What is the difference between commands and cues? Understanding the difference between these two words and what they mean can have a huge impact on training your dog and developing a relationship with your dog. In this post I am going to explain the difference between commands and cues and explain why we use cues in positive reinforcement training.
Commands
Commands are essentially a push from behind. People use them and train with them to get the animal to do something without giving them much choice in the matter. Many times, commands are used by applying what is essentially phycological pressure (e.g., a stern tone of voice) and sometimes physical pressure (e.g., yanking on the leash) and are often trained and stated in a “do it or else” sort of way (e.g., “respond or I will yell at you” or “respond or I will yank on your collar”). These are punishment-based training methods and can be damaging to your dog’s emotional, psychological, and even physical health. Even if commands are trained with more thoughtfulness, from what I have witnessed myself and from what I have heard from many other professional trainers as well, this process of people motivating behavior through commands often results in a situation where the animal is only doing the behavior because it was told to do so, and it wants to avoid any further stress.
At this point, you might be wondering what is wrong with dogs doing something just because they were told to? The problem is that we essentially end up with a robot animal who is stressed out of their mind but is not allowed to tell us so. The animal is taught that it has no say in the matter and this creates a lot of stress. Imagine if someone you were with was doing something that you did not like, and you were yelled at and punished for telling them to stop. This is often what happens with dogs who are trained with commands. When someone gives a dog a command, especially in a situation where the dog is asked to do something that it finds stressful (e.g., someone asking the dog to “stay” so a child can pet it) the animal is being told that no matter what they feel, they must stay there or else (even if you simply tell your dog to “stay” over and over again, the action of staying when they dislike children is highly stressful). There are many side effects of this type of relationship. When commands are used, we can end up with unreliable behaviors because the animal associates a certain amount of stress with the command and can end up working to avoid having to fully respond. We also end up damaging the relationship and potentially ending up with aggressive outbursts that often seem to come “out of the blue”.
Cues
Cues are essentially a gateway. They are an opportunity. Cues are used with positive reinforcement-based training. When we train animals with positive reinforcement, we build drive to perform and engage in the behavior through reinforcing the behaviors we like in order to strengthen them. As a result, you end up with an animal who wants to engage in behavior for you (at this point, the animal often so enjoys performing the behavior that we must teach it self-control!) This is when we apply a cue to the behavior. Rather than pushing from behind, the cue acts as a gateway. When we have not given the cue, the gate is closed for the behavior associated with it. When we do give the cue, the gate is open, and the dog has the opportunity to apply all that drive and perform the behavior to earn a reinforcer by going through the gate (performing the behavior that is attached to the cue)! The dog has a choice every time it hears a cue. It can stay where it is, or it can go through the gate and earn its reinforcer. Because the dog finds the reinforcer so valuable, they will often choose to go through the gate. However, if the dog chooses not to go through the gate, you can be sure the dog has a good reason (e.g., fear, confusion). When a dog chooses to forgo a highly valuable reinforcer, it has a good reason. This adds more trust to the equation and builds a stronger relationship between handler and dog as the dog learn that the person will not push it past its breaking point. I have found that the more choice a dog is given, the more they will be willing to interact. If they do not, then we as the human know that we need to change what we are doing to find a more motivating reinforcer for the animal or develop clearer communication.
Closing Thoughts
Cues are used with a training method that is based on giving the animal the tools it needs to make the choice we want, while also giving them the freedom they need to communicate with us and be heard. This training method is positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement and cues are hugely important parts of developing a relationship built on trust! If you are interested in getting started with positive reinforcement training, or continuing past education, email me at happyats@outlook.com!
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