To begin the year, Catherine invites us to look and reflect on the concept of punishment in the education of the dog! Happy reading. Sandie

Let's face it, we ask a lot of our dogs every day, they can not adapt to our environment, they are quite capable and they find all sorts of gratification, but because we'll ask them to inhibit, or redirect to forget most of their natural and spontaneous behaviors.

What teacher wants to hear his dog barking for a yes or a no, what master wants his dog does not return to the recall, even when it is launched in hunting behind a rabbit, what master wants his dog bite when disturbed, or what master wants to be greeted by a dog jumping, to see him make holes in the garden, to grunt to keep his bones or his bowl ...

Most of the behaviors we want to see adopted by our dogs to become companions livable are behaviors that most of them do not adopt spontaneously.

As for teachers, most are unaware that the authority (to force the other ...) as a mode of communication to understand their dog that such behavior is not appreciable and appreciated and he'd better forget it .

Being a fan of friendly and positive methods, especially the clicker-training, I was often countered by skeptics: "But we must punish them, we can not always reward them."

So is it really realistic to think that we can teach our dogs without punishing them?

One of the most important conditioning teaches us that there are three possible consequences following a voluntary action, and of course the result is one of them unpleasant. It is part of the learning process. Consequently, it is not unrealistic to think that punishment has an inhibitory effect on a given behavior.

However, what we know least, is the existence of two types of unpleasant consequences more commonly known punishments:

- The positive punishment is the most widespread and best known is the punishment that comes immediately to mind when one feels threatened or assaulted (culturally, socially, individually ...). It was love at first newspaper, the kick, screams, jerks ... It is by definition add an unpleasant stimulus.

- The negative punishment is itself used less and less known, probably because it does not appeal to our emotional reactivity. It is the punishment that teaches the other that his behavior makes him lose something he likes. It is by definition remove a pleasant stimulus.

Example of positive punishment: I want to play with my master holding a ball in hand, I jumped with excitement and joy, but I find that when I jump, I get a knee in the chest.

Example of negative punishment: I want to play with my master holding a ball in hand, I jumped with excitement and joy, but I find that when I jump, the ball disappears and eventually the game.

In the first example, we can obtain a reduction of the jumps, provided that we respond systematically to the dog jumps (that is to say that we will produce the same answer every time the dog jumps) but we may at the same time to turn off the dog's motivation to play, and we will see also that the dog will jump over while playing with his master (assuming he still wants to play after that), in But he always jumps with others.

In the second example, we can obtain a reduction of jumps if we respond at the right time, everything is about timing. Instead we get a dog and more motivation to keep playing and that his behavior will generalize easily to other people.

Punishment has a negative real value of education because it allows the dog to know what behavior makes him lose what he wants. She draws attention to its environment and everything associated with it, without his fear. In contrast, the positive punishment teaches the dog to be afraid of spontaneity and behavior to be suspicious of its environment and its associated.

Should we then forget a mode of punishment for another?

Punishment help our dogs to remember the lessons they have learned from the environment it is a fact.

Sometimes it is useful that our dogs are wary of the consequences of their behavior and they think twice before reacting.

However, the real question to ask is it not this: Is what I want to permanently turn off this behavior, with all its emotional and mental connections, or do I want off this way has my dog to behave to get what he wants while maintaining his emotional well-being?

In other words, when we interact with them, do we want to punish how they interact or the interaction itself?

So the question perhaps is not to punish or not punish our dogs, but to understand what we mean by punishment, to define our goals and to be honest with our intentions vis-à-vis the other.

For obvious punishment, which is positive or negative will never learn a dog to behave well. Its power lies in the only evidence for the other to avoid repeating behavior. Only the action of the other reward teaches what behavior is rewarding. The reward is obviously the cornerstone of good communication and teaching in both directions.

For more information:

Educating her puppy for Dummies 22.90 euros; 415p

Catherine Collignon

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