The Truth About Dog Punishment

Punishment Is The Missing Piece Of The Puzzle

Punishment is always made out to be a bad thing in dog training in today’s society. We have become so soft and ignorant. For those who speak negatively on the use of punishment in dog training are uneducated in the proper use of it and have never attempted to use it because they don’t know-how.

Punishment is actually the missing piece of the puzzle and the reason many programs fail or are incomplete.

If a training program only uses positive and negative reinforcement then that program is only HALF complete which is why training programs that only use reinforcement will only get half/limited results, especially in behaviour rehab.

A successful training program usually includes all the learning quadrants. These are positive and negative reinforcement AND positive and negative punishment. This is how ALL animals learn whether you are comfortable with it or not. Humans also learn this way!

Proper punishment creates reliability with known commands. It also enforces rules and boundaries that you have taught to your dog through reinforcement.

What owners need to understand is that properly applied punishment isn’t causing physical damage or trauma to a dog. It is calculated and well-timed. Punishment can be a leash correction or it can be withholding something of high value to your dog.

The word punishment scares a lot of owners because their idea of punishment is usually extreme and not logical. This is because they lack the knowledge and education on the forms of punishment and how it’s properly applied. They don’t understand how punishment can improve a dog's decision making and state of mind, even in fearful dogs!