Positive Reinforcement Training: It Really Clicks!
As a dog sitter, I get to meet many different dogs. One of my favorite questions to ask while meeting the owners is “does your dog know any tricks?” This is always fun because what comes next is almost always a circus act of the dog’s different tricks while the owner is absolutely beaming with excitement that they get to show off. It is always impressive when a dog can do fun things like rolling over or playing dead. Not only am I impressed with the dog, but also with the owner’s time dedication to teach their dog these tricks.
My dog’s name is Amber. She’s is a fourteen year old lab. Amber only knows two tricks; sit and lay down. If you consider “go pee” a trick then she knows that one too. Up until this year I have never had any interest in teaching her more than these. She is a very well behaved dog and hardly ever gets into trouble. Considering the fact that she is fourteen, she rarely has the energy to get into any trouble anymore. With seeing all these different tricks recently i began to find an interest in dog training. After browsing dog training resources I decided to purchase So You Want To Be a Dog Trainer by Nicole Wilde. Upon doing a little reading, I was inspired. Amber is going to learn some new tricks!
According to this book, one of the best things that you can do for your dog is training. Teaching tricks may seem silly and time consuming but they are very rewarding. When training a dog you can improve communication between the two of you. The better communication that you have with your dog the more connected the two of you can be and the better you can understand each other.
Upon doing some research on training methods, I decided that i was going to try to use the clicker method. I watched a lot of Zak George, a YouTube famous dog trainer’s videos where he explained how to use this method. After my research I went out and bought my clicker and was ready to go! I was about to find out with Amber the answer to an age old question: Can you teach an old dog new tricks?
After reading a bit about dog training and trying it out, I found myself with many more questions. Although I focused primarily on clicker training, there are many other methods that are used today. If clicker training is so effective, why aren't more people using it? Why have I never heard of it before? I decided to take a look into the history of dog training to answer some of my questions.
Up until the past 20 years, the primary form of dog training was aversive dog training. Aversive dog training can be defined as “discouraging undesired behaviors by applying an aversive or unpleasant stimulus, and encouraging desired behaviors by stopping the aversive stimulus.” So basically, when the dog is doing something bad you punish him, and when he does the right thing you stop punishing him. An example of this is putting pressure on the dog’s collar until they sit. This was believed to be effective because the dog will naturally wants to return to a comfortable state when presented with a negative stimulus. It was related to the “dominance” research that was going on at the time.
These studies were being conducted on wolves and the way that the alpha male takes control over a pack. Scientists began to attribute this to dog training and it was often said that “if you are not dominating your dog, your dog is dominating you.” Research has shown more recently however that this wolf dominance research is mostly irrelevant when it comes to dogs because of the biological differences between the two animals. You can refer to my article about blue buffalo for more information on their distinct differences!
Another problem related to aversive dog training is that the trainer will lose the dog’s trust. This can be very detrimental and will halt any progress. It also will affect the trainer’s relationship with the dog, and if the trainer is also the owner the dog will not to be around him/her as much. In situations where a dog is being presented a negative stimulus the dog has four behavioral options: fight, freeze, flight, or appease. Often times the dog will choose to fight or flight, leaving them to be more aggressive or fearful in nature and does not correct the desired behavior. In fact, this University of Pennsylvania 2009 study shows that at least 25% of the dogs that are trained with these methods exhibit aggression during training.
Another problem is that some of the tools used are potentially dangerous. An example of this is the choke chain. The choke chain is a device used to train dogs not to pull on the leash when on a walk. It goes around the neck and attaches to the leash. Little spikes push into the dog’s neck when it begins to pull and the dog, in theory, will stop pulling in order to stop the negative stimulus. This, however, is not always effective. Some dogs continue to pull despite the negative stimulus and the spikes will actually break skin and injure the dog. It is also common that the choke chain is not the correct size for the dog and can cause constant pain. There are many other training tools that are related to aversive training and potentially harmful that are still used today.
I hate to admit it, but i myself have used a few of these when attempting to train my dog Amber. When she had a problem with hopping up on the couch we bought scat mat. Basically this is a pad that you lay out over the couch when it is not being used. If the dog jumps up on the couch, he/she will land on the scat mat and it will give them a small shock. Therefore the dog will no longer hop up on the couch because they will associate it with the shock. My dog luckily never experienced the scat mat. She didn’t seem to like that there was a white mat across the couch and lost interest in hopping up without having to experience the shock. The only person in the family that was aversely trained with the shock mat ended up being me about six times when plopping down to watch TV. Looking back it is pretty funny, but i now realize that if it had been Amber whom had hopped up on the scat mat the result would be not as good. Being naturally fearful, she probably would not enter the living room for a few weeks.
It makes me wonder, what are some better ways to train your dog to stop a negative action without potentially harmful aversive training methods? The scat mat is not necessarily a terrible thing or cruel but there has to be some more positive ways to train a dog, right? Dog training is a fuzzy area these days, and dog owners are not sure what works and what does not. This is why such outdated methods are still used today and are not questioned. Ideally, dog owners would be using the newest and best form of dog training which is called positive reinforcement.
Essentially, Positive Reinforcement is very simple. The idea is that when the dog does something that you like, you reward him/her. Often times trainers will have their dog perform a short one word command. When the dog successfully completes the command they will praise their pup and give him/her a treat. The dog begins to discover that when he/she listens they will be rewarded so they are more likely to listen. The more you use this method, however, you should start to back off on giving the dog treats so that they will eventually listen without expecting a reward. This is far better than aversive dog training because both you and the dog can have a good experience and build relational bonds and communication.
In 2008, Emily Blackwell did a study on ways dogs were being trained. After gathering all of the results and analyzing them, she found that dogs trained with positive reinforcement methods showed less aggression and fear than dogs trained with aversive methods. No one wants an aggressive dog, especially families with small children.
One thing that people often confuse is the idea of being dominant and being in charge. It is true that you have to have a relationship with your dog where you are superior and they look to you for guidance. In order to have this relationship though you must earn respect. Through positive reinforcement a dog can learn to love and respect you without fearing you. You can definitely tell a difference between a dog/owner relationship where the dog has been trained with positive reinforcement and one that hasn’t. Dogs seem to feel closer and more comfortable around their owner and people in general. That should be the overall goal as an owner. You want your pup to listen, but also to maintain a good relationship and well-being.
Within the category of positive reinforcement training falls clicker training- the strategy that I used. “Clicker training is a method of animal training that uses a sound — a click — to tell an animal when he does something right.” A clicker is a tiny plastic box that has a metal piece in the middle you click when the animal does something that you like. For instance, if you are trying to get your dog to bark, and he makes any kind of noise, click and give the dog a treat. This way it knows it did something right because you rewarded him with a treat. Eventually the dog will pick up on what you are asking of him.
This training method works because your dog is constantly being rewarded with treats and feels happy and motivated. Once the dog does what you want him to do you need to immediately click so he can understand that the two signs are related. Also, since you are using a treat you can usually practice many times without losing the dog’s interest. You should still makes sure that the sessions are fun and not too long, and don’t fill your dog up with too many treats! Clicker training is also a great way to build a relationship with your dog because you are spending a lot of time together, as well as giving the dog a rewarding experience.
This type of training is related to an experiment by Ivan Pavlov that many people learn about in psychology class. Pavlov was trying to learn about classical conditioning using dogs. During his experiment he would ring a bell before giving food to his dogs. The dogs quickly got the idea that they bell meant food, and the result was that Pavlov would ring the bell and his dogs would automatically salivate, even if there was no food being presented to them. This type of conditioning (or training) is extremely similar to training your dog with a clicker. The dog will know what you want from him when you use the clicker because he relates that to a positive event, getting the treat. If you practice enough times your dog will be able to perform the trick flawlessly!
Overall I had a positive experience teaching Amber to speak and learning more about dog training! As i explained in the video, she did not quite get it yet. I was very happy with her progress though because Amber is naturally very quiet. She only will bark when the mailman comes or when she wants to go outside. I plan on working with her more until she gets it! I also hope that I can get the chance to work with training other dogs as well. It is important to remember that training is something that takes time. Once they get the trick, the dog will still need practice. It is a process, not a destination. Keep your training positive and you are sure to have a positive experience!
