Scenario 1: Little Johnny is seven years old and is having a little problem with his math, so his parents have decided to hire a tutor to get him up to speed on his addition, subtraction and simple fractions. Once the lesson starts, Mrs. Griffiths, the tutor, goes through the lesson and then gives him a 10-problem test at the end. For every problem that Johnny got wrong, Mrs. Griffiths whacks Johnny on the wrist. In this case, he got seven wrong, so he got seven painful whacks. Mrs. Griffiths gives him homework and tells him to study hard to avoid getting so many hits. 

Next week, he comes back and only gets five wrong, so he gets five painful whacks. And the following week, he only gets three wrong, three whacks. So, he is definitely learning by having the constant threat of punishment looming over his shoulder.

Scenario 2: Little Johnny is seven years old and has a slight problem with his math, so his parents have decided to hire a tutor. Once the lesson starts, Mrs. Griffiths goes through the lesson and then gives him a 10-problem test at the end. For every problem that Johnny got right, Mrs. Griffiths gives Johnny a piece of chocolate. In this case, he got seven wrong, so he only got three pieces of candy. Mrs. Griffiths gives him homework and tells him to study hard so he can get more candy.

Next week, he comes back and only gets five wrong, so he gets five pieces of candy. And the following week, he only gets three wrong, seven tasty treats. 

Looking at both scenarios, you’ll see that Johnny is learning either by punishment or by reward. But consider the side effects of both ways of teaching. In Scenario 1, each week, Johnny is becoming more stressed because he never knows when he will get hit. The long-term effects of Johnny learning this way is that he hates Mrs. Griffiths, has resentment toward his parents for bringing him there, despises math, and has long-term mental illness in the form of PTSD. His learning ability could be compromised everywhere because of this.

Considering Scenario 2, Johnny is becoming more excited every week because of the potential number of treats he can win for his correct answers. The long-term effects are that Johnny loves Mrs. Griffiths, willingly jumps into the car when his parents say it is time for tutoring, loves math, and goes on to become a brilliant mathematician or has a general love of school and learning.

Oh, and did I mention that Mrs. Griffiths only speaks a little English and primarily Welsh, and Johnny only knows English? So Johnny has to navigate a language barrier during both scenarios as well.

This is the exact dilemma that dogs go through when their owners have to choose Scenario 1 or 2. In addition, dogs have to figure out what we are trying to get them to do with the added challenge of an extreme language barrier.

In light of this, take time to get into your dog’s head and empathize as to how your dog may react to your training methods. Keep in mind these points:

• Keep training fun, and use lots of rewards to habituate certain behaviors. Once the dog realizes that doing a sit or stay is rewarding in itself, you can start to back off on food rewards methodically.
• Remember that, just like children, your dog will learn better by teaching tasks in smaller increments. You don’t start kids in first grade with algebra or calculus. You teach simple addition and subtraction problems interspersed with play.
• Empathize that your dog might not know what you are trying to say to him/her. In light of this, always make sure your dog is successful at every level of training. Your dog won’t know what the word or concept of “stay” is until you show them first. Instead of saying “stay” and walking all the way across the room where the dog will most certainly fail, take a half step back and show them what stay means, followed by a treat. Build up your distance over time.

Positive, reward-based training is the way to go. Your dog will be less stressed, and you’ll have fun because your dog will love learning.