My Article/Essay

[tessa_s212]

I have finally finished it! I will be handing it into my teacher tomorrow

English 10- Persuasive Essay

Positive Reinforcement Vs. Correctional Training

Positive reinforcement is a wonderful training method to incorporate when training dogs. It not only encourages dogs to learn new things, but it also encourages a dog to be happy and excited while doing so. Dogs trained using this method become more spirited and confident, and because they are more spirited and confident they are more willing to listen. Not only does positive reinforcement help your dog, but it can help you as well. Positive reinforcement has been proven to better the relationship between dog and owner.

Positive reinforcement encourages dogs be enthusiastic when learning new things. When using corrections to train new behaviors dogs learn to avoid the corrections, therefore they do as you say. Many times during correctional training the dog is very bored and not very motivated to do as you say, though they may listen to avoid the correction. Positive reinforcement does the exact opposite of correctional training. It encourages, or reinforces, the good behaviors by rewarding those behaviors you desire with a treat, toy, or praise. Because the dog is being rewarded, or reinforced, for those behaviors, the dog is more likely to perform those behaviors again. The dog is also more excited about learning new things because it knows that it will be kept fun and rewarding, not boring. For example, I was training a basenji and rat terrier mix that used to be abused. We had been training using correctional training for a very long period of time, but I was not seeing any positive results. She was not having fun, and she did not listen very well. Immediately after I started training her using positive reinforcement I noted a difference. She was much more enthusiastic about learning new things because she knew that they would be fun!

Dogs trained under positive reinforcement are normally very confident and spirited. Correctional training uses corrections to teach the dog. Because the dog is constantly corrected for what it should not do, the dog looses confidence. Also, because many times there is little reinforcement (and more correcting) during correctional training, the dog looses interest and lacks motivation. When using positive reinforcement there are many more rewards occurring. Introducing treats, toys, and praise to train a dog, positive reinforcement is meant to keep dogs happy, confident, and attentive. As you probably know, if you are enthusiastic about the subject you are learning about, you will be more likely to learn new things and remember those things than if you were bored and didn't find any interest in the subject that you were being taught about. Ninety-seven percent of all people that I surveyed agreed that positive reinforcement does, in fact, create a happier, more confidant, and more outgoing dog.

Dogs that are trained using this method rarely choose to disobey. During correctional training dogs get bored, and, for the most part, they lack motivation. They rarely get treats or toys (or anything else that may highly motivate them), so the dogs do not have anything to work for besides working to avoid the corrections. And because they truly do not have motivation, they are inconsistent with how they behave when given commands. One day the dog may be willing to listen, while on the other day the dog just may not wish to listen. Just as in the above arguments, again, positive reinforcement is the opposite. Dogs trained under positive reinforcement are highly motivated and willing to obey. Why wouldn't they be? They know that they will have fun and sometimes receive a "jackpot" of treats, toys, and praise! Wouldn't you be more willing to work if you knew you'd get something positive out of it!?

Now, I have given you very well thought out points on positive ways that positive reinforcement affects dogs, but what about the dog's human companion? How will this help you? Pia Silvani, a certified dog trainer at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in Madison, NJ, says, "Positive reinforcement training has been proven to enhance the relationship bond between dog and owner. When you learn creative ways to motivate your dog, you eliminate a lot of behavior problems and have a much happier relationship with your dog." Because your dog is happier and more willing to comply, you and the dog both benefit. You become less stressed about behavioral problems. Your dog will have fun learning and obeying you. Of course, when you have finally succeeded with your dog, you will feel more confident in yourself and your training abilities. And now that both you and the dog are happier and more confident, it is only evident that your relationship will be changed for the better.

I have not yet seen a dog that was correctly trained with positive reinforcement that did not behave well, if not exceptionally well! What I have seen are dogs that are happy, confident, behave very well, and love to learn. I have experienced the differences of correctional training and positive reinforcement with my own dogs, and from my experience, positive reinforcement is a much more effective, efficient way to train.

[tessa_s212]

I would love any feed back on how I could improve it!

[tessa_s212]

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[Carrie]

You asked for feedback. What grade are you in in school? Maybe I'm thinking you're older than you are. Anyhow, I kind of ripped this apart. I hope you don't hate me. I think it's a great subject and some terrific points. I loved your example of training your Basenji mix because it made the thing come alive and real...not just a bunch of theory. I liked your closing paragraph. You brought it all together.

I did see a lot of redundancy (repeating things and words) so I picked at it. You don't have to take my word though...this is just my idea or style...which you would NEVER know by my posts on here. I am a terrible rambler here, but not when I write something else. I didn't fix grammar or spelling because I am a terrible speller. I'm fairly good at grammar, but don't have more time. In fact, I should have spent more time on this, but touched on a few things which stuck out at me. You should be able to fix spelling, grammar etc... if you have Microsoft Word.

Good luck tomorrow.

The underlined things are what I am showing you and following is an explanation or example. I hope you can make heads or tails of it all. Otherwise, just go for it and I'm sure it will be fine.

Positive Reinforcement Vs. Correctional Training

Positive reinforcement is a wonderful training method to incorporate(are you sure you want to just say incorporate or "use"? Incorporate means to mix in or add to something else that you're already using) when training dogs. It not only encourages dogs to learn new things, but it also encourages a dog to be happy and excited while doing so. (It not only encourages dogs to learn new things, but also to be happy and excited when learning.) Dogs trained using this method become more spirited, and confident, and because they are more spirited and confident they are more willing to listen. (Dogs trained using this method tend to be more spirited, enthusiastic and confident which makes them more willing to listen.)Not only does positive reinforcement help your dog, but it can help you as well.Positive reinforcement is both helpful to dog and owner. Positive reinforcement has been proven to better the relationship between dog and owner.It has been shown (proven is pretty hard to prove isn't it? I mean it's kind of an ambicuous sort of thing...a relationship. LOL) to improve the relationship between dog and owner. Positive reinforcement encourages dogs be enthusiastic when learning new things. (You pretty much already said that before when you said the dog is spirited and excited. Do you want to say it again? Or add in the word enthusiastic back there, which I just did. I'd take this sentence out)

When using corrections to train new behaviors dogs learn to avoid the corrections, therefore they do as you say. Many times during correctional training the dog is very bored and not very motivated to do as you say,(how about varying the word here to make it more interesting and instead of saying again, "do as you say, use the word, "obey"?) though they may listen to avoid the correction. Positive reinforcement does the exact opposite of correctional training. It encourages, or reinforces, the good behaviors by rewarding those behaviors you desire with a treat, toy, or praise. Because the dog is being rewarded, or reinforced, for those behaviors, the dog is more likely to perform those behaviors again. The dog is also more excited about learning new things because it knows that it will be kept fun and rewarding, not boring (What about condensing some of this so you're saying the same thing without repeating too much...some of it you mentioned previously in your paper) ie: (It has been proven by animal behavioral scientists that when a behavior is rewarded with something the dog likes; treats, toys, praise or fun, that behavior is much more likely to be repeated than if it's not.) For example, I was training a basenji and rat terrier mix that used to be abused. We had been training using correctional training for a very long period of time, but I was not seeing any positive results. She was not having fun, and she did not listen very well. Immediately after I started training her using positive reinforcement I noted a difference. She was much more enthusiastic about learning new things because she knew that they would be fun!

Dogs trained under positive reinforcement are normally very confident and spirited.You already said that. Are you sure you need to say it again? Correctional training uses corrections to teach the dog. (How about some examples of corrections so someone knows what that means?)(Correctional training uses choke collar pops)Because the dog is constantly corrected for what it should not do, the dog looses confidence. Also, because many times there is little reinforcement (and more correcting) (those parentheses aren't needed.) during correctional training, the dog looses interest and lacks motivation. (How about combining all that into one, streamline thought? ie: Because the dog is constantly corrected for what it shouldn't do, with little reinforcement, the dog loses confidence, interest and lacks motivation.)When using positive reinforcement there are many more rewards occurring. Introducing treats, toys, and praise to train a dog, positive reinforcement is meant to keep dogs happy, confident, and attentive. As you probably know, if you are enthusiastic about the subject you are learning about, you will be more likely to learn new things and remember those things than if you were bored and didn't find any interest in the subject that you were being taught about. (How about shortenting this up a little, leave out some unnecessary words and keep it all in the same tense? Don't mix past and present within the same thought) ie: As you probably know, if you are enthusiastic about the subject you're learning, you are more likely to learn and remember better than if you're bored and don't find any interest in the subject.) Ninety-seven percent of all people that I surveyed agreed that positive reinforcement does, in fact, create a happier, more confidant, and more outgoing dog.

Dogs that are trained using this method rarely choose to disobey. During correctional training dogs get bored, and, for the most part, they lack motivation. They rarely get treats or toys (or anything else that may highly motivate them),(don't need those parentheses) so the dogs do not have anything to work for besides working to avoid the corrections. And because they truly do not have motivation, they are inconsistent with how they behave when given commands. One day the dog may be willing to listen, while on the other day the dog just may not wish to listen. Just as in the above arguments, again, positive reinforcement is the opposite.(exactly...just as in the above arguments. I don't think you are going to make it any more convincing by repeating it too many times) Dogs trained under positive reinforcement are highly motivated and willing to obey. Why wouldn't they be? They know that they will have fun and sometimes receive a "jackpot" of treats, toys, and praise! Wouldn't you be more willing to work if you knew you'd get something positive out of it!?

Now, I have given you very well thought out points on positive (how about another word so positive isn't used so many times close together?)(You could call positive reinforcement "motivation and reward training")ways that positive reinforcement affects dogs, but what about the dog's human companion? How will this help you? Pia Silvani, a certified dog trainer at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in Madison, NJ, says, "Positive reinforcement training has been proven to enhance the relationship bond between dog and owner. When you learn creative ways to motivate your dog, you eliminate a lot of behavior problems and have a much happier relationship with your dog." Because your dog is happier and more willing to comply, you and the dog both benefit. You become less stressed about behavioral problems. Your dog will have fun learning and obeying you. Of course, when you have finally succeeded with your dog, you will feel more confident in yourself and your training abilities. And now that both you and the dog are happier and more confident, it is only evident that your relationship will be changed for the better.

I have not yet seen a dog that was correctly trained with positive reinforcement that did not behave well, if not exceptionally well! What I have seen are dogs that are happy, confident, behave very well, and love to learn. I have experienced the differences of correctional training and positive reinforcement with my own dogs, and from my experience, positive reinforcement is a much more effective, efficient way to train.

[tessa_s212]

Wow...lol. I was actually kind of getting proud of my paper, too.

I have gone through and fixed some of the things you suggested, but not all. After all, I want this to me my writing. If it sucks, it sucks, so long as it is my writing. (I didn't want to change EVERYTHING to what you suggested,...just because I'd feel like it would be your writing, and not mine.)

And actually, right after I posted my first post on this thread I went back through the paper and corrected even more things... Hopefully it is good enough for a B. I just really need a good grade.

Oh, and I'm in the 10th grade. My paper probably looks like something an 7th grader wrote, but writing has never been my strong point.

My new and improved essay:

Positive reinforcement is a wonderful training method to incorporate when training dogs. It not only encourages dogs to learn new things, but also to be happy and excited when learning. Dogs trained using this method tend do be more spirited and confident, and because they are more spirited and confident they are more willing to listen. Not only does positive reinforcement help your dog, but it can help you as well. Positive reinforcement has been shown to better the relationship between dog and owner.

Firstly, in order to train a dog, the dog must want to learn. Positive reinforcement encourages dogs be enthusiastic when learning new things. When using corrections to train new behaviors dogs learn to avoid the corrections, therefore they do as you say. Many times during correctional training the dog is very bored and not very motivated to obey, though they may listen to avoid the correction. Positive reinforcement does the exact opposite of correctional training. It encourages, or reinforces, the good behaviors by rewarding those behaviors you desire with a treat, toy, or praise. Because the dog is being rewarded, or reinforced, for those behaviors, the dog is more likely to perform those behaviors again. The dog is also more excited about learning new things because it knows that it will be kept fun and rewarding, not boring. For example, I was training a basenji and rat terrier mixed breed that was rescued from a bad situation. We had been training using correctional training for a very long period of time, but I was not seeing any positive results. She was not having fun, and she did not listen very well. Immediately after I started training her using positive reinforcement I noted a difference. She was much more enthusiastic about learning new things because she knew that they would be fun! She no longer worried about making a mistake. If she did not get it right the first time, we tried again. When she did get it right, she was awarded with a tasty treat. Not only did it encourage her to have fun while learning, but it also increased her confidence!

Dogs trained under positive reinforcement are normally very confident and spirited. Correctional training uses corrections to teach the dog. For example, to teach a dog to “heel”, or walk nicely by your side, correctional training uses a choke chain. Whenever the dog leaves the “heel” position, the dog gets a pop on the choke chain. The “pop” should lead them back into the heel position. Eventually the dog learns to stay by your side. Because the dog is constantly corrected for what it should not do, the dog looses confidence. Also, because many times there is little reinforcement during correctional training, the dog looses interest and lacks motivation. When using positive reinforcement there are many more rewards occurring. Introducing treats, toys, and praise to train a dog, positive reinforcement is meant to keep dogs happy, confident, and attentive. As you probably know, if you are enthusiastic about the subject you are learning about, you are more likely to learn new things than if you were bored and did not find any interest in the subject. Ninety-seven percent of all people that I surveyed agreed that positive reinforcement does, in fact, create a happier, more confidant, and more outgoing dog.

What is all that training worth if the dog will not listen? Dogs that are trained using positive reinforcement rarely choose to disobey. During correctional training dogs get bored, and, for the most part, they lack motivation. They rarely get treats or toys, so the dogs do not have a goal to strive for. And because they do not have motivation, they are inconsistent with how they behave when given commands. One day the dog may be willing to listen, while on the other day the dog just may not wish to listen. Dogs trained under positive reinforcement are highly motivated and willing to obey. They know that they will have fun and sometimes receive a "jackpot" of treats, toys, and praise! Would you not be more willing to obey if you knew there was a reward coming?

Now, I have given you very well thought out points on positive ways that positive reinforcement affects dogs, but what about the dog's human companion? How will this help you? Pia Silvani, a certified dog trainer at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in Madison, NJ, says, "Positive reinforcement training has been proven to enhance the relationship bond between dog and owner. When you learn creative ways to motivate your dog, you eliminate a lot of behavior problems and have a much happier relationship with your dog." Because your dog is happier and more willing to comply, you and the dog both benefit. You become less stressed about behavioral problems. Your dog will have fun learning and obeying you. Of course, when you have finally succeeded with your dog, you will feel more confident in yourself and your training abilities. And now that both you and the dog are happier and more confident, it is only evident that your relationship will be changed for the better.

I have not yet seen a dog that was correctly trained with positive reinforcement that did not behave well, if not exceptionally well! What I have seen are dogs that are happy, confident, behave very well, and love to learn. I have experienced the differences of correctional training and positive reinforcement with my own dogs, and from my experience, positive reinforcement is a much more effective, efficient way to train.