One can say that having a well-trained dog is such bliss. A dog that listens to your command and knows how to behave himself requires some love and a lot of work. It is known that training animals, dogs included, enforced the use of force decades ago. But this method has been problematic for obvious reasons against ethical and moral consideration.

A threat or physical harm to teach them how to respond to commands has been a common practice. Good thing balanced dog training was introduced. This kind of training is not based on science, contrary to popular belief.

History of Balanced Dog Training

K9 Connection reported that around the 1980s when the use of positive reinforcement to train animals was introduced. The landscape of dog training has shifted into the usage of rewards, treats and positive dog training. Over time, dog training has evolved. Methods of training animals have been developed and balanced dog training was introduced.

Thanks to significant advancements in fields of behavioral science and psychology, training animals is no longer dependent on one method. In the modern day, we are already subconsciously employing methods to effectively change canine behaviors while emphasizing compassion and care, while understanding how and when we apply aversive pressure. And the same applies to training our dogs. We soon understand that there isn’t just one right way to train a dog and it is not a one size fits all approach.

What is Balance Dog Training?

As we understand more and more about our dogs, we are gifted with methods that would allow us to interact with them in a systematic approach.

Tyler G. Muto of K9 Connection describes Balance Dog training as “In its simplest form, it refers to any approach to dog training or behavior modification which involves the use of both reward-based techniques, and aversive consequences. In other words, the trainer shows the dog that their choices and behaviors can result in either pleasant or unpleasant results.”

Simply put, it is the balance between a reward system and or putting ‘pressure’ into your dogs.

Quadrants of Balance Dog Training

Despite its straightforward concept, there had been a great divide on how to properly implement a balance dog training. Many consider themselves as pro-positive or force free and it has been highly debated what method is best to implement.

As mentioned, it really is not a one size fits all kind of approach. Many would argue that force free approach is the best approach to train a dog as it calls to the cause of calm and reason and compassion towards our fur buddies, however, as generalizing and sweeping as it might be, K9 police and military dogs are more adept in the use of negative reinforcement and aversive acts.

Diving deep in the psychology of balance dog training, we should be familiar with the four quadrants of B.F Skinners Operant Conditioning.

According to his theory, learning is a function of change in overt behavior. Changes in behavior are the result of an individual’s response to events (Stimuli) that occurs in the environment. In his theory, we have Positive and Negative Punishment and Positive and Negative Reinforcement.

Positive Punishment

It is when an aversive (an unpleasant event that is intended to decrease the probability of a behavior when it is presented as a consequence) is used consistently until a change in behavior is noted or achieved.

Positive Reinforcement

This is typically a reward. A reward is given when a desired behavior is achieved commonly in the form of a treat or a toy.

Negative Punishment

Removing a stimulus of high value that would be noticeable to your dog whenever an undesirable action is done with the hopes that it would react positively to your command.

Negative Reinforcement

It is when you add pressure to an existing stimulus that would warrant the attention of your dog to a behavioral change.

What are the common Punishment and Rewards stimuli being deployed?

In a study conducted by Christine Arhant in 2010, 90% of dog owners used common rewards such as petting and verbal praises. Whole foods and treats are “often” or “very often” used by respondents. On the flip side, respondents recorded that the most common forms of punishment were scolding the dog and leash jerks, which was used 80% of the time.

Tips on Balance Dog Training

Whatever method you may use from this quadrant, one is surely true, that there is no secret sauce in training your dog. However, the key to having a balanced well-trained dog is marrying both rewards and punishment. Excessive and extreme is always not good. Too much compassion is probable of not yielding any noticeable results while too much aversive stimulus would cause substantial discomfort and stress to your dogs.

First, it would be beneficial to understand the overall well-being of the dog. You must know first its canine cognition and behavior to be able to change the way the dog thinks, feels and reacts. At some point, every dog will need a correction.
One must recognize that the dog is understanding that it is being educated through the different stimuli presented to it, whether it be through a positive or a negative conditioning. Dogs learn new behaviors through goal driven learning and stimulus must not be applied haphazardly based on whim. In this way, the dog is allowed to gain an understanding of the training exercises that is required for its behavioral development.
A good balanced trainer is fluid, willing to open their mind to trying different tools and techniques to find that right combination to help both owner and canine companion that all parties are comfortable with.