How to Train a Dog Using Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is also known as training an animal with consequences. There are both positive and negative consequences and with proper training, a dog knows what to expect. Although this type of training uses punishment as a way to get a dog to behave, the punishment doesn't inflict pain in any way. Operant conditioning is the humane way to train your dog.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Use positive reinforcement. Dogs respond to rewards for good behavior. Training with positive reinforcement serves to strengthen the behavior that produced the reward.
2. Follow up with negative reinforcement. Contrary to positive reinforcement, rather than praise the dog when he sits, pull up on the collar a bit when he doesn't sit. In other words, the dog feels the negative effect of disobeying the command.
3. Utilize punishment for unwanted behavior. By punishing a dog, the unwanted behavior diminishes. For instance, if you want to break your dog's habit of snatching food from the kitchen table, make a sharp noise when the dog is about to jump up onto the table. The loud noise along with a disapproving tone can reduce the unwanted behavior.
4. Practice extinction. Extinction means ignoring or not reinforcing a behavior and the behavior eventually going away. For example, if your dog whines every time you leave the house to the point you felt compelled to take your dog with you, ignore it. By ignoring the whining and leaving the dog, eventually the whining stops.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep in mind that operant conditioning is a humane way to train your dog. Don't inflict pain when pulling on the collar.
• As with any type of dog training, operant conditioning takes consistency and patience.
• When practicing extinction, the dog's behavior may intensify before it stops. If you ignore your dogs whining for example, it may get louder and longer. However, if you ignore the behavior, the dog eventually stops whining.