TRAINING A
DOG
Do you have to teach the dog something or discourage its bad habits?
WHY DOES A DOG OBEY?
The reasons that can persuade a dog to obey are:
▪
it gives it pleasant feelings
▪
it removes of unpleasant feelings (training)
▪
it avoids unpleasant feelings (blocking or “aversion” training)
TEACHING
Behavioural scientists distinguish two rewards:
▪
a positive reward = giving something pleasant
▪
a negative reward = removing something unpleasant
Both make it possible to condition the animal to repeat a given behaviour.
With a positive reward training system, 4000 to 6000 exercises are neces-
sary to obtain a relative obedience. This is why the majority of people fail in
their attempts (not enough repetitions).
Thanks to training techniques using negative rewards, only 400 to 600
training cycles are needed (10x faster).
Moreover, in the event of occasional disobedience, the animal will under-
stand electronic correction much better.
