Inadvertent Reinforcement

❓Are you inadvertently rewarding problematic behaviour in your dog❓

Don't feel bad if you have been, a lot of dog owners have accidentally reinforced behaviours that they don't actually want their dog performing!

Some examples are:

1️⃣. Dog is mooching at the table and you give him some food off of your plate. This increases the likelihood that your dog will continue to mooch at meal times because he is rewarded by receiving food!

2️⃣. Dog greets you by jumping up on you and you pet him on the head and you say something like, "Oh, are you happy to see me?" You accidentally rewarded your dog for jumping on you by giving him both physical and verbal affection. This increases the likelihood that he will continue jumping on you and guests anytime someone enters through the door.

3️⃣. Sometimes, when dogs are behaving, they get ignored. When they are misbehaving however, they get A LOT of attention; "Hey, stop that!" "Stop chewing that!" "Be quiet!" "Get down!" "Off!" The dog learns over time, that the best way to get attention is to misbehave.

4️⃣. Your dog sees a squirrel and begins pulling hard on the leash. Oftentimes, pulling results in them getting closer to the squirrel, or thing that they want. So pulling becomes reinforced.

So, what's the solution❓

➡️ One simple solution is to stop rewarding the problem behaviour and teach an incompatible behaviour instead.

➡️ For the dog who mooches at the dinner table, you could train him to lay on a dog bed in another room during dinner time. The dog cannot mooch at the dinner table and be resting in another room at the same time, so they become incompatible behaviours.

➡️ For the dog who jumps up to greet people, you can train them to sit and wait instead. The dog cannot jump and sit at the same time, so they become incompatible and over time, the dog will learn that when people walk through the door, they are expected to sit and will only receive affection when all four paws are on the ground.

➡️ For the dog who pulls on leash, you could train a nice heel at your side. The dog cannot be at your side and at the end of their leash. Similarly, you could train the dog to focus on you when you see things in the environment that may trigger pulling. The dog cannot look at you and a distraction in the environment at the same time, so they are incompatible.

🐶Over time, these new behaviours will replace the old ones and you'll have a well mannered pup as a result.🐶

➡️ Ideal Canine offers private training sessions, board & train as well as day training to help you and your pup achieve your goals.