WHAT IS POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT?
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR RECOMMENDED TRAINERS PAGE FOR A LIST OF RECOMMENDED POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT DOG TRAINERS!
More excellent explanations of Positive Reinforcement Dog Training can be found on K9 COACH DOG TRAINING web site by clicking HERE
More excellent explanations of Positive Reinforcement Dog Training can be found on K9 COACH DOG TRAINING web site by clicking HERE
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"It is important to note that a dog’s perception can differ greatly from a human’s perception of the very same event. ... All the screening and training in the world will not prepare a dog for the challenges of intimacy and emotion encountered in visiting animal programs. ... Handler’s who protect their dogs from undo stress increase their dog’s confidence. Success breeds confidence and confidence encourages continued growth." - Kris Butler, Therapy Dogs Today, Their Gifts, Our Obligation |
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" I realized that intending to use positive reinforcement was not the same as using it effectively. ... Technique matters. ... A few weeks or a month of good technique may include bursts of obscene machine gun clicking. The alternative is months or years of slow feeding and searching for the miracle cure that may or may not come. ... While providing feedback at the right moment in time is important, it is equally important to raise expectations in small, measured increments. ... Really, it’s not a moral issue. At the end of the day we want dog training that works."
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"This difference in attitude is something I have always struggled to explain to people. I am not sure I would have seen it had I not had two sets of dogs, both of whom I had trained for several months, right in front of my eyes. ... The only difference in these dogs was in the method of training I had taught the families to use. ... I believe the clicker trained dogs were happier and at this point in their training, their skills were far ahead of the rest of the class." - Robin Bennett
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"To truly comprehend why food is so powerful, you must first understand the influence it has on the dog’s brain. Food has the power to not only enhance a dog’s ability to learn but also helps a dog overcome fear or anxiety by raising the levels of dopamine in the brain and stimulating the desire to seek or move towards the food reward. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a major role in reward-driven learning and helps regulate movement and emotional responses. There are circuits in the dog’s brain that encourage seeking or hunting behavior and circuits that elicit the fear response. Turning on the thinking brain deactivates the emotional brain, enhancing a dog’s attentiveness with positive motivation and allowing him to move into a calmer state where learning can take place.
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HOW WILL YOUR DOG PERCEIVE NEW EXPERIENCES ? ...
#1, "Uh, oh, I don't know what he/she wants from me (what he/she may do or what might happen any minute)? But Based on past experience it's going to hurt or be uncomfortable until I figure it out." OR ... #2 - "Yay! I don't know what he/she wants from me (what he/she may do or what might happen any minute)? But based on past experience everytime I learn new things I get treats, toys or other things I love so I'm eager to listen, think and learn! What's next? Bring it on! Yay!" *** Please click HERE for great information about what Clicker Training is and why it works! (Q&A also copied below) |
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POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT RULES!
* The following text is copied directly from http://www.halleballedog.com/positive-reinforcement-rules/
Lili Chin Images were added by Angel Paws - More great Lili Chin Drawings can be found at http://doggiedrawings.net/post/842176625
THE TERM - POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT is often thrown around in dog discussions and open forums. ... The thing is if you specifically ask someone to provide a definition of the term or explain what it actually means; you’d be surprised with some of the answers you might receive. ... It’s vital to know the definition and understand the role it plays when communicating with your dog. Essentially how it REALLY works.
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MUCH MORE THAN JUST TREATS & LOVE!
Positive Reinforcement is about much more than offering your pup super treats and loving everything he does. Love, affection and food rewards are all primary reinforcers but are only the tip of what positive reinforcement principles are all about. Modern positive training principles are fundamentally based around behavioral science credited to acclaimed psychologist and professor B.F. Skinner. Reinforcement and Punishment are critical components of behavior psychology, also known as Operant Conditioning. One of the things anyone can truly appreciate about positive reinforcement dog training is that its fundamentals are based on decades of research and not from hearsay or potentially erroneous sources like much of traditional aversive-based dog training.
Operant Conditioning offers a better understanding of how you can not only teach your dog, but shape and mold desired behaviors with positive techniques.
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Click on image to enlarge. The thought bubbles above the dog's head say it all!
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PUTTING POSITIVE & REINFORCEMENT TOGETHER
Reinforcement is a term in behavior analysis. It means introducing a stimulus or event right after a specific behavior occurs in order to increase the likelihood of that specific behavior occurring more frequently in the future.
For example offering a high value dog treat (stimulus / event) when your dog sits (behavior) nicely. “A reinforcer is the stimulus, event, or situation whose presentation is dependent upon a response.”
There are two types of reinforcers – Positive and Negative.
1. Positive Reinforcer is something your dog desires like food, praise and play. This of course varies from subject to subject.
2. Negative Reinforcer is something your dog would like to avoid like an unpleasant sound.As long as a specific behavior is occurring, reinforcement can play a role in increasing the possibilities of it occurring with more frequency or rigor.
Reinforcement is a term in behavior analysis. It means introducing a stimulus or event right after a specific behavior occurs in order to increase the likelihood of that specific behavior occurring more frequently in the future.
For example offering a high value dog treat (stimulus / event) when your dog sits (behavior) nicely. “A reinforcer is the stimulus, event, or situation whose presentation is dependent upon a response.”
There are two types of reinforcers – Positive and Negative.
1. Positive Reinforcer is something your dog desires like food, praise and play. This of course varies from subject to subject.
2. Negative Reinforcer is something your dog would like to avoid like an unpleasant sound.As long as a specific behavior is occurring, reinforcement can play a role in increasing the possibilities of it occurring with more frequency or rigor.
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There are of course, many variables at play like, for instance, the type of reinforcer. This can vary from food to praise to play. That’s why we always recommend trying different tasty treats to determine which ones are most effective and being creative when training. Remember that every dog is different. There are many factors at play. It’s very obvious that the dog in the photo above finds the blue ball extremely reinforcing. Quick play sessions with that ball can be just as powerful as a treat reward when teaching or nurturing desired behaviors. Fundamentally, once you understand that positively reinforcing dog behavior naturally produces more behavioral output, you’re on your way!
Many traditional dog training methods DO work but rely on punishment and aversives that can cause unnecessary wear and tear on your dog. The negative psychological side effects related to punishment based training are substantial. Punishment will stop a behavior in its tracks but negatively affect your dog’s temperament. This is why Reinforcement is far superior to Punishment. Smartly practicing positive reinforcement guarantees results with no detrimental side effects. I highly recommend you read our series of clicker dog training articles (at http://www.halleballedog.com/super-clicker-training-for-dogs/) which demonstrate and teach ways to use positive reinforcement to start training your dog RIGHT NOW! It doesn’t matter how old your furry friend is, you can begin with the basics and keep building your knowledge on modern dog training methods that work. The series covers all the variables, methods and tools you need to explore dog training with markers. |
This pretty much sums up Positive Reinforcement and what it specifically means in terms of working with your dog. The entire behavior analysis equation also includes positive punishment and negative punishment which we’ll cover in a future post. There’s also different levels of reinforcers – Primary, Conditioned, Tertiary and so on which are covered in our clicker training articles.
Remember that these rules don’t apply to just dogs. All animals, including Human Beings, are susceptible to the laws of behaviorism.
The next time someone does something you enjoy, reinforce the event with something positive – a compliment or gesture. If your delivery is timed right and reinforcing enough for the other party, you’re likely to enjoy more of the same goodness in the future. It just makes sense.
Now lets take a look at how using Positive Reinforcement can help in solving some of your doggy problems.
Remember that these rules don’t apply to just dogs. All animals, including Human Beings, are susceptible to the laws of behaviorism.
The next time someone does something you enjoy, reinforce the event with something positive – a compliment or gesture. If your delivery is timed right and reinforcing enough for the other party, you’re likely to enjoy more of the same goodness in the future. It just makes sense.
Now lets take a look at how using Positive Reinforcement can help in solving some of your doggy problems.
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POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TO THE RESCUE!
Here are two quick examples to give you an idea on how you can tap into the power of positive reinforcement to shape your dog’s behavior. This is a very brief overview and there are, of course, many variables at play that effect behavior output or end result. The following simply illustrates how positive reinforcement can be utilized in a practical everyday sense when communicating and teaching your dog. Please keep in mind that some problems require a lot of time and patience to overcome. As I mentioned earlier, you can only positively reinforce behavior that IS OCCURRING. You want your dog to be doing something specific before you reward with a reinforcer. Then, in the most basic sense, you build on the behavior by gradually increasing the criteria required to earn the behavior. This approach will ultimately help your dog reach the end goal using the wonderful scientific principles of behaviorism. 1. Let’s say your dog is hesitant about jumping into your car. You can start by waiting for him to approach the vehicle to mark and treat. Reinforce approaching the vehicle with high value treats. Then you can treat for sticking his nose into the vehicle. Since your properly reinforcing each action, you’re dog will naturally take the behavior a step further. You patiently keep building until the dog is hopping into the car to earn his super snack! This might require multiple mini training sessions. |
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2. We’ve talked about using positive reinforcement to acquaint your dog to a toothbrush in our dog teeth cleaning article. You present the toothbrush and reward for sniffing it. After a few repetitions, you reward for allowing the brush to make very quick contact with the teeth. No toothpaste or gel. We’re simply encouraging your dog to like the idea of the toothbrush. You then can brush 2 seconds at a time and treat. You slowly progress into being able to brush for a minute without issue. Now you can do IT for REAL using a cleaning product since you generally can’t give your dog food or treats for a short time before and after a cleaning.
I refer to treats for reinforcers in all three examples, the actual reinforcers are completely relative to your dog and can be anything he desires, from treats to praise and play.
In a nutshell, this is how you can use positive methods to train your dog. The dog is never experiencing any unnecessary anxiety or stress – that’s the key! You’re simply reinforcing offered behaviors and letting your dog learn and naturally augment his behavior output to a desired level. It’s a natural process. This isn’t ho-hum wizardry, this is science and it works.
“You mean those markers and rewards are actually shaping my behavior and I don’t even know about it? I knew that!” – Halle
There’s no stopping your dog training adventures once you truly understand what using Positive Reinforcement means and how incredibly powerful it can be in teaching your dog new things.
You must enlighten yourself and enlighten others to the world of modern dog training. A world without punishment techniques and unwarranted corrections, without false notions of doggy dominance & doggy slavery – it’s quite evident that Positive Reinforcement really does Rule!
I refer to treats for reinforcers in all three examples, the actual reinforcers are completely relative to your dog and can be anything he desires, from treats to praise and play.
In a nutshell, this is how you can use positive methods to train your dog. The dog is never experiencing any unnecessary anxiety or stress – that’s the key! You’re simply reinforcing offered behaviors and letting your dog learn and naturally augment his behavior output to a desired level. It’s a natural process. This isn’t ho-hum wizardry, this is science and it works.
“You mean those markers and rewards are actually shaping my behavior and I don’t even know about it? I knew that!” – Halle
There’s no stopping your dog training adventures once you truly understand what using Positive Reinforcement means and how incredibly powerful it can be in teaching your dog new things.
You must enlighten yourself and enlighten others to the world of modern dog training. A world without punishment techniques and unwarranted corrections, without false notions of doggy dominance & doggy slavery – it’s quite evident that Positive Reinforcement really does Rule!
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For MORE GREAT TRAINING TIPS please see: http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/ (see Behavior FAQ's on the left of the home page)
BETTER YET ... CONTACT ONE OF OUR RECOMMENDED LOCAL TRAINERS!
For MORE GREAT TRAINING TIPS please see: http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/ (see Behavior FAQ's on the left of the home page)
BETTER YET ... CONTACT ONE OF OUR RECOMMENDED LOCAL TRAINERS!
For maximum benefits in the least amount of time we recommend clicker training - here's why ...
What Is Clicker Training? By KPCT on 08/08/2006Filed in - Fundamentals
"Clicker training" is an animal training method based on behavioral psychology that relies on marking desirable behavior and rewarding it.
Desirable behavior is usually marked by using a "clicker," a mechanical device that makes a short, distinct "click" sound which tells the animal exactly when they're doing the right thing. This clear form of communication, combined with positive reinforcement, is an effective, safe, and humane way to teach any animal any behavior that it is physically and mentally capable of doing.
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- Why is clicker training effective? When an animal intentionally performs a behavior in order to bring about a desiredconsequence, as clicker trained animals do, they are learning in a way that researchers call "operant conditioning."
Animals (and people) may also associate an action, event, place, person, or object with a consequence, whether pleasant or unpleasant. The more a certain event or environment is paired with a particular consequence, the stronger the association. This type of learning is called "classical conditioning" and represents reflexive or automatic behavior, rather than intentional behavior.
While clicker training initially employs classical conditioning, it quickly becomes operant conditioning as soon as the animal intentionally repeats an action in order to earn a reward. Training through operant conditioning results in purposeful behavior, while training through classical conditioning results in habitual behavior.
The difference between an animal that behaves with purpose, rather than by habit, is vast. Clicker trained or operantly conditioned animals try to learn new behaviors. They remember behaviors even years later because they were aware of them as they learned them, rather than acquiring them without awareness. They develop confidence because they have control over the consequences of their actions. They are enthusiastic because they expect those consequences to be pleasurable.
- Why is a clicker used? The essential difference between clicker training and other reward-based training is that the animal is told exactly which behavior earned it a reward. This information is communicated with a distinct and unique sound, a click, which occurs at the same time as the desired behavior. The reward follows.
Without hearing a click during an action, an animal may not connect the reward with that action. Or, the animal may associate the reward with another, unwanted action. With the click, a trainer can precisely "mark" behavior so that the animal knows exactly what it was doing. That's why clicker trainers call the click an "event marker." The click also bridges or connects the behavior and its reward, and so is also called a "bridging signal."
- Why use the click? Why not just a word? A click is more powerful for training than a spoken word because it is not a sound heard by the animal in other circumstances. It means one thing only: a reward is coming because of what you did when you heard the click. It can be produced instantly and at the exact moment a behavior occurs. Even a very quick and subtle behavior, the twitch of an ear for example, can be clicked.
Unlike our voices, which can say the same word in different ways, and so express different emotions or meanings each time, the click sounds the same every time it is heard; its meaning never varies. Humans are highly verbal creatures, but our pets are not. It can be difficult for them to pick out a single word from the stream of meaningless words they hear us speak every day. The click's meaning, however, is always clear. It is always directed at the animal, and it is always good news.
The clarity with which a click enables trainers to communicate with their animals has a profound effect on their relationships. Their level of interaction increases, and trainer and animal become more interesting and fun for each other.
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How does clicker training work? The trainer clicks at the moment the behavior occurs: the horse raises its hoof, the trainer clicks simultaneously. The dog sits, the trainer clicks. Clicking is like taking a picture of the behavior the trainer wishes to reinforce. After "taking the picture," the trainer gives the animal something it likes, usually a small piece of food but sometimes play, petting, or other rewards.
Very soon (sometimes within two or three clicks), an animal will associate the sound of the click with something it likes: the reward. Since it wishes to repeat that pleasurable experience, it will repeat the action it was doing when it heard the click.Any behavior can be trained with any animal following these three simple steps:
- Get the behavior.
- Mark the behavior.
- Reinforce the behavior.
- How do clicker trainers ask for behaviors? Clicker trainers differ from traditional trainers in that they wait until the behavior is well understood by the animal before using a command or "cue." A cue is the name of a behavior, such as "sit," or a hand movement or other clear signal. Until the animal knows what the behavior is, any name for it would be meaningless.
When the animal has been clicked several times for a behavior, and then confidently repeats the behavior, showing that it knows exactly what earns it a click and a reward, it is ready to learn the name of the behavior. Clicker trainers call this "introducing the cue."
To teach the animal the name of the behavior, or the cue, the trainer says or signals the cue before the animal repeats the behavior. After several repetitions, the trainer begins to click and reward when the animal does the behavior, but only after the cue is given. No click is given if the animal does the behavior without being given the cue first. The animal quickly learns to listen or watch for its cue, which tells it: If you do this behavior now, you will get a click and earn a reward.
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What if the animal does not obey the cue? Clicker trained animals want to perform behaviors for which they have been rewarded in the past. If they understand the meaning of the cue and desire the reward, they will perform the behavior.
If they do not perform the behavior, clicker trainers do not assume that the animal is "disobeying." Instead the trainer asks the following questions:
- Does the animal know the meaning of the cue?
- Does the animal know the meaning of the cue in the environment in which it was first taught, but not in the environment in which it was given?
- Is the reward for doing the behavior sufficiently desired by the animal?
- Why don't clicker trainers use punishments as well as rewards? A consequence of any behavior can be unpleasant as well as pleasant. So why shouldn't punishments follow unwanted behaviors, just as rewards follow wanted behaviors?
Research tells us that punishment may decrease the frequency of an unwanted behavior, but usually results in producing another unwanted behavior. The results of punishment as a training method are difficult to predict and to control.
In addition, punishment is not usually identified with an event marker. It almost always comes after the event and is rarely clearly connected with a specific behavior. In the animal's perception, punishment is a random, meaningless event. It is, therefore, less effective than the combined use of an event marker and positive reinforcement in changing behavior.
Clicker trainers also feel that their relationships with their animals are stronger and more rewarding when they focus on the positive rather than the negative. Like the difference between an animal behaving with intention rather than by habit, the difference in attitude and enthusiasm between an animal that works to earn rewards rather than to avoid punishment is vast.
- How can clicker training be used to get rid of behaviors? Clicker trainers allow unwanted behaviors to disappear through lack of reinforcement. If a behavior is not rewarding to the animal, eventually it will disappear. If an unwanted behavior persists, clicker trainers study the behavior to understand why it is reinforcing to the animal. Sometimes the behavior reinforces itself: a barking dog is less bored than a quiet dog. The barking is its own reward. The clicker trainer provides this dog with an alternate wanted behavior to replace the unwanted behavior. The bored dog may simply need more activity, or perhaps quiet resting for longer and longer periods can become a rewarded behavior. Then the clicker trainer would teach the dog a cue for "silence."
- Do clickers and treats need to be used for every behavior, forever? No. Once a behavior is learned and on cue, there's usually no need to click, as the animal understands the behavior. Clicker trainers can maintain the behavior by replacing specially good treats with occasional and less intensive rewards including a pat or praise. Learned cues and behaviors are also maintained by real-life rewards: for example sitting quietly at the door is rewarded by opening the door so that the dog can have a walk. Clicker trainers then save clicks and treats for the next new thing they want to train.
- Can clicker training be used with any animal? Yes. First widely used by dolphin trainers who needed a way to teach behavior without using physical force, operant conditioning (the scientific term for clicker training) can be and has been successfully employed with animals of all sizes and species, both domesticated and wild, young and old; all breeds of dogs and puppies, cats, birds, leopards, rats, rabbits, chinchillas, fish, and more.
Clicker trainers who learn the underlying principles have at their disposal a powerful set of tools that enable them to analyze behaviors, modify existing methods for individual animals, and create new methods where none previously existed. This flexibility allows the tools of clicker training to be re-invented in new forms that work in a range of situations, and for an infinite variety of animals.
The same principles have also been applied to training for athletes, dancers, skaters, and other people. Called "TAGteach," this form of training uses a click as a marker signal to teach precise physical motions quickly, accurately, and positively.
- Is clicker training a training method or a philosophy? Sometimes people are surprised by the enthusiasm and dedication clicker trainers have for their method. These trainers may have first started learning to click as a way of training their dog, but soon realized that the fundamental principles of clicker training could be applied to other areas of their lives. Changing one's focus from the negative to the positive can certainly be a life-changing event.
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