Hello Fellow Humans,
Well? How did you do on yesterday's test? Let's find out:
1. How do you think your dog perceives you?
a. The Pack Leader
b. The Treat Machine
c. The Referee
d. The Pushover
Correct Answer:
The Referee - It's your job to create boundaries and then reinforce those boundaries every day. Instead of hoping your dog knows what to do, show him what you'd like him to do. Set clear rules and then always play by those rules.
2. How do you define "punishment means?
a. Hitting your dog on the nose (or elsewhere) when he does something
bad
b. Rubbing your dog's nose in a soiled carpet to teach him that it's
wrong to go in the house
c. Physically stopping your dog from doing something you don't like
d. Making your dog go to his kennel after he, say, chewing up your
favorite shoes.
Correct answer:
Punishment is a technical term that is often misunderstood in daily talk so it's misused in practice. In positive reinforcement lingo punishment is something that decreases the likelihood of the event that it follows will happen again.
3. True or False:
In order for my dog to understand his place in the pack I have to be
dominant over my dog.
Correct answer:
False - Dominance is such a slippery slope in that humans often equate it with asserting their power over their dog. Dominance works well with members of the same species. But your dog will do better if you show him the rules of your game as opposed to bullying him into submission.
4. What should you use to reward your dog for good work?
a. Food
b. Favorite toys
c. Play
d. Nothing. I don't want my dog to expect a reward
Correct answer:
Reward good behavior and you will likely see it happen more and more. A, B, and C are all useful in helping to show your dog what you want him to do. Makes it more fun, too.
5. True or False:
Reward training doesn't work because I can only get my dog to work in
the presence of a reward.
Correct answer: It's probably not the reward or the training. Most of the humans who said "true" are probably the cause of the problem, not their dog.
Happy Training.
Chris
Filed under: Pop quizes
Tags: Dog Training, dominance, food, hitting, kennel, pack leader, play, punishments, rewards, rubbing nose, skills, soiling carpet, toys
I know a few people that NEED to read this! ;) This entry is featured in today's "Hot on ChicagoNow:"
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/hot-on-chicagonow/2010/06/hot-on-chicagonow-june-2-2010.html
Send them our way, Lauren!