Positive Reinforcement Positive Punishment

I wanted to take a few moments to talk about some of the basics of Operant conditioning, the system that I utilize to teach and train dogs. When I began to use operant conditioning, I immediately noticed a significant difference in how quickly my dogs and clients dogs learned but also how much more readily the dogs complied with the commands once given. This system, in my opinion, is the best way to teach and train dogs bar none.

Today I am going to cover positive reinforcement and positive punishment. First off, I think it would help to know exactly what positive means. Positive, in this situation, means to simply give something. It does not mean good or bad, just to introduce something into the system. Reinforcement means to utilize something that gets the behavior to continue to happen. This is a way to teach a behavior and also have the behavior to continue to happen once it is learned. Punishment is utilized when you want behaviors to stop. So you use this when you see behaviors that you no longer want to happen.

What is positive reinforcement? Positive reinforcement is when you give something to the subject to have it continue to do a behavior. For example, I tell my dog Fritz to sit, he does, so I then give him a tub of ice cream. The positive aspect is me giving him the ice cream. The reinforcement comes from the enjoyment he feels from eating the ice cream. As you continue to use this method to teach the dog, you will see that the dog begins to do the behavior more readily as it discovers what it has to do in order to receive what it wants. When you use positive reinforcement, it helps reduce stress and frustration.

What is positive punishment? Positive punishment is when you give something to the subject to have it stop performing a behavior. For example, Fritz runs out the front door so I in turn give him a correction from a training collar. The positive aspect is me delivering pressure from the collar. The punishment comes from how he does not enjoy, but rather dislikes, the pressure from the collar. As you use the positive punishment this will in turn make the dog avoid the situation, thus stopping the behavior from continuing. Using positive punishment creates stress and ultimately avoidance.

If you would like to learn more about this, please contact us to schedule your free two hour evaluation. Be sure to check us out on Facebook. I also send out dogs training tips on Twitter. "

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