Positive behavior reinforcement in dog training is one of the best ways for developing the foundation of your dog.
It develops a strong bond between you and your pet dog on the basis of enforcement of positive behavior.
There are a number of ways through which an owner can instill such behavior in the dogs or puppies. It is beneficial to have this sort of training for your dogs, as they would not get bored or frustrated with the training sessions.
This because the training sessions would be an enjoyable and fun experience for them as well as you.
What is Positive Reinforcement?
The aim of this is that you reinforce the positive behavior in your pet. If they do something nice, you reward them for that.
- Every positive behavior of your pet should be rewarded;
- This makes your pet realize that what they are doing is encouraged and that their behavior is on the right track.
- Also, start your training session when your pet is in the mood, and you also.
- If either of you is annoyed or frustrated, it would be no use to start the training session.
- Another thing that should be ensured is that the training sessions should not be very long.
- Have short training sessions, where you can maintain the attention of your dog.
- Do not have unnecessarily long training sessions, which you bore and frustrate your pet. As that should not be the aim of the training session. Rather it should be something which your pet enjoys and looks forward to.
Benefits of Positive Reinforcement
There are many benefits of positive reinforcement for your dogs. Some of these are listed below:
1. It is scientifically proven
Positive reinforcement with your dogs is scientifically proven. The biggest advantage of using positive reinforcement with the dogs at puppies is that there are numerous studies and research that support and back the use of positive reinforcement.
So the next time anyone tells you that there is no use of this on the behavior of your pet dogs, just cite the numerous studies that are available online and offline. It is by far the most effective method of training your dog and instilling proper behaviors in them.
Rewarding them for their proper behavior would have better results than scolding them.
2. It builds confidence among your dogs
Another benefit is that by reinforcing positive behavior in your dogs is that it builds their confidence.
When you repeatedly punish your dogs for misbehaving that can result in a poor level of confidence among them. This can result in breaking the spirit of your dogs.
There should be a balance in positive treatment, rewards, and punishment. You should only punish your dog when you catch him/her in the act of something wrong.
Rewards and positive reinforcement develops confidence in your dog or puppy, and it also gives them the opportunity to learn new and good behaviors.
3. Anyone can incorporate positive reinforcement
This is something that can be done by anyone in the family. It’s very simple to reinforce positive behavior in your dogs.
Anyone who sees your dog behaving in a positive manner can you reward them for the behavior and praise them for it. This is an added benefit, as a dog would socialize with everyone in the family rather than with a few individuals.
In addition, it can help the children with learning that good behaviors are beneficial and would be rewarded whereas negative behaviors would lead to scolding and punishment.
So make sure that you let your family members know where the treats are and how to praise your dog, to make it easy for them.
4. It won’t make them freeze in fear
If you are training your dog with a negative reinforcement or punishment method, it can lead your dog to freeze because of fear. They would not engage in any sort of a behavior feeling that they might be punished for it.
Therefore, using positive reinforcement would not have any negative impact on your dog. It is not beneficial to use punishment as it delays your dog’s growth, their ability to learn new beneficial behaviors and to become better pets.
You should be kind and considerate to your pets, as they have feelings as well, and they are receptive to how you react to them.
5. They would enjoy the Training Sessions
If you want your dog to enjoy the training session, be receptive to it, and actually learn something from it, then it is necessary that you treat them, reward them, and praise them during the training session.
All of this is possible through the positive reinforcement method. You don’t want your dog to get bored, frustrated, or discouraged during the training sessions as that is not something beneficial for either of you.
So make the sessions short, enjoyable, and interesting for your dog, so that they would actually learn from it.
Final Thoughts
These are just some of the benefits that are associated with the use of positive reinforcement. There are numerous other benefits of it as well, such as developing a better bond with your dog, making them obedient, giving them a good time, and much more.
In addition, it is much better than negative reinforcement or punishing your dog. So just decide which style of positive reinforcement you want to use and start training your dog.
