How do punishments affect a dog's behavior?
One thing you will never see in a dog pack is heavy handed punishment. Their corrections with one another last at most a minute. Or not even. And they are back to playing again!
Dogs are very willing to do things that make you happy and that they get treated for. Positive encouragement and redirection will outrank negative punishment any day. Dogs do the things that we reinforce. Those behaviors you don't like? We usually have ourselves to thank. Owners inadvertently reinforce all kinds of undesirable things, from excessive barking at the doorbell to counter surfing. If you keep leaving food within reach on the table, your dog will learn that it's worth his while to check.
Positive training teaches your dog you are fun and to follow you, to trust you that you aren't ever going to lead them astray or into a negative situation.
Punishing starts the process of teaching a dog not to trust you, to run away from you, to not trust situations, to be confused as to what you want, to not trust what you are trying to teach them or have self doubt they are going to do it wrong so they stop trying to do it.
It will also bring out their teaching skills where they may nip or snap at you trying to discipline you for what you are doing to them because in their doggy mind and world, this behavior doesn't exist
Shouting, standing over them waving your arms, smacking them, talking at them roughly, they might get that you are really angry, they, might even know what it's about. However they don't get why you are making such a huge scene and terrifying them.
Positive training can actually turn a negative situation in a dog's mind into a good situation. A nervous dog may bark at strangers. One trainer said ‘feed the bark!’ People felt that was insane, why would they reward and feed the bark? Well because every time the dog think about barking, it would stop before it did and instead go for the treat. Now the dog is associating people with treat time and that causes a rise of serotonin in their little furry brains instead of anxiety retraining their reaction to seeing strangers.
Catch your dog being good. It's easy to get caught up in scolding when your dog is getting into trouble, but rewarding him out of the blue for being good lets him know he's doing the right thing.
Most importantly, keep a positive attitude. If you are getting upset, your dog knows it :)
