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Aversive Dog Training

by shibashake 13 Comments

In aversive dog training,

  • We discourage undesired behaviors by applying an aversive or unpleasant stimulus (positive punishment), and
  • We encourage desired behaviors by stopping the aversive stimulus (negative reinforcement).

Different aversive methods may place more or less stress on our dog. In general, pain based methods are the most stressful.

Foxy Shiba Inu walking on park trail.
Aversive Dog Training.

Aversive Dog Training – Good 1

May get more consistent and prompt responses to commands.

As with any animal, a dog is very sensitive to danger and threats, because they are especially crucial to survival in the wild. When faced with a stressful stimulus (e.g. pain or a dominance threat), a dog will most likely try to resolve the situation quickly, so that he may return to a safe and comfortable state.

Many dogs will consistently perform a Sit, Down, or Stay, because they do not wish to endure pain and stress. Once we get consistent and prompt responses from our dog, we can give him more freedom, and let him participate in a wider range of activities.

Many aversive dog trainers point out, that a good command response is crucial when we are yelling Stop, and our dog is running into traffic.

Note however, that even extreme pain does not always guarantee full behavioral control. In addition, inaccurate timing and mistakes in training, may result in even poorer command control, as well as increased aggression. Therefore, the best way to prevent a dog from running into traffic, is through proper equipment (e.g. doors and leashes), and proper management.

Aversive Dog Training – Good 2

May show results in a shorter time-span.

As described above, dogs can be very motivated to avoid an aversive stimulus, especially pain. Therefore, we will probably start to see results to simple commands, in a shorter period of time.

In fact, a dog will respond best in the initial obedience training sessions.

Performance may degrade later, once our dog gets used to or habituated to the aversive stimulus.

Aversive Dog Training – Good 3

Do not need to carry around rewards such as treats or toys.

We always have what we need with us – our hands, collar, and leash.

Shiba Inu biting on cardboard stick.
Aversive dog training may show results in a shorter time-span.

Aversive Dog Training – Bad 1

May cause loss of trust.

One of the most dangerous aspects of aversive dog training is losing our dog’s trust.

Care must be taken not to over-correct him. We always want to try and set our dog up for success, and reduce the chances of him making mistakes. If we are seen as the frequent source of unpleasant things, he will lose trust in us, and may start to avoid us.

The trick of implementing aversive methods is redirection. We want to make it seem like the source of unpleasantness is not coming from us, but is a direct result of his inappropriate actions.

For example, spraying bitter apple on furniture is an effective and safe aversive method, because the dog does not associate the smelly furniture with us. Instead, he discovers on his own, that certain pieces of wood and stuffing have an unpleasant taste, so it is best to avoid them.

As soon as our dog complies with our command, we want to follow up an aversive correction with praise and rewards. This shows him that we are also the source of positive attention and good things.

When using aversive obedience training, timing is crucial.

Time our aversive correction and subsequent praise, accurately. In this way, our dog does will not get confused and frustrated, because he will know what the aversive stimulus is for, and how he can make it go away.

Aversive Dog Training – Bad 2

May encourage aggression and other unwanted side effects.

There are four ways a dog can deal with the stress of an aversive stimulus – fight, flight, freeze, or appease. Depending on the temperament of our dog, and his level of trust and respect for us, he may choose to fight or flee, rather than follow a command (appease).

We can correct this by refining our aversive technique. In particular, ensure that we are –

  • Using the appropriate level of force,
  • Using the right timing,
  • Not over-correcting, and
  • Redirecting the source of correction away from ourselves.

If a dog continuously chooses to fight, then we are encouraging aggression in him, and he may ultimately become a dangerous dog. If a dog continuously chooses to run away (flight), then we may break his spirit, and he may become a fearful and unstable dog.

If we are not careful, our dog may also associate the aversive stimulus to objects in the environment, or to the environment itself. For example, if a leash jerk is always applied whenever he sees another dog, he may start to associate the pain with the other dog, rather than to his lunging and jumping actions. This may make him aggressive or fearful toward other dogs.

In fact, this University of Pennsylvania 2009 study shows that at least 25% of the dogs that are trained with confrontational methods, exhibit aggression during training.

“This study highlights the risk of dominance-based training, which has been made popular by TV, books and punishment-based training advocates,”Herron said. “These techniques are fear-eliciting and may lead to owner-directed aggression.”

Dog walker with aggressive dog (3d art).
Aversive Dog Training may encourage aggression and other unwanted side effects.

Aversive Dog Training – Bad 3

May injure our dog if not implemented correctly.

When we are using an aversive collar such as a choke chain or prong collar, make sure to consult a trainer on how to fit it, and properly use it. The choke chain is especially dangerous as it can cause harm with extended use, even when fitted properly.

All pain and dominance-based aversive methods, are best implemented under the direction of a trained professional.

Incorrect implementation of some of these techniques, may cause physical harm to our dog, as well as physical harm to us and others, if the dog becomes aggressive.

Aversive Dog Training – Bad 4

May become ineffective once our dog gets habituated to the aversive stimulus.

If we overuse an aversive method, our dog will probably become habituated to it. Once this occurs, he will be less motivated to respond to our commands, because he has become used to experiencing a certain level of pain.

At this point, increasing the force of our aversive stimulus may be necessary, and this will increase wear and tear on our dog. To avoid this possibility, apply the proper amount of force from the beginning (not too hard or too soft). The actual force needed will depend on the reason for the correction, and on the temperament of our dog.

It is best to get a professional trainer to show us the proper amount of force needed, so that we do not over-correct or under-correct our dog.

Dog walker standing next to sitting dog (3d art).
What do you think of aversive dog training?

Aversive methods are more visceral, and have a more pronounced effect, especially in the short term. However, as described above, pain based techniques are also risky and can increase aggression in our dogs. Pain will also increase stress and lower quality of life.

Does aversive dog training work?

It depends on what we mean by work.

If we are interested in providing a good quality of life for our dog, then it is best to apply reward training methods, which are safer and leads to a strong dog-human bond.

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Comments

  1. Louie says

    August 18, 2022 at 12:35 am

    I have a five-year-old German shepherd the weighs 128 pounds when she was a puppy at two years old she got attacked by a pitbull and tore her shoulder all up and now she is very aggressive towards all dogs and bicycle skateboards and any homeless person that walks by. How do I stop this

    Reply
  2. Petunia Dech says

    April 2, 2016 at 8:31 am

    We have two new puppies, they are now 3 months old. The problem is my boyfriend and I cannot agree on a method of training. My boyfriend does not believe in punishment. I however, think that when the dog does something really bad he/she should be punished. I do not want to scar my dogs, obviously. But I think isolation technique and sometimes a little light smack on the nose is okay. We also have a 4-5 years old rescue and he is a handful. I let my boyfriend discipline him, but I do not think his technique worked at all. The dog does whatever it wants. I do not want the same to happen with the puppies. I would welcome any suggestion.

    Reply
    • ike says

      December 10, 2017 at 6:52 pm

      my idea would to lower the amount of food the dogs get and take away some of their toys for a period of time.

  3. tera says

    April 30, 2012 at 11:57 am

    Nothing works for my dogs biting. When I come home home she gets excited and jumps up and bites at the same time. A few times she has drawn blood and she tries to lunge at my face most of the time. I’ve tried turning around to avoid her, trying to make her sit, doing the lip thing so that she bites herself, and beating her, but none of it helps. I don’t know what else to try.

    Reply
    • shibashake says

      May 2, 2012 at 7:57 pm

      Hello Tera,

      Two things that help with my dogs –
      1. Bite inhibition training
      http://shibashake.com/dog/bite-inhibition

      2. Short timeouts
      http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout

      Here are some other things I do to communicate with my puppy and stop bad behaviors.
      http://shibashake.com/dog/how-i-trained-my-husky-puppy

    • Hunter says

      February 8, 2013 at 3:03 am

      I trained two dogs to stop jumping which will probably stop the biting. All I did was anticipate the behavior and raise one leg so that when they jumped at me their chest hit my knee however hard they chose to jump. Softer jump, softer hit, etc. In a short time (and you won’t get it right in time every time) they stopped jumping because they were slamming up against me and it hurt them. I used no vocal stimulus and other than raising my knee ignored the behavior. It seemed like they didn’t blame me, but figured it was their jumping that was hurting them as they were basically slamming into me. I think vocal response included with this might give the idea you are intentionally striking them, but when you smile at them and they slam your knee they are a little confused and figure hey, maybe slamming into this person isn’t a great idea, slamming hurts.

      hope this helps someone

  4. regina says

    March 28, 2010 at 11:15 am

    victoria stilwell’s positive training works better in my opinion because shibas are intelligent and they dont do things unless they see that they get something out of it and the positive training helps them to associate good behavior with reward and praise.

    Reply
  5. shibashake says

    June 28, 2009 at 11:14 am

    Thanks Nancy 🙂
    Actually I started off with Cesar Millan’s methods and it did not work out well with my Shiba Inu. He is such a rogue dog – lol. Now I only use reward training.

    Reply
    • Hunter says

      February 8, 2013 at 3:07 am

      I think different approaches work with different dogs and with a Shiba gentle unyielding has give me the best results, but I’m a new adoptee of an older Shiba who has some good habits and some bad ones. So much still to learn.

      I think different dogs speak a little different language so to speak and Cesars works better with other dogs, the problem is that he works with such extreme cases that if you watch his shows and emulate that behavior you are giving a disproportional and misunderstood response to most dogs….

  6. shibashake says

    June 28, 2009 at 11:13 am

    lol Janetta – You are da best! 🙂 – but I still get first dibs on Daniel Craig!
    “From the look of that pic up there, I’d say Sephy doesn’t care for having his tummy rubbed! lol”
    Hahaha, yes he does look a bit fierce there. Actually he is grinning – I kid you not. When Sephy is truly pissed, he lets us know loud and clear 😀

    Reply
  7. Nancy's Niche says

    June 28, 2009 at 11:12 am

    Another good article as usual…Thanks for sharing the trainning tips and method used. One can’t go wrong following Cesar’s method and advice…

    Reply
    • Ally says

      April 25, 2018 at 2:26 pm

      Are you aware that almost if not ALL REPUTABLE VETERINARIAN ANIMAL BEHAVIORSTS AND HUMANS SOCIETIES AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS THAT ADVOCATE FOR DOGS are appalled by how unsafe techniques that aren’t backed by science and actually can do more harm than good? So no you actually can go very wrong following Caesar. Please I do not mean to offend, but there is so much awful advice confusing people, so I feel compelled to help educate. I read books giving me wrong training and I saw the deterioration in my dog, so I know feel very passionate about proper humane training techniques as even slightly aversive techniques can affect our dogs in negative ways. Please read leading experts in the industry such as Dr Ian Dunbar or the late Dr Sophia Yin!!’

  8. Janetta says

    June 28, 2009 at 11:11 am

    Hiya pretty lady 😉
    Doing a great job!
    From the look of that pic up there, I’d say Sephy doesn’t care for having his tummy rubbed! lol

    Reply

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