Quote:
Originally Posted by QuickSilver  I respect your advice, but I don't think it's always that simple. If Thor finds something in the park to eat, very often it is a chicken bone, which could be very dangerous. Or it could be something rotten, or a piece of chocolate. It's not immediately obvious. I suppose I could carry an extra good treat around for Drop It, though he's managed to find a way to work that system as well.
I do consider myself more of a "new age" trainer, but even very modern trainers will use punishments, though they may be very rare. |
I'm with you on this one, and I'll even go a step further. When I'm teaching drop it, I yell the command, since I rarely yell, it gets the dog's attention, and they automatically drop it. I also would take the piece out of the mouth if I had no way knowing what it was, especially with a small dog like a yorkie, just a little of something can make them gravely ill. Like you, when they do drop it, I give a treat and praise.
Behaviorists do believe in using punishment. Remember, a punisher is something that
decreases the probability of a response, while a reinforcer is something that
increases the probability of a respond. A
positive reinforcer is something you "give" a
negative reinforcer is something you take away. Same with punishers, a
positive punisher is something you give, a
negative punisher is something you take away.
When taking the food out of Thor's mouth, using your hands, and forcing him to relinquish it, you are giving him an uncomfortable feeling in his mouth, and you are hoping that next time you say, "drop it" he will respond. So this would actually be considered a positive reinforcer in behavioral terms, if it actually produced the results. If Thor became worse at dropping it or releasing it, the hands on treatment would be considered a punishment. In themselves, the terms punishers and reinforcers have no human value, it's only by the results they produce, we label them with either word.