For dog training, what is your definition of a correction?
Please give me a detailed exampele of what you would consider a correction. You are welcome to give more than one example as well.
You do not have to actually be the type of trainer that uses corrections in your training either. I am just curious as to what people perceive.
An obedience correction is anything that’s appropriate (aka no drop kicks or karate chops) that redirects a dog’s attention back to you and/or tells a dog that he MUST obey you even if he doesn’t feel like it, even if there’s something more interesting going on. These are usually leash corrections or e-collar corrections but even a tap on the shoulder and a “Hey” or “No” is a correction. If a dog knows the meaning of “No”, no becomes a correction itself. A dog can ONLY be given an obedience correction if it knows what you asked of it and refused to obey on it’s own accord: Example: You tell your dog to sit, you know for a fact the dog knows what sit means but he sees another dog and decides to ignore your command, you correct him, give the command to sit again and he sits while focusing back on you. Another type of correction, a deterrent correction, is given when a dog doesn’t know that what he’s doing is wrong but you correct him to show him it’s wrong. You give these corrections when you catch your dog digging in the yard, getting into the trash, or chewing on the furniture. A dog doesn’t inherently know these behaviors are wrong and the only way we can explain that is through immediate “deterring” corrections. The 3rd type of correction is a correction used to build drive and is used by protection sport trainers, PSD trainers, and knowlegeable advanced obedience trainers (including those who work with gun dogs and catch dogs). These correction build drive and can take a dog to the next level of intensity via frustration….anyway this is a list of what I call corrections, the 3 different kinds, and what they’re used for.
To me a correction is something that is used to tell the dog that they have done something wrong.
There are two types a verbal or a physical correction.
I use verbal. The only type of physical correction i use is negative punishment which for this I use ignoring.
I also beleive you can never just use a correction you need to use something to tell them that they have done something right as well.
And for things like barking collars or pinch collars unless it is necessary I do not use these types of corrections(for example a dog who refusing to learn the come command, I’d rather use a shock fence then see the dog get hit by a car). Its just my opinion.
My definition of corrections would be the obvious: Alerting a dog to something done incorrectly or improperly.
In training, there are levels of correction, each should be used correctly. For example, a level one correction is a verbal correction, and a level 10 is the literal jerk of the leash– which lifts the dog off of its feet. Level five can be anything from an ear flick to a light pinch.
In my work, the type and level of correction always depends on the individual dog. A dog which doesn’t respond well to verbal commands (der) won’t respond to a verbal correction.
Most dogs in my field require physical corrections. Things like neck tweaks, tail swats, ear flicks, and on VERY rare occasions, lead jerks.
The worst correction I’ve ever seen a trainer use would have to be the ‘whip’. For a dog that was pulling its owner, he advised to use the lead as a whip and to slap the dog with it as it was pulling. To put it into a mental image, imagine a pulling dog where the leash is tight, and to ‘whip’ the lead towards the dog in order to hit the ribs and the back of the animal all at once—- it worked, but from that point forward the dog walked as close to the ground and as far away from the owner as possible.
I try not to encourage my clients to give their dogs harsh or unnecessary corrections. A simple “eh eh” or “no” should be sufficient. My biggest correction would be withholding some of value, whether this be the toy, treat, or simply myself.
Most of my border collies are toy motivated. When (and if) they act out, I simply withhold their favorite toy. My golden is food motivated, so I will remove the treats during training until she cooperates. My mutt is very praise motivated, so to get his attention when I mean business I simply ignore him. He hate this. You would seriously think I have just shot his best friend when you see his reaction to this.
My methods are positive and require the dog to think for themselves. I will never recommend a prong, choke, shock/E collar. I will never recommend hitting or yelling at a dog. This includes “bopping” them or flicking them on the nose/ear, smacking their backside, etc. There is no reason, and I mean NO reason, a person should ever hit/jerk/kick/scream/yell or lay a hand on their dog. Ever. There is no reason for it. There is always another way to get your point across to your dog.
Trainers who will recommend these sort of corrections make my skin crawl and makes me sad for any dogs enduring this sort of training. Alpha rolls, jerking of the leash, prong collars, and any other sort of “””training””” (and I use that word loosely) is old school and outdated. Not to mention completely unnecessary and in some cases, unacceptable.
Harsh corrections can work, but your dog will learn to fear you and in the long term it will create longer more complex problems.
For example, a lady brought her German Shepherd to me who had been trained by one of the “top” dog trainers in our city (hah..). This dog was nervous, timid, anxious, stressed out, and would lash out in fear. The dog was never like this before she took him to this company who recommend the E collar. You could say his name and he would literally pee on himself.
A few months later (yes months, it takes a lot of time and persistence to undo someone else work), he was an almost different dog. He would still flinch at the sound of his name (they taught her to get his attention by saying his name and shocking him apparently), but he was starting to be his old self again.
I hate when people do harsh training and corrections on their dogs. It may work for short term, but in the long run it can create worse (and life threatening) problems for the owner and dog.
My training is positive reinforcement based using clickers, markers, tons of praise, food/toys, and love!
Boo negative.
Yay positive!
=)
A correction, to me, is something you do that hopefully makes the dog realize that behavior is not going to produce a reward, so try something else. A correction, when properly given, should make the dog eager to try many other things. At least that’s my favorite type of correction. I hate the corrections that physically hurt the dog, make them afraid to try more behaviors, or nervous to be taught something new. Even worse, it makes them hesitate to be creative, to try out a new behavior that could get a harsh reaction from their owners.
The corrections I tend to use the most is to tell my dog he will be getting “no reward’ for that behavior.
I consider leash (yanking, choking, helicoptering), pinching, pushing, hitting, etc, as a human attack… not a correction -because that’s how the dogs I’ve worked with reacted to it as: my human attacks me when I do something wrong, I better do right.- The communication usually isn’t as high as it can be. And the dog doesn’t understand what the correct behavior IS -most of the time. If the dog did, the correction shouldn’t be anything more than telling the dog what they should be doing.- However, I’m very aware that some people see that as a correction. I just don’t.
Add: Just to clarify, I did not say “no treat” I said “no reward.” A reward means anything the dog will work for. This includes vocal praise, scritches, a game, a toy, being allowed to play with other dogs, being able to meet a new person, and, usually only while training a new behavior or when nothing else is available, a small (pea-sized) treat. My dogs rarely if ever get a treat after they know a behavior and will perform it consistently.
Since telling my dog “cold” or “eh” or something else that means “no reward, try something else” actually communicates to the dog that the behavior is incorrect, and begins to direct them to the correct behavior… it IS a correction. Just like a “click” can be a reward marker, the words I use are the “no reward” marker, and it’s used as a correction.
My PUNISHMENTS tend to be things like removing attention, removing the toy, removing the reward, etc. But that’s not a correction. That’s a punishment.
I put in other edits to try and explain myself better, marked with -word- so that they’re discernible.
For me, a correction is a way to communicate to your dog that they have done something wrong.
Like Patient Paws said, there are different levels of correction. However, I would consider the lightest correction to be withholding a reward and redirection, and the highest to be something worse than a simple leash jerk.
The levels of acceptable correction, however, are a different story. The issue with correction is that the word has gained a negative connotation, especially among “positive only” enthusiasts, many of whom do not realize they are correcting their dog by not giving them a treat or by issuing a verbal “ah ah”.
Personally, I am not a big fan of harsher corrections because I don’t know how to properly use them. Since I haven’t had a need to, I only use the verbal “ah ah” or redirecting, as well as withholding a reward. I personally have a dog that is very easily frustrated, and corrections make her worse. However, I co-own a dog who is so hard headed that you could probably knee him in the ribs and he would still be bouncing all over you.
I’m going off on a tangent already, but the point is that a correction is anything to tell a dog that you do not appreciate what they are doing (or that they are supposed to be doing something else).
I pick positive reinforcement over physical correction type correction training. To let the dog no they did something bad I say “ouch” or “ehh” and turn my back on them or put them in a bathroom or isolated space. When they are calmed down and there’s silence for three seconds you let them back or turn to them again.
Dogs hate being ignored so if they’re being ignored they don’t like that, and that’s a worse punishment they a slap or shock for them.
then you start over. For some dogs it may take a lot of repetition for them to understand, but it’s worth it for they will understand eventually.
Patience is key.
A signal to communicate to the dog that their current behavior is not correct. I guess the clicker-trainers out there would consider it the opposite of a “click”. 🙂
It could be a verbal correction (in my house, “Ack!” or “Ehh!”), a collar correction (pop with the lead), or a stim from an e-collar.
The point is that it is quick, fair, and timed to show the dog that what they are doing *at that moment* is not acceptable.
I correct by saying AH AH. No goes ignored so if my dog is doing something I don’t like I say AH AH, and that usually gets her attention. When walking if she pulls I tug the leash to the side and sometimes I use a foot pop on her butt to snap her out of whatever she’s focusing on and not paying attention to me, it’s not a kick it’s just a touch similar to what Cesar Milan does to “refocus” a dogs attention. I have always used postive reinforcment training because Weims don’t respond well to “harsh” training methods AT ALL.
whether the correction is a sharp “no,” a snap of the collar, or a poke to divert the dog’s attention (always followed by praise/treats!), what makes a correction is the energy behind it. if you correct a dog while feeling mad, anxious or fearful, the correction either means nothing to the dog, or confuses or scares him. calm assertive energy and consistancy is the key.
I typically use a sharp vocal UH!, and/or NO, and that works well. My dog now will know it’s a correction if I even go ahh (crescendoing the longer it goes). I typically also use a light tap on the bridge of the muzzle. Regardless of what people will think of me, it works, and it doesn’t hurt the dog. It gets their attention and redirects it if nothing else is doing the trick.
My dog is CGC and TDI certified, and I trained him using a choke chain. He never did pull on the leash, and still doesn’t, but it puts him into a better mindset, and he walks perfectly now, on or off leash.
I am okay with some positive reinforcement, but I disagree with the people who say that “not giving a treat is the correction”. A dog should NOT be given a treat for every good thing it does. Let alone, simple psychology tests were done. If a dog is given treats every time it performs an action, if you take away the treats, then in a very short time the dog will no longer do it. If a dog is never given treats as a reward, it makes no difference to them whether you have a treat or not, and they will continue to do the tricks. If you use the treats intermittently and randomly, that’s the best. They never know when a treat is coming, and so continue to perform no matter if a treat is there or not. Surprisingly many people that do “positive reinforcement” don’t understand this simple matter in psychology, and they begin to teach the dog wrong.
It’s a lot of gray area, but I trust scientific findings and research projects. I give intermittent treats, and disagree with those who want to treat every little action. For initial training, or training of, say, abused shelter dogs, then yes more treats are better. However, once they understand what you want, the treats NEED to be weaned off and only used intermittently.
A correction is anything from a word/sound to a zap from an Electric collar.
A correction is simply any way you choose to let your dog know that it needs to do what you are asking of it.
there are all different types- it can be a sharp “no” or a tug on the leash, a shock from a collar or an alpha roll. they are all used by various people with some degree of success.
hi,
No dog is born with good manners. Pooping on the carpet, leaping enthusiastically onto guests, pulling so hard he practically yanks your arm out of the socket when on walks–that’s all perfectly acceptable in the canine world. It’s up to you to teach your dog to behave the way we humans want him to. Not training your dog and expecting him to be pleasant to live with is like never sending your child to school and expecting him to ace the SATs.
here’s more info:http://www.mediumurl.com/?r=866733649442…
hope this helps.
I wouldn’t use any way that is harmfull or “mean” to the dog for one major reason. FEAR doesn’t make a well trained dog…well it might, but not a happy one.
I perfer the sudden loud noise when it does somthing bad
put it in a enclosed area for a few seconds when it does somthing bad
simple spices on the places where it chews on
methods.
Always make sure your dog loves you, and reward and praise as much as you dicipline