Punishments and Aversives - No, They're Not 'Needed'

A question I see frequently when perusing forums and social media etc. concerns the use of aversive training methods, and wondering why people think they are fine to use on dogs they say they love.

I still remember the first time I saw a picture of a prong collar, designed to be fitted and used around the neck of a dog. I remember that sense of disbelief, that prompted me to ask if this chain of metal prongs designed to sit around a dog's neck and dig in when a 'correction' is applied was real or if it was some kind of lingering warped April Fool's joke. Sadly, I discovered they are all too real, as are many other unpleasant devices used on dogs.

I refrained from posting a picture of a dog wearing one of these AND a shock collar 😠 

The existence of dogs (indeed, all companion animals) as sentient and emotional beings is one that many people have only come to acknowledge comparatively recently, and others still have not acknowledged at all. Modern professionals who keep up to date on the scientific findings and research ongoing into companion animals and their cognition have known for some time that our furry friends have emotions, with an emotional development and capacity similar to a human child of around 2.5 years. This means they feel a wide range of emotions, including happiness, sadness, joy, anger, disgust, love, and fear. The emotions dogs do not possess include guilt, shame, and contempt. Sadness and fear are definitely emotions that dogs can feel. We are still learning more about the emotional lives of dogs all the time.

The whole concept behind the use of punishment involves doing or using something that the dog dislikes so that they are less likely to show the unwanted behaviour again. Dogs do not dislike things on a whim. They dislike things that make them uncomfortable, that are unpleasant to them, that cause them pain or scare them.

It does not end with the obvious contenders: the prong or ‘pinch’ collar, the choke chain (often given the less alarming name of check chain), and the electric shock collar. No matter how much it is talked down as a vibration or ‘stim’ collar, it is still designed to be so unpleasant to the dog that they will stop doing whatever the unwanted behaviour is deemed to be. There are adverts everywhere for the ‘painless’ anti-bark collars, whether they are the sonic emitter type, or the citronella spray kind. One emits a sounds designed to be unpleasant to the dog’s sensitive ears, the other sprays a burst of strong smelling citronella where the dog cannot escape from it. The canine olfactory system is far more sensitive than that of humans. I have a very sensitive sense of smell connected to a medical condition (although way below the sensitivity of the dog) and I can tell you that any strong smells are horrible to be anywhere near, with lingering contact leading to nausea and feeling ill. And that is at a level some way below the least sensitive dog nose.

So why do people who profess to love their animals use these ‘tools’?

Some have received bad advice, from trainers who are holdovers from the outdated methods of the past, who often still subscribe to the ‘pack leader’ mentality, the mythical need to be the ‘alpha’ as far as our dogs are concerned. Some dog trainers just do not care if their results hurt the animals around them, so long as they are seen to be getting results. And yes, punishment and aversive based tools do work… for a while. IF they do not cause a backlash and the dog feels driven to protect themselves from further pain and fear by warning off anyone coming towards them with the aversive tools in hand. This is something mentioned in the section of Jean Donaldson’s The Culture Clash that I was kindly given the author’s permission to quote in my book ‘Understanding Reactive Dogs: Why Dogs React & How To Help’ explaining the situation to aid us in understanding the dog’s perspective. Another drawback with using aversive measure is what can be done when hurting or scaring a dog is not enough? Hurt and scare them more severely?

Another aspect of human nature that can lead to reluctance to move away from aversive measures is cognitive dissonance, that turbulent mental feeling when we humans have to encounter and process information that goes counter to what we already think and know. I get how difficult cognitive dissonance is. I am a crossover trainer. While I never used the absolute worst of these measures, I grew up in a time when pretty much every dog was walked on a choke chain. Loose lead walking was taught using ‘lead pops’ and jerking the dog back into position, and toileting in the house could have the human rubbing the dog’s nose in it, or scolding them while pointing to the puddle or pile. Realising what I had been doing wrong was incredibly uncomfortable, and I spent a massive amount of time feeling huge amounts of guilt for what I had done to those past dogs without knowing the damage I was doing. I was doing the best I could with what I knew then. Thanks to the lessons learned from being around a very complex, complicated, and frightened dog, I now know better so that I can do better.

It is never too late to change, to realise that there is no need to hurt and scare dogs to steer them towards the behaviours we want. Seeing a dog keen, happy, engaged with their human and anticipating another fun training session that they can enjoy with their people is a wonderful sight. A keen and engaged student who knows that getting things right will earn them nice stuff and the worst that can happen is that they do not get that treat or toy or scratch behind the ears will learn far better and faster than the one who is afraid to do anything in case it results in pain or fear.

"What are we going to learn today?"