The Peoples' Wolf Podcast

Can Science be used to create a false narrative?

Episode Summary

A study has been published to show that positive reinforcement training causes less stress to dogs. The author of this article used the opportunity to make ridiculous assertions to spin the study to a presupposed position.

Episode Notes

Title: Does it Matter Whether Dog Training is Positive or Aversive?

Source: Stanley Coren https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/202301/does-it-matter-whether-dog-training-is-positive-or-aversive

A Study from 2003

Negative effects of positive reinforcement

Date: 01/02/2023

Summary: A study has been published to show that positive reinforcement training causes less stress to dogs. The author of this article used the opportunity to make ridiculous assertions to spin the study to a presupposed position.

Situation: The article starts with the following key points.

There is much controversy about the effectiveness of positive reward-based versus discipline-based dog training.
Dogs whose training involved punishment and compulsion show more tension-related behaviors and higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
When tested a month after force-based training, dogs still show a more negative, pessimistic emotional response toward learning new tasks.
A 2020 study by a team from the University of Porto tried to provide additional data by looking at how training method affects the psychological welfare of dogs being taught basic obedience commands.
The article claims, “Around the beginning of the 20th century, the first systematic dog training manuals were published. Some of the most influential were written by Konrad Most, who trained dogs for the Berlin police force and later for the German army.
The article says, “many other aversive, force-based training methods are available—and unfortunately, the effects of these methods have not been well-studied.”
By contrast, consider positive training, which involves rewarding a dog with a pleasant stimulus after it shows the desired behavior. Obviously, the most common form of reward involves food treats; however, positive dog trainers can also use verbal praise, petting the dog, or engage in a bit of play.
In dog classes, the punishing or confrontational techniques typically used to control dogs can include sharp leash corrections meant to cause discomfort, slapping the dog, applying physical force to pressure a dog into a submissive position, shouting, threatening stares, use of water sprays, grabbing the dog by the scruff of the neck, or physically yanking at the dog to force it into the desired position.
The author stated that “advocates” for “punishment based-training,” whoever they are and whatever that is, presume that canine misbehavior is rooted in the dog’s attempt to express social dominance over its owner.
“Advocates of such theories suggest that dog owners need to establish themselves as the "alpha" or "pack leader," using physical manipulations, threats, and intimidation in order to do so. The application of force is supposed to compel the dog to adopt a less challenging, more compliant, and subordinate attitude.

Problem - The Study

We finally get to the study.
The Study looked at 92 pet dogs.
There are seven different companion dog training programs in Porto, Portugal.
The specific behaviors being trained were fairly standard, including teaching the dog to sit, lie down, stay, come when called, and heel or walk on a loose leash.
The programs were divided into those that focused on mainly coercive interactions, those that used exclusively positive methods, or classes with a balanced mix of the two techniques.
According to the article, It is important to note that this study focused on the welfare of the dogs, specifically their emotional responses, and whether these emotional effects extended beyond the actual training sessions—not on the effectiveness of the training per se.
1. What is meant by the welfare of the dog? The dogs' emotions. not if the dog's behavior will cause them to lose their home or their lives.

Action

the animals received both a short-term and a long-term assessment.
For the short-term assessment, videos were taken of three of their training sessions to look for stress-related behaviors in the dogs, such as cringing, yelping, lip licking, panting, and so forth.
Saliva samples were taken to determine stress levels during training.
Samples were taken from each dog separately while relaxing at home (to establish a baseline) and from each dog after training sessions.
1. I would have liked to see samples taken before any training started.
These measures allowed the investigators to look at the level of cortisol, a hormone in the blood.
Most readers will find it unsurprising that the dogs in the aversive training classes showed more frequent stress-related behaviors, particularly panting, yawning, and lip licking. In addition, the dogs subjected to leash jerks, yelling, and other methods of force during their training had significantly increased cortisol levels compared to those with a more positive training experience.
1. Most readers will find it is telling the reader what to think.
2. How about the mixed training classes. Do they fall under “more positive training experiences?”
79 of them were brought back and trained for a new task.
They were taught to associate the presence of a bowl on one side of a room with a sausage snack, while if the bowl was located on the other side of the room, it never contained the treat.
The researchers varied the placement of the bowl to ambiguous locations to see how quickly the dogs would approach, looking for the treat.
This test is believed to measure optimism or pessimism on the part of the dog since a higher speed in the running to the bowl is interpreted to mean that the dog is anticipating a reward, whereas a slower speed signifies that the dog is more doubtful and has a more negative attitude toward the situation.
1. Did the dogs tell you what their movement meant to them?
2. Is the slower movement possibly indicating impulse control, discernment, or thought?
Many people might find it surprising that a month after training classes, there were still effects associated with the training methods.
1. I hope not. There should be effects month after or the training was not effective. If a dog could not control itself around sausage before training, could during training, but could not a few months after training, what is the purpose of training?
It seems as though a negative emotional pallor has descended upon the dogs who received the aversive and force-based training compared to their compatriots who received positive training. Those aversively trained dogs simply are not expecting anything good to come due to their behaviors and choices.
1. Seems to who?
2. How does the author know what the dogs are expecting? I do not see the speed at which a dog approaches food to indicate their expectations.

Result

"Our study points out that the [psychological] welfare of companion dogs trained with aversive-based methods appears to be at risk."

Commentary/pushback

What is discipline-based dog training?
1. I think it is important to define “discipline.” Because sometimes people get lazy with their word selection. According to Merriam-webster dictionary.
  1. control gained by enforcing obedience or order
  2. Orderly or prescribed conduct, or pattern of behavior
  3. SELF-CONTROL
  4. PUNISHMENT
  5. training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character.
  6. a field of study,
  7. a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity
Maybe I am wrong, but I think the meaning of the word discipline aligns with any dog training style.
In my experience, a small group of extremists in the dog training world has controversy in their own minds and circles. The “controversy” does not go beyond that small but loud minority.
The tests did not take into account the natural disposition of the dog and its stress levels prior to the start of the dog’s training.
Notice that the author change the terms from “discipline-based training to force-based training.
1. What is force-based training, and who is practicing that in 2023?
I have trained dogs professionally for a while. I have heard Konrad Most before, but he does not greatly influence modern dog trainers. I have not met a dog trainer who talks about his training as an influence on their training.
War dogs and police dogs have very stressful jobs. So do soldiers. We can expect some stress in training those dogs, and stress is not a negative.
What does “well-studied” mean when referring to the use of aversives in dog/animal training? I know that there are studies that prove that aversives are effective in the training of animals, including human beings.
Positive training? Positive training is a weird term. The Article refers to positive reinforcement training, but it calls it positive training. I have never seen anyone practice PR with our also practicing Negative punishment. Let's talk about that a bit.
1. Key concepts of operant conditioning
In dog training classes, the punishing or confrontational techniques typically used to control dogs can include sharp leash corrections meant to cause discomfort, slapping the dog, applying physical force to pressure a dog into a submissive position, shouting, threatening stares, use of water sprays, grabbing the dog by the scruff of the neck, or physically yanking at the dog to force it into the desired position.
I do not believe people are using punishment to teach dogs new commands. Punishment is always used to stop unwanted behavior. While reinforcement is always used to get a behavior to happen more frequently.
Who thinks canine misbehavior is rooted in the dog’s attempts to express social dominance? I think that most misbehavior is caused by basic misunderstands between the species. It is not personal.
What does it mean to be an “alpha/pack leader?”
1. How does one establish themselves as a leader in the family?
  1. Provide and Control resources.
  2. Control the timing of events.
  3. Control of the environment.

The title of the article is, Does it Matter Whether Dog Training is Positive or Aversive? I don’t think the article provides a satisfactory answer to the question. The author is concerned with the emotional well-being of the animal.

Closing

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