Why Use Positive Reinforcement Dog Training

There is a new technique in dog training that is gaining good momentum because it rewards optimum behavior rather than punishing unwanted behavior. This type of dog training is called by many names and encompasses many techniques.

The main idea is to reward the behavior desired instead of giving punishment to the UN-desired behavior. The basic concepts are based on the work of behavioral psychologists such as B.F. Skinner and Ivan Pavlov where food is used to condition the animal. The animal performs the desired behavior and is rewarded with food. Do this enough and the animal will perform the behavior with or without the reward.

The two most important concepts to grasp are timing and consistency. The timing of the reward has to be dead-on or your dog may associate the reward with a different behavior. You are teaching your puppy to sit, they sit, you reach in your pocket for a reward, break the treat in half, put the other half back in your pocket and then give your pup the treat. By the time you got around to rewarding you pup may have stood up or be doing something else all together and that becomes the association.

The other key point is consistency. Everyone in the household must use the same techniques or your dog will get mixed signals and it will be harder to train them. Also if you have ever raised a puppy you will know that they are the perfect example of living in the moment. A pup has the attention span of a nanosecond. Consistency will break through this barrier but it will take lots of time and practice.

There are many dog trainers that have their own flavor and techniques for using positive reinforcement training. One of the most popular techniques that follow these concepts is clicker training where food and a click from a small thumb operated device become the reward, eventually taking away the food leaving just the click as the reward.

Grasping the concepts is a simple shift in the way we think about training a dog. This type of dog training seems to provide a good experience for you and your dog while getting to the desired goal of sharing your life with a dog that will listen to you without having to yell, correct, or ignore to get your desired results.

One of my greatest passions is dogs and everything about them thrills me. Find lots of information from an owners perspective at http://alldogsguide.com For fun follow my exploits as I try to train our Chocolate Labrador retriever puppy Ellie at http://alldogsguide.com/ellies-blog/

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