This page is part of the Auxiliary section of the Beginner's Course of the
D.S. Dog Training Workshop - an element of the Dog Science Network
Contrasting Hard Dogs with Their Soft Counterparts
Hard dogs
The terms hard dogs and soft dogs seem to mean so many different things to so many different people that it can be confusing. However, on this site we use the term hard dog to describe a canine who takes the judicious use of punishment in stride.
Hard dogs seem to take an intense correction for what it is, part of a continuing process in which his handler provides him with information that he very much wants, as opposed to thinking of it as a belligerent act of intimidation.
In general, canines are extraordinarily compliant creatures. The vast majority of dogs want desperately to please their people and are more than eager do what they are supposed to do. At least, to the extent that they understand what is expected of them. Therefore, with rare exception, there is no need to make your dog suffer to get him to stop doing something. Not as long as you make it clear to him that he needs to stop, and you give him something else that is reasonably pleasant that he can do instead.
Therefore, a dog trainer who has his mind right does not dispense punishment to instill fear in his dog or to force the animal to do something against his will. Rather, he does it to ensure that the dog always associates bad behavior with emotional upset and/or other consequences that he would rather avoid.
Hard dogs don't mind the dipensation of the occasional aversive. In fact, when punishment is used as one component in a three-pronged approach to behavioral conditioning, hard dogs seem to thrive on the regimen, because they see your use of aversives as one component in a process in which you teach them things that they passionately want to learn.
Therefore, if you lovingly dispense aversives to your dog as a way to help him learn and become properly socialized, so that he can have greater freedom of movement and a better life - a hard dog will get it. A hard dog will understand the spirit in which you correct him, and he will view any punishment he receives along the way as a tiny blip in a process that, all in all, is so much fun that he can hardly stand it.
A hard dog, then, will view a gentle smack as your way of saying, Think, there's something missing. There is something else you should be doing now. So focus on it and figure it out. That's because, for a hard dog, an aversive correction is just a form of communication, as you give him information that he is eager to receive.
That is the spirit in which the right-minded dog trainer delivers an aversive.
If you deliver an aversive in that spirit, a hard dog will receive it eagerly, with a great like-mindedness.
On the other hand, if you don't much like your dog, and you resent the time you spend training him, and you are impatient and angry because you think he is not progressing fast enough, then, a hard dog will know that too.
A hard dog can tell the difference between someone who taps him lovingly to help him become the dog he passionately wants to be, and someone who spitefully smacks him as a way of saying, Take that you disobedient little bastard!
Hard dogs know the difference.
If you correct your hard dog in a spirit of abuse, the animal will know. He will probably still respond to at least some degree to a program of fear and intimidation. Really, what choice does he have?
But a hard dog trained through fear of harsh aversives angrily dispensed will tend to obey with a sort of joyless and grim resignation. In contrast, a hard dog who has only been punished minimally, as part of a well balance three-pronged program of behavioral conditioning, will accept directions like a kid in a candy shop, thrilled to have gotten the last command, and eager to receive the next.
To be clear, the point is this: Over time, a hard dog will come to know the spirit in which he is corrected. Eventually, a hard dog will learn to differentiate between corrections that are abusively delivered and those that are lovingly dispensed. And you will see that difference reflected in both the dog's behavior as well as in his affect.
Soft Dogs
Soft dogs, in comparison, seem to lack the ability to discriminate in that same facile fashion.
A good, hard dog will understand a correction for what it is. But while a hard dog will view an aversive correction as an altogether acceptable part of the communication process and the pathway to a more rewarding life, a soft dog will view an aggressive correction as an unacceptable form of intimidation that, for him, robbs the process of all joy.
So while a hard dog will view your forthright correction as an insignificant blip in an otherwise fun-filled process, a soft dog may take it personally, and be alienated by that exact same verbal rebuke or smack on the nose.
If your dog responds to punishment by brooding, then, either there is a serious problem with the way you are punishing the animal, or, it could be that you are dealing with a soft dog.
If you think the way you are dispensing aversives may be the problem, be sure to review the formula for changing behavior, and make sure that your punishment procedures comprise only one modest facet of a larger three-pronged approach to influencing your dog's behavior.
On the other hand, if you are dealing with a soft dog, then, the use of less intense aversives is called for.
How to Spot a Soft Dog
Obviously then, before you use a tantruming procedure or other intense punisher with your dog, you need to have some sense of how the animal will react, and you will need to adjust your approach accordingly.
However, you need to resist the temptation of thinking that your canine is more sensitive than he really is. Most dogs are extremely resilient, so a little punishment tucked in between a steady stream of rewarding activities will roll off the back of most dogs like water off a duck.
In fact, providing that you have managed to create a dense ratio of response to reinforcement for your hard dog, then, even immediately after a vigorous correction, he will still have an unmistakeable look of joy about him. Although, of course, that is not true of the immediate aftermath of the rare tantruming procedure, where the intent is to make the animal extremely upset.
However, while a hard dog will instantly shake off a moderate correction like it didn't happen, soft dogs, like many Border Collies, tend to react to any brusque rebuke or sharp correction by becoming sullen, withdrawn, and uncooperative. And the more aggressively you push them, the less interest they show in getting with the program.
Wait and See
However, you should keep in mind that you can't necessarily conclude that a dog is soft simply because he seems shocked and appears to withdraw somewhat the first few times you correct him for doing something that never before brought aversive repercussions.
After all, if you suddenly, for the first time, start punishing your dog for a response that you used to tolerate, then, from the point of view of your dog, it is sure to seem as though you have abruptly decided to start doing upsetting things to him for no apparent reason.
So of course, the first few times you punish your dog for engaging in a previously tolerated behavior, he is sure to be taken aback.
However, after a number of corrections, dispensed over the course of a few days, your dog will start to figure out what the new rules are. Knowledge of the rules will, in turn, allow the animal to predict what he will and will not be punished for, which will also allow him to avoid those punishers by simply choosing not to engage in those forbidden responses in the future.
That is an important point, because as we know, punishment that can be predicted and avoided is not psychologically traumatic.
Once your dog has had a chance to figure out the rules and adjust accordingly, then, at that point, you can start to draw some conclusions, based on how he responds to punishment, as to whether you are dealing with a hard dog, a soft dog, or something in between.
How to Deal with a Soft Dog
Soft dogs should be trained using the same three-pronged approach employed with their less sensitive counterparts. However, with soft dogs the punishers employed to upset the animal need to be toned down.
The best way to proceed, then, is simply to let your dog's reaction be your guide. If he withdraws or grows uncooperative immediately after you punish him for something, you will need to begin toning down your procedure until you get into the sweet spot, wherein your punisher is harsh enough to motivate your dog, but not so aversive as to alienate him.
Also, you will do well to remember that punishment is usually required to get a problem behavior stopped, and punishing a soft dog can be tricky. Therefore, when raising a soft dog, it is essential that you do not allow him to develop any bad habits that will, then, need to be punished out of existence.