, if you’re using one of these tools for the fourth time, it’s not a punishment.

I’ll get into what makes a punishment later, but for now let me explain why these tools are methods of last resort and some should not be used at all. Ever.

The tools and methods I have in mind include the following:

§ Shock collars of every kind (including those for Electronic Containment Systems)
§ Alpha rolls (where the owner rolls a dog over on it’s back in order to stop a given behavior)
§ Using the hands to hold the dog’s mouth shut as a punishment for mouthing, biting, or snarking.
§ Prong collars—also known as “training” or “self-correcting” collars
§ Choke chains—also known as “training” collars or slip leads
§ Hitting, kicking, spanking, or “whupping” with a hand, newspaper, or anything else.
§ Shake cans—cans partially filled with coins meant to be thrown near the dog and thereby scare the dog away from something.
§ Spray bottles
§ Leash pops or corrections

This is not a complete list. All of these items in the world of Behavioral Science fall under the label of “Positive Punishment.” There’s nothing happy or emotionally positive about this list. The reason they’re labeled “positive” is because something is being “added to” the dog in order to stop a certain behavior. A collar is being jerked, a can is thrown, or the dog itself is rolled. Forcefully on its back.

Positive punishment is complicated. That’s the problem with it. It has unintended consequences that are not clear at first. Electronic, prong and choke collars can all lead to increased aggression. The Monks of New Skete introduced the alpha roll years ago and then retracted their support of it 20 years later because too many dog owners using the method were getting bit by their own dogs.

Positive punishment is a very powerful tool. . It’s a double-edged sword that can all too easily sever the bond of trust between you and your dog. To be done correctly, it cannot be done in the heat of the moment (when it is most likely to be done) and it must be given at just the right time in the behavioral sequence, in the right amount, and it must be clear to the dog exactly what behavior brought about the punishment. In other words, to use positive punishment well, you need to plan ahead and set up the situation perfectly. Who has time to do that when your 120 lb Great Dane is snarling at the kid in the park?

Honestly, if you can set up a situation in which to do Positive Punishment correctly, why bother? It’s much easier to manage the dog and prevent the unwanted behavior and reward an alternative behavior? To do Positive Punishment right is A LOT OF WORK!!!

The beauty of reward-based training is that you can be a little sloppy in your delivery and timing and your dog will be willing to experiment with different behaviors and see what gets the reward and what doesn’t. This gives you time to practice on your delivery and timing so that eventually both you and your dog get really good at figuring out how to work together.

Think about it. When someone in the past has been particularly rude or abusive to you, do you feel comfortable doing ANYTHING in that person’s presence other than walking away? Have you ever worked for a truly loathsome boss? I have. At first, it inspired me to get really creative about how to avoid criticism…this made me a very productive worker. But at the end of the day, I shopped around my resume’ and moved on. Positive Punishment does not make for a long lasting, healthy, productive relationship.

Very few of us, dogs and people, want to experiment and see exactly what behavior caused that electric shock. In an atmosphere of trust, where rewards are likely to come for appropriate behavior, your dog will be happy to experiment and try out behaviors that make you both happy. (Right now, Trooper is sleeping on the couch, this makes us both happy, and it is a reward for not whining/barking on the couch. I am very glad that he decided to experiment with this behavior.)

Reward-based training allows both you and your dog to be creative in figuring out new ways to solve old problems. The ill-advised use of Positive Punishment can completely undermine the atmosphere of trust and creativity that are the hallmarks of a great relationship.

Copyright (c) 2010 ~ Peg Dawson Harrington ~ All Rights Reserved

More frequently these days, I stress to clients that they can’t change their dog’s behavior until they change their own. Most dog problems are a product of an environment in which good things and bad are perceived by the dog as either unpredictable or uncontrollable. And that’s because what we do may make sense to us as humans, but won’t make a lick of sense to our furry companions who are canids.

If you want to change your behavior with your dog, the first place to start is with your words. They don’t need to be magic words or sounds. They do need to be words or phrases that predict YOUR behavior. These phrases can be varied but consistent. Which means, every time you say a particular word or phrase, you do a particular behavior. “Do you want a treat?” is followed by…a treat! “go to your crate” is followed by getting up and escorting your dog to the crate, closing and locking the door, and POSSIBLY, tossing in a treat.

We do this—teach our dogs pat phrases or routines–all the time—unconsciously. My dogs know long before I pick up the car keys, that I’m heading out the door. I can’t say “Georgia” in front of my Blue Tick, Jake until I have the car keys in hand, because the sheer excitement of visiting his best friend Georgia is just too much for both of us, unless immediate play is at hand.

Pay attention, make a list of all the funny little things your dog knows that you never deliberately taught. You’ll be surprised. Now start paying attention to all the words you say to your dog. Be sure your words predictyour behavior. Again, you’ll be surprised.

Notice that I’m focusing on consistency as something between your words and your actions. I think a big mistake people make with their dogs is that they confuse consistency with some sort of unvarying schedule. As if consistency simply means that walks happen at 7:30 a.m. every day and dinner is fed at 5:00 p.m. every day.

I suspect that dogs that are overly worried about their owner’s schedules have found that these routines are the only source of consistency in their lives. By building consistency between your words and actions, you can teach your dog to be more flexible in life.

Another important part of strengthening the bond of trust between you and your dog is providing clear boundaries. I do this through active use of crates, x-pens, tethers, baby gates, and leashes. In the house, dogs that can hang out, not pick fights, not eat the furniture or pee on it, have free access. Dogs that can’t be trusted to avoid these temptations, don’t get free access. Jake, my blue tick has free access to the house. Ludovic, the pug mix, has access to kitchen and front room, but not beyond that because he’s smart enough to build a platform with his erector set and get into the cat’s litter box. Annabelle, my usually perfect pug is going through a little phase right now where she thinks that she doesn’t want to share me with anyone. She’s tethered to her dog bed and snoring away happily.

I don’t do “pack theory”—and I’ll discuss why later. But dogs are social creatures, and society requires structure. Dogs do well with structures created by consistent behavior on the part of the people in their lives and clear boundaries provided by those same people.

Consistency and boundaries give dogs the freedom to be flexible.

Copyright (c) 2010 ~ Peg Dawson Harrington ~ All Rights Reserved

Pat Miller, training editor of Whole Dog Journal, and owner of Peaceable Paws Training Academy has a wonderful three-step solution for changing any behavior problem.

§ First, envision what you want your dog to do.
§ Second, prevent your dog from doing what you don’t want your dog to do
§ Third, generously and consistently reward the behavior you do want.

This is such sound advice, I wonder why it isn’t on every dog owners’ lips all the time! But I know the answer to that: The first two steps require creativity and the third means you have to pay attention.

Necessity is the mother of invention and in my life—with 6 rescue dogs and a rescue kitty in a small house—without a fenced-in yard—I’ve had to get creative about preventing trouble. My dogs (and cat) have forced me to pinnacles of genius…and I say that with all modesty, because they frequently have forced me there kicking and screaming all the way.

In my life, tears come before strokes of genius. Generally, I absolutely have to be pushed to the brink of frustration before I come up with a new way to solve an old problem. This is an important lesson for all of us–dogs and people: Frustration can work for ya, or agin’ ya. The trick, the art, is learning how to get it to work in your favor more frequently.

And maybe this is why, creativity is so difficult for us in solving problems with our dogs. We have an idea that a dog is our BEST FRIEND, our unquestioning companion. I think we often get a dog as a friend to ease our frustrations, forgetting she’s a separate individual who’s likely to compound them.

I’m here to tell you: adding any individual to your life—-dog or human (or cat, for that matter) is going to add complications. It’s not a blank slate, it’s a dog with a unique personality and way of looking at the world. Frustration happens in any relationship. In the best relationships, creativity happens, too.

So, I’ll leave frustration and creativity for now, and go on to Pat Miller’s third step: generously and frequently rewarding the behavior you do want. This is a two-fold task. First, you have to learn to be generous. And that’s so hard for us. We say “I don’t want to make my dog fat” as if every act of generosity has to be one whole corn-riddled biscuit. You can be cheap and generous all at the same time, if you set your dog’s world up in the right way. You can have lean healthy dogs who work for food and myriad other tangible treats and benefits. Believe me, there are few people on the planet as cheap as I am. People: it’s all in the marketing.

But in order to make generosity work, you have to know when to be generous and when to say “oops, sorry, bank’s closed.” And the only way you will learn how to spend your generosity wisely is by paying attention. It’s important, really important, not to make your acts of generosity random. They have to be clearly linked to behaviors you do want.

Unfortunately, we tend to notice our dogs most when they’re acting inappropriately. A barking dog gets our attention, we’re all too willing to let a sleeping dog lie.

Copyright (c) 2010 ~ Peg Dawson Harrington ~ All Rights Reserved

When someone calls me to do a behavior consult, I tell them that my approach to any dog training problem is three-tiered:

i) Nutrition and medical and structural issues

First I look at the dog’s own body–for nutritional, medical, and structural issues that may be influencing a dog’s behavior. The older I get, the more I have to (and still hate to) agree with my own sainted mother: you are what you eat. This is a separate blog in itself but for now, know that if you have a behavior or training problem of any kind, the easiest place to start to solve the problem is with the dog’s food.

Most problems arise out of some response to stress–and poor nutrition is stressful. Shockingly, most of the foods available in grocery stores and big box pet stores are slaughter and grainhouse refuse, all scientifically “enhanced” to be tasty and a holding place for added vitamins and nutrients.

With respect to medical and structural issues, many times a dog acts in ways we don’t like, simply because he feels crappy or she simply can’t do the behavior we want her to. Recently, I saw a young pup who’s owner was upset because the little guy was tugging on his leash as they went on their daily mile and a half walk. Looking at the pup’s weak hocks, and sway back–it was clear to me that walking that far on pavement on a daily basis was physically way too much for this little guy. Short play sessions with his owner on grass or carpet would go a long way towards getting the right kind of exercise, building up the right muscles, AND be a lot more interesting than doing a walk.

A much overlooked problem in many dogs with fear and aggression issues is a thyroid that’s out of kilter. And, while a top-notch thyroid test is easily available from Dr. Jean Dodds of Hemopet for less than 100 bucks, many veterinarians will use their own less extensive and more expensive tests and then dismiss a “slightly low T4″ as nothing.

I like to think of life as a three-legged stool. If one of those legs, is even just a little bit out of whack…the whole thing wobbles.

This is a quick overview–nutritional, medical, and structural issues will be dealt with in greater detail in separate blogs.

Copyright (c) 2010 ~ Peg Dawson Harrington ~ All Rights Reserved

This is the first post of many, and I’d like to give you a quick and rough outline of who I am and my approach to dog training.

Fair warning: I plan to be provocative. Positive dog training has changed my life and changed my soul. Nothing less. It has shown me a new way to look at dogs AND live with people.

The journey continues, I hope you will join me.

1) Who am I?

Like many of you, I grew up with dogs—our house, or rather, our backyard, was never without one. In my 20′s and early 30′s I had a number of jobs that required long commutes, and didn’t pay so well. There was neither the time during the work week nor the money to give a dog a decent life. So, I went without a dog. Later, the money was much better, but working 60-80
hours a week with a 75 minute one-way commute—still left me a dog-less life.

It wasn’t until my 40th year that I had both the time and money—and realized, I no longer wanted to live my life without a dog.

Enter Fred, Dog of Destiny. Basset Hound Extraordinaire. He passed away, 2 years ago, in December of 2007.

For 8 years—that ended way too soon—Fred patiently mentored me and pushed me to learn as much as I could about the world of positive dog training. He was not the dog I had planned to get. But the Universe tends to give me the dog I need.

While Fred was still with me, and continuing to this minute, my life has been blessed with numerous pugs from Music City Pug Rescue. Some have stayed with me only a short while, three have found their forever home right here.

All the following posts from me are based on the foundation put into place by a wise and willful Basset Hound with enormous front feet and an equallyenormous zest for living. Adding to that foundation are one beagle, two bluetick hounds and pugs too numerous to count. These souls continue to shape my life and my approach to dog training. Next time I will begin to discuss my training approach starting with nutrition, medical, and structural issues.

Copyright © 2010 ~ Peg Dawson Harrington ~ All Rights Reserved