Tuesday Training Byte: Using positive reinforcement to shape behavior

You may have heard of positive reinforcement. It may also be called classical conditioning. When used with people, we call it behavior modification. Under classical conditioning/behavior mod, there are four types of reinforcement: positive reward, negative reward, positive punishment, and negative punishment. In this sense positive means adding and negative means taking away. So negative reward simply means taking away something undesirable. Positive punishment means giving something undesirable. The concept in general is that behavior that is rewarded will increase and behavior that is punished will decrease. Let's talk about dogs and jumping up.

Dogs inherently seek attention and will often do this by jumping up. So I can do a couple of things here to fix (decrease) that behavior. If my dog jumps on my I take away any attention (negative punishment) that I would give the dog such as looking at him, talking to him, touching him or any other form of engaging with my dog. So I just turn away and ignore him. When my dog sits nicely looking at me without being told, I reward (positive reward) him by giving him something desirable like praise, pets, and treats. A key is to pay attention and actually catch your dog being good or doing good behaviors even when not asked, so that those behaviors get rewarded. Think of it this way: You are willing to go to work and do your job, but you are expecting to get paid for your good work. If you get no pay, and no appreciation or praise, you will likely stop working there. Even volunteer positions the worker is more likely to continue if they are shown appreciation for their efforts. If your dog jumps up and you look at, touch, or speak to your dog, they will take that as attention that they wanted, so the jumping up continues or even gets worse. Turn away, and once your dog sits without being asked, be sure to praise /reward that behavior. Be aware though that some trainers may try to fool you by saying they use positive reinforcement, when they are using a shock/e-collar which is positive punishment. Reinforcement applies to both good and bad. I prefer to use positive reward as much as possible, followed by negative reward, then negative punishment (taking away my attention). Many dogs continue bad behaviors because they have been reinforced, even inadvertently. Happy training!