Most people don’t want to learn too much about the science of training when they take a beginners agility class – they just want to run around and have fun with the obstacles. A good instructor will distil their knowledge down into easy training “recipes” to teach each skill – easy steps for you to follow which will get your dog performing the obstacles without hurting your brain too much.
As with cooking though, recipes will only get you so far. If you want to progress, eventually you will need to understand the basic concepts of dog training. One of these fundamental ideas is “operant conditioning” – the use of reinforcement and punishment to change the dog’s behaviour.
Reinforcement
If your dog does something, and then something happens that he likes, he will be more likely to do that behaviour next time he is in the same situation. Reinforcement makes a behaviour more likely to happen again. Examples:
- You ask your dog to sit, and he does. You give him a yummy piece of cheese. Next time you ask him to sit he’ll do it as quickly as he can.
- Your dog breaks his sit stay at the start line. You keep running the awesome fun agility course. Your dog will quickly develop a habit of breaking because it makes the fun start sooner.
- Your puppy hovers just out of reach with his toy. You chase him, starting a super cool game of keep-away. Your pup is likely to run away with the toy again next time.
Punishment
If your dog does something that you don’t like, and then something happens that he doesn’t like, he will be less likely to do that behaviour next time he is in the same situation. Examples:
- You ask your dog to sit. As he moves into position, he feels a pain in his sore hip. Next time he’ll be more reluctant to sit or may sit very slowly.
- Your dog breaks his sit stay at the start line. You turn around and leave the awesome fun agility course without letting him run. Your dog is less likely to come before he’s called next time.
- Your puppy hovers just out of reach with his toy. You lose your temper and throw something at him. Your pup probably won’t think that keep-away is a fun game – but he might not want anything to do with the toy at all now.
The Eye of the Beholder
Whether something is reinforcement or punishment depends on how your dog perceives it. Sometimes the things that you intend to be reinforcing – say, hugging your dog – can actually be unpleasant to the dog. This means that you are punishing your dog when you think you are reinforcing him!
Likewise, things that you intend to use as punishment won’t actually change your dog’s behaviour if he happens to enjoy them – in fact, it will encourage him to do it again. In one of my examples above, leaving the agility ring early was used as a punishment, but if the dog was actually scared of the agility ring or didn’t like running agility, this would be a reinforcement.
Think about the Big Picture
Sometimes “punishment” doesn’t work because it is not actually unpleasant to the dog. Another reason it can backfire is if it is accompanied by something that the dog really likes.
Think about a dog that is in a back yard, surrounded by an electric fence. When the dog jumps out, he touches the fence and gets a small shock. He also reaches the other side of the fence, giving him the freedom to explore the neighbour’s rubbish bin. If the dog likes Sunday roast leftovers more than he dislikes zaps from the fence, he will keep jumping out. Another dog who is more sensitive to pain will stay home, because to him the shock is a big deterrent and a few scraps of meat aren’t worth it.
One common beginner mistake is to verbally scold the dog when he misbehaves (e.g. breaks a sit stay or jumps off a contact), but to then keep running the course. If your dog really enjoys running, this is not going to be an effective punishment – the fun of continuing to the next obstacle will outweigh the slight buzzkill of your harsh words.
The big picture includes all the things that stop happening, as well as the things that start. This is why so many dogs are bad about coming when they are called at the dog park, even if their owner has a tasty treat for them. The strong punishment of being removed from the agility area
What’s your dog’s favourite reinforcement? Have you ever thought that you were reinforcing your dog, when you were actually punishing him?