The "P" Word
- Brandi Garcia
- Mar 5, 2021
- 7 min read
Why "punishment" isn't a bad word and can be beneficial to your training routine.
I was conflicted on what topic I should cover for this month's blog. I knew I wanted to discuss balanced training or balanced trainers compared to "purely positive" or "force free" training. However, I'm not comfortable talking about fellow trainers in a way that could be perceived as negative. Regardless of training style, all of us have an end goal to create well rounded, happy, and trained dogs. Those goals can be achieved a variety of ways and there really isn't a single "right" way that can be applied to all dogs. My goal in writing this month's blog is to potentially help remove the stigma of some training styles and tools which have developed a bad name as a result of poor usage or misinformation regarding their use and application.
Before we get into the rest of this blog, I'd like to address the "P" word. Punishment. I understand. From the literal definition, punishment can be perceived as a scary word, when it often involves the words "pain," "rough," and "harsh." Punishment doesn't need to be any of these things. When discussing the learning theory and the four quadrants of operant conditioning, there are two ways you can apply punishment, negatively or positively. Regardless, all four quadrants of learning involve a consequence to an action. Consequences are not a bad thing. Punishment is not a bad thing. In dog training, punishment communicates a behavior you do not want repeated. A negative punishment could be turning away from your dog when he jumps up on you. By taking yourself away as a reward, you've punished the dog's jumping behavior in hopes that it will not be repeated. Positive punishment often falls closely with negative reinforcement. With a front-clip-harness (we'll discuss this tool later in the blog), positive punishment occurs when the dog pulls. The harness tightens or adds pressure to the dog's shoulders, which is supposed to reduce the likelihood of the pulling repeating. As the pressure releases from the harness, negative reinforcement is applied. The lack of pressure reinforces that a polite heel is what is being encouraged.
I took a different approach in preparing for writing this blog and prompted my Instagram followers to share myths they commonly hear about training tools and methods. Below are some of the responses that were given:
"E-collars are only used for punishment." It's commonly thought that e-collars are used to shock a dog into submission. Often, opposers to the use of e-collars will cite a study conducted by psychologist, Martin Seligman, where a dog was placed in a room known as a "shutter box." On one side of the room, the dog would be shocked, on the other side of the room, the dog would not. To read more about this study, refer to this summary. The study and its results are heartbreaking. No one wants to put their dog in a position of learned helplessness. It's easy to run to this study when the common denominator is the "shock" collar. The goal of the e-collar is not to punish or cause pain, however. At no point in e-collar training are we putting our dogs in scenarios where they are being "shocked" for no reason. Rather, the tool is meant as a communication device to proof known behaviors. If you look at a dog who has been responsibly trained with balanced methods, including an e-collar, you won't see a shut-down dog who has learned helplessness from "repeated shocking" for simply being a dog. You'll see a dog who has a clear understanding of what is being asked of them. It's important to remember that those who abuse tools, whether high quality or low, do not speak for those of us who advocate for the correct and safe use of these tools and they actively reverse the progress being made by people who work to correct misinformation and destigmatize tools used by balanced trainers.
"Food cannot be used abusively." While incredibly difficult, it is possible to misuse food during training. Again, incredibly difficult, but not impossible. The main issue comes when dogs aren't faded out of treats and become reliant on them in order to achieve the behaviors asked of them. Another issue comes with dogs who are overfed with treats and begin developing a weight issue. Thankfully, it's easy to avoid these issues. Fade out your treats when you feel your dog knows a behavior and be conscious of your dog's caloric intake when it comes to treats, especially if your dog is overweight. There's nothing wrong with using your dog's meals as training treats! In fact, this method can be incredibly beneficial for a dog who is on a weight loss journey.
"Tools are lazy and mean you don't know how to actually train. / Training tools are a shortcut." The amount of times I've seen this directed at myself and other balanced trainers is astounding. Application of all four quadrants of the learning theory is not an indicator of being ignorant of dog training, nor lazy. Neither is the application of only two of the four quadrants. This is where it may be appropriate to discuss the rivalry between "force free" or "purely positive" trainers and balanced trainers; it can get nasty. So often, one side assumes superiority over the other because they "choose compassion," assuming that balanced trainers don't show compassion to their animals and focus heavily (or solely) on punishment. It seems so easy to call someone lazy or ignorant simply because they have a different training style than yourself. Yet you can find hundreds of dog teams who have competed in high-level sports as a result of BOTH balanced and positive reinforcement only training. The only thing that's lazy is not training your dog at all or doing no foundation work and expecting a "no-pull" tool to do all of the work for you. All tools require training!
"A dog on tools actually knows nothing." It's sometimes assumed that, because a dog is trained with balanced methods using aversive tools, it cannot perform without those tools. Just like food, all tools can be faded out. Granted, I prefer to pay my dogs. I wouldn't want to work for free and neither should my dogs. All tools should be faded out so the desired behavior can be performed on cue.
"Prongs don't cause pain/discomfort." This is a discussion often seen in balanced training groups regarding what makes the prong collar effective. Prong collars absolutely should never inflict pain; this is why proper fit and sizing is important, along with soft hands. As hard as it may be to hear, prong collars aren't designed to be comfortable, just like other tools that are labeled as "no-pull." However, just like any other corrective tool or piece of equipment (boots, head-collars, etc), desensitization is important to reduce that discomfort. I'll mention this again; at no point should you be inflicting pain or pushing your dog into a state of "fight, flight, or freeze" when using any tool.
"Balanced trainers use aversive tools on every dog." I LOVE talking about this one! It's frequently assumed that balanced trainers rely so heavily on balanced methods that they use aversive tools on every dog they work with; even the ones who don't need aversives. Most balanced trainers will tell you that a majority of the work they do is positive reinforcement based, and aversive tools are a case-by-case basis. In my work, I'd say about 75-80% of what I do is positive reinforcement, and aversive tools are applied about 20-25% of the time. When I first bring a dog into my program, I don't look at the dog and say "yeah a prong collar will fix this." Instead, I approach every dog with the mentality that a solid positive reinforcement foundation will greatly reduce the likelihood that aversive tools would ever be necessary.
"FF (force free) trainers only shove treats in the dog's face." Another misconception! There is a lot of strategy that goes into positive reinforcement, especially when it comes to capturing and shaping behaviors. It's so much more than just throwing treats at your dog for simply existing, or shoving treats in your dog's face as a way to mask problem behaviors. Positive reinforcement based training should be the norm for every trainer in order to ensure that the dog enjoys learning and has a drive to offer behaviors and learn new skills.
"Front-clip-harnesses* and head-collars* are the safest and most ethical training tools." While the head-collar can be safe and fine for a dog who has been desensitized to wearing it and knows better than to pull through solid foundation work, it is a tool that has a high risk for misuse. Too often, dogs are put into a head-collar with little to no foundation work, which results in tugging and consistent pressure on the nose band. This can potentially be fatal for a dog who has an unaddressed lunging issue. If a dog were to lunge forward while wearing a head-collar, their head would be snapped up, down, or sideways, which can result in severe damage to the cranial nerves and neck. Granted, just like the last tool discussed, misuse shouldn't speak for the tool entirely. That's not the issue I'm worried about. I'm most worried that this tool is frequently suggested as being one of the safest, least aversive tools available, when that simply is not true with the risks that can come about as a result of misuse or even one mishap. I've talked enough about head-collars.
What about front-clip-harnesses? Anytime pressure is applied to a front-clip, the harness tightens in the front or applies pressure across the shoulders, restricting the dog's forward movement. Granted, restricting movement is sure to reduce pulling. Personally, I'm not a fan of restricting a dog's natural gait simply to correct poor leash manners. Not all front-clip-harnesses are designed with the "martingale style" latch, yet still restrict natural movements. This tool is designed to be uncomfortable and is restrictive in a way that it should not be deemed one of the safest, gentlest, most ethical tools on the market.
While we're here, this is a good time to address that head collars are not the same as horse halters. Dogs are not horses and have completely different anatomy and cranial structure!
*To avoid any issues, I've opted to keep the brand name of these tools out of this segment*
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