I've been hearing from trainers who use punishment that not all dogs respond to things the same way. "What works for one dog doesn't necessarily work for another dog."
I've got news for ya. It all works the same way for every dog.
Reinforcement increases a behavior. Punishment decreases a behavior. Extinction eliminates a behavior. Period. End of story.
Now, what one dog considers reinforcement does change from dog to dog, just like it does from person to person. Here's a really good example from my own life. I've been struggling to find a way to increase the number of my physical workouts per week. I asked online for suggestions. I received a lot of "atta girls," "you look fine the way you are's," and "start slowly's."
But one guy wrote "Quit talking about it and just get your ass moving! Sitting on the computer ain't the way to lose it."
BINGO! That did it for me! For me, that comment was reinforcing. It increased my behavior of working out.
To some, however, it very well might have been a punisher -- it might have decreased the behavior of working out. So, what I find reinforcing and what someone else finds reinforcing might very well be two different things.
But a reinforcer is a reinforcer is a reinforcer. If behavior increases, a reinforcer is involved. Period. Done. Finished.
Quit talking about training and how every dog is different and just get out there and reinforce the behavior you like, for goodness sake. (Hey, it worked to increase my workouts, I'm trying to see if it works for other trainers, too.)
