Punishment’s Effect on the Trainer
Punishment’s Effect on the Trainer
A young girl with long hair sits on a bench solemnly looking at her feet. Text says "PUNISHMENT can be hard on the punisher."
I’m a crossover trainer. That means that I learned how to train dogs using aversive stimuli. Knowing me now, you might not believe that my mentor was someone that thought of using food as cheating, and she went so far as to call it “evil.” When it comes to using coercive methods and tools (choke chains, prong collars, shock collars, etc.), I am not uneducated in their use.
When I was using these aversive tools, it was a constant threat. It was "behave or else...” Behave, or else I’ll choke you. Behave, or else I’ll hit you. Behave, or else I’ll scare you. My brain was trained to constantly watch my dogs for the “wrong” things, so that I could apply aversive stimuli. I started to see “misbehavior” in almost everything my dogs did. I started to get completely embarrassed if my dogs were anything but perfect statues or robots. I became unable to truly enjoy time with my dogs because I was so worried about the “wrong” things they were doing.
I remember one time before going into a show ring, my dog was pulling on the leash ever so slightly. I took it as “naughtiness.” I jerked on her collar and forced her to go into the ring. She performed dutifully, though her movement was a little off (which of course embarrassed me and made me angry). As soon as we exited the ring, my poor dog emptied her bladder (it was an outdoor show ring). This poor dog wasn’t being naughty when she pulled on the leash; she had to pee! I choked her in response to her having a very normal bodily need. She suppressed her needs so I could win a ribbon. I think about this interaction a lot, and I wish I could apologize to my dog, who is long gone.
Note: for those rolling their eyes thinking that I should have taken my dog to potty beforehand, I did; she apparently didn’t need to go in the 10 minutes before.
The dogs I ow now are reaping the benefit of my continued education. Now I focus on what my dogs do right. Now it’s “behave and then...” Behave, and then you’ll get your treat. Behave, and then you’ll get your toy. Behave, and then you’ll get to sniff that tree. This no doubt feels better for the learner, but I feel better too. I feel happier about my dogs. My brain is getting trained over and over and over to look for things that I like. I truly enjoy my dogs’ company these days. When they do “wrong things” I usually giggle because it is funny. I’ve also become a lot more accepting of myself and my own mistakes. Everything feels easier this way.
Behave or else, or behave and then - which do you want to be?
P.S. If you’d like help learning to be “behave and then,” we can help! Send us a message. :)