Negative and Dangerous Effects Of Punishment

Today we are going with a very important and little talked about topic for those at home: punishment!

By definition, punishment is anything that reduces the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated. There are two types of punishment:

Negative punishment, even though it sounds worse, is applied by taking away something the dog likes to reduce the likelihood that he will do it again. Example: if your dog jumps up to people to greet them and you stand still ignoring him, he will stop jumping up because he has associated that by jumping up he does not get what he wants, which is your attention.

But the punishment we are going to talk about in this post is the so-called positive punishment. Don't be fooled by the word positive, it doesn't imply anything good, just that it is present. Positive punishment is applied by adding something that the animal does not like, thus decreasing the likelihood that he will do it again. Example: shock collar every time he barks.

The use of punishment or other aversives, force, coercion or physical corrections to change an animal's behavior is common among most dog owners and many famous trainers.

Some punishments may seem harmless, such as yelling at the dog, saying no or spraying the cat with water if it climbs on the counter, but they are not. It is also common to apply more severe punishments such as pulling on the leash when wearing a prong collar, hitting or beating, among other methods that we have already discussed in the last two posts.

Punishing may seem effective in some situations depending on each animal, but you have to know that it can have very detrimental effects. In this post we are going to see the negative effects of punishment one by one:

1.It is very difficult to apply it just at the right moment. For the animal to understand that he has done something wrong, the punishment has to be applied at the precise moment he is doing it.

If it is two minutes later it is useless. And this is when you will think that your dog knows what he has done and when you show it to him he looks guilty, but he is simply giving you calm signals because he notices you are angry. If he hadn't done it and you acted the same way you would see the same “guilty” signs.

2.Punishing can strengthen the undesired behavior. That is, if the animal is not punished every time, the times it is not punished it is being rewarded. In psychology, intermittent reinforcement is the most effective way to learn a behavior. The animal knows that the reward will come but does not know when, so it will keep trying until it does, and it will. It is somewhat comparable to slot machine addicts.

3.The intensity of the punishment must be sufficiently high. For the punishment to be effective it has to be strong enough the first time, otherwise he will get used to it and the same intensity will not work the next time.

4.Punishment causes physical harm when administered at a high intensity. For example, spike or choke collars, apart from the pain they inflict, can damage the trachea, vision (by increasing cerebral and consequently ocular pressure), back, joints, among other injuries.

5.Punishment can cause many individuals to become extremely fearful. Some punishments will not cause physical harm and may not seem severe, but may cause the animal to become fearful, and this fear may generalize to other contexts. For example, dogs wearing the electric or citronella collar may react with fear to any sound that resembles the warning sound of the shock or spray, such as a kitchen timer with an alarm.

6. Punishment encourages aggressive behavior. Those animals in which the punishment does not work immediately will make an effort to avoid the punishment to the point of becoming aggressive if necessary. In animals that already exhibit aggressive behavior, it will encourage them to react more intensely aggressively.

Punishing puts the person applying the punishment or anyone nearby at the time of the punishment at risk of being bitten or attacked.

7.Punishing inhibits behaviors, including those that warn of biting.

If an animal is fear-aggressive and force is used to punish these fear reactions, it will make the dog more fearful while masking his signs that he is fearful. When he can no longer suppress those signs, he will suddenly act with more intense aggression and fewer warning signs that he is going to bite. Result: you have a dog that will now attack without warning. Another common example is to punish him for peeing. He will learn that he has to do it when you are not there.

8.Punishing can lead to making bad associations with the person who implements it or with the environment in which it occurs. This is one of the most dangerous consequences. Example: you give your dog a tug to keep him away from the dog that is coming; he will end up associating that seeing other dogs is bad. Another example: you give him a cake in the park and there happens to be a small child nearby; he might associate that the presence of children is an indicator that something negative will happen for him.

9.Punishing does not teach the correct behavior. Punishing does not address the fact that the unwanted behavior occurs because it has not been taught well before and because it has been reinforced, either intentionally or unintentionally. Punishing also does not give an alternative behavior to teach the dog what is correct or what we want him to do instead of what we do not like.

Also, although at first glance it may seem very effective it does not treat the cause of the behavior, it only covers up the symptoms. Result: we have an unpredictable dog, as we have already seen in point 7.

10.What do you punish when you punish your dog? You don't punish behaviors, you punish emotions!!!!

ACCORDING TO YOU, you punish:	ACCORDING TO YOUR DOG, you punish:
Barking	Anxiety
Biting	Fear
Destructive behaviors	Anxiety
Humping	Stress

*Chart edited from convivirconperro.

11.Punishing can induce learned helplessness, as it fosters a helpless dog that dares not try anything for fear of failure.

This is a psychological condition in which the individual learns to believe that they have no control over the situation and that nothing they do will work to get them out of it. It is a state of depression and passivity in which they cannot learn, nullifying the person or animal that suffers from it. It is a very serious state.

A well-known example is the chained elephants that believe they cannot break the chain because they never could when they were little and stopped trying.

12.Deteriorate the relationship with your dog. Communication and trust are key to successful coexistence.

Punishment is totally unnecessary. You can have an obedient dog without using force and without causing fear, pain or anxiety in the dog. The use of positive reinforcement instead of punishment has been proven to be the most effective way to create a strong bond between dog and owner, and also to reduce the opportunities for aggression in the dog. It is the only way for your dog to trust you and be confident.

Now that you have seen how difficult, if not impossible, it is to apply punishment correctly and all the negative effects it entails, you will surely think twice before punishing.

So what should you do?

Encourage the behaviors you want, and ignore and minimize the attention he receives for undesirable behaviors, without resorting to punishment. Also try to anticipate if you see he is about to make a mistake.

Help me spread the word so that everyone knows why not to punish to educate an animal!

A dog's word,

Belen