In the Iconic 1994 film The Little Rascals, there is a scene where four members of the child gang dress up as adults in an effort to get a “hefty loan” at the local bank. Two of the children put on fake beards and trench coats and climb on the shoulders of a couple of their buddies. Then, they walk into the bank masquerading as two adult men. The banker was quick to see through their disguises. As he was chastising the children, he remarked, “If you were my kids, I would punish you.” To which one of the Little Rascals chided, “If we were your kids, we would punish ourselves.” The banker doesn’t allude to what particular punishment he had in mind, but we can conclude that it would have been something the children would have found unpleasant. The remark from the child seemed to indicate that being the banker’s child in and of itself would have been unpleasant.
Punishment exists naturally in a puppies life, it is how they learn from their moms. (Photo courtesy of Tanner Smedley) Defining Punishment in Dog Training I think it would be safe to say that both the banker and the children thought of punishment as something unpleasant. In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary there are two definitions for punishment:
To impose a penalty on for a fault, offense, or violation. To deal with roughly or harshly. To inflict injury or hurt. I find that these are generally the definitions people think of when they hear the word “punish.”
In the scientific world of K-9 behavior, punishment is defined as any environmental change that occurs after a behavior which decreases the likelihood that the behavior will happen again in the future. If it is a change added to the environment, it is considered positive punishment. If the change was the removal of something from the environment, it is classified as negative punishment. In my experience, this is the point in the discussion where individual’s eyes glaze over, or the questions start. To many, it is mind blowing to hear positive and punishment used in conjunction with each other.
It is easy to get lost in the proverbial word salad that accompanies discussions about dog behavior. When first you toss in an ample amount of standard English, and then top it off with a bit of scientific lingo, you can create quite a masterpiece. If you then dress the scientific lingo with a touch of intellectual superiority, or maybe even a helping of moral or ethical primacy, one can really set themselves up for a discussion that fully distracts everyone from the real issue at hand, which is the dog and the way it navigates its world. In an effort to avoid this tempting—but ultimately futile—word salad, I would like to deviate from the world of definitions, and dive into the world from the dog’s point of view.
Negative Punishment Some months ago, I had a nine-month-old Malinois brought into our training facility. It was there because it was showing aggression toward other dogs. After some safe introduction to my group of dogs, it was obvious that the dog would greatly benefit from a good dose of socialization. The dog needed the opportunity to freely interact with other dogs. Each morning, I supervised this exercise. Turning the dog into the exercise yard with four or five other dogs, I would sit back and watch the interactions. Within the group of dogs that were involved was an eight-month-old springer. Soon, the Malinois and springer began to play. The springer was about half the size and nowhere near as aggressive with its mouth. Within minutes, the springer withdrew itself from the interaction by running into a doghouse. Confused, the Malinois sat by the door trying to entice the springer into coming back out. After a brief rest, the springer returned to play. Each time the Malinois got too rough, the springer would yelp and dart back into the security of the doghouse.
Over the next few days, the two became great pals. Both dogs, however, had undergone a change. The springer had become a bit more assertive and bold, while the Malinois had become more aware of how it used its mouth. Often, the Malinois would even turn its head while it wrestled to avoid making contact with its mouth. The springer’s yelps and departure from the game had helped the Malinois identify what behavior was stopping the game and had adjusted that behavior.
The Malinois had discovered that its bite was too hard. Each time it bit too aggressively, the springer would yelp and leave, ending the play session. The yelp marked the behavior, and losing her play friend was the punishment. Because the springer removed itself from the play session, this would be considered a negative punishment. Negative because something was removed from the environment.
Puppyhood is an important time—it is when a dog learns manners and social skills from its mom. (Photo courtesy of Tanner Smedley) Positive Punishment In contrast to this example is a scenario that regularly occurs in our facility. As a result of my passionate drive to always have young setters to train, our kennels are regularly graced with puppies. I believe there is great value in the mother puppy relationship. It’s the first place a pup learns appropriate social behavior. As a result, I wean pups later than most. As the pups age, the mother feeds less, and the pups get more of their nutrition from dog food.
At first, the mother will gently nudge the puppies away when she doesn’t want to feed them. Eventually, however, the mother may firmly scold the pup and drive it away from her when it is not nursing time. This is often upsetting to puppy raisers, and the pups will be removed from the mother. I have chosen to provide a place the mother can go to escape the pups if she desires. This is because I believe there is great value in the lessons the pup is learning. Just as with children, every pup should learn to ask please and say thank you.
In this example, the disrespectful puppy received a sharp reprimand when it didn’t listen to its mother’s requests. Because the reprimand was added to the environment, it would be considered a form of positive punishment.
How Punishment is Used in Dog Training These two examples illustrate two important things. First, they show the difference between positive and negative punishment. Secondly, and I believe more importantly, they illustrate that punishment is a natural and important part of a dog’s life. A dog’s very survival depends on its ability to navigate the world it lives in. Our dogs are constantly learning how to avoid things they don’t like, and how to gain the things they do.
As humans, we love to identify and define things. Sometimes we get so caught up in these efforts that we become blind to how the dog perceives the world. I often see people who are viewing their training through human eyes. This leads to people reprimanding a dog harshly in the name of “punishment,” but in a way that the dog does not tie together or understand, resulting in no progress, or sometimes even backward progress. Inversely, I see others who are afraid of using “punishment”—the kind shown in the examples—out of a fear of being mean. In both cases, how they define punishment as a human is holding back their training. The key is to look beyond the definition, and to communicate with the dog so that it can make decisions to gain what it wants and avoid what it doesn’t want.