Punishment is anything that happens to a dog or around it in order to make its behavior less likely to occur.
It could be a conscious choice like a slap or something accidental like stepping on a thorn. The critical factor is whether the dog finds this event unpleasant. If it does, then the “displeasure” of the event will “punish” (to make it less likely to be repeated) its behavior.
We can divide punishment into two categories. The consequence of a punishment can be added to the dog’s environment. For example, a slap or a loud noise. Another category is when something pleasant is removed from the dog, such as when another dog stole its food. Behaviorists have named these two categories positive and negative respectively. It may seem confusing but this is because the terms positive and negative are used in mathematical logic.
Many dog trainers use positive punishment unconsciously. In reality, they don’t actually hit their dogs but apply something that the dog finds aversive. For example, spray collars fall into this category. These are forms of punishment in dog training.
Because many of us want to distinguish physical violence towards dogs, as well as other forms of punishment, many trainers use the word “correction” to describe a punishment that is not harsh or does not involve much physical contact. The word correction, however, is not a behavioral term and there is no clear agreement among the various dog trainers as to what exactly constitutes a correction.
Some trainers use the word correction for quite strong and physical punishments, so it’s better not to rely on the word as mild.
Some traditional trainers will say that dogs that have not been trained with some degree of punishment are likely to exhibit bad behavior. However, there is no evidence to support this belief. They can also associate modern training methods with tolerance, but being tolerant and training without punishment are two different things.
But what are the disadvantages of punishment?
Some dogs are much more sensitive than others. Too much punishment, even mild punishment, can really hit the trust of a sensitive dog, and this will hinder its ability to learn. This is because it is afraid, and fear inhibits the animal’s ability to make decisions and remember things. Many inexperienced dog owners find it very difficult to judge how sensitive their dog is, and how much force to use without unwanted side effects. Even experienced trainers sometimes make mistakes on this issue. Some dogs are really very difficult characters. A tough dog may feel a little fear when mildly punished and will quickly become immune to increasingly stricter punishments. A tough dog and a determined owner using this approach will very quickly reach a conflict. Such a relationship can subtly turn a nice dog owner into an aggressor. Perhaps one of the biggest disadvantages of punishment in training is that it is difficult to teach the appropriate level of force required to a novice dog owner, without harming the dog or destroying the bond between them. Too much force can potentially harm the soft tissues of the dog’s neck. Unjustifiably applied force has little effect and may even encourage the dog to pull more. There are often many different and unwanted behaviors that your dog could choose as an alternative to the behavior you are trying to encourage. This means that you may need to train several unwanted behaviors using punishment, when you could simply teach a large behavior using reinforcement. On the other hand, providing a treat to a dog is more difficult to make a mistake.
In simple terms, there is a possibility of causing harm in using punishment, and there is no possibility of harm using rewards.
Translation and editing of texts: Giorgis Taxidis
Titles of original texts: The downside of punishing dogs The use of punishment in dog training
Authors of original texts: Pippa Mattinson
Sources of original texts:
http://totallydogtraining.com/the-downside-of-punishing-dogs/
http://totallydogtraining.com/the-use-of-punishment-in-dog-training/
