This page on Punishing Extreme Behavior is part of the Auxiliary
Section of the Beginners Course of the D. S. Dog Training Workshop
Page Two of a three-page article:
How to Punish Your Dog for Engaging in Potentially Catastrophic Behavior
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The Criteria for the Dispensation of a Tantrum
By upsetting your dog when he misbehaves, you can pair negative affect with bad behavior, and thereby, bring classical conditioning into play in a way that will eventually cause your dog to dislike misbehaving almost as much as he dislikes being upset.
However, when the animal does something that could get somebody hurt, get him killed, get you sued, force you to severely limit his future movements, or otherwise cause you more grief than your psyche and situation can absorb, then, in that circumstance, you need to make the dog upset at a far greater magnitude than is the case for less extreme transgressions.
There are actually a number of variables that all come together to determine how much a dog will need to be punished before he stops engaging in some particular problematic behavior.
Nonetheless, suffice it to say that the three punishment procedures described elsewhere on this site, the corrective tap, the use of spray mist, and the unsettling voice, when dispensed individually in a moderate fashion, usually have to be applied a number of times before the dog finally gives it up and abandons the target response altogether - never to do it again.
However, there are some things your dog might do that need to be brought to an immediate halt - never again be repeated - at all - ever.
For example, you simply cannot tolerate your off-lead dog running into the roadway. Nor can you let any dog growl, bite, snap at or otherwise threaten any living creature. Especially if you are dealing with a powerfully built animal who has the wherewithal to inflict significant injury.
Some things simply cannot be tolerated, because the consequences are potentially catastrophic.
Dogs believe, or perhaps I should say that they eventually come to understand that the intensity and severity of your punishment is proportional to the dastardliness of their offense. Therefore, when you punish your dog in a way that is ultra-upsetting, you are telling him in no uncertain terms that what he has just done is so extremely perilous that it can never be allowed to ever happen again.
Thus, the very occasional tantrum can serve as a vital component in the process of bestowing upon your companion the gift of socialization, which for a dog is the kindest and most enabling prize he could ever hope to receive.
Therefore, when your goal is to see to it that your dog never again engages in some potentially disastrous response, you may need to ratchet-up the level of your dog's emotional distress by dialing the intensity of your punishment up to soaring levels.
When to Tantrum
As with any punishment procedure, you need to lower the boom either while the target response is being emitted or almost immediately afterward, because your dog needs to understand clearly what he is being punished for. The longer you wait after the transgression before you deliver the aversive, the less chance there is that your dog will make that connection.
It is counterproductive for you to punish the animal if so much time has passed that he no longer knows what he did to prompt you to dispense the aversive. That is especially true of the high intensity tantruming procedure.
Therefore, unless you definitely know that your dog defintely knows what he did to prompt you to dispense the aversive, then, just let it go this time, and resolve to catch him in the act the next time around.
The need to punish immediately can be extremely awkward if your dog's potentially catastrophic transgression occurs in public, because any unitiated spectators will not understand what you are doing or why. And such an intense display is not likely to win you any admirers among those not in the know.
A General Description of How to Stage an Effective Tantrum
The exact form that your tantruming procedure takes is a matter of your individual style. However, as always, your goal is not to inflict either pain or injury on your dog, you just want to make sure that the animal becomes more upset than he ever wants to be again.
The best way to do that is to pretend to be extremely upset yourself, even if you're not. Shout at the dog. Perhaps even scream at him! Get apoplectic. Crowd him. Get in his space. Get in his face. Go ape crazy.
For a procedure this intense, your body language and tone of voice need to convey rage, disappointment, scorn, stunned disbelief, disdain, horror, deep hurt and no small amount of jeez, how could you stab me in the back like this after all I've done for you - you furry little four-footed ingrate.
However, while your tone of voice needs to suggest all of the above, always remember that when punishing your dog, you should never say anything to the animal other than the word no, which you should feel free to repeat any number of times.
Storm around the room as though you are the verge of flipping out altogether as you use your unsettling voice to emphatically spew the word no over and over again.
This is you in a tizzy, making sure that your dog experiences one of the most distressing moments of his life. The like of which he will hope never to see again.
However, with all of that said, you should, nonetheless, exercise great discretion and consider the matter carefully before you employ a nose tap as part of a tantrum, since some dogs may be so severely distressed by the procedure that even a little smack in the context of a total tirade could prove too intense for them.