Posted by One common mistake I see when it comes to strengthening skills is handlers telling their dogs “no” over and over again when they’re not getting what they expected, while never rewarding the dog for correct behavior.
Example
Visualize the following startline stay situation:
Dog in a down position crawls a little forward, very excited.
Handler (she’s not supposed to break the stay!): “No!”
Dog stops and freezes in a down.
Handler (she has to start from the original position or she’ll learn she can always crawl a little and stop): “No! Go back!”
Dog moves back a little, but not all the way.
Handler (it has to be exactly the same spot!): “No, back!”
Dog hesitantly moves back to the original position.
Handler: “Target!”
Dog stares at the handler.
Handler: “No! Target!”
Dog looks at the first obstacle. Handler releases the dog to run the course.
Hmm…
There was not a single “yes” in this exchange.
Dog’s perspective
Let’s look at the situation from the dog’s perspective.
She’s excited – awesome, we love excitement for the game! Don’t we?
She gets a “No!”…
Out of all the possible choices, like “don’t look at me” (which is not only a valid choice but something the handler expects just a moment later), she correctly figures out they meant she should down! Great. And it’s so hard because she’s excited (great!) but she DOES. Perfect – that’s what the handler asked for after all…
“No! Go back!”
Not sure what the “no” was for, but she knows what “back” means so she DOES.
“No, back!”
Now she’s confused. She did go back but got a “no,” so hesitantly she tries to do what she thinks “back” means again and moves back.
“Target!”
Again, no confirmation that moving back was what the handler wanted. Maybe it doesn’t mean what she thought it means anymore? Confused, she stares at the handler.
“No, target!”
Stressed, she hesitantly looks at the first obstacle, hoping at least “target” still means what it usually meant.
Handler releases the dog.
Over just a couple of seconds, we managed to punish the dog for correct choices multiple times and confuse her about what’s expected of her. The question is – how is this experience supposed to teach the dog a solid stay when she was never actually rewarded for staying? What it certainly does is rehearse this broken startline cycle.
Better alternative
How could this situation look much better?
Dog in a down position crawls a little forward, very excited.
Handler: “Almost! Go back!”
Dog moves back a little.
Handler: “Yes, good girl! A little more, back!”
Dog moves back a little more.
Handler: “Target!”
Dog looks at the first obstacle.
Handler: “Yes, awesome!”
Handler releases the dog to run the course.
Better? I think so.
Not only is the exchange much more pleasant, but the dog gets rewarded for her efforts. Now the handler can see that the dog is listening and following the commands. If the stay is simply a little too difficult and the dog needs more help with it, it will be much easier to notice. It might be the handler rushed and never proofed it correctly (most handlers…) – then going back to saying “Yes” and treating to reinforce the stay is the best solution. Or it might be that the anticipation of the release cue is just too much (some high-drive dogs) – then there are other methods to deal with that. But rehearsing that broken cycle of “no’s” is not one of them.
“No” is not a training method. It only tells a dog they did something wrong, not what to do instead. When we’re frustrated, we sometimes default to “no’s,” which is why it’s crucial to make a plan when we’re calm and thinking clearly. Think about what repeatedly causes you to say “no” to your dog. Can you turn those situations into “yes” opportunities and show your dog an alternative behavior you can reward? If you use “no” as a negative marker – do you remember to acknowledge the things your dog did correctly?