What are punishments?
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Social pressure (Yelling, Clap or sudden noises, cornering a dog, raising hands). Dogs tend to become “desensitized”
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Withholding a reward
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Physical corrections (water squirt, bonking, leash correction,
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Environmental corrections
Why we avoid punishments?
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Dog gets stressed with punishments, especially when they do not know what to do otherwise
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Punishments affect the relationship between owner and dog. Makes dog not want to train, especially more difficult skills
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Fear or over-stimulation (above threshold) is often the cause bad behaviors like barking and reactivity. Punishment may stop the behaviors but does not address their state of mind and it may manifest elsewhere.
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How to avoid?
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Good management usually reduces punishments
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When people end up using a lot of aversives, it’s often due to poor management or lazy management (not planning for things)
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If you really have to punish:
Guidelines:
Don’t punish fear
Teach a dog the right behavior so that he know he can control punishment e.g. getting off during a stay
If we are applying corrections in situations where the dog doesn’t know what he was supposed to do, this is unfair and nothing short of abuse.
Maintain good relationship by giving many good engagements for punishments
Use No only after efforts to manage the behaviour