According to the Humane Society and the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, positive reinforcement is one of the most powerful tools for shaping your dog’s behavior. Positive-reinforcement training, sometimes called force-free training, involves rewarding your pup for correct actions and not punishing it for incorrect actions. It’s an effective and humane way to communicate with your dog and teach it right from wrong. Incentives can range from praise, treats, toys, or in SkyShepherd’s case, a friendly Safe Tone that rewards your dog for staying or returning to its Safe Zone. It’s the basis for our unique approach to giving your dog just enough feedback to be effective in the moment, and then rewarding them for doing the right thing. We call this approach, “Shepherding.” 

In this blog, we’ll outline the benefits of positive reinforcement for dogs and how it ties in with our patented containment technology and our Shepherding approach. As a bonus, we’ve included trainer tips from Chad R. James, one of the inventors of SkyShepherd, who has nearly 50 years of experience in the field of advanced technology to improve the relationship between canines and humans.

WHY POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT FOR DOGS AND THE SAFE TONE ARE BEST FOR CONTAINMENT

1. REWARDS FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING

Dogs are smart and they aim to please. So, rewarding your pup for doing the right thing is a very good way to teach it good behaviors. Positive reinforcement happens with SkyShepherd’s electronic Safe Tone sound. During SkyShepherd training, you condition your dog to associate the Safe Tone with pleasant sensations by praising it whenever the sound goes off. While it’s in its Safe Zone, the Safe Tone periodically sounds. It also sounds whenever your dog returns from the alert zones. Overall, the sound of the Safe Tone acts as a positive marker, serving as extra confirmation to your canine that it has done the right thing, which reinforces the desired behavior.

CHAD’S TIPS:

-   Keep it fun, but don’t overdo the fun aspect, as doing so may become a distraction.

-   It’s ok to provide treats as a type of reward during the teaching process, as long as they don’t become a distraction.

-   Praise and affection should be used throughout the whole training process. They are very important to strengthen your bond/trust while making learning more permanent.

-   This continued use of praise/affection primes the dog for learning by promoting a safe, secure, and relaxed environment—a powerful behavioral learning tool.

2. NON-AVERSIVE STIMULUS WITH POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT IS HUMANE AND EFFECTIVE

SkyShepherd’s Shepherding is a non-aversive approach (no pain, fear, or fright) that teaches a dog where it should be based upon innocuous, positive reinforcement markers (the Safe Tone), providing the dog a sense of a safe, secure, and relaxed environment. Most of the other devices offer aversive stimulus (very high levels of e-stim) which creates alternate behaviors that generally get in the way of teaching/learning.

Rest assured that SkyShepherd’s feedback is not harmful, and all feedback it uses is user-selectable, since you know your furry friend the best. SkyShepherd’s guidance (the feedback used and the way it is used) is called Shepherding. Shepherding always uses the lowest level necessary to guide your dog at its level of excitement, and bolsters that with positive reinforcement. How does that work, exactly? Through progressive, dynamic feedback and the Safe Tone:  

•   Positive reinforcement is primary, reinforcing good behavior at all times with the Safe Tone. When your dog does the right thing and turns back, or when it is hanging out in the Safe Zone, it hears the Safe Tone.
•   A First Alert zone provides a progressive-intensity vibration followed by a tone. Vibration starts off low, but increases if your dog stays in the zone. When it turns back, you guessed it–positive reinforcement with the Safe Tone.
•   A Second Alert zone offers progressive levels of low e-stim and a different tone. If your dog has gone beyond the First Alert zone with its vibration, then Second Alert starts with a low level of e-stim. If your dog stays in Second Alert zone, the level will increase twice to match your dog’s level of excitement. 
•   An Out Zone uses moderate static feedback and a tone to turn your dog back to its Safe Zone. Out Zone is immediately on the outside of your boundary. If your dog reaches the outside of the boundary, SkyShepherd uses this higher level of e-stim to again match their level of excitement/distraction.
•   Lastly, if your dog should ever find itself outside the boundary, SkyShepherd’s “Extended Shepherding” mode kicks in. As the name implies, Extended Shepherding helps to guide your dog back to its boundary (after its excitement has lowered) using the same Shepherding feedback your dog has learned. When your dog returns, of course it gets a Safe Tone to reinforce the behavior of coming back home to its Safe Zone.

CHAD’S TIPS:

-   Teach your dog to recognize the Safe Tone in all areas of the Safe Zone since the Safe Tone must become a trusted source of safety, security, and relaxation for your dog no matter where they are within the boundary. Do this by doing Safe Tone training in various parts of your boundary.

3.   SAFETY SIGNAL LEARNING WITH POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

The Safe Tone automatically reinforces what you’ve taught your dog during training. Your pup will be mentally stimulated while walking the boundary with you during training, as well as when SkyShepherd works autonomously to teach and remind your dog where it should be. After training, the positive reinforcement Safe Tone tells your dog it has done the right thing, so your dog’s learning is constantly being reinforced. This means our GPS dog fence collar allows for gentler, innocuous feedback compared to other systems providing faster, more relaxed learning within any new boundaries. SkyShepherd will keep your canine alert, confident, and on its best behavior.

CHAD’S TIPS:

-   It’s crucial to minimize any and all distractions early in the teaching process so that you and your dog can focus, and your dog learns to associate the Safe Tone with the same feelings it gets when you give it praise.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Ultimately, SkyShepherd’s patented technology utilizing positive reinforcement for dogs will keep your canine happy, safe, and more relaxed. It’s a triple win! If you’re on the hunt for a GPS dog fence collar unlike any other, you’ll be able to try out SkyShepherd soon and experience the difference!