First of all, positive reward, using primary and secondary enforcers (operant and classical conditioning based methods) is what I subscribe to. I put the vast emphasis on the motivation and reward aspect of it because science has proven that it is more effective to an animal's learning than is admistering aversives. Not only has this been demonstrated scientifically, but I am more comfortable with it and it works very well. I have seen who uses this type of training methods, their results and their credentials, where they work, what they work with and it is indeed impressive. These PhDs in applied animal behavior use mainly reward based methods and in many cases completely void of aversives. This is not to say that I don't tell my dogs not to do something. I do. I don't always take the time to do things the way I know they could be handled. I too, am still learning and developing new habits. I would not hesitate to pull my dog off the counter if he were jumping up and telling him, "eh-eh." And when he sat and stayed off, let him know that's what I want and reward him. I don't use collar corrections or harsh vocalizations when training obedience or agility. It's all motivation and reward...all of it. And my Doberman is very obedient, extraordinarily enthusiastic about whatever I ask him to do. His recall is superb and reliable and very prompt. He use to run into me, he was coming so fast...when he was a pup. LOL. I have used both methods (in the old days). And I see a huge difference in the dogs, their ability to think is increased, they are smarter than when forced to comply and our bond runs deeper. It's even better than it was with previous dogs.
Also - please explain to me in detail how you would handle your dog walking into the kitchen, jumping up on the counter and stealing food. Would you just stand there and let the dog eat your chicken dinner? Would you take it away without saying a word? Would you give a gentle leash correction and a firm no when he tried to jump up on the counter? Would you give a firm no when he jumped up on the counter if you were not holding a leash? Would you let him continue to walk in the kitchen and grab food as he saw fit, and reward him on the rare occasion that he didn't jump up on the counter to grab food? Please explain to me in very specific details how you would handle this situation
Of course, if the dog was in the act of stealing food, I'd pull him off and probably tell him, "eh-eh!" I am not talking about not telling a dog not to do something once in a while. I'm talking about choke collars, yanking on the neck hard, intimidating a dog...spraying vinegar in his face and all the other brands of aversives I hear about. I prefer to try and set the dog up....set the environment up so that I don't have to use an over abundance of "no" and "eh-eh!" If a dog hears that all day long, he starts tuning you out. Those words need to have been associated with some pretty harsh punishment at one time or they wouldn't be stopping a behavior. Science shows that positive reward is more effective than positive punishment in the way dogs learn.
My Doberman, as a pup did this. He was so tall at an early age. If I forgot and left anything on the counter, he'd snatch it if I weren't looking. Now, if I had punished him harshly (a sharp NO! or hard yank) for that, the way dogs think, based on my studies of behavior, is that the dog would learn that it is dangerous to steal food in my presence, but safe to steal it when I'm not around. They don't have a sense of our morals so do not think they're doing something "naughty." It's just rewarding to them to get food off the counter. Jumping up works. It's a self rewarding behavior. So, they're getting reinforced for the jumping up everytime they get something good.
With Lyric, I realized quickly that I had to keep food off the counters religiously, never slipping up. After one or two times of his getting something, I kept those counters clean as a whistle at all times. He'd jump up.....nothing, no reward, no reinforcement. That behavior stopped after several more tries. No payoff, behavior ceases. When it stopped working for him to jump up, he stopped jumping up. When he'd hang out in the kitchen watching me cook and remained "polite"....standing back a ways, not being too pushy, I'd take him over a few feet further and ask him to sit or down and I'd give him a tasty, high value treat. He learned that if he sat nicely, he just might get lucky. There was no need to jump up on the counter.
He is now just about 3 years old (his birthday is the 6th!) I can leave food on the counter now and he still doesn't jump up. That behavior never got a chance to form a
habit. And an alternative way to get food replaced it. I can be in the other room, in the den or wherever, leave a steak thawing on the counter and it's safe.
My four dogs all lie down 10 ft. from my table when I have guests for dinner. They stay put for as long as the dinner lasts. When dinner is over and I'm cleaning the dishes, that's when they get some handouts for their efforts. They know they will get food and yummy food at that when they perform the behavior I like. This they learned gradually...in baby steps, rewarding frequently as they stayed. Now they only need a reward at the end of the 1/2 hour or so it takes to eat dinner. They lie there wagging their tails and watching us. They get told periodically how wonderful they are. They were never scolded, told "no" or yanked if they broke the stay. They were simply replaced and we'd start over...maybe rewarding a little closer together. And we didn't start out with a whole 1/2 hour of course. LOL. 1 minute, then 2, then 4 etc.
