Poisoned Cues, Fallout and Shutting Down

Or, Why Stephani Really Really Dislikes Aversives!

When a trainer combines positive punishment (P+) or negative reinforcement (R-) with Positive Reinforcement (R+, mostly food), it can really screw up a dog. Not just the dog, but the relationship between the dog, its owner and the environment around it.

Terms like: poisoned cue, fallout, and shutting down all refer to cases where both food and punishment have been used.

For the sake of this post, I am going to use "food" for positive reinforcement and "punishment" for positive punishment. Please note that there are other instances that also cause fallout.

So, a typical scenario in positive reinforcement based training might be: dog sits, gets a click and then a cookie. Happiness all around! If the dog does not sit, then we wait a few seconds and do something else (like a down or loose leash walk) and then re-cue. If the dog sits, click then treat. If the dog doesn’t sit, then no cookie. As easy as that.

In a scenario that combines food with punishment it looks like this: owner cues the sit, dog sits, gets clicked and treated. Owner walks a few steps and asks for a sit. Dog doesn’t sit, so owner leash pops the dog (or smacks the dog’s butt or pushes the dog into a sit), the dog sits and then is clicked and treated. The cue no longer means something good. It becomes poisoned. The dog has no way of knowing if the cue will mean something good or something bad, so it avoids the bad and sits.

You can poison a cue quite easily with a soft (sensitive) dog if you are training while frustrated. You can also poison a cue by introducing a shock collar into the mix and shocking the dog.

Retraining a dog that was trained with punishment or a combination of punishment and food is a long, long road to recovery.

If a trainer tells you that the only way to “proof” your dog for certain behaviors is to start using punishment, then I say bullshit (proofing is another traditional trainer term, but I use it in class and mean the same thing, but without punishment). Proofing means testing the dog in a number of scenarios to see if they really understand the cue. You don’t need to correct (punish) the dog if they screw up - you need to back up your expectations and train more. In other words, you have not trained enough!

 
Note: Part of this post was originally written in another forum. 

Operant Conditioning

I am a positive reinforcement based dog trainer. That means that I strive to teach my dogs appropriate behavior and to do it without using applied an aversive.

What is an aversive? Well, in my world view, an aversive is something that a dog doesn't like. It can be something that causes pain or fear or discomfort. Granted, there are plenty of things in life that causes pain, fear and discomfort, but I do not want to be one of those things. And, I can train without them.

Most dog training is based on Operant Conditioning: Positive Reinforcement (R+), Negative Reinforcement (R-), Positive Punishment (P+) and Negative Punishment (P-). I use R+ and P- when training my dogs (I have listed them in green below). These are the two categories that do not contain aversives.

Quick guide:
Reinforcement  = increasing behavior 
Punishment  = reducing behavior
Negative = taking something away
Positive = adding something


Positive Reinforcement: This category means you are adding something in order to increase behavior. The thing that you are adding can be: food, attention/praise, and play.

Negative Reinforcement: This category means you are taking something away in order to increase behavior. This category uses aversives.

A classic example of this is when a rat is being shocked and it pushes on a bar to stop the shock. The shock increases the likelihood that the rat will press the bar. In dog training, an example is holding a choke collar tight until the dog sits and then loosening the collar when the dog sits.

Positive Punishment: This category means that you are adding something in order to decrease behavior. This category uses aversives.

An example of this is a shock collar to make the dog stop barking. Or, an electric fence to reduce the dog's wandering behavior.

Negative Punishment: This category, you are removing something in order to reduce behavior. This category can have aversives, but most often, aversives are not needed.

Examples of non-aversive uses in this category is a time out (you are removing freedom). Or, turning one's back on a jumping dog and walking away (you are removing attention).

Some other terms that I frequently use:

Desensitization and counterconditioning: This is, essentially, classical conditioning (for instance, pairing a feared object with food) while slowly decreasing the distance and amount of time the dog spends with the feared object. This technique is used a lot with fearful or reactive dogs.

Poisoned Cue, Fallout, Shutting Down: see the next post for more information about these. 

October 2012 Class Schedule

The new class session starts on October 13, 2012.

Puppy Class (one opening)

Time: 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Cost: $80.00 per session

Puppy ages: Puppies under one year.

Requirements: Puppies must be as up to date on shots as possible.

Goals: Appropriate socialization, housetraining, body handling, and environmental enrichment. Classes include handouts and troubleshooting problem behaviors. This class session will also focus on the AKC Star Puppy Program and include a voluntary test at the end of the session.

Foundation I (one opening)

Time: 11:30 a.m. class

Cost: $80 per 6 week session.

Dog ages: Over one year.

Requirements: All dogs must be appropriately vaccinated.

Goals: This class includes basic behaviors such as sit, down, sit-stay, down-stay, recalls, and loose leash walking, plus troubleshooting common behavioral problems such as inappropriate greetings and counter surfing. It will also include foundation training for dog sports: focus training, impulse control, off leash work, introduction to equipment. Courses will include basic rally, some jump and tunnel work and other foundation behaviors.

Foundation II 

Time: 10:00 a.m. (full) and 2:00 p.m. (openings available)

Cost: $80 per 6 week session.

Requirements: All dogs must be appropriately vaccinated. In order to take Foundation II, dogs must either have taken Foundation I or have permission from the instructor.

Goals: This class includes advanced behaviors such as sit-stay and down-stay at a distance and with distractions, recalls, and off leash work. It will also include foundation training for dog sports: focus training, impulse control, off leash work, introduction to equipment. Courses will include rally, some jump and tunnel work and other foundation behaviors.

Foundation III (openings available)

Time: 8 a.m (openings available) and 9 a.m. (full)

Cost: $80 per 7 week session. Students in this level are eligible for buying classes in bulk: buy 6 weeks at $80, get one week free (7 weeks for $80). Buy 10 weeks at $130, get two weeks free (12 weeks for $130).

Requirements: All dogs must be appropriately vaccinated. In order to take Foundation III, dogs must either have taken Foundation I or II or have permission from the instructor.

Goals: This class focuses on advanced foundation training for dog sports: focus training, impulse control, off leash work, introduction to equipment. Multiple distractions will be used and advanced stay behaviors trained. Courses will include rally, jump and tunnel work and other foundation behaviors. Students that have taken this level should be ready to take an agility or rally seminar and keep up with the class.

Upon Request
Reactive or fearful dog classes are available upon request. Shy dog classes are also available. And, if your dog needs focus/impulse control work, please contact Stephani for more information.

Private Lessons: House Calls

Time: contact Stephani for available days and times

Cost: $50 for the first visit.

Private lessons are available for basic behaviors and behavioral issues such as fear and aggression.