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Talking about Negative Punishment with first time puppy owner
Hi Everyone!
Good evening! I am sorry it has been so long since I have posted and interacted. Between getting a few new long term dog training clients, enhancing my social media, and the staffing changes/responsibilities increase at my swim teaching gig, it’s safe to say I’ve been coocoo for cocoa puffs lately. LOL.
I am not sure of the right place to mention this (thanks to Catherine in advance because I know she’ll be awesome in helping with this heh heh). I am working with a first time puppy owner who has 13 week old English Creme golden retriever. He and his wife are busy working professionals and his son is on the spectrum. They’ve never had dogs before so I feel like I can encourage him and instill some good habits and practices (at least in theory). Though, I won’t beat myself up if I can’t.
One area I want to improve in is talking about negative punishment. My client brought up a good point in our last session. He said “I can’t always say yes, sometimes I just have to tell my dog he can’t do something.” As I much as I prefer rewarding my dog for good behaviors, sometimes you have to interrupt them/withhold attention/etc. Thankfully my dog’s at the training stage where he’s not so much of a rascal. 🙂 LOL.
Anyway, I am getting some ideas going, but I wanted to see if anyone had any simple ways to talk about negative punishment?
I’ve talked about holding back attention if he jumps/waiting till all four feet are on the floor to give him attention. As awesome as this group is, I’m sure we can come up with some good stuff.
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2 Replies
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Hi Zane,
Glad to see you again! Since your post is about talking with the humans, to help them understand concepts, I’ve moved it over to our Coaching channel. I’m looking forward to reading others’ ideas and will hold off til members have a chance to chime in. Great conversation starter! Thanks for posting.
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I’ll jump in here to get us going. First off, there’s a simple phrase you can start with… Interrupt and Instruct. Of course there are times when a dog is going to try something inappropriate or unsafe. So first Interrupt them in a non-harmful way (could be as simple as their name in a normal tone, or it could be a sharp sound like a clap or an “uh-uh”). Then Instruct. Direct them towards something they are allowed to do instead. Give them a different outlet.
Manage the access to the unwanted situation for going forward. Prevent it as much as you can while at the same time giving access to “allowed” outlets for that drive in the dog.
Quick summarized example:
You catch a dog grabbing the pillows off the couch to play with or chew. You interrupt the behavior. You take the dog out of the room for a few minutes. You move the pillows out of reach for now. You bring the dog back in, you play tug or fetch with a stuffy toy and praise all the while. You leave stuffy toys accessible in the room, on the floor, all the time. You praise the dog whenever he picks one up. You play with him with those stuffy toys a bit each day. You only introduce the pillows back within reach on the couch when you’re there to supervise and give feedback. Gradually over time you add the pillows back as you and the dog have established a clear understanding about what’s a toy and what’s not.
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