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My side of the debate took some thinking about because actually this side the correct' side could also be on the reinforce side as that is what you doing when you correct, you reinforce.

However I am aware of what they are trying to say when they say reinforce, it is really repetition and of course it needs to be positive repetition.

Correction is in my opinion very important in the training of an animal, because if bad behaviour is allowed it will continue, even without praise or ignoring the action.

When I had my new puppy, a chocolate Labrador called Coco, she was full of fun and loved to bite or as we call it mouth on anything and everything, including my hand or ankle. This action was corrected very simply by my action to her every time she did this and what I did was to cry out as if in pain. This is a natural response with puppies, they teach each other or rather tell each other That hurts, don't bite so hard!'

You could say that is reinforcement, but to me it is correction, I am teaching my puppy that if she bites my hand it hurts and so she is gentler next time.

Ever seen a pup grab a squeaky toy, as soon as it squeaks the pup releases it's hold a bit to gently hold the toy in it's mouth .

Correcting a dog does not mean you have to smack them, a dog quite quickly learns what NO means.

I can shout NO to my dog across a field and she will stop what she is doing, I introduced this word very early in her training to cover anything she does, so that the first time I caught her chewing something of mine I said no and corrected her action by replacing what she was chewing by a toy of her own.

Each time I caught her I took away what she was chewing said no, and replaced it with something she was allowed to have. Yes in a way that is reinforcing but in my opinion it is correcting what she is doing. I did not get angry I just said No took the article away gave her the other one and said good girl, I only had to do it twice with Coco but I do know some dogs take longer to learn, but correction is important to show them what is ours and what is theirs.

Coco knows very well that anything that belongs to her is given to her in the first instance, if it was never given to her then it is not hers, she is well aware of which toys are hers to chew, which ones she can take in the garden and which are house only toys, because each time she got it wrong I corrected her.

I don't need reinforcement, I need correction, done in the correct way.

If I didn't correct my dog she would believe it is all right to relieve herself anywhere she likes.

Please don't get me wrong, I believe very strongly in praise and reward for right actions, my dog was taught to relieve herself in the gutter when possible, when we are out. Whenever she does this I tell her she is good, yes that's reinforcement of a good action, but without the correction in the first place she would never have done this.

Correction does not have to be cruel, it can be gentle and done in the same way that pups and other dogs teach each other, dogs know when you are not happy with something they have done, and know when you are happy too, but worst of all they know when they can get away with something, and I am sure every dog owner knows what I mean here.

Dog trainers will tell you that if a dog gets it wrong it needs correcting before praise, gently but firmly shown how to do it right.

Learn more about this author, Christine Bennett.
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