Dogs are extremely behavioral creatures. The principles of behavioral psychology play an incredible role in how a dog is trained. However, only certain aspects of behavioral training are effective with dogs, while others are considerably less effective.

The main behavioral principle use for training dogs is known as “operant conditioning.” Operant conditioning is when you reward or punish based on a behavior your dog exhibited in order to get a desired behavior (either by continuing the good behavior or altering the bad behavior). There are two aspects of operant conditioning – reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement is when you want a behavior to continue, while punishment is used when you would like a new behavior.

In addition, these two principles are broken up into 4 separate types. The four types of operant conditioning are as follows:

-          Positive Reinforcement – Giving your pet a treat or affection when they perform a good behavior that you like. For example, if your pet sits on the “sit” command, and you give it a treat, that is positive reinforcement.

-          Negative Reinforcement – Taking away something that is harming your pet to make your pet happier. For example, if your pet whines when it has a thorn in its foot, you take the thorn out and now your pet knows it SHOULD whine whenever it has a thorn in its food. It is called “negative’ because something is taken away, even though the end result is positive for your dog.

-          Positive Punishment – The “Giving” of any form of punishment, such as hitting your pet or yelling at it loudly after it performs an unwanted behavior.

-          Negative Punishment – Taking away something your dog likes as a form of punishment. For example, if your dog is chewing on your shoe, and you take away your shoe, that would be negative punishment – you have punished your dog by taking away something good.

Positive reinforcement is known to be the most effective form of dog training. Perhaps more interesting is that positive punishment (hitting or striking your dog after an incorrect behavior) is far and away the least effective form of training. While your dog may be a little less likely to do the behavior, it does not understand what behavior it should be doing, so it will simply replace it with an equally bad behavior. An example is a dog that is hit for peeing on the carpet. The dog will know that urinating was wrong, but not know how to replace it, so rather than learn to urinate outside, it will simply try to hide its urination from you and go in places where it cannot be caught. These dogs also often suffer from self esteem issues that can lead to other behavioral problems.

Negative punishment, on the other hand, is an effective way of training dogs – though not as effective as positive reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is moderately effective, but there are rarely opportunities to use it effectively, making it relatively irrelevant (though it should be noted that a dog that whines in order to get out of its crate, only to be released due to the whining, will whine more because they have been negatively reinforced – the bad thing, being in the crate, was taken away).

Understanding Dog Behavior

For obvious reasons, it is cruel to hit or strike your pet when it misbehaves. Still, perhaps more interesting is that not only is it cruel – it is also an incredibly ineffective training method. Dogs that are punished rarely learn how to respond to the punishment correctly, and often their behaviors continue to degrade over time. They may also fear for the punishment and rarely display any positive behaviors around you, fearing your anger rather than seeking your approval.

If you are training your dog, remember to stick to positive reinforcement, as well as negative punishment when necessary. Positive punishment never works, and negative reinforcement is uncommon and generally unused in dog training.