On many occasion when a dog acts in a manner that is not in line with the owner’s requirements, he is consider to have committed a misdemeanour and therefore should be punished or given a reprimand. However a dog understanding does not include blame or punishment, nor does it really include praise or reward. Man has rather fixed interpretation of the meaning of these expressions, which are possibly explain by these four foremost words that is so often used.
Lets look at these four expression words and its interpretation of them. The four words are Blame, Punishment, Praise and Reward. When we talk about blaming the dog for the actions or the misdemeanour, the understanding of the word blame, meaning to find fault with. The next word that follows is punishment. Punishment is interpreted as penalty inflicted on an offender. Praise is a warm approbation of something done. Reward is to recompense for service or merit.
If our interpretation of canine logic is to be accepted, the dog cannot be blamed or judged to be at fault for any action that is considered by the owner or members of the community to be undesirable. To blame the dog would be to divert the responsibility from the source. As the dog cannot be blame, there is no place for the application of the punishment at any time. The use of punishment as an expression when describing a human reaction to canine behaviour leaves room for misunderstanding and the resulting action can be incorrect.
Achieving desirable actions or reactions from a dog requires an understanding of human nature as well as one of canine psychology. It is important that the most appropriate phraseology be used when discussing canine behaviour or training. Usually new dogs’ owners as well as some long time dog owners who are not exposed or have learned to understand the behaviour of their pet has very low success rate in training their dogs.
The use of the word punishment for their pet is unpleasant and not appropriate. It has been found that the general use of this expression has deterimental effect. Praise should be the replacement for the use of punishment in training your dog. However, its misplaced use could surely be a hinderance rather than of help. Praise is a pleasant human reaction to a situation which pleases a dog whereas punishment is the result of blaming the offender for his action.
When we consider modifying a dog behaviour or carrying out the constructive and progressive training procedures, out thinking and interpretation must be base on our interpertation of canine logic. Usually a dog is never at fault for any action that is considered to be undesireable by its owner or members of the community. As soon as we blame the dog, we divert the responsibility from ourselves. To explain further, no dog asked to be bought into this world. He is the result of man’s approach to breeding, be it planned of accidental. No puppy or dog picks his owner; the owner has the final say as to whether he takes or keep a particular animal. Human beings controls the upbringing and training of a puppy. The end result is man’s doing. Any dog will do what is natural to him or he will act in acordance with the conditioning he has received during his life.
If a dog cannot be blamed, he cannot be punished, so what is the alternative? The alternative brings us to the philosophy of creating agreeable and disagreeable situation at the correct time to achieve desirable results. A pleasant human reaction at just the correct time will help to induce the desirable canine response. An unpleasant human reaction at the right moment can arrest an unacceptable canine activity. This may be called the aversion therapy. Therefore it is important to get some educated information when keeping a pet.