The Use Of Positive Reinforcement Vs Physical Punishment When Training.

mia113

mia113

Well-Known Member
Hi all :)

I am doing a project for school about why the use of positive reinforcement is more effective than physical punishment when training our dogs. I was just after some of your thoughts towards the pros and cons of each type (eg. better companionship, mental and physical health) and ultimately which you think if more effective.

Thank you in advance! :)

Also, Mia and I have been doing some light agility training and will upload some videos of that soon - she is absolutely loving it, along with her trick training! I'll upload recent photos soon too! :)

Nikki :)
 
running_dog

running_dog

Honored Member
I think the most interesting aspect of positive reinforcement vs physical punishment is the effect that each has on us ourselves. I once was someplace where the adults believed in hitting the animals to make them do what was wanted, these people had small children, I could only imagine that they would grow up believing that if something got in the way you would hit it. We internalise these kinds of ideas without realising and it is very difficult to get rid of them from our subconscious.

If we train our dogs using positive reinforcement this will often help us to see the world in a proactively positive way, if we constantly (rather than intermittently) use negatives (not even necessarily physical punishments) we will often be seeing not just our dogs but the whole world in a reactively negative way. If I am feeling low training the dogs can make me feel much better because I use positives and so the whole world seems a brighter place, do you think it would make me feel better if I was telling them "no" all the time? I can tell you it wouldn't!
 
mia113

mia113

Well-Known Member
running_dog said:
I think the most interesting aspect of positive reinforcement vs physical punishment is the effect that each has on us ourselves. I once was someplace where the adults believed in hitting the animals to make them do what was wanted, these people had small children, I could only imagine that they would grow up believing that if something got in the way you would hit it. We internalise these kinds of ideas without realising and it is very difficult to get rid of them from our subconscious.

If we train our dogs using positive reinforcement this will often help us to see the world in a proactively positive way, if we constantly (rather than intermittently) use negatives (not even necessarily physical punishments) we will often be seeing not just our dogs but the whole world in a reactively negative way. If I am feeling low training the dogs can make me feel much better because I use positives and so the whole world seems a brighter place, do you think it would make me feel better if I was telling them "no" all the time? I can tell you it wouldn't!
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I've never thought about it like that but I definitely agree! Thank you :)
 
S

saveallpoodles

Member
I agree with running_dog. If I were to learn something and gets a physical punishment for slight mistakes, then I will not want to learn anymore. There is basically nothing to look forward to, only punishment.

I am strongly against punishment based training as it creates fear in our beloved dogs. No way can punishment based training be used. It's just plain wrong.
 
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