Many people look on the Internet for ways to solve the problems that arise when educating their pets, and this is where positive reinforcement for dogs comes in, a good tool to contribute to their learning. The formation of a dog not only applies to its puppy stages, but also continues in the adult life of the dog to strengthen its behavior.
In other words, behavior is reinforced when followed by positive reinforcement. The term “positive” means that the frame appears or is added immediately after the behavior. Positive reinforcements are often nice things for the individual or things the individual is willing to work for.
- In this Animal Expert article we will talk about positive reinforcement in dogs and the effectiveness and results it shows in training.
There are many methods and different techniques of canine training in the world, including positive reinforcement, an option that allows our dog to perceive and positively identify to perform an activity, an order, etc.
Doing so is simple: it consists of rewarding our dog with treats, caresses and words of affection when he correctly executes an order. Unlike other methods, the dog understands the whole process in a more fun way and makes it feel useful by following our instructions.
In this way we can reward you when you sit or touch, when you show a calm attitude, when you play correctly, etc. Positive reinforcement is applicable in many cases.
The most common positive boosters in canine training are food and games. However, there are also other enhancers you can use. All dogs are different from each other and each has particular preferences. Therefore, it is not possible to say that all dogs must be trained with a certain type of food or that a certain game serves as a reinforcer in all cases.
The clicker is an advanced tool that applies positive reinforcement with a small instrument that emits sound, thus improving attention and perception in the animal.
Starting with the clicker is a great idea if we are thinking of educating our dog, as it allows us to “capture” certain behaviors of the dog when the use is already advanced. If you already know how it works, find out how to load the clicker to start training with your dog.
Scolding and punishing our dog is not a way of educating him, as we subject him to a situation of widespread stress, which makes him less reactive and remembers less what we try to communicate.
In addition, we must remember that after a while, the dog cannot remember what he did wrong and is submissive only because he knows we are upset. He’ll shudder and freak out because he knows he’s done something wrong, but he doesn’t really understand why.
Punishment methods such as strangulation or collar with electric shocks are very dangerous and negative instruments for the dog, as it has been proven that they can cause the dog to direct its anger towards its loved ones, in addition to seriously damaging its behavior can become an aggressive, apathetic and antisocial dog.
The truth is that coaches, educators, ethologists and veterinarians always recommend positive reinforcement in dog education, because teaching the dog in a more fun way makes it easier to remember for the dog.
In addition, the positive reinforcement allows greater relaxation between the animal and the owner, which makes our animal feel loved, in addition to feeling good and open up socially.
This is the ideal type of education for people without experience in canine care and for people who already have experience, as it provides the opportunity to positively educate our dog making him feel happy and respected.
In our article on how to teach your dog how to sit, you can see how we use food for the dog to take the walk, and once you do, you have to reward it (we use positive reinforcement) to make him understand that he did well. . Repeating and continuing to reinforce this order helps the dog understand that he is doing well and is rewarded for his abilities.
If you teach your dog paw, for example, you should make sure you reward good performance after doing it correctly. If we let too much time pass between the action and the price or, on the contrary, we get ahead of ourselves, we induce the dog not to properly link the command with the candy.
Educating your puppy requires time and patience, but something much more important, the precision of rewarding the animal at the right time.
One of the most common mistakes when making noise to the dog is to scold him outside of hours, that is, when it has been a certain time since you did something wrong. This type of attitude damages the animal and creates confusion.
If you want to read articles similar to, we recommend that you go to our Basic Training section.