Punishment" the same as correction...?

dylanalexander55

This came up yesterday about a young puppy that was biting (to the point of drawing blood) on another pup. I said that the person should stop the pup doing that by correcting it, and someone else said that if you "punish" the pup like that it would turn out aggressive...

So,,,,,is that true? I have no experience on being around groups of pups and how they develop, but it didn't seem right to me to let the b*tch pup carry on attacking the other to the point of it bleeding and the other always scurring off. According to the asker, she wa doing it all the time. Like a "bully" , she said.

These dogs were 10 weeks old. So, can you correct puppies that young? Or does it have a detrimental effect on them? And what about the other one, the one getting contantly attacked when the owner did nothing to stop it, what effect does it have on that dog?

zaksmum

When my dog was a puppy and play biting my older dog, he did draw blood at times because his puppy teeth were so sharp.
If I saw him doing it I'd stop him, saying "NO!" loudly and pointing to the bite saying "What's that? No!"

He very soon got the message and realised he wasn't allowed to play bite like that. My older dog was tolerant of it to a point but even she had her limits, and she'd certainly let him know when she'd had enough.

It's like all puppy training - you have to teach them what's acceptable and what's not. So of course you need to correct them, which can always be done verbally, and using a reward system when the puppy cottons on and gets it right.

There's no way I'd allow a situation where one pup's dominant and bullying another which tends to become the victim all the time.

VitaK

You never ever punish a pet. It is unaccepable.

A puppy can be taught that certain actions are acceptable and some are not. Use the tone of your voise and body language to reward and teach only.

pawsies

I think you have to correct them, the 'bully' gets away with it and sees how fun it is otherwise and will continue to do it as it is reinforced by the other pup (through yelps).

I would encourage the use of toys between the two dogs so they are working together and not using each other's body parts.
For example initiate a tug game or throw a squeaky toy.

Puppies are so influenced by the early stages that it is important to get it right now. If you can get the 'bully' fixated on toys or treats now then when you walk it in the future you'll have something they prefer to do rather than chase other dogs. I'd rather have a dog obsessed with a ball than a dog obsessed with pinning and mugging other dogs.

Oliver14

VitaK wrote: »

You never ever punish a pet. It is unaccepable.

A puppy can be taught that certain actions are acceptable and some are not. Use the tone of your voise and body language to reward and teach only.

No matter what anyone says everyone punishes their dog at some point. Raising your voice showing you are unhappy with a certain action. That is punishing a dog.

I'm a great believer in Positive training methods but anyone who says they never negatively re-enforce are either telling porkies or deluding themselves. Even refusing to acknowledge a behaviour (frequently used in training) is a negative reinforcement.

VitaK

Both punishment and negative reinforcement can have undesireble consequences such as causing fear and agression. When teaching a pet it is better to avoid these techniques or use them cautiously.

I think we have different meaning of the word punishment.