1. MYTH: I can’t use positive reinforcement because my dog isn’t food motivated.

Food is not the only way to use positive reinforcement to train your dog. Positive reinforcement could be anything the animal finds motivating: a favorite toy, a game of tug, chasing a ball or a treat. The trick is letting the animal decide what's rewarding for them. For example, if your pet prefers a piece of cheese over a piece of kibble, using kibble as a reward might not work so well. It's all about matching the reward to the situation. Take Scout for instance — he's all about carrot treats at home, but at the park, you’ll need hot dog slices if you want him to focus. This is because carrots are exciting at home where life is more routine, but at the park, lots of things are competing for Scout’s attention. Read this PDF if you are struggling to find a motivating treat for your dog: Treat Hierarchy

2. MYTH: You’re just bribing dogs.

Our pets live in the moment. If the world around them is distracting, it can be hard for us to hold their attention and teach them a new skill. We know experiencing good things and earning rewards are motivating — we reward kids who eat their dinner with dessert, we work hard in hopes of getting a raise and we go through the hassle of travel to see loved ones. Dogs don’t have a moral code like we do, and they are not pondering the ethics of what it means to be a “good dog.” They need to see the activity as something that is rewarding to them in some way. Just like we wouldn’t stop saying “thank you” to friends and family, we should never stop rewarding our pets for doing what we’ve asked.

3. MYTH: My dog will only listen when I have a treat in my hand.

It’s true that some pets learn that a treat in hand is the only guarantee that they will get a treat for that behavior. If this sounds like your pet, try asking for the behavior and then surprising your pet with the reward. This makes your training cleaner (because you aren’t coaxing or luring them with the treat) and builds a good foundation later on when you apply variable reinforcement (where the pet only sometimes gets a treat when they do what you asked). Just like a slot machine in a casino, variable reinforcement (random rewards) are the most captivating kind!

4. MYTH: Using treats will make my pet fat.

Just because we may be using food as part of our training doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pay attention to nutrition or the amount of treats we are giving to our pets. No matter the size of your pet, your treats should never be larger than the size of a pea. One easy way to ensure you’re not over-feeding your pet is to use part of their meal as their training session. Another way is to slightly cut down their meals and replace that exact amount with pre-cut treats. You can also use treats that are a complete meal. (Note: It is unethical to withhold all food for training purposes. Allow your pet to eat at least half of their food before beginning training if you plan to use their meal to train them.)

5. MYTH: Positive reinforcement only works when there are no distractions around.

Because the pet chooses what is reinforcing, or rewarding, to them (see Myth #1), the pet also determines what is reinforcing in different environments. If kibble is very motivating in the house, but the ball is your dog’s primary focus at the park, then you’ve found your reinforcer around distractions! Another reason some pets don’t seem to listen as well when they leave the house is that dogs do not generalize well. This means they don’t easily make something they have learned applicable to lots of different scenarios. If they’ve only ever practiced “come” in the living room, they need lots of practice and repetition for “come” to be second nature at the park. Think of it like teaching a child their ABCs: If you ask a child to recite their ABCs at Disneyland, they won’t be able to do it unless it has become second nature. Getting a child to that point takes hundreds of repetitions and then once it is learned, it is easy!

6. MYTH: Positive reinforcement doesn’t teach discipline.

There is absolutely no problem in establishing boundaries and expectations with your pets, such as asking for a “sit” before you open the door. This is simply good psychology at work! When you do something for me that makes me happy (sit), I do something that you want (open the door and let you go outside). If we take the time to learn about and understand our pets and what they find motivating, we can begin to form a trusting relationship where we both have our needs met without ever resorting to fear or intimidation. 

7. MYTH: Positive reinforcement takes too long to teach.

Positive reinforcement doesn't always work right away, but if done correctly, it can last for years. Building new habits takes time. If we take shortcuts such as using tools like prong collars and e-collars, we might get instant results, but the cost is high. Not only do you have to continue to use those tools to see the desired results, but you are damaging your relationship with your pet if they learn to associate pain with training. This can also lead to a slippery slope of using more and more pressure or harsher methods in training if at any point we don’t see the results we expect in different scenarios. 

8. MYTH: Only an e-collar can teach my dog to be off-leash safely.

When trained carefully, with lots of practice in different environments and real-life scenarios, a recall cue using a dog’s favorite reinforcer (high-value treat, ball, toy, etc.) is more effective than e-collar training, even in an off-leash scenario, because positive reinforcement training creates a strong habit in the dog. A collar, on the other hand, may be ignored when wild turkeys or squirrels are in the area. Check out this video of dogs coming away from all kinds of distractions, no e-collar involved. And just a reminder, all of San Diego County requires dogs to be on a leash unless in a designated leash-free area.

9. MYTH: Some dogs need a heavy hand.

Using aversives (things that cause pain, fear or intimidation, such as a shock collar or a jerk on the leash) in training is ineffective and damaging. These methods hurt our relationship with our pet by breaking trust (because they don’t know when we are going to do something they find scary or painful), and are not as motivating as getting something good. This applies to every dog, no matter their genetics or whether they weigh 5 pounds or 150.

10. MYTH: Positive reinforcement is only for easy dogs, you need other tools for reactivity or aggression.

It is a common belief that positive reinforcement can only help with basic training and not with behavior modification (as may be needed in cases of aggression or reactivity). We believe it is even more important to use positive reinforcement-based techniques in more complex behavior cases, as these challenges often stem from a place of insecurity or fear in the animal, not a place of outright aggression. A dog barking and lunging on leash, for example, may be in a kind of fight-or-flight state, where they feel they must protect themselves from some kind of threat (usually a person or dog). When we address these underlying emotions and make the person or dog less threatening (by carefully applying techniques such as desensitization and counter-conditioning), we can help that dog feel more safe and secure on a walk, thereby improving the behaviors we see.

If instead we simply suppress the behavior (for example, we shock the dog anytime they show us how they feel), we will never be able to address the underlying factors that led to that big, emotional response from our pet. This doesn’t help us understand our pet or address the reason why they feel what they feel. We must build trust with our pet, so they know that we won’t put them in a situation they can’t handle. Using a tool like a shock collar simply removes the symptom — the display of emotions that tells us how our pet is feeling. Without that display of emotions, we may get fewer signals from our dog that let us know they are uncomfortable, which may lead to them surpassing all the normal signals of discomfort and going straight into growling or biting.

Positive reinforcement-based training involves lots more than just giving treats to our animals. Positive reinforcement-based trainers consider the entire well-being of the animal involved (their physical and mental well-being, home life, history, age) and what motivates that animal to learn or perform different behaviors. 

All of San Diego Humane Society’s training classes use positive reinforcement-based training methods to help you and your pet bond and learn new behaviors. Check out our basic and specialty classes here!

1. Rooney, N. J., & Cowan, S. (2011). Training methods and owner–dog interactions: Links with dog behaviour and learning ability. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 132(3-4), 169-177 2. Herron, M. E., Shofer, F. S., and Reisner, I. R. (2009). Survey of the use and outcome of confrontational and non-confrontational training methods in client-owned dogs showing undesired behaviors. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 117(1-2), 47-54

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