Punishment 101

What is Punishment?

Punishment is anything your dog will work to avoid.  If a behavior is happening less often, then its being punished in some way, or extinction is in effect.  Extinction is what happens when a behavior doesn't get rewarded over a long period of time -- we'll talk more about that another time.

Punishment causes a suppression of all behavior, not just the one you want to get rid of.  In a way, suppression is like depression.  You might be depressed because your boyfriend dumped you, but you stop doing more than just boyfriend things, you stop doing much of anything.  A dog that doesn't do much of anything may seem to be better behaved, but he's probably not very happy.  Also, like depression, suppression doesn't last forever.

Punishment is done in two ways - adding a bad thing or taking away a good thing.  If you jerk or pop the leash when the dog pulls on the leash - that's adding a bad thing. 

Gimme here:  You don't have to be a doggie psychologist to know that its not any fun getting punished for being bad when you haven't learned how to be good.  I'm just saying...

If your dog pulls on the leash and you stop moving -- that's taking away a good thing.  In this case the good thing is getting closer to what she wants to sniff and when you stop you are taking away the chance to get closer.  If you wait until she loosens up on the leash and start moving forward again, you are rewarding her for keeping the leash loose.

The one who is receiving the punisher (in this case the dog) is the one who "decides" what is punishing and what is not and how much so.  What one dog hates another may like.  Squirting water at dogs is icky and yet most Labrador Retrievers love it.  Also, something a dog likes at one time, may be bad at another time.  A dog that normally loves people might find them scary when its dark outside or when they suddenly appear coming around a corner.  Sometimes that new scary impression can last a long time and affect the dog every time they see that thing.

Gimme here:  I loved horses when I was little; they were big and warm and they smelled nice.  Then when my person and I were walking in the woods, more than once the horses suddenly appeared on the road ahead of us.  I didn't know they were coming from side paths, so it seemed evil-bad to me.  For a long time after that I was afraid of them, until my person taught me that they really are okay. 

Primary punishment

"Primary" just means that its innate for the dog to avoid it.  It usually has to do with survival.  Such as: loud, harsh, or sudden sounds, a high-pitched-high-intensity stimulus, sudden loss of support, excessive heat or cold, anything that causes pain, some "bad" or "offensive" odors, and some tastes. Some dogs are especially fearful about things that aren't usually in this category.  For them, their extra sensitivity makes these "special" primary punishers and they won't respond normally to them.  For example, some dogs are especially noise sensitive and they often act fearful to very normal sounds.

Secondary punishment
"Secondary" means that in the beginning something is neutral, but then the dog learns to see it as a punisher.  Secondary punishers are taught to the dog by pairing it with other primary punishers.   Examples for dogs include: a word such as "NO!", an upraised hand, stomping your foot, certain postures, and grabbing toward the dog.   Humans have secondary punishers too, such as: frowns, insults, tone of voice, name calling, thumbs-down gestures, an "F" on homework, loosening the belt, and police lights and sirens.