Shaping Temperament

Part 6

We have discussed the powers of positive reinforcement. This is truly the strongest tool available when teaching, whether it be used to teach our dogs or other individuals. But we must not discard the other three tools available to us when teaching.

You'll recall that negative represents a minus, taking away. Negative reinforcement can be explained as a stimulus that induces a specific behavior to occur. Once the behavior occurs, the inducement, the negative reinforcement ceases. For example, almost all communication in equine sports is negative reinforcement. If I want my horse to move to the left, I would apply leg pressure to his right side. As he moves to the left away from the pressure, the leg pressure ceases. Our dogs are experts at the use of negative reinforcement. For example, a dog that continually nudges his owner's arm until the owner responds with any sort of attention has negatively reinforced his owner to respond appropriately to his desires. In turn, the owner, by responding and giving the dog any level of attention, has positively reinforced the dog's solicitous actions. In other words, the owner is training the dog to control when and how the dog gets his attention.

Whenever we put a leash on our dogs we are preparing to use negative reinforcement, or unaware of the consequences, preparing our dogs to use negative reinforcement on us. When a dog pulls on the leash and the owner responds by moving into the pressure, the dog has succeeded in negatively reinforcing the owner to follow his direction. In contrast, if when the dog pulled the owner stopped, and held steady until the dog stopped at about her slack in the lead, it is possible to use negative reinforcement to teach attentiveness to the owner's directive.

Negative reinforcement definitely has its place in teaching. However, if used to excess, or without balance, it can often cause for resistance and an inattentive attitude toward the owner and toward learning. If we keep in mind that all recurring behavior must gain the animal in some way, it is best when using negative reinforcement to induce a response, to pair your training with positive reinforcement once the appropriate response is exhibited.

Punishers as a whole are something averse that the subject will work to avoid. Punishers do not have to be physically painful. A loss of food, comfort, or possibly social interaction could be viewed as an adverse action to some individuals. Just as with reinforcement, punishment is subjective to the individual at each moment. What is averse to one subject may actually be reinforcing to another. For example, my dog loves petting and attention. This can be very reinforcing to him. However I have met many dogs that display shy and distrustful temperaments. Two such dogs may find petting and attention from a strange or unfamiliar person to be averse. It is important to acknowledge that an action, in order to be considered a punisher, must be averse to the individual subject to which it is being applied. If the dog does not work to avoid this situation in the future one may assume one of two things: first that the action is not averse to that dog; second, that the application of the punisher was poorly timed. If timing is poor, the dog may not associate the action with the specific behavior that the owner/trainer chose to diminish.

There are two types of punishers, positive and negative. Positive punishment indicates adding an offensive, or adverse stimulus. A good example of positive punishment would be electric shock collars used in training or electric fence and containment systems. As the dog displays an unwanted behavior, such as approaching the border of the containment system, he receives a shock. On average, in teaching containment, a dog will be shocked three times before making the association between approaching the training flags and the application of the shock. The positive punishment is used correctly, which is very difficult to do in the real world and the subject learns the association between the behavior and the consequence within three to five applications. This may sound like a perfect way to eliminate unwanted behavior. However, in order for a positive punisher to accomplish the goal, it must be applied at a level that will absolutely deter the subject. It must also be properly timed at the onset of the behavior, as opposed to when the behavior is being performed or has ended. Another consideration is that the punisher must be applied each and every time the dog attempts the behavior. Positive punishment also has serious side effects. A positive punisher will never teach the dog the appropriate behavior, only tell the dog what not to do. Given the fact that your dog must be doing something at any given moment, it is always to our benefit to focus on empowering them with what to do in any given situation as opposed to breaking them down for what they're doing incorrectly. We must also keep in mind that the use of positive punishment can, and often does, contribute to an increase in distrust, fear, frustration, anxiety and aggressive behavior. The more one learns about positive punishment, the greater the realization that although positive punishment may have a place in teaching, that place is very limited, must be planned well in advance of its use and must be executed with skillful and knowledgeable application.

Negative punishment, although it sounds like the worst of all tools, can be a productive tool if used properly. Negative punishment can be explained as the systematic and well-timed subtraction of reinforcement. For example, if I walk into a home and the resident dog seeks me out in solicitation for attention, I will calmly and completely ignored the dog until he has settled into a lying position on the floor. Although I must walk into many homes on a daily basis due to my work, I rarely get jumped on, and if so, not for long. As a dog is seeking my attention, and in some cases seeking the ability to control me, my neutral and inattentive attitude quickly diminishes the dog's attempts. The behavior has not gained the dog. Therefore, the dog ceases wasting energy on an unproductive endeavor. Negative punishment paired with positive reinforcement becomes a very strong and influential training combination.

Extinction is the elimination of a previously performed behavior by revoking the previously gained reinforcement to that action. For example, as a puppy my dog attempted to jump and paw at my legs in an attempt to gain attention. No doubt, prior to my adopting him, his breeder gave attention for such behavior. Each and every time my dog attempted to gain my attention by displaying this behavior I completely and calmly revoked by attention and walked away. Each time he was calm, and had all four of his feet securely on the floor, I approached him with praise, petting, treats, play, or picking him up. In less than a week my dog learned that jumping on people did not gained him the desired response of attention and social interaction. On the contrary, by using positive reinforcement for an alternate more appropriate response, such as standing, sitting or lying still, I quickly taught my dog that by controlling himself with a calm and controlled manner he could gain the attention and play that he sought. Extinction is the elimination of the behavior by the appropriate use of negative punishment.

Extinction works best when used in conjunction with positive reinforcement being offered appropriately for the display of an alternate and desirable behavior.

In the next article I will further discuss the artful use of these tools in shaping behavior in temperament and our dogs. Although the science of behavior and learning has exact and unchanging laws, it can be an art form in the application of the tools available to us in teaching.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have at 763-577-0761 or via email at unleashed@animaltrainers.com .

Linda J. Brodzik, Behavior Therapist

Christi Madison, Manager

Unleashed Behavior and Training Services

www.unleashed.animaltrainers.com