Reinforcement:
Adding or removing something to increase
the likelihood of a behavior recurring.
Positive
– Adding something pleasant/desirable, like giving a dog a treat for sitting
when you ask her to. When the dog sits, she is reinforced by receiving a treat.
Negative – Decreasing
something that is unpleasant/undesirable, like releasing tension on a collar
when a dog walks calmly at your side. When the dog walks calmly, she is
reinforced by no longer having tension on the leash.
Punishment:
Adding or removing something to decrease
the likelihood of a behavior recurring.
Positive – Adding something
that is unpleasant/undesirable, like applying pressure to a head collar when a
dog pulls or lunges. When the dog pulls, he experiences pressure around his
snout similar to the correction dogs give one another when they play too
roughly.
Negative – Decreasing
something that is pleasant/desirable, like withholding your dog’s food bowl
until he waits calmly for it. When the dog barks or lunges for his food, he
doesn’t get fed.
Of the above, negative reinforcement is the trickiest to
understand, I think, and also the one least likely to show up naturally (without
following positive punishment). Increasingly, trainers are moving toward methods
that motivate the dog to engage in desirable behavior, noticing the behavior
they want and reinforcing that.
Whenever possible, I work with positive or motivational training, and in the
rare cases when I’m trying to extinguish a behavior that hasn’t responded to
other strategies, I may add positive punishment and with a lot of forethought. For
example, I do use head collars, and I make a soft hissing noise when my dog
barks excitedly for extended periods of time. Her initial startle reaction
allows me to redirect her to a more desirable behavior that I can reward
instead.
I wouldn't expect every person working with his or her own family dog(s) to fully grasp all of these concepts, but I do think that grappling with them, engaging in thoughtful conversations, and analyzing your own training methods and beliefs will help you make informed decisions when engaging with desirable and undesirable behaviors in your own home.
