# [B]Progressive Reinforcement Training Manifesto[/B]



## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

4) Socializing and teaching an animal to cope with his environment using reinforcement.


You can use Progressive Reinforcement Training to socialize and teach an animal to cope with his environment by letting him experience low or non-stressful situations in which the animal is likely to succeed and earn rewards for desirable behavior. You can then increase difficulty and distractions as the animal succeeds, with the goal of creating a confident well-adjusted animal. 



An example: Teaching an animal to be relaxed and calm while being handled or restrained by using reinforcement. Pavlov’s dog was trained to have a new emotional response to a bell because the sound of a bell was followed by food. You can train your dog to enjoy handling, very simply put, by touching the dog and then feeding the dog a treat, and increase the invasiveness as the dog remains unstressed by the situation. If the dog were to shy away, the trainer would have to go back a step to where the dog was comfortable (Classical Conditioning). 


Another example: Feeding a dog a reward for remaining relaxed and calm around an exciting situation (perhaps a road with loud traffic), first from a distance and then as the dog succeeds from closer and closer. If the dog were to become too excited or stressed, the trainer could go back a step in the training process until the dog was successful. 


5) Using a marker to train, whether it be a clicker, some other noise-maker, your voice or touch, or a visual marker. Or, on the other hand, not using a marker, and instead for example reinforcing an animal by feeding a treat directly to his mouth.


A marker can be used to pinpoint behavior. It tells an animal that what he is doing at that exact moment in time will win him reinforcement. 


For example: If a dog sits, the trainer can click as the dog is sitting, and then feed the dog a treat. Or the trainer can say, “Yes!” in a positive tone as the dog is sitting and then feed the dog a treat or release the dog to get a toy or go out the door. 


Reinforcing behavior is also possible without using a marker. For example, you can feed a dog a treat for looking at another dog to change his emotional response to the other dog (Classical Conditioning). You can also reinforce your dog for calmly lying around the house or outside by tossing him a treat between his paws while he is not expecting the treat and he will be more likely to repeat the behavior in the future.



6) Employing humane, effective, respectful training based on the latest scientific evidence.



A commitment to Progressive Reinforcement Training means strictly following all of the above principles - not just in training sessions, but during 100% of the time spent with an animal.



Progressive Reinforcement Training does not mean:


1) The intentional use of physical or psychological intimidation.


Using your voice, touch, body language, a device, or the environment to intimidate an animal for the purpose of continuing, initiating or ending the animal’s behavior.


Examples: staring at an animal, intentionally leaning over him, poking, jerking, shocking, squirting with water, startling with a noise, or using your voice in an intimidating way to suppress behavior (saying “no” or “eh!”).



2) Intentionally disregarding an animal’s stress levels or signals.



Intentionally putting an animal in overly stressful situations in which he cannot cope, rather than exposing the animal in a way that he is under his threshold (the animal can make choices and cope).


Example: Forcing an animal to meet a stranger while the animal is offering a wide range of stress and avoidance signals. 


Example: Dragging an animal across a surface he is frightened of and refuses to cross, instead of teaching the animal to feel confident and calm crossing the surface using Counter Conditioning (rewarding the animal for choosing to take steps across the floor until the animal is confident to cross calmly on his own) 



3) Holding selfish or uncompassionate goals for your training.


Intentionally putting an animal at risk for physical or emotional damage to satisfy ones own interests. 


A commitment to Progressive Reinforcement means never intentionally using the intimidatory tactics above – never in training sessions, and never during any other time spent with an animal.


Why refrain from using Physical or Psychological Intimidation? 



For scientific, moral, and ethical reasons. Using these forms of conditioning can produce unwanted side effects in addition to the basic trauma they do to an animal. 


The many problems with using physical or psychological intimidation:


1) Without perfect timing, intensity, and consistency, the “training” amounts to nothing more than abuse.
2) The animal learns to avoid the punisher in order to indulge in undesirable behavior.
3) These techniques can cause irreversible emotional damage to the animal.
4) The punishment can increase stress hormones, arousal, and aggression.
5) Animals can habituate to the punishment – meaning that the intensity of the punishment must keep increasing to have any effect as the animal learns to endure it. 
6) You cannot change an animal’s basic emotional response to find children, adults, or other animals (or anything for that matter) reinforcing by using intimidation; you can only suppress the dog’s punished behaviors.
7) Intimidation can cause dogs to hide their warning signs before attempting to bite.
8) Dogs trained with punishment can feel trapped by their handlers, since the decision to leave a ‘stay’ or to leave the handler’s side (to escape from a bothersome child, for example) can cause punishment. Animals who feel they have no escape tend to bite rather than move away.
9) Intended intimidation can actually increase the behavior you wish to extinguish, as intimidation involves giving a form of attention to an animal.
10) The presence of the punisher becomes less reinforcing for the animal. If you punish your dog using intimidation, it is harder 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 as the dog increasingly associates you with punishment rather than reward. 
11) Dogs who have been trained with physical or psychological intimidation do not offer behaviors on their own as readily when asked, making complex behaviors difficult to train
12) Handlers who use intimidation as punishment will punish their animals more readily in the future as punishment is rewarding to the handlers themselves (they get the result they wanted- hitting a dog made it stop barking, so they will be more likely to hit the dog in the future). In other words, using physical or psychological intimidation causes one’s own behavior patterns to change.


In conclusion, Progressive Reinforcement Training is not a permissive form of training. It requires providing consequences to all behaviors. The trainer takes on the role of a benevolent leader and guide using these ethical and scientifically based methods.

Progressive Reinforcement Manifesto


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Thank you - I am not there yet (I am guilty of using an intimidating voice, even though I know it is not particularly effective...), but this is certainly something to aspire to.


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## Chagall's mom (Jan 9, 2010)

I would do a Vulcan mind meld*** with Emily Larlham in a heartbeat! :becky: Thanks for your post, *Poodlebeguilded*.
*
*_*__On the sci-fi show Star Trek, the Vulcan mind meld was a telepathic link between two individuals, allowing for the exchange of thoughts, in essence allowing the participants to become one mind._


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## MaryEdwards (Oct 29, 2012)

Your post is very much appreciated! I have looked at books to purchase, but here it is so succinctly put for an armature like me. IMHO


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## rebecca48 (Jan 2, 2022)

I have a standard poodle who is wonderful but out of control on walks. IF he sees another dog, he lunges and pulls. Since he is half my weight, He can easily pull me around. I am recovering from shoulder surgery and his pulling is painful to me. I am so frustrated. I love him but am afraid I need to find him another family, which would break my heart. Please help!!


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

rebecca48 said:


> I have a standard poodle who is wonderful but out of control on walks. IF he sees another dog, he lunges and pulls. Since he is half my weight, He can easily pull me around. I am recovering from shoulder surgery and his pulling is painful to me. I am so frustrated. I love him but am afraid I need to find him another family, which would break my heart. Please help!!


This is an older thread. I'm locking it, as only one of the original participants is still active on the forum. I'd suggest opening a fresh thread, so we can get some new eyes on the problem. Tell us a bit about what you have tried so far.


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