the pink dogs

What a great topic to start the new year (okay, I know it’s March)! I have heard many people misuse the term “extinction” and I am excited to be able to write about it here.

Exctinction occurs when a behavior that had previously been reinforced is no longer reinforced.

Dog example: You ask your dog to lie down with a “down” command. Every time your dog lies down after you say the command, you give him a treat. After three months of practicing that behavior, you suddenly decide to never give your dog a treat again for “down” - cold turkey. You are now putting “down” on extinction since you will no longer reinforce your dog for the behavior. After extinction occurs, the frequency of the behavior will decrease. As in, if you ask your dog for “down” two weeks later (since you put the behavior on extinction), chances are he won’t do it. What’s the point? ( ;

Human example: Here’s a classic one - every time you put money into a vending machine, you expect to be able to choose and get your snack. When you see a vending machine (A), your behavior of putting money in the machine (B) is reinforced by receiving your snack (C). If the consequence is removed (you never get your snack), then you will slowly but surely stop using vending machines.

Now, extinction is not that simple. After a behavior is put on extinction, there occurs an extinction burst. The organism displays behaviors that are exaggerated versions of the extinguished behavior and/or behaviors that are totally out of the ordinary.

Let’s go back to our examples:

Dog example: if you stop giving your dog treats for down, he’ll do it at first, but he may stare at you intently, stay down for a longer period of time, pop back up and lay back down, sit, give you his paw, bark, etc. He will try everything he knows to try to get that treat from you. Here’s a visual:

The “burst” is the collection of behaviors he will do immediately following the start of extinction.

Human example: if the vending machine doesn’t give you your snack, you will probably keep pushing buttons, bang on the machine, push the “return money” button, yell at the machine, kick the machine, etc. Again, the burst will be a number of behaviors that are beyond the norm.

I think it is important to know about extinction and its benefits and “side effects”. If your dog is displaying an inappropriate behavior, such as barking at you to get attention, he is probably continuing to do it because it is reinforcing for him. Even saying “shhh” or “be quiet!” or “NO!” is still attention from you. And, admit, sometimes you give your dog a lot of attention when he’s barking: “aww what’s wrong??” “Let me pick you up!”. So what do you have to do to extinguish the barking? Totally ignore him! Don’t let him get reinforced at all by his barking. Leave the room, if you have to. Make it very black and white that it is not appropriate.* However, keep in mind that an extinction burst can and will occur so be prepared for any new and/or “extreme” behaviors your dog may display!

*please note that this is the solution IF your dog is indeed barking for attention. Depending on the consequence and scenario, a barking dog may be barking for other types of reinforcers - automatic reinforcement included (it just feels good!).

now that i’m back from a not-so-brief hiatus, more posts on dogs + behavior will be coming soon..

( :

a dog’s critical period for socialization and brain development is between 2 and 16 weeks of age. that’s less than 4 months. by that age, a dog’s brain is 80% fully developed. the brain is 100% developed at one year (source: dogs by raymond + lorna coppinger).

get your puppies out there!! it’s critical that a dog be socialized properly during this time period. bring your dog home during that age from a breeder. when looking for a breeder, make sure s/he is socializing the puppies properly during that period. many vets and other dog “specialists” will tell you to keep your dogs inside at all times since they may not have received all their vaccinations by 4 months of age. this will most likely result in a fearful dog since when you do take the dog outside, s/he would not have been exposed to any outdoor stimuli!

let your dog experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the world while it’s a very young puppy (and start training him, too!) - your dog will thank you, and you will thank yourself when your dog is 5 years old and so well behaved. ( :

i recently subscribed to BARk magazine via a groupon deal. after reading the first issue i received, i was pleasantly surprised. they really promote positive reinforcement training and give constructive tips for building a healthy relationship with your dog.

in the most recent issue, victoria stilwell talks about “training essentials” in her column. i agreed with many of the things she said, such as:

Traditional trainers argue that in order to achieve so-called “balance” with your dog, you must first teach her who is boss by becoming her “alpha,” or pack leader. This approach is doomed to fail from the outset because the methods used to establish this dominant status are physically and psychologically damaging to your dog and dangerous for you.

i definitely agree, especially the last sentence. and she also says:

Positive [reinforcement] training … allows you to foster a relationship based on a mutual trust and respect instead of fear and intimidation. The most effective teachers are those who can influence behavior without the use of force and work through problems in a humane manner.

another point that she made cannot be said often enough!

An important part of the learning process is to set your dog up for success by managing her environment and making it easy for her to do the right thing.

YES! so many parents training with their dogs in the early stages fail to understand this point and work and work their dogs until the parents themselves are content. it is best to work with your dogs in short periods and set your dog up for success! if your dog is not “getting it”, then you, as the teacher, are doing something wrong.

the one thing that i did not totally agree with victoria was the following:

Discipline in the form of time-outs, removal, vocal interrupters or simply ignoring behavior that you do not like is far more effective than harsh suppression.

the point that she makes above is true. the only thing is, i think vocal interrupters are unnecessary. the few times that i have seen her show, i’ve noticed that victoria stilwell uses vocal interrupters such as “EH-EH!”. this is, in ABA terms, a positive punisher (if it decreases the behavior she does not want). although it is true that a vocal interrupter would be more effective than not having one, i think you can get the same effect via negative reinforcement.

here’s an example: if i were training a dog to “paw” and the dog barked at me instead, i would quickly remove my hand that had the treat inside and actually walk away from the dog. this way, i am taking away any possible reinforcement for the dog. i think that in a similar situation, victoria stilwell (and many other trainers) would say: “EH-EH!” instead. i think that just walking away from the environment and preventing the dog from accessing any reinforcers is the least intrusive and more humane way of approaching the problem.

overall, i was very pleased with this article, and i look forward to continuing to read the BARk!

while talking to a number of people - from a variety of backgrounds - it is amazing how easy it is for people to just fall into the default that punishment is okay and acceptable. i was talking to a friend today, and she doesn’t have a dog herself, but has a couple of friends who do. we were talking about potty training a dog, and what to do when they pee in an inappropriate spot. she asked, “what should they do? should they hit them?” of course, my first thought was: wow, i would never even consider hitting a dog.. but then she asked, “how do we tell a dog that they did something wrong?” my reaction was: “if the dog has an accident, then it’s the owner’s fault. the owner did not set the dog up for success, and the owner should improve his/her behavior”. of course, that response was not met with much acceptance. a confused face, actually..

and i don’t blame her! because that is what we are taught to believe in our society. and this problem will not get better when, TODAY, i hear this from professional dog trainers. they claim they are using positive reinforcement training, but use verbal and leash corrections themselves. and suggest to dog owners that if the owners are calm, then their dog will be calm (in regards to dealing with a dog that is reactive to loud noises while on walks. hello?? desensitize and counter-condition??.

i hope that one day, positive reinforcement training will be the only method with which dogs are trained.

note* i am not saying that there is absolutely no place for punishment in dog training. if all humane non-intrusive methods have been tried, and the behavior does not improve, then perhaps something like a citronella collar can be used with extreme caution. but i stress: extreme caution - only to be used by somebody who is experienced and knows what s/he is doing.

edit (09.14.11 11:17pm)* thanks smbshawn for the reblog + comments! i do want to clarify that i am using the term “punishment” here in layman’s terms, not in ABA terms. oops. bad behavior analyst-in-training!! i believe, though, that if an owner hits a dog immediately after the dog pees in an inappropriate spot, the dog’s behavior of peeing in that spot in the presence of the owner will definitely decrease in the future. but, of course, that may not be the case in front of another person!