There are a couple of problems associated with using punishment to teach a puppy not to bite.  The first problem is that it's unnecessary.  I know that we've all been taught over and over and over that we should hit a puppy with our fingers, newspapers, etc., but it's unnecessary, and whenever you punish a puppy unnecessarily, you reduce the amount of trust that the puppy has for you, and that's a ghost that can haunt you for the rest of your life.  A lot of people think, "My dog's just not that smart because he can't do such-and-so."  But when somebody else works with that dog, he does it and does it well.  That's because a dog that has experienced corporal punishment as a training method will not be as willing to try new things and will not throw himself into a tough learning problem with the same enthusiasm.

 

Everything we teach a dog modifies his basic instincts.  To get a dog to trust you instead of trusting his basic instincts is a process called conditioning.  If a dog wants to bark and lunge at the mailman and you want him to sit quietly and wait for the mailman to pass, you must condition the dog. 

 

Think of jumping out of an airplane to go skydiving or to perform a military operation.  Do your instincts tell you to jump, or have you already been conditioned to trust the pilot, jumpmaster, parachute, parachute packers, and/or commanders?  Sometimes you can get someone to jump out of fear, but it's actually less damaging to the person to use conditioning.  For example, you can do practice parachute rolls, have classes, make tandem jumps, use a drag line (I forget what they really call it) that opens his chute for him the first few times, etc.  Each element builds a net of trust so that the parachutist is jumping into a net of trust rather than jumping for fear of retaliation.

 

In Roman times, the soldiers had to fight because they knew they would be murdered by the commander if they didn't.  So that works, too.  But which way do you prefer for teaching your dog? It's a matter of personal choice.

 

The Monks of New Skete used to recommend alpha rolls (where you roll the puppy onto its back to punish unwanted behavior), but came out against them later and said that they wished they had never done so.  I believe that Jan Fennell addresses this in her book, The Dog Whisperer, and I know for sure that Roger Abrantes explains it in Dog Language: An Encyclopedia of Canine Behavior. 

 

By the way, gently rolling your puppy onto his back during cuddle time or to do a temperament test is NOT the same as an alpha roll, which is swift, powerful, and forced on the dog.

 

As Roger Abrantes explains, most people are a little confused about the timing and purpose of the alpha roll.  While they constantly see dogs on their backs while playing or fighting with another dog, they generally fail to notice that one dog has chosen to roll over on his back -- the so-called alpha did not force him to roll over. 

 

Abrantes goes on to explain that once in awhile an alpha dog will, indeed, roll another dog onto his back.  But when he does so, he kills that dog.  Most dog conflicts, even the ones that look absolutely horrific and spill blood, never get to this point.  While a lot of damage might be done during a dog fight, it is generally surface damage and not life-threatening.  That is because all leaders realize that killing another pack mate during a dispute is a waste of a hunting partner.  The alpha would have to be on his last nerve to actually perform an alpha roll, and it is meant to be lethal. 

 

So if you want your puppy to be absolutely petrified that you will kill it, please by all means use alpha rolls.  What might be even worse is performing an alpha roll and not following through by killing your puppy.  This might just teach the puppy that you are an ineffective leader incapable of truly following through with the designated discipline.

 

Don't get me wrong: I'm sure that millions of people have performed alpha rolls and not damaged their animals for life.  It is truly amazing how much bungling on our part dogs can handle without becoming completely psychotic.  While they have no way to physically speak words to us in our language, we are capable of studying and learning their body language.  So it would seem in our better interest to actually study and learn, knowing that bridging the communication gap is a huge part of getting the dog to obey.  How can we punish a dog for a behavior that might actually be meant to communicate something to us?

 

I was in the shelter one time and saw a dog raise its paw and touch the leg of the lady that was adopting it.  The lady promptly reprimanded the dog and smacked it lightly a few times.  Alarmed, I told the lady that the dog was trying to tell her something and showed her how to teach the dog to keep all four paws on the floor.  She was completely disgusted and gave me a murder one look.  This lady, this angel who was adopting the dog and saving its life, had completely ignored the point that the raised paw is a reconciliatory gesture. The dog was trying to defer to her, "make nice" to her, yet she was punishing it for doing so.  It made me sick to my stomach, but I had to butt out and realize that this lady did not ask for my advice and did not want it. Chances are, the adoption will take and the dog will live happily ever after.  What a shame that the dog will be misunderstood a good deal of the time for its whole life. 

 

Let's learn about body language so we stop making the mistakes that make our dogs miserable.  Do you want to read an excellent book on body language?  I suggest How to Speak Dog by Stanley Coren.

 

I'm glad that Karen's experience with trying the alpha roll went well.  For most families, it will probably go fine.  It doesn't teach the dog what you WANT it to do in a given situation -- only instruction can do that.  Punishment can only deter a dog from exhibiting unwanted behavior. 

 

I like to teach the dogs what to do and reinforce them for doing the right thing.  It is faster than punishing unwanted behavior and then trying to go back later and teach them what you want them to do.  But people have been punishing their dogs since time immemorial, and it works to deter behavior. I taught people how to punish their dogs with leash corrections for many years, and it really does work.  But when you start learning how to reinforce your dog with positive reinforcement, you can get your dog to do anything it is capable of learning.  Go to www.dogdance.net and click on English, and click on Video Clips and you will see what I mean.

 

I want to make it clear that this in no way is meant to be a rail against Karen.  She has an amazing ability to train animals and has proven it time after time after time. She's a humane person that loves everybody and shares her love generously.  Her use of the rap on the nose and the alpha roll worked great in this one situation, and she pours all kinds of time and attention on her dogs other than punishment.  Maybe that is the key.  She works with them often and showers all kinds of praise on them, so they are not getting a steady diet of punishment, punishment, punishment. 

 

Many people who use punishment are not this even-handed.  For example, someone might scream, "SHUT UP!!" at their dogs and the dogs will be so startled that they really do shut up for a little while.  But then they get right back into the barking.  So the person repeats the screaming, and the dogs quiet down for awhile and then start up again.  I feel that punishment actually becomes addicting to the punisher because it seems to work so well in the short run.  But for those of us who rehabilitate dogs, we see how just a few simple lessons can help the dog's "light bulb" go off and how good behavior becomes very consistent after that.  In fact, the dogs welcome the knowledge of what they are supposed to do. They are relieved because they are no longer afraid, and they are more confident because they are competent and they know it.

 

Karen also said, "you can reinforce her good (non-biting) behaviour with the click and she will learn when she stops biting that is a GOOD thing ..."  Actually, I never suggested that you allow your puppy to bite you and wait until she stops and then click-and-treat.  I'm glad that Karen brought this up in case anyone else did not understand my recipe for stopping the play-biting.  If you feel teeth on your skin, I suggest that you yelp while moving your hand away immediately.  Then you freeze in position, safely, and gradually unfreeze and return to the puppy calmly.

 

The yelping lets your puppy know that biting hurts; moving your hand away and removing eye contact and playtime is equivalent to taking away something that the puppy wants; and returning only very slowly and calmly is body language for, "Is it safe to play with you again?"  Puppies tend to understand all this because there are no words (human language) and you are speaking to the puppy in the only language it understands (body language).  You never allow a puppy to simply continue biting you until she feels like stopping, and then click and treat.  That would be equivalent to reinforcing the puppy for biting.

 

Thanks so much for reading this lengthy email and I hope it provides food for thought.  And thank you, Karen, for clapping the other hand.  We really need to hear all points of view so that we can understand all sides of the issue.

 

:)

 

Andrea