Incentive or bribe?

Many opponents of the method of positive reinforcement in dog training say that the method is supposedly bad because in the process of training and in later life we ​​bribe the dog. Like, there is a bribe – the dog works, no – goodbye. However, this is fundamentally wrong.

If we talk about a bribe, then the opponents of positive reinforcement substitute concepts. A bribe is when you show your dog a treat or a toy and beckon. Yes, during training, so that the dog understands what is required of him, we certainly teach him to run up to a tasty piece or toy. Or we seat the dog, for example, pointing it with a piece. But this happens only at the stage of explanation.

In the future, the situation changes. If you gave a command, for example, you called the dog without beckoning it, praised it at the moment when it turned away from other dogs or from interesting smells in the grass and ran to you, and when it ran up, play with it or treat it – this is not a bribe, but honest payment for her efforts. Moreover, the more effort the dog made to fulfill the command, the more valuable the reward should be.

So there is no question of bribery.

In addition, in positive reinforcement, the method of “variable reinforcement” is used, when the reward is not given every time, and the dog does not know if he will receive a bonus for following the command. Variable reinforcement is more effective than giving a prize after each command.

Of course, this method is used when the skill is already formed, and the dog understands exactly what you want from him. This also ensures the stability of command execution.

You can learn how to properly educate and train dogs with humane methods in our video courses.