Transforming Dog Training: The Power of Positive Reinforcement Over Punishment

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Experience a transformative shift in dog training methods by abandoning outdated punishment-based techniques and embracing the power of positive reinforcement. Discover how scientific research has debunked the effectiveness of shock collars, prong collars, and choke chains, revealing their long-term harm. Join me, Will Bangura, as we navigate the compelling reasons behind this necessary change, supported by studies that highlight the increased stress, anxiety, and aggression these aversive methods inflict on our beloved canine companions.

In our latest episode of Dog Training Today, I invite you to explore the profound impact of positive reinforcement in fostering behavioral change and strengthening the bond between dogs and their pet parents. We delve into groundbreaking studies from 2000 to 2014, illustrating why punishment not only fails to address the root causes of undesirable behaviors but often exacerbates them. Learn how shifting to positive methods can enhance your dog's well-being, create trust, and establish a harmonious relationship. Tune in for an eye-opening discussion that challenges conventional dog training wisdom and advocates for a compassionate approach.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Raised by wolves with canine DNA in his blood.
Having trained more than 24,000pets, helping you and your fur
babies thrive, live in studiowith Will Bangura answering your
pet behavior and trainingquestions.
Ladies and gentlemen, pleasewelcome your host and favorite
pet behavior expert, willBangura.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Would you like to go on walking?
Y'all ready for this?
Good day, dog lovers.
I'm Will Bangura.
Hey, thanks for joining me foranother episode of Dog Training
Today.
Gaurahi, thanks for joining mefor another episode of Dog

(00:45):
Training Today.
I want to continue along thelines that I have been speaking
about recently, and that's thescience and the ethics of dog
training, why punishment orcorrection-based methods and

(01:08):
aversive tools need to berejected in favor of positive
reinforcement.
In the world of dog training,we have witnessed significant
advances over the past fewdecades.
Trainers, because of theindustry's lack of oversight,

(01:35):
lack of regulation, lack ofrequirement for any type of
formal education, lack ofrequirement for certification or

(01:55):
licensure, to this day,trainers using punishment and
continuing to use punishment andaversive tools like shock
collars, prong collars, chokechains and other kinds of

(02:29):
physical corrections.
Now, while these methods maysometimes yield short-term
results, the overwhelming bodyof scientific research shows
that they are not onlyineffective, but that they're

(02:54):
also harmful in the long term.
So this podcast is really aimedat combining scientific

(03:27):
evidence and expert consensus toargue why corrections, why
punishment and aversive toolsneed to finally be abandoned in
dog training.
In addition, this podcast ishere to advocate on behalf of
positive reinforcement, a methodthat has been proven to foster
lasting behavior change and alsoenhance the well-being of our

(03:51):
dogs.
But first let's definepunishment and aversive tools in
dog training.
In this case, punishment refersto any action designed to

(04:18):
decrease a behavior by applyingan unpleasant stimulus.
Shock collars, prong collarsand choke chains are often used
in conjunction with punishmentto suppress unwanted behaviors.
While these tools may perhapsseem effective at first glance,

(04:39):
the truth is they rely on fear,pain or intimidation to achieve
those results.
There have been many, manystudies that have shown over and

(05:00):
over again the harmful effectsof punishment-based training,
and one of the mostcomprehensive studies on the
subject that was done in 2008,.
That examined the impact ofaversive tools on military dogs,

(05:22):
and the findings were quitefrankly alarming.
With shock collars and otheraversive methods exhibited
higher levels of stress andanxiety than dogs trained with
positive reinforcement.
The stress response induced bycorrections and punishment

(05:48):
results in heightened arousal,fear and a lower ability to
learn new tasks or to even focusin the future.
In addition to that, there wasanother study done by Schilder

(06:09):
and Vanderborg in 2004 on policedogs trained with electronic
shock collars, and that revealedthat even long after the
training sessions ended, thedogs displayed signs of fear,
stress and anxiety.

(06:31):
Now this highlights thelong-term effects that
correction-based,punishment-based tools can have
on a dog's psychological state,which clearly suggests clearly

(07:02):
suggests that aversive trainingdamages a dog's well-being well
beyond the immediate trainingsession.
Further research by Polsky in2000 focused on the effects of
shock collars on dogs, showingthat electronic stimulation can
induce aggression.
When applied in alreadyagitated states was the focus of

(07:40):
the dog's attention at the timeof the shock.
This leads to fear-basedaggression, where dogs lash out
to protect themselves fromperceived threats.
A study by Heron et al in 2009similarly found that the use of

(08:06):
physical punishment methodscorrections in this case, beyond
just using a shock collar or aprong collar, people that are
yelling at their dogs, hittingtheir dogs or using other
aversive tools resulted in anincrease in aggressive behaviors

(08:28):
toward both humans and otherdogs and other dogs.
Now these findings underscorethat punishment not only fails
to address the root cause ofaggression, but can actively
make it worse by exacerbatingfear and stress.

(08:49):
Another study in 2014 by Caseyet al examined the psychological
impact of aversive trainingmethods on the bond between dogs
and their pet parents.
The findings showed thatpunishment creates a loss of
trust between the dog and thepet parent, leading to avoidance

(09:12):
behaviors, increased fear and aweakened relationship.
Instead of learning how tobehave appropriately, the dog
learns to fear its pet parentand the training environment.
One of the major criticisms ofcorrection-based or

(09:34):
punishment-based training isthat it focuses solely on
suppressing symptoms, withoutaddressing the root causes of an
undesirable behavior.
Behavior Dogs often act out dueto fear, anxiety, stress or

(10:04):
frustration, andcorrection-based methods
punishment-based methods fail toresolve these underlying
emotional states.
This leads to the phenomenonwhich I call the pressure cooker
effect, where the dogsuppresses its outward behavior
due to fear of being corrected,being punished, but the internal

(10:30):
stress continues to build.
Internal stress continues tobuild.
Eventually, the suppressedbehavior explodes in a more
intense form, often resulting inmore serious aggression or more
serious anxiety disorders.
As the study by Mathis Schilderand Vanderborg in 2004

(11:09):
demonstrated, the use ofaversive training techniques led
to dogs exhibiting long-termanxiety and fear.
The dogs learned to fear thetraining environment and those
that were training them, ratherthan learning the appropriate
behaviors.
Now this highlights the failureof correction-based,
punishment-based methods tobring about any type of real,
lasting change in the dog'sbehavior.

(11:30):
Lasting change in the dog'sbehavior.
Now let's talk about what otherresearch shows, if punishment
is harmful and ineffective, whatdoes the science say about

(11:50):
positive reinforcement?

(12:20):
Positive reinforcement involvesrewarding desired behaviors to
increase the likelihood of theirpet parents.
In a study by Lindsay Wood etal in 2008, researchers found
that dogs trained with positivereinforcement learned new tasks
faster and retained thebehaviors longer, compared to

(12:43):
those trained withcorrection-based or
punishment-based methods.
This is because positivereinforcement rewards the dog
for appropriate behavior,encouraging them to repeat the
behavior without fear andwithout hesitation.
In a study conducted by HibbyRooney and Bradshaw in 2004, it

(13:11):
examined the outcomes of dogstrained using positive
reinforcement versus aversivemethods.
The results showed that dogstrained with positive
reinforcement exhibitedsignificantly lower levels of
aggression and significantlylower levels of anxiety and

(13:36):
stress.
Not only did they respondbetter to commands and cues, but
they also demonstrated fewersigns of anxiety and fear in
stressful situations.
Now, by addressing theunderlying emotional drivers of

(14:00):
aggression whether it's fear,anxiety or stress it's fear,
anxiety or stress Positivereinforcement helps to resolve
the root cause of the behaviorrather than simply suppressing
its outward signs, and thisleads to long-lasting change in

(14:27):
a more emotionally stable dog.
There was another study in 2007that found that dogs trained
with positive reinforcementformed stronger bonds with their
pet parents.
When dogs are consistentlyrewarded for desirable behavior,

(14:48):
they come to view their petparents as a source of comfort
and trust.
This bond is absolutelycritical for long-term training
success and results in a morecooperative and more confident
dog.
In a 2017 review by Ziv,multiple studies were examined

(15:16):
to determine the long-termsuccess of various training
methods.
The findings clearly showedthat positive reinforcement
leads to more reliable long-termbehavior changes compared to
correction-based orpunishment-based techniques.

(15:37):
Moreover, dogs trained withpositive reinforcement were less
likely to develop newbehavioral problems over time,
such as anxiety or aggression.
There has been a globalopposition to aversive tools due

(16:01):
to the overwhelming evidence ofthe harm caused by
punishment-based methods.
Numerous countries have movedto ban or severely restrict the
use of aversive tools in dogtraining.

(16:22):
Germany, austria, sweden andNorway were among some of the
first countries to ban shockcollars under their animal
welfare laws, citing the tool'sharmful effects on dogs'
psychological well-being.
Scotland banned the use ofshock collars in 2018,

(16:59):
recognizing the cruelty involvedin their use and the
availability of more humanealternatives.
Canada, similarly, manyprovinces in Canada, have
outlawed and made illegal theuse of shock collars, prong
collars and choke chains.

(17:19):
Most westernized industrializednations have banned these
aversive tools.
For good reason.
This shift towards banningaversive methods reflects a
global recognition that positive, reward-based training is not

(17:39):
only kinder but also moreeffective in shaping the dog's
behavior.
In shaping the dog's behaviorNow, in addition to the
scientific research, a growingnumber of prestigious
organizations have spoken outagainst the use of punishment

(17:59):
and aversive tools.
These organizations advocate forpositive reinforcement and
humane, science-based methods.
Some of these organizations arethe American Veterinary Society
of Animal Behavior, theAmerican Veterinary Medical
Association, the AmericanCollege of Veterinary

(18:22):
Behaviorists, internationalAssociation of Animal Behavior
Consultants, the BritishVeterinary Association, the
European Society of VeterinaryClinical Ethology, the Canadian
Veterinary Medical Association,the New Zealand Veterinary
Association.

(18:42):
All have put out positionstatements against the use of
punishment, against the use ofaversive tools like prong
collars, shock collars and chokechains.
In addition to the manyveterinary behavior
organizations, many animalwelfare and advocacy

(19:04):
organizations have followed suit.
The American Society for thePrevention of Cruelty to Animals
, the ASPCA, the Humane Societyof the United States, the Royal
Society for the Prevention ofCruelty to Animals, the Pet
Professional Guild, the HumaneSociety International, the

(19:50):
Humane Society International.
All as well have spoken outagainst the use of, as the
Certification Council forProfessional Dog Trainers, the
Association for Professional DogTrainers International,
international CanineBehaviorists, the Karen Pryor
Academy these are just someorganizations, along with many
others, that have condemned theuse of punishment and endorsed

(20:14):
positive reinforcement as theonly ethical and effective
approach to dog training.
The science, the experts and theevidence all point in one
direction Punishment-basedtraining methods have no place

(20:38):
in modern dog training.
They're harmful, ineffectiveand cause long-term damage to
the dog's mental and emotionalhealth, cause long-term damage
to the dog's mental andemotional health.
Positive reinforcement, on theother hand, is proven to be more
effective, humane andbeneficial for both the dog and

(20:58):
the pet parent.
If you're considering trainingyour dog, the evidence is clear
Choose a trainer, a behaviorconsultant or a behaviorist who
uses reward-based methods,avoids punishment and

(21:20):
understands that lastingbehavior change comes from
addressing the root causes ofbehavior, not suppressing them.
The future of dog training ispositive both for our dogs and
the relationships that we buildwith them.

(21:42):
Well, I'd like to thank you fortaking just a few minutes to
listen to this podcast.
I hope you got a lot out of it.
Please visit our podcast, dogtraining today.
We've got over 163 greatepisodes up there, some long,
some short.
I'm Will Bangora have a great,great day.

(22:06):
I'm out of here.