It’s only been a week but I can already tell a difference between little Spencer and Scarlett.
Amazing how differently they behaved at this age. Spence loves his car seat and goes right to sleep. Scarlett at his age would howl and cry nonstop when put into her car seat.
Interesting.
But not surprising. Afterall I am a highly trained canine specialist and I see and work with dogs that have many different behavior problems.
And the most difficult to deal with is….
….fear.
Fear cancels out rational thought. Fear overrides hunger. Fear can turn into self defense resulting in a nasty bite for the person that gets too close.
Fear requires the trainer to have a high degree of skill and patience. The trainer has to know how to effectively use (GASP) negative reinforcement.
Confused?
Let me clear this up for you. Negative reinforcement is used to GET a behavior to occur. So many people (including big name trainers) are befuddled about this. A common example used to explain negative reinforcement is bell or buzzer in your car that does not stop until you put your seatbelt on.
The constant sound got you to DO the behavior.This is NOT punishment. Luckily you come here to get a proper education on dogs and behavior.
Remember, there are four behavior quadrants that we work from using operant conditioning.
Positive AND negative reinforcement are used to GET a behavior to occur.
Positive and negative punishment are used to STOP a behavior.
Positive reinforcement is tricky to use with a fearful dog. Throwing food usually doesn’t work. The dog is not interested or grabs it and leaves. A fearful dog will escape any chance it gets.
A fearful dog has no tolerance for stress. My job as the trainer is to help the dog handle low levels of stress. This is accomplished by putting a leash on the dog. I ask the owner to hand me the leash as I sit down.
Once the dog discovers that I am holding the leash they try to escape which I prevent by pulling back on the leash. There is now tension in the leash and the dog is uncomfortable. Once the dog calms down just a little I release pressure on the leash and offer a reward.
The pressure on the leash is negative reinforcement. I want the dog to be able to handle being close to me. When I see the slightest improvement I release tension and offer a reward.
This is repeated until the dog can handle being close to me.
I share this with you because just like Scarlett and Spencer, each dog is different and to train a dog you need to understand and use ALL four quadrants.
Which is why I put together The Dog Training Inner Circle for you. We’re all different and so are our dogs. On The Inner Circle you can read, watch or listen. You can also use the forum to ask me any of your questions.
Best of all you can get started for just $1.00
What are you waiting for? Go here NEXT:
Best,
Eric