A post in which I share a few great links

First an update for a reader. The photo above is Liam, one of our K-9 Corrections puppies. He and Levi are doing very well and are getting neutered next week. This means they will be available for adoption soon. FMI contact the Humane Society of Knox County at 207-594-2200. Note: I am NOT in charge of the adoption process.

Now here are some interesting or informative links: This is why you should learn to read pet food labels: EPA Document proves euthanised pets may be in pet food. Yes this is pretty awful. Arent our pets worth a few extra dollars to buy food that is at least free of contaminants? At the very least dont we respect our passed on pets more than using them as dog food? I could see it if we had no choice but we do. It is shades of Soylent Green for sure. (I may be dating myself with this reference.) FMI on this subject check out the book "Food pets die for" by Ann Martin. While I disagree with that authors thoughts on raw diets, the info on how to read pet food labels is excellent. And this is not new info, it has been discussed in the past on other blogs as well.

Then a fabulous article by fellow trainer and friend about how we communicate to our dogs through unintentional cues.

Here is a story about a wildlife attack on 2 people. This is exactly why we need to be careful of all wildlife acting strangely. (and get our pets vaccinated for rabies to keep them safe)

A shout out and congrats to Heidi and Joel on opening their SECOND LOCATION of the Loyal Biscuit in Belfast. (Squeeee!!) And thanks to Prudence for blogging about it for me to be able to share here.

And for something completely different, for fun I give you this: http://youtu.be/i9iq9gdeIE4

Enjoy!!

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Here are a few reasons why one shouldn’t use Positive Punishment

Positive Punishment is defined as adding anything that will decrease a behavior (this could mean anything from saying “no!”, “eh eh”, or using physical Positive Punishment- choking, shocking, kicking, smacking etc)

Here are a few reasons why one shouldn’t use Positive Punishment:


1- Without perfect timing, intensity and consistency, the intended positive punishment actually becomes abuse.
2- The dog learns to avoid the punisher in order to do undesirable behavior.
3- It can cause irreversible emotional damage to the dog or human, even irreversible changes in the brain.
4- Positive Punishment is scientifically proven to increase stress hormones, arousal and aggression.
5- Animals habituate to positive punishment – meaning the intensity will have to keep increasing.
6- You cannot make children, dogs or anything for that matter reinforcing for a dog using Positive Punishment, you can only suppress the behaviors punished.
7- Positive Punishment causes dogs to hide their warning signs before a bite.
8- Dogs trained with punishment feel trapped when with owners, as leaving a ‘stay’ or leaving the owners side to escape from a child can cause punishment. Dogs that feel they have no escape tend to bite rather than move away.
9- Intended punishment can actually INCREASE the behavior you wished to extinguish. As attention was provided.
10- - The punisher becomes less reinforcing to be around for the dog. If you use punishment with your dog, there is no way to compete with the reinforcement value of other things in the environment. Your dog will find other stimuli in the environment more reinforcing than you because the dog has a history of punishment with being near you.
11- Dogs who are punished do not offer behaviors as readily, so they are harder to teach new obedience behaviors, sports or tricks.
12- People who use positive punishment will punish more readily in the future as it is positively reinforcing to use. Using punishment causes ones own behavior patterns to change towards dogs and people. Some people will find that they cannot stop using positive punishment even if they want to, and will need to seek help to change their behavior.

-Emily Larlham

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