On ITV programme this morning they have just been talking about whether you should punish your children when they do something wrong. I haven't yet been in the position of my child being naughty (I am pregnant though so got it all to come!), however could you not compare it to positive dog training techniques?? To train a dog you can use positive reinforcement for all the good things and ignore the bad (removing the chance of any self rewarding) rather than using punishment for the bad. Could you not do this with children? I once saw a toddler banging and banging on a door to be let in to a restaurant. The mum came and opened the door for the child. Now if it was my dog scratching at a door to be let in, I would not open the door until it had stopped and perhaps even turned away. by opening the door whilst the unwanted behaviour is happening you are reinforcing that behaviour and whether it was a dog or my child I would not open the door for either. I may be completely wrong here, I don't know, but as I am pregnant I have been thinking about how I am going to bring up my child and have been finding myself comparing to how I bring up my dogs! i thought about putting this on my Facebook but lots of my friends on there aren't very doggy and I was worried I would get slated for comparing my dogs to children!
Well I don't have children, but I have three dogs! Very different personalities and motivations, at times training has been challenging! We use positive methods only for all of them. I have been introduced to the Premack model recently, and I guess a lot of us use it without realising. It is a principle developed by David Premack, who was a psychologist in the 50's and 60's. The was developed after a lot of research around motivating factors. This suggests that if you observe a person/child say in a playground over a period of time, the activity most commonly undertaken is the one preferred = high probability behaviours So if we apply this in practice we can use these high probability factors as positive reinforcers. This principle has now been applied to dog training...so the dog completes a task ie ignore a bucket of treats...but gets a high probability motivator in return. So with a child, eat your sprouts and get chocolate afterwards. You are not punishing or shouting at the child for not eating their sprouts, but offering a high probability motivator for eating them. Not sure if I have explained it right...this link may help http://study.com/academy/lesson/applying-the-premack-principle-in-the-classroom.html
I find remarkable parallels between bringing up my daughter and training my dogs. Particularly when she was very little I felt having Riley a year earlier had taught me a lot about communication with someone who can't (yet) speak. Now she's four and can understand far more I find myself tempted by the 'just because' option but in the main I use very similar approaches to the dogs. She gets fun stuff if she does less fun stuff. In some ways it's easier now you can verbally make that offer but in others it's harder as she's much more complex than a dog.
Apparently you're not allowed to crate children though. I beg to differ and the day Lizzie found out she could escape from her cot was the day I learned it would be a long time before I ever used the shower or loo alone again. So again much like dogs
I agree with Barbara. I often think that dogs and toddlers have lots in common, and you can treat them in similar ways!
I agree with the other responses about the similarities. I learned a lot from having a puppy before having my son. I think their a plenty of successes and failures that you can apply from raising a puppy to raising an infant & toddler. I havent gotten to the teen years yet with my son.
I've got 3 kids (including 2 teenagers) and am I am finding enormous cross over between parenting and puppy raising. Mainly- ignore the bad and reward/focus on the good. An under stimulated dog/child can be destructive. Time out is great for the parents/puppy owners. Everything is better when you sleep through the night
My son is nearly 6 months and I'd have to say his "leave it" cue is no where near as strong as Ella's was at the same age! I think there are a huge amount of similarities between puppies and young children but I'd say the main difference (in my opinion of course) is that children have the ability to learn and understand consequences in a way that puppies cannot.
I don't have children, but can see how the same methods can be employed. Children, though, can understand right from wrong - whereas dogs don't. Children can and should be reasoned with.
Definitely a cross over. I have 4 children, 2 grown up and 2 teenagers, I very much worked on the principle, you do something good you get a reward and it 'mostly' worked. I think punishing a child doesn't really work, sometimes a bit of time out helps until things are calmer then a good explanation/chat about the behaviour is more productive. Reasoning is far more productive and the odd treat and tons of praise also helps a lot. No such thing as the perfect parent or perfect dog owner xx
As a veteran of training three children and two dogs I think it is largely common sense. You can, with fear and punishment , train a child or dog NOT to do one thing. But it is only ever one thing. If you train with praise and reward you will have a happy willing child/dog who will be looking for opportunities to bask in the glow of your pleasure. I watch my daughter parenting /training my Grandchildren, she uses exactly the same methods as I did, but they have fancy names and learned literature behind them nowadays. She says "I learnt from the best" When dealing with teenage dogs or children all bets are off. If you did it right first time they will come back to you. My daughter said that during her time off the rails there was always my voice in the back of her head telling her it was wrong.
The other parallel is making sure you and OH are reading the same script. Totally. I see very many other similarities and am probably MORE sensitive to how I do things and how others do things with what I have learned from Pippa's positive training.
I got a two year old daughter, our puppy is soon 5months and teething. I feel like I am back to the time my daughter was teething, doing the same things to easy up the life for Millie... Well almost, I didn't give my daughter frozen carrots but she got those plastic things you put in the freezer that contains water. I use a lot similar raising methods for the both of them. I figured I would mention the teething stage since everyone else already mentioned the rest. Have a great weekend everyone!
I teach parenting courses and theories behind child development. I often use examples of what I do with Harley in relation to methods they can use with their children. It really is remarkable how closely teaching them crosses over from child to dog and vice versa. Simple things such as observing them to see how they will react in certain circumstances, observing their interactions and stepping in when things get a bit wrought, praising when they do something good/clever. The list really does go on and on. Maslow's theory says that before you can engage a child/young person they need to be fed, watered and have shelter before you can build a relationship. Then they need to feel safe before you can start to build a relationship and have a purpose/responsibility before they can eventually be the best they can be. I have missed some of the stages out but I really do think that it is applicable to dogs and children.
@Naya what you've written mirrors what Ken Ramirez said recently on his seminar recently. How important it is to cover the basics of shelter, food, health care etc and husbandry training is an important part of that before you get into training for fun or sport.
Yes you have to be careful who you say this to esp on FB haha or you risk being shouted at. I have started bearing dog training methods in mind when I'm teaching the violin as well. For v young children there are certainly parallels. I haven't yet said to a parent that I'm trying dog training methods as I'm not sure how it would go down. Ha. The one thing I would say is to be a bit careful with specifically food as a reward for children as it can cause problems with food later on. Amused by the crate comment. So true. Haha. Wasn't that what 'play pens' were? Haha. My parents used to effectively have me on a lead/reins-they just never held the other end of it!
