There are many advantages to using positive reinforcement rather than any other form when training. As Karen Pryor states, ‘Behaviour that is already occurring, no matter how sporadically, can always be intensified with positive reinforcement.’ (Pryor, 2002, p. 1) This is supported by Richardson & Cole who argue that ‘By using positive reinforcement, we increase the chances of a particular action occurring again.’ (Richardson & Cole, 2001, p. 149)

Dogs carry out behaviours that bring them the highest reward, so if we use positive reinforcement – that is to say, reward the dog for carrying out a behaviour – and repeat this frequently, the dog will begin to offer the behaviour as he will have associated the behaviour with the reward.

Dunbar supports this by affirming that ‘Reward training is a wonderfully relaxing approach. Technically your dog can not do anything wrong because you have left it to discover what is right. Because you can enjoy the dog’s “mistakes,” there is no stress or frustration…Reward training is an excellent technique…’ (Dunbar, 1999, p. 32)

Karen Pryor also states that one of the advantages of positive reinforcement is that ‘you don’t have to think up something for the animal to do and then train it to do that, you can reinforce anything the animal happens to offer and see where it leads.’ (Pryor, 2002, p. 153)

Positive reinforcement is also advantageous as it doesn’t involve punishment in the same way that some old school and alpha/dominance theory based methods do. For example, aversive methods tend to try to stop the behaviour without resolving the cause so a dog that is extremely scared of a hoover and barks at it or tries to bite it, may be forced to be in close proximity to a hoover without escape, causing the dog to shut down – going into a state of learned helplessness – as it cannot get away from the hoover. This is a process known as flooding. Initially, this seems to have resolved the issue as the dog may well stop reacting to the stimulus. However, in reality it is more likely that the dog’s fear of the object has now been compounded which may cause the behaviour to get worse or present itself in other ways. This is supported by Burch and Bailey who argue that ‘Dogs subjected to flooding often become so traumatized that they lose control of their bladder and bowels. Some dogs resist flooding so intensely that they become aggressive and dangerous for the average person to handle.’ (Burch & Bailey, 1999, p. 91)

Punitive methods can cause physical and mental harm to dogs – for example, choke chains can actually damage the dog’s neck, and devices like electric collars can cause the behaviour they are trying to stop, to become worse. For example, an owner might be using an electric collar to stop their dog from barking at cyclists. If, at the precise moment the collar is used, a child passes by, the dog might associate the child with the pain and therefore develop a problem behaviour towards children.

Burch and Bailey support this by stating ‘Physical punishment can result in emotional reactions and aggression.’ (Burch & Bailey, 1999, p. 66)

Dunbar also asserts that ‘…a punishment-oriented training program effectively teaches the trainee to dislike the trainer as much as it dislikes training…trying to teach using punishments is arduous and it takes forever…it simply doesn’t work and it usually makes problems worse.’ (Dunbar, 1999, p. 35-36)

In my personal opinion, positive reinforcement also has the advantage of being fun for the dog and the owner, and therefore increases the bond and trust between the two, which I believe brings about much better training results that the use of aversives.

Bibliography

Burch, M.R., & Bailey, J.S. (1999). How Dogs Learn. New York: Wiley Publishing, Inc.

Dunbar, I. (1999). Dog Behaviour. New York: Howell Book House.

Pryor, K. (2002). Don’t Shoot The Dog! The new art of teaching and training. Berkshire: Cox and Wyman Ltd.

Richardson, J., & Cole, L.S. (2001). The Dog Whisperer : The essential guide to understanding and raising a happy dog. Australia: New Holland Publishers Ltd.