I found this helpful article that covers behavioural issues and how to deal with them.
Visit their site here Pooch Paws
:: Problem BehaviourContrary to what you see on the television you can not cure your dog in 60 minutes and there is no ‘magic cure’.
You need patience, hard work, time and a lot of effort to correct a behaviour problem.
Problem behaviours can start when the dog is a puppy and aren’t addressed correctly
so they manifest into a problem. Owners with rescue dogs quite often fall into a problem behaviour once the dog has
become settled within the home, once they become confident the problems come to light.
Correct techniques must be used with any case, dominance theory is highly discouraged.
:: Aversion
What is aversion? It is basically any kind of punishment that a dog receives. Punishment
is an event that decreases likelihood of behaviour being performed and comes in three
forms:
Positive Punishment
Consequence of unwanted behaviour to decrease likelihood of behaviour:
Check chains, smacking, electric shock, prong collar, shouting, anti-bark collars, air horns, pet corrector, water spray, mist spray, citronella collars, training discs, bottles with stones in, poking in the neck, scruffing, alpha roll, pushing into the floor, etc, the list is endless.
Consequence of unwanted behaviour to decrease likelihood of behaviour:
Check chains, smacking, electric shock, prong collar, shouting, anti-bark collars, air horns, pet corrector, water spray, mist spray, citronella collars, training discs, bottles with stones in, poking in the neck, scruffing, alpha roll, pushing into the floor, etc, the list is endless.
Negative Punishment
Ignoring a behaviour to reduce it:
Barking to get your attention – ignoring it means it isn’t reinforced
Ignoring a behaviour to reduce it:
Barking to get your attention – ignoring it means it isn’t reinforced
Negative Reinforcement
Removing negative experience when does what you want
Release from check chain – not pulling anymore so won’t get chocked anymore, BUT CHOKE CHAINS ARE NOT ALLOWED AT POOCH PAWS, THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE FOR YOU TO SEE.Positive punishment and negative reinforcement is highly discouraged and not allowed at Pooch Paws and here is an explanation of why.
Removing negative experience when does what you want
Release from check chain – not pulling anymore so won’t get chocked anymore, BUT CHOKE CHAINS ARE NOT ALLOWED AT POOCH PAWS, THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE FOR YOU TO SEE.Positive punishment and negative reinforcement is highly discouraged and not allowed at Pooch Paws and here is an explanation of why.
Even though results may be seen using techniques like these they aren’t effective
as they result in a further worsening of the problem you are trying to overcome or
result in a new problem. For example a dog that is fearful of other dogs so he barks,
growls, lunges etc, when he is engaging in this behaviour a loud noise is used to
try and stop him, which it may well do. What actually is happening is he sees a dog,
has a fearful reaction, warns the dog he is fearful, then gets punished for his reaction.
The punishment is taking place while he can see the thing he is scared off so two
things are now happening.
His fears become worse as he now also associates dogs with this punishment and
you may well stop the reaction you see but you won’t change the way he feels about
his fears.
If a dog is continually punished for displaying a fearful aggressive display they
may stop showing this warning behaviour which you may think is good but it isn’t.
The reason it isn’t good is you have got rid of the warning signs. Following warning
signs is biting or attack. A dog that bites or attacks without any warning is dangerous
and there will be only one reason why this occurs, because of the punishment he has
received from you for his aggressive display.
Likewise dogs that receive punishment for other problems that are occurring may start
to display other behaviour. They may start to ignore previously well trained exercises
and roll over every time you speak to them instead of carrying out the desired task.
This happens when you have ‘broken’ them much like the term used in horse training
which is now also frowned upon with many people in the equine world.
So the question you need to ask yourself is: ‘do you want your dog to carry out behaviour
and exercises for you because it wants to or enjoys it or because it is scared of
you?’
I would hope that anyone attended classes with Pooch Paws would want their dogs to
do things for them because the dog enjoys it.
To make it very clear ONLY negative punishment is accepted at Pooch Paws and we hope
to educate you otherwise, anyone continually using positive punishment WILL be asked
to leave. The other forms of reinforcement allowed are listed below with an explanation
of what they mean.
Event that increases likelihood of behaviour being performedPositive reinforcement
Reward for an action: Clicker, praise, toys, treats, Treat for sitting etcHabituation
This is a form of non-associative learning. The animal becomes used to and learns to ignore environmental events. It is part of the socialisation process and prevents the development of fear/phobia’s.Desensitisation
This technique is used to get dogs used to stimulus and treatment of phobias
This technique involves exposing dog to stimulus at a gradual level building up to acceptance.Counter-conditioning
This technique is used to teach a different behaviour to the one previously occurring in reaction to a stimulus.
Example: A dog lunges at the window every time the mailman walks past
Teach dog to sit first make sure has a good sit. Using positive reinforcement ask the dog to sit and reward for it when the mailman walks past