Showed more mouth licks and yawns when practicing the ‘sit’ command, and were more likely to have a low body posture, all signs of stress.This is unfortunate because trainers want the dog’s attention Rarely looked at their owners when walking on leash, compared to those taught with positive reinforcement.The results showed that dogs in the negative reinforcement group: At the other school, positive reinforcement was used to reward the dog for doing the right behaviour. Sit was taught by both pulling the leash up and pushing the dog’s bottom down and only releasing when the dog was in the sit position. Negative reinforcement was used to teach loose leash walking by tugging on the leash while the dog was at a distance from the owner, and stopping tugging when the dog was close by. The dogs had already completed a basic dog training class at the same school. This study compared dogs taking an advanced dog training class at two different schools: one that used positive reinforcement and one that used negative reinforcement. In this study, barking, lunging, growling and biting were all considered to be aggression.īut there is one study that looked specifically at the use of negative reinforcement in dog training (Deldalle and Gaunet, 2014). For example, in a 2014 study of aggression in dogs, the use of positive punishment and/or negative reinforcement was associated with an increased risk of aggression of 2.9 times for aggression towards family members, and 2.2 times towards unfamiliar people outside of the house (Casey et al 2014). Most of the research on dog training methods has focussed on comparing reward-based methods to aversive methods. It’s better to use reward-based methods (see more on why more people don’t use positive reinforcement to train dogs). Research shows that using aversive methods in dog training is associated with an increased risk of fear and aggression, and may even be less effective. Unfortunately, applying an aversive – such as an electronic shock or pressure on the dog’s neck or body – has risks for the dog’s welfare. Technically speaking, in this scenario the behaviour of standing is positively punished (read more about positive punishment). Typically what happens is that whatever behaviour the dog was doing before the sit – let’s say, standing – goes down in frequency and is replaced by the sit. In order to use negative reinforcement, something aversive has to be applied first so that it can then be removed contingent on the dog doing the behaviour you are teaching. Research shows risks with negative reinforcement in dog training In fact we’ll get to some alternatives in a moment. I’m not suggesting these are good ways to train your dog. Here, the behaviour of looking at the handler after seeing another dog is being reinforced by taking away the scary situation of being too close to another dog. When another dog is close by, the handler waits until the dog offers a particular behaviour (such as looking at the handler) before allowing the dog to move away. Some models will apply the shock for a fixed time of 11 seconds after the button is pressed read why there are calls for shock collars to be banned or about a study of using shock collars for recall training).Īnother example of negative reinforcement is sometimes used when working with a dog that is afraid, e.g. (Note that not all electronic collars allow for this type of training. The thing that is removed is the unpleasant sensation from the shock collar, and the behaviour of ‘sit’ is more likely to happen and hence has been reinforced. As soon as the dog sits, the shock is turned off. Assuming the behaviour of sitting goes up in frequency, the behaviour was negatively reinforced by the removal of the pressure on the dog’s rear end.Īnother example of negative reinforcement involves applying an electronic dog training collar until the dog does the behaviour you want – let’s say it’s ‘sit’ again. One example of negative reinforcement is when the dog’s bottom is pushed to force the dog into a sit, and then released once the dog is in a sit. Examples of negative reinforcement in dog training
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