Positive reinforcement a powerful training tool

We often tell our volunteer dog walkers that every minute they spend with a shelter dog is making an impact on their life. With some dogs, the one-on-one time helps them come out of their shell and learn to trust new people. Other dogs seize the opportunity to play games and burn off pent up energy. And for every dog that comes to the shelter, a walk is an opportunity to learn some manners!

Most dogs that end up in shelters are surrendered because of behavior issues and, oftentimes, those same dogs have never received any sort of obedience training to help them correct those bad behaviors. Basically, the average shelter dog could use a little help in the manners department! Leash manners and basic obedience are just as important in a shelter environment as they are in a home. A dog with some basic skills is not only easier for staff and volunteers to handle, they’re easier to adopt out, as well. Which dog would you prefer: the bouncy, mouthy one that will pull you down the street or the calm, gentle dog that walks nicely by your side?

There are a million different ways to train dogs. Because we don’t have a lot of time with the shelter dogs between their arrival and adoption, we use a quick and effective method called positive reinforcement. As the name implies, positive reinforcement involves using something your dog values, like a treat, to reinforce good behavior. When we instruct a dog to sit, for example, and they obey the command, they receive a reward. Rewards can be anything that makes your dog happy. Most dogs are food motivated so, at the shelter, we typically use dog treats, pieces of chicken, and slices of hot dogs.

Not every dog will respond to food. Some aren’t food motivated enough to want to follow through with the commands they’re learning and others are clever enough to figure out ways of getting the food without learning the command. If your dog is not responding to food, try finding something else he values, such as a favorite toy or play time with you. When volunteers are walking shelter dogs, the walk itself is the reward. If the dog is pulling too much on his or her leash, we tell the volunteer to stop walking until the dog calms down. Since sitting still is no fun, they learn quickly that good behavior means going for a walk and bad behavior means sitting in one spot doing nothing. One of the most important rules of positive reinforcement is to never involve anything negative like yelling or hitting. Withholding the treat or other valued item when they do not perform a command or exhibit good behavior sends enough of a message to your dog without scolding them.

Timing and consistency are also both key when it comes to using positive reinforcement. Make sure to reward your dog as soon as they perform the command (when your dog sits, not after they’ve stood up again), otherwise they won’t associate the reward with the good behavior. Determine which command words you want to teach your dog and make sure every member of the family is consistent with those terms. One command word that creates a lot of confusion is “down” as it can be used to either instruct your dog to lie down or to stop them from jumping up on people. If “down” is a command your family will be using, make sure everyone agrees on its meaning.

Positive reinforcement is a fun, easy, and effective way to start teaching your dog some basic manners. Grab some dog treats and get started!

Alaina Goodnough is the Promotions Coordinator at Cocheco Valley Humane Society in Dover, NH. She lives in Sanford, ME with two parrots, a cat, and two dachshunds. She can be reached at CVHS at devassist@cvhsonline.org