Have you ever spoken to a professional dog trainer? Do they like to use confusing words and dog training terms you’ve never heard of? Are they difficult to understand?
We’ll cover a few of the more common dog training terms below, and break down some of the more complex ideas!
Counter-Conditioning
Now that you know what conditioning means, imagine your dog has been conditioned poorly. He’s learned the wrong thing! In other words, your dog’s emotional response, feelings or attitude towards something isn’t what you want it to be.
Let’s say, for example, your dog is terrified of the water! You would use both principles of ‘counter-conditioning’ and ‘desensitization’ (covered below) to gradually change his view of the water.
Simply put, your dog doesn’t like something. You would pair that disliked ‘something’ with something your dog really does enjoy, like tasty food rewards!
Eventually, your dog would learn to like that ‘thing’ because he associates it with something else he likes. He no longer fears it.
Cue
A cue is simply a label or name we give a certain behavior. Commands are cues. Hand signals are cues. Dogs themselves communicate via visual cues.
Desensitization
Think desensitize. Desensitization means you are gradually, over time, exposing your dog to small amounts of something he doesn’t like or is afraid of.
At first, the exposure is very minimal, and your dog doesn’t seem to care (because it is almost nothing). Over a long period of time, you would very gradually increase that exposure, almost so slowly your dog might not even notice there is more of it.
In the long run, your dog will learn to tolerate this thing that was once feared. Desensitization is often paired with counterconditioning.
Marker (i.e. Dog Clicker)
A marker ‘marks’ a behavior the dog trainer thinks is good or successful. Example: A Dog jumps through a hoop successfully, and the handler uses a marker to mark that behavior and let the dog know he did something good.
A ‘dog clicker’ is a form of a marker. The idea is very simple! A dog does something good worth rewarding, and the trainer ‘clicks’ (marks) it before giving a treat reward.
- Dog clickers were actually first used to mark behavior with marine animals (ex. Dolphins)!
Negative Reinforcement
Negative reinforcement, in psychological terms, is the exact opposite of positive reinforcement ( Positive reinforcement means adding something to reinforce behavior). The ‘negative’ simply means we take something away to reinforce a behavior or increase the frequency it happens.
Many people assume ‘negative’ means something bad is added, like the shock of a shock collar (which is in fact positive punishment- well discuss below). Negative isn’t necessarily bad at all. Negative reinforcement might not have anything at all to do with bad behavior.
Punishment
Punishment is exactly what the word implies. A dog might be punished (something uncomfortable or undesirable) for bad behavior. With ‘positive punishment’, a punishment of some form, or aversive, is added to discourage the behavior.
- When added to discourage behavior, a jolt from the shock collar is positive punishment.
- Shouting at your dog for making a mess would be an example of positive punishment.
- A tug on the slip collar (incorrect use) would be a form of positive punishment.
Positive Punishment: The punishment is added (positive)
Negative Punishment: The punishment is taken away (negative)
Aversive:Dog training tool used to discourage unwanted behavior. Aversives are unpleasant or uncomfortable to the dog. 🙁
- Bitter apple spray is an aversive.
- The lemon-scented spray emitted by a bark collar is an aversive.
- The shock of an e-collar is an aversive.
- ‘Alpha rolls’ and ‘dominance downs’ are aversives and highly discouraged
Resource Guarding
Have you ever wondered why a dog might bury a bone or toy?
Imagine a wolf, sometime maybe around 100,000 years ago. Humans exist, but don’t really do much of anything and the wolf has never encountered any.
The wolf does encounter many other predatory animals though and has to either hide (usually meaning bury) or guard his food. If he isn’t cautious, another predatory animal might steal it and he, along with the rest of his family, would go hungry!
Resource guarding is a very natural instinct many dogs feel today. Both food and toys are your dog’s ‘resources’, and he might feel the need to guard and keep them safe. This is especially true if they are taken away for whatever reason.
In extreme cases, a dog can seem vicious, snapping at anyone who ventures too close to his food (or toys)! Your dog isn’t ‘bad’ or ‘damaged’, and this is a natural reaction. There are severe cases where the expertise of a professional trainer is needed.***
Don’t worry! There are very simple and proven methods to cope with resource guarding, usually diminishing it entirely. Prevent inappropriate behaviors from developing by rewarding desirable ones. Take the opportunity to create positive associations between people and resources.
Putting in the work will pay off highly when it comes to training your pup and creating a positive relationship and communication between you. After all, they are living in our human world and the best we can do is set them up for success by communicating clearly in a way they understand.
To read about our favorite, Positive Reinforcement training click here!