The Basic Science and Math of It All
Let’s talk about the most basic science and math behind dog training; Positive and Negative Reinforcement, and Punishment.
These terms tend to confuse the **** out of people. We hear it all the time, “I only use positive reinforcement training on my dog.”
Most people hear these terms and think pleasant and unpleasant things, when the reality is that these terms have nothing to do with how pleasant we are toward the dog.
So what do these terms actually mean? Positive and Negative are mathematical terms in the sense that they refer to the addition and subtraction of a stimulus (a thing or event that evokes a reaction). Reinforcement refers to a stimulus that will increase the likelihood of a behavior, while Punishment refers to a stimulus that will decrease the likelihood of a behavior.
Lets break it down:
-Positive Reinforcement refers to the addition of a stimulus that will increase the likelihood of a desired behavior.
-Positive Punishment refers to the addition of a stimulus that will decrease the likelihood of an undesired behavior.
-Negative Reinforcement refers to the subtraction of a stimulus that will increase the likelihood of a desired behavior.
-Negative Punishment refers to the subtraction of a stimulus that will decrease the likelihood of an undesired behavior.
Lets consider the example of training the Sit with duration. You ask your dog to sit, you give a reward, dog gets up before being told they can so you pull away the treat or add leash pressure to put them back, then release them from the position when appropriate. Nothing in this example is particularly aversive and all are used by anyone who takes a ‘purely positive’ training approach.
Positive Reinforcement:
You ask your dog to ‘sit,’ then offer a treat when they do so.
Giving is the Positive, while the treat is the stimulus. It is the giving (addition) of the treat that will reinforce the behavior of sitting so it happens again in the future.
Positive Punishment:
Your dog is in a sit, but gets up to walk away, so you pull up on their leash until they sit again.
Pulling up is the Positive, while the leash pressure is the stimulus. It is pulling up (addition) of the leash that will punish (we call this a correction though, not a punishment) the behavior and decrease the likelihood of the dog leaving the sit before being released in the future.
Negative Reinforcement:
Your dog leaves a sit without being told to, so you pull up on the leash until they sit back down, then you release the leash pressure.
Releasing is the negative, while the leash pressure is the stimulus. It is the taking away (subtraction) of the leash pressure when the dog sits back down that will increase the likelihood of the dog holding the sit until released in the future.
Negative Punishment:
Your dog is in a sit, but gets up to grab the treat from your hand as you go to give it to them, so you pull back the treat, and they sit back down.
Pulling back is the Negative, while the treat is the stimulus. It is the pulling back (subtraction) of the treat that will punish the behavior so the act of getting up for the treat before being released decreases in the future.
Most people struggle with understanding these terms, but also with how to apply them properly. You can apply Negative Punishment (pulling the treat away when the dog gets up to take it), or Positive Punishment (adding leash pressure when the dog gets up to walk away) and Negative Reinforcement (taking away leash pressure when the dog sits back down) to encourage duration in the sit position, but if you apply Positive Reinforcement again in that moment (giving a treat when the dog sits back down), the dog will learn to leave the sit position without being released to get put back and get another treat. You can only give Positive Reinforcement to encourage a desired behavior if it is not directly preceded by an undesired behavior. So when the dog sits, you give a treat; then when the dog gets up without being released, you pull the incoming treat away or you give leash pressure until the dog sits back down, but then you can not give another treat or else the dog will learn to mess up to get paid. You have to leave the dog in the sit position long enough that they forgot that they just messed up, before applying more Positive Reinforcement for holding the sit position without leaving before being released. Then, once the dog is successful with holding the sit position for the desired/acceptable amount of time (which is relative to the dog’s actual abilities), they can be released and you can administer more Positive Reinforcement.
If you read the paragraph above, what do you notice? Perhaps that it is important to use ALL four types of learning in your training approach, not just one or two. Balance is key to any good relationship because it indicates clear expectations; dogs do not do well with grey area, they require black and white communication in order to understand what we want from them. This is why it is so important to understand the basic Science and Math behind dog training. The first step in training your dog is understanding how they think, feel and learn. Once you understand this, communicating your wants and needs will be easier than ever. When you learn to properly communicate with your dog, you will be on your way to building a stronger, healthier relationship.