“Wrong Prong”– Miscommunication and Wrong Association

It happened. These are the frustrating moments that we so frequently hear about, but now have witnessed it firsthand. A few weeks ago, one of my colleague’s former students came into the store to shop. The dog was a young German Shepherd dog and was wearing a prong collar. He was excited to see Matthew, and as they were going up to greet each other, the dog reached the end of the leash and the prongs tightened and “corrected” him. Suddenly, this young German Shepherd dog went from being happy and excited to see Matt, to fearful and cringing away from him. The handler could not understand what caused the sudden change. Matt explained that the dog reached the end of the leash, and associated the prong with greeting Matthew and meanwhile, not associating it with the act of pulling.

As a trainer, there are a few things that really bother me with this. First is lack of communication. Positive reinforcement training focuses on redirection and teaching a dog what to do. Punishment-based training focuses on teaching a dog what not to do. If we focus on what the dog is NOT supposed to do, but don’t teach him what IS appropriate, how is that fair? If you have participated in any of my classes or seminars, you know that is something that I emphasize very early in training. Poor communication on our part is unfair to the dog, especially if the result is a painful correction. It’s confusing, and you only set your dog up to fail in these situations. Why has it been acceptable to meet Matthew before, but this time was different? We might answer and say, “because he was straining at the leash” or “it was the handler’s error”. That may be clear to us, but the dog does not always see it that way, and the German Shepherd did not see it in this case. It is unfair for the handler to fail and then the dog suffers because of it. We are all going to make mistakes from time to time. Errors happen, and I understand that, but if my timing is slightly off, the worst thing that happens is the dog receives an extra treat. No harm and no fear.

Another thing that bothers me about the use of prong collars and shock collars is the lack of education behind these tools. I can forgive trainers that used these methods twenty or thirty years ago, but the advances in canine study, and developments within the science of dog training, show the effect of positive reinforcement training is far superior to using pain-based training methods (Coren, 2018). Using a reward-based training system releases dopamine every time the dog is rewarded. The same thing happens in humans, which is why teachers put gold stars on a child’s paper, or the best bosses praise their employees frequently. This hormone promotes strengthened neural pathways, thus strengthening the behavior. Using pain and punishment does not release dopamine, rather, it releases cortisol (Stillwell). Cortisol is a stress hormone associated with the amygdala: the part of the brain associated with fear conditioning, aggression, nervousness and jealousy (Albrow, 2015) (Bekoff, 2018). Not only does this go to show that punishment-based methods are much less effective, but it also shows the vast dangers that occur when you start to tamper with a dog’s natural cortisol levels (Coates, 2013). Simply put, if you are training a dog, you want a dopamine release that will make the dog want to repeat that behavior. This is accomplished through reward-based training; not with punishment.

That brings me to the final issue I have with all of this. Whether the German Shepherd dog’s handler just did not understand that he mis-associated the prongs with Matthew (lack of education) or maybe the handler did understand. What I have come to learn is that most trainers and handlers that use these tools just will not own up to what their tools do. I wish someone would just take responsibility. These tools are meant to cause fear and pain, and more times than we even notice, they create more confusion than clarity. People who advocate punishment-based training will downplay the tools and make any kind of excuse to justify it. Or they will give the biggest cop-out: “I’d rather my dog get a shock than get killed by a car”. Or you could teach a solid recall and not put your dog in situations to fail. There are better options.

When it all boils down and the dust settles, my emphasis is what benefits our dogs and benefits our lives with our dogs. Education is the catalyst for this movement. These are not romanticized thoughts or ideas that hold no merit. This is scientific evidence on how our dogs learn and what motivates our dogs, and with that, there is zero argument.

 

Works Cited

Albrow, Lynn. “The Dopamine Response.” Success Dogs, 17 Apr. 2015, www.successdogs.com/lifestyle/facts-and-information/dopamine-response/.

Bekoff, Marc. “Jealousy in Dogs: Brain Imaging Shows They’re Similar to Us.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 13 May 2018, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/201805/jealousy-in-dogs-brain-imaging-shows-theyre-similar-us.

Coates, Jennifer. “Cortisol: What Happens In A Dog’s Body When It Goes Awry?” Dawg Business: It’s Your Dog’s Health!, 2 May 2013, dawgbusiness.blogspot.com/2013/05/cortisol-what-happens-in-dogs-body-when.html.

Coren, Stanley. “Reward Training vs. Discipline-Based Dog Training.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 28 Dec. 2010, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201012/reward-training-vs-discipline-based-dog-training.

Stillwell, Victoria. “Do Dogs Feel Emotion?” Victoria Stillwell Positively, positively.com/dog-training/understanding-dogs/canine-emotion/.