Positive Reinforcement

What is positive reinforcement?
Positive reinforcement is modern day training and the advised strategy to training your dog. Positive reinforcement is when something the dog desires intensely is delivered to them by their trainer/human, at the perfect timing, so create good association to the activity. With continuous, positive reinforcement, your dog will soon learn that when he responds promptly to your command, he will receive reward. 

To simplify the terms for you, to avoid crossing methods and entering unproductive ground, here is a quick guide to go by.....

Positive (as in behaviour not math) reinforcement= rewarding your dog positively when a command has been understood, timing is key.
Negative reinforcement (as in behaviour not math)= ****AVOID**** responding to your dog physically or verbally in a negative manner when he has not understood your command, or is behaving in a way you do not desire.
Positive punishment (as in math not behaviour)= ****AVOID**** You are adding to a situation, physically or verbally to punish your dog for bad behaviour or ignoring your command. 
Negative punishment (as in math not behaviour)= You are taking away from the situation to ease the undesired behaviour, ignoring a bark, stopping your play, turning around with a jump up.
 

Why Should we use positive reinforcement only?

Following the rule of positive reinforcement as a guide to your training is the advised method in modern day dog training. This method is kind, ethical, calm, and clear for the pooch to understand. Unfortunately for many years, humans have believed they need to be the 'alpha' or 'leader' to train their dogs, that there is some sort of pecking order that needs to be established. Here at Willow's I am a strong believer in simply being your dogs 'example' giving them guidance. Using positive reinforcement will train your dog in a safe way, preventing any harmful mental health issues in your adult dog. Many dogs who have behavioural issues stem this feeling from an anxiety. This is not always because they have been trained wrongly, there are many factors that can add to your dogs behavioural issues, nature, bad experiences in early life, and even breed types can play a part, so providing a positive experience for your dog during training will leave for a happy well rounded pooch, a calm human and a great bond!

Positive. Kind. Ethical.