Training Your New Puppy With Positive Reinforcement

By Wayland Royce

Positive reinforcement is a fancy phrase for what's essentially a very simple theory: using positive reinforcement entails rewarding the behavior that you wish to see repeated, and ignoring the behavior that you don't. It has long been recognized as a way to change children's negative behavior into positive behavior. Now it has been proven to have the same effect on non-humans.

Recently, I was impressed at the training two girls had done with a Killer Whale. Watching them take the huge animal through the routine I realized that the techniques used in positive reinforcement training would be about the only way that the whale could have been trained. An animal that size could not be forced to perform; willingness on its part was necessary. You can use the same technique to train your new puppy. Positive reinforcement training is the method of choice for most of the current expert dog trainers.

In the past, dog training techniques often included practices that are now considered cruel. They were based on using punishment rather than reward to correct the dog's behavior. The inhumane practices of the past are not the best way to train your puppy. Using positive reinforcement training techniques will give your puppy the training needed for safety and good behavior in a non-abusive manner.

Puppies are easily confused when given commands. The thing you have in your favor as you train your puppy is that there is a strong desire on her part to please you. Just be sure that she knows each time what you want her to do. To accomplish this you must use the same words each time for the same command. If you want her to sit don't say "sit here" one time and "sit down" another. Always use the same word or phrase. Your puppy will soon know exactly what is expected and behave accordingly.

Dogs respond well to meaningful rewards during training. Patting on the head is not such a reward for most dogs. They like to have their backs and chests rubbed and some like their ears played with. Play with your puppy in a very gentle manner to determine if she gives a positive response to physical affection

To keep the quality of your dog's learning at a high standard, it's also good to use tempting incentives for good behavior. Food treats and physical affection are what dog trainers refer to as "primary incentives" - in other words, they're both significant rewards that most dogs respond powerfully and reliably to.

Use the right timing. When your dog obeys a command, you must mark the behavior that you're going to reward so that, when she gets that treat in her mouth, she understands exactly what behavior it was that earned her the reward.

Your verbal response can also mark the appropriate behavior and then give her the treat. You must be consistent in this too. If you say "yes" in a happy voice and then give her the treat, you must do this each time she follows a command. Saying "yes" to her response to commands only occasionally will not mean anything to her..

For puppy training to be totally successful you and your puppy must both find it pleasant. Do not schedule training time when you are exhausted; be sure that your rewards are something she is willing to work for. - 32366

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