Reinforcing the Positive

I must admit I was pretty skeptical at first. Well, maybe downright pessimistic would be a more accurate description of my attitude and expectations. Would you believe totally negative almost to the point of open rebellion?

When my wife approached me several weeks ago with the idea of taking our dog, Abby, to obedience training, the thought of spending six consecutive Wednesday evenings in a room full of undisciplined, overly enthusiastic or perhaps aggressive canines did not exactly warm the cockles of my heart.

Surely, I reasoned, there must be a way to get out of this onerous chore. The first excuse that came to mind was that formal training may have been helpful several months earlier, but was no longer necessary.

After all, Abby had finally stopped eating the baseboards, making holes in the linoleum, and urinating on the floor. If we had not sought professional help back then when she was destroying the house, then why did we need it now when her remaining bad habits were so mild in comparison?

So what if we could not take her for a walk without being dragged in whatever direction she wanted to go. Big deal if she kept putting her paws up on our arms and legs while we were eating or watching television. The resulting scratches almost always healed in a few days without leaving permanent scars.

For several days I tried everything I could think of to change her mind, but my wife once again proved to be very persistent. Suffice it to say I finally ran out of excuses and agreed to go along with them to the series of classes.

Despite my capitulation I still had some serious concerns. There were going to be several other dogs there. If we couldn't control Abby's enthusiasm in familiar surroundings with just the two of us present, what was it going to be like when she was suddenly placed in the same room with five or six other dogs?

When the appointed hour arrived for the first session, I was about as excited at going to class as I had been about getting my last root canal, but it was too late to back out at that point. The only thing to do was to put on my best game face and take it like a man.

While it would be dishonest of me to suggest I thoroughly enjoyed each and every moment of the process, I must admit it has been a much better experience than I had anticipated. After just five weeks the training is really starting to pay off. Abby has proven to be a very fast learner. We are spending much more time with her and are enjoying it more than ever before.

But the biggest surprise is that I have probably learned even more than Abby.

Our instructor's philosophy is based entirely on positive reinforcement. Rather than correcting or punishing bad behavior, we learned how to exercise control by praising and rewarding the desired behavior. As simple and logical as this approach sounds, I found that my natural inclination was to concentrate mainly on criticizing negative behavior.

It occurred to me that parents might be well served by applying this same philosophy to raising their children. After seeing how quickly and effectively positive reinforcement worked on our dog, I could easily envision how this approach would work better than the "just say no" approach I found myself using all too frequently.

With our first grandchild due in September, I just may have an opportunity to find out first-hand if positive reinforcement works as well with children as it does on pets.

Sometimes you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Originally published in the Carroll County Times on July 09, 2004.