The Difference Between Punishment and Correction

#AlphaDogTraining #dogtrainingsaltlakecity The Difference Between Punishment and Correction By Alpha Dog Training https://www.allpha-dog-training-slc.com/ (801) 910-1700 There is a difference between punishment and correction. Correction is a redirection in the moment to help the dog understand. It might be a light noise or it might be a physical redirection. The most important differentiator is that it happens to change behavior, not to punish it. To punish is to try to make one sorry for a thing. Since dogs don't have a human style conscience or moral code, they don't need to feel sorry to change their behavior, they need information to go on to change their behavior. If a dog makes a mess - say they ransack the garbage while you are away and you come home to a pile of debris. Sending them to their crate for a time out may be a negative for them depending on how they feel about their crate, but it will never stop them from rummaging in the garbage again at the next opportunity. The nature of the dog is different. They are opportunistic by design as creatures that scavenge and forage. Exploring the garbage is an innately rewarding behavior - it appeals to the dog's nature. Truly, they don't even need to find anything wonderful to be reinforced. The scavenging itself holds innate value for a dog. Finding a snack after the forage is just the cherry on top! If we are to ask our dogs to ignore their natural instinct to scavenge, we need to create a system of communication that will make sense to them. That includes decreasing the rewards that drive undesirable behavior. A time out will never change the dog's behavior. Especially a time out that comes long after the giant reward of scavenging and perhaps finding a few cherries too. If we hope to override nature, we have to be fair, clear and thorough in our approach and it needs to make sense to the learner! They are dogs. The ideal situation has you spending your time in the management and training phases so there is little to no need for correction. A good tip is that if you find yourself correcting your dog for the same thing twice, you need to go back to management and training. You might even have to adjust your tactics to clarify the expectation to your dog.

Long-term consequences, like kibble with no carrots for dinner is not a suitable means of teaching a dog. Their nature does not allow them to be nurtured in this way. Part of being a good and fair leader is considering nature as one of the drivers of our 4-legger's actions. It allows us to develop the right amount of empathy for our dogs. Perhaps their noses are making them struggle, not making them stubborn. Maybe the environment needs to change so we can help our dogs learn. Knowing that their nature drives them and differs from ours will help you nurture them in the right ways. Here’s a secret: “Startlement is the secret to behavior modification.” In other words, startle the dog to refocus its attention then immediately praise. Since dogs are only trained with praise and happiness, if you immediately praise the dog when it stops (if only for a second) doing the bad behavior, you have thus REINFORCED the good behavior.