Dog training: The trouble with punishment

Insufficient socialization and frequent and extreme punishment are the two major reasons why dogs become wary of people. Wary dogs stay away from people. Problems happen when people approach and try to handle, or pet, the dog.

Few people intend to make things unpleasant for their puppydog, with one notable exception: when punishing him. By definition, punishment is meant to be unpleasant. However, it is extremely disturbing that this unpleasantness is overly frequent and overly extreme. Sadly, many outdated trainers, and hence many owners who have read outdated training books, tend to focus on punishing untrained dogs for getting it wrong, for breaking rules they never knew existed. It is much quicker to teach your puppy the rules of the house-to show him what you want him to do and to reward him for doing it. Thus, your puppy learns to want to do what you want him to do. Frequent or extreme punishment is a major reason why many dogs dislike being handled, and why they dislike the handler.

Punishment means your training isn't working

Frequent punishment is an indication that your training philosophy is flawed. The dog still frequently misbehaves and, therefore, is frequently punished. Training is simply not working. Time to change to Plan B. Rather than punishing your puppy for mistakes he has made in the past, you should concentrate on teaching your puppy how he should act in the future. Remember, it is much more efficient and effective to reward your puppy for doing it your way-the one way you consider to be right-rather than trying to punish him for the many ways he could do it wrong.

Punishment sabotages the pet-owner relationship

Repeated punishment is the painful tip of a wedge that progressively divides and destroys the pet-owner relationship. Initially, you will lose off-leash control, and your dog will be slow to approach since he no longer wants to come close. Eventually he will become wary and apprehensive when approached and handled. The whole point of living with a dog is to enjoy his company. Surely you don't want to live with a dog that doesn't want your companionship. If you find yourself frequently reprimanding and punishing your puppy, seek help from a trainer.

Extreme punishment is an extreme indication that training isn't working. The dog still misbehaves and the severity of punishment is increased with the assumption that it will be more effective. If punishment is effective, the dog would no longer misbehave. If the dog continues to misbehave following an extreme punishment, it would be wise to question the validity of the punishment-training program rather than automatically upping the level of pain.

Extreme punishment is quite unnecessary and absolutely counterproductive. It creates more problems than it resolves. Even when extreme punishment eliminates an unwanted behavior, it trashes the dog-human relationship. For example, your puppy may not jump up anymore following a severe punishment, but now he no longer likes you, nor wants to come close to you because you were extremely nasty to him the last time he jumped up to say hello. You have won the battle but lost the war. Your dog doesn't jump up, but you don't have a best friend anymore. Sadly, training has become adversarial and unpleasant. Why would a person treat their best friend like their worst enemy?

If you ever feel the need to resort to severe punishment, immediately seek help from a trainer who uses more efficient and effective, dog-friendly, lure/reward training methods. The most successful obedience competition dogs, agility dogs, search-and-rescue dogs, bomb-detection dogs, seeing-eye dogs, hearing-ear dogs, assistance dogs, and protection dogs are all trained using reward-based motivational methods, with few-if any-reprimands. Isn't it about time that we trained pet dogs the same way?

When you effectively use reward-training techniques, punishment is seldom necessary. However, a less-experienced trainer may feel the need to reprimand or punish more frequently in order to compensate for novice training skills. Even so, when punishing a dog there is no need to approach, loom over, glower, grab, shake, shout, scream, scare, or hurt him.

What to do instead

For a routine training mishap, an instructive reprimand is more than sufficient, such as, "Outside!" "Chewtoy!" "Sit!" "Steady!" or "Hustle!" The slightly raised voice and change in tone indicates urgency, and in each case, the one-word instruction lets your puppy know what he should be doing to get back on track again.

Even for more serious transgressions, harsh punishment is unnecessary. In fact, when you use fun and games, reward-based training methods, banishment is the all-time most effective punishment-a short timeout with no more training game, no more rewards, and no more you. Calmly and quietly instruct your dog to leave the room: "Rover, Exit!" Banishment need only last for a few seconds, or a couple of minutes at the most. Then always insist that the dog apologize and make up by dutifully coming, sitting, and lying down. When banishment (stopping training) becomes your best punishment, you have achieved the Holy Grail of Dog Training.

Banishment is especially effective if you cheerfully shake the dog's treat jar during the timeout period. When one of my dogs is in a timeout penalty, I make a point of merrily training my other dog and especially giving out lots of "bad-dog treats." "Good dog, Oso! Why don't you have one of bad-dog Phoenie's treats?" It works well in our household. On one occasion, I became so irritated that Phoenix was ignoring me that during her time out from the living room I pretended to eat the treats myself. "Mmmmm! Yummy-yummy Phoenie's treats!" When I let her back in the living room, she lay down and wouldn't take her eyes off of me for half an hour.

Giving the banishment order in a soft, sweet voice and pointing demonstratively to the door will help control your upset and emotions. On the first couple of occasions, you may have to shoo your puppy through the door but he will soon learn to leave promptly following your command. Moreover, after just a few banishments, your soft and sweet "Exit!" command will become a conditioned punishment, having an immediate and dramatic effect on your pup's behavior. At this stage in training, the "Exit!" command becomes an extremely effective warning. Observe your puppy's reaction when you sweetly inquire, "Rover, would you like to pay attention and take heed, or would you prefer to exit?" Most likely, your pup will wise up immediately. If so, ask him to lie down quietly and let him stay beside you. If not, say, "Exit!" in your best sweet and soft voice and demonstratively point to the door.

When banished, most dogs leave reluctantly and remain right outside the door looking in. However, when working with young puppies without much training it is better for you to leave promptly when the puppy misbehaves. In that case, play/train in your pup's long-term confinement area so that during his time-out your pup does not have the opportunity to get into further mischief. A one- or two-minute timeout is sufficient. Then return to the puppy's area and ask him to make up and show some respect by coming, sitting, and lying down on request.

Excerpted from After You Get Your Puppy, by Ian Dunbar.

Ian Dunbar is a veterinarian and animal behaviorist, founder of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, and the author and star of numerous books and videos on dog behavior and training. He lives in Berkeley, California with his wife, trainer Kelly Dunbar, and their three dogs. The Dunbars are contributing editors to DogTime.