How not to train a dog? Most guides to dogs and dog welfare offer thoughts on the best way to train canines. A research group have taken a different tract, expiring what not to do. And what not to do is to punish the dog.
Research from Universidade do Porto, Portugal found that after aversive training, dogs had a lower behavioral state (represented by higher stress levels and more acute anxiety). Furthermore, dog owners who use confrontational or aversive methods to train aggressive pets, will see their animals continue to be aggressive throughout adulthood, unless training techniques are modified.
Furthermore, the study finds that where aversive methods are used in high proportions, this persists in other contexts. This includes crouching and yelping in social situations when such behavior is not expected or desirable.
The research was based on an examination of the behavior of 92 companion dogs from 7 dog training schools in Portugal. The research showed that punishing dogs in order to train them was ineffective and causes distress to the animals.
In addition, many such techniques used to teach a dog will lead to a dog so fearful it has suppressed all its natural behaviours or a dog that is simply continuously aggressive and a danger to other dogs and to people.
Reward, don’t punish
The solution instead is to use reward based training, as the PLoS One study finds: “Does training method matter? Evidence for the negative impact of aversive-based methods on companion dog welfare.”
There are also other ways and situations under which dogs are more receptive to learning. This includes interacting with children. Not only are children good at helping dogs to learn, there is a mutual benefit back to the child.
For example, a Canadian study has found when children are accompanied by therapy dogs, as in the case of using dogs from UBC Okanagan’s Building Academic Retention through K9s (BARK) program, the social skills and behaviors of the children were enhanced.
The inference is that therapy dogs are often able to reach children and facilitate their growth, in a variety of different ways that lead to positive outcomes, especially in relation to developing social and emotional skills.
Rehoming laboratory dogs
In related news, there ae positive prospects for some of the digs used in animal experiments. Scientists in Finland have monitored the success of rehoming sixteen laboratory beagles across a three-year period. The study has revealed that the development of house training skills could be supported by care arrangements at the laboratory animal facilities, and that this approach provides a degree of success when it comes to rehoming.
The research appears in the journal Alternatives to Laboratory Animals: “The First Rehoming of Laboratory Beagles in Finland: The Complete Process from Socialisation Training to Follow-up”.
