Puppy Raising R+ Philosophy

A Brief History
In 2013, Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) began a multi-year project to systematically maximize positive reinforcement (R+) across all dog programs: from breeding, to whelping, puppy raising, guide dog training, veterinary care, and beyond.

Since that time, our puppy raising volunteers have shifted from a reactive to proactive mindset when teaching and handling guide dog puppies, and learned sophisticated R+ dog training tools like luring, shaping, and selective reinforcement. As we continue to learn and improve our program, specific practices may change, but our guiding philosophy remains.

GDB’s R+ Philosophy
GDB follows a training philosophy that maximizes positive reinforcement and setting dogs up for success to minimize the use of punishment (corrections). In the canine behavior world, this type of training philosophy is often referred to as the Least Intrusive Minimally Aversive (LIMA) philosophy for training and behavior modification. We follow the steps on this page to identify the most humane and effective methods of teaching and nurturing our puppies and navigating behavior challenges that are not conducive to a career as a guide dog. Check out the illustrated graphic below, titled "Roadmap of Reinforcement: Route Plan for Maximizing the Use of R+," for a visual representation of the journey, then continue on for a deeper dive into each step.

Above: visual representation of the GDB Puppy Raising Roadmap of Reinforcement, inspired by Dr. Susan G. Friedman’s Hierarchy of Behavior Change Road Map

Health and Wellness
GDB’s training approach begins with ensuring a dog’s health and wellness. As many raisers have experienced, puppies often act up when they are feeling unwell (e.g. whining in the crate due to a GI upset). It is important to first rule out medical concerns to ensure a training/behavior modification plan is not attempting to cover up symptoms of underlying pain or illness.

Management to Prevent Undesirable Behavior
Management means setting puppies up for success. This can take many different forms. You might first think of confinement options like crates, tie downs, and baby gates. The following are great examples of management choices to set up puppies (and yourself!) for success:

• Working on grooming and body handling with a calm, sleepy pup rather than one that is eager for play time.
• Using a Gentle Leader head collar on the puppy if the you anticipate a high distraction environment.
• Giving the puppy a crate break with a stuffed toy if you are feeling frustrated.
• Choosing to leave your puppy at home when your club goes on an outing that will be too overwhelming for them.

Food Rewards for Desirable Behavior (R+)
Rewarding with food is what generally comes to mind when we think of R+ training. When we are training a new behavior or trying to change an existing behavior, food is generally the most practical reward for the dogs in our program and most of our puppies love to eat! GDB’s Training Department also uses food rewards when teaching formal guidework skills. Generous use of food, praise, and petting to reward puppy behavior develops a love of learning that lasts a lifetime!

Note: Praise and petting should also be used generously to reward good choices. Rewarding puppies for good behavior should be fun for both puppies and people!

These tools are all that are necessary when teaching puppies new skills, in the absence of unwanted behaviors. If you find yourself using a verbal interrupter or other corrections, reach out to your support team so they can help you adjust your training plan and keep the puppy successful. We want to encourage puppy effort and engagement to develop confident puppies that are eager to try new things and earn food rewards!

What About the Real World?
Training sessions don’t always go as planned. If the puppy isn’t learning as quickly as expected, or it seems like they knew it yesterday and suddenly forgot, go back to the first three steps (ensuring the pup is physically comfortable; management to prevent undesirable behavior, and rewards for desirable behavior). A puppy that messes up or doesn’t respond when you ask for a behavior isn’t as fluent in that behavior as you think! Review your Rules of Three as you make things more challenging. Corrections are not an effective way to teach new skills and should not be used while adding new distance, duration, or distraction challenges to puppy skills.

Dealing With Inappropriate Behaviors
Sometimes, even with the best foresight, puppies display inappropriate behaviors. “Positive” training does not mean we bury our head in the sand if a puppy does something undesirable. Inappropriate behaviors still crop up, even with good management. This is especially common when it comes to house behavior and behavior in high distraction situations. As the puppy matures, the occasional slip-up is not unusual as the pup is given more freedom and responsibility to make correct choices on their own.

Reward Alternative Behavior
The first tool when dealing with inappropriate behaviors is to proactively reward an alternative behavior. Ask the puppy to do something that is incompatible with the behavior they naturally want to exhibit. For example, if a puppy jumps up on visitors, the raiser can teach the pup to lie calmly on a dog bed instead. It’s physically impossible for the pup to be jumping on visitors while they’re lying on a bed! Or, asking a pup for engagement with you when they want to chase geese. You will need to teach these alternative skills in a non-distracting environment first, before you can use them in more difficult situations.

Removing Reinforcement (P-)
What if the puppy does exhibit an unwanted behavior? We start by removing reinforcement (i.e. removing what the puppy wanted). For example, puppies often vocalize to seek attention from the raiser. They have learned that these behaviors are rewarded by attention. Actively removing attention (i.e. turning away or even walking out of the room, if it is safe to do so) when the puppy vocalizes, teaches the puppy that this behavior results in the removal of the thing the puppy wanted (attention), and decreases the likelihood the puppy will choose to vocalize the next time it wants attention. And if you have done a good job of teaching and rewarding an alternative behavior (e.g. chewing a toy), it is likely the puppy will choose to offer that behavior instead.

Correction (P+)
Lastly, sometimes circumstances require immediately stopping an undesirable behavior, whether the behavior risks the puppy or your safety, or the undesirable behavior itself is rewarding (e.g. chewing on inappropriate items, or counter-surfing). Other times, puppies become frustrated when something that was previously rewarded now results in the removal of rewards, and they become frantic. These situations may require correction to stop the behavior to prevent further escalation and allow an opportunity to redirect the puppy to a more appropriate response. The type and intensity of correction may vary based on the situation and the puppy’s prior training history. Your support team can help you determine and implement the lowest level of effective correction required in each situation. The goal of a correction is to stop the unwanted behavior so you can quickly go back to rewarding the puppy for making an appropriate choice instead. It is critical to always maintain an emotionally neutral demeanor if a correction is required.

If you find yourself applying corrections repeatedly to stop a behavior or that your corrections don’t effectively stop the unwanted behavior, reach out for support.

In no instance is it ever acceptable to correct a puppy by verbally intimidating, hitting, or kicking the puppy.

Summary
GDB’s behavior and training philosophy maximizes positive reinforcement and encourages a proactive approach to teaching and management. Our R+ program emphasizes setting puppies up for success by teaching appropriate behaviors and managing challenging situations to give the puppy the best chance to make correct choices. There are also many tools in our toolbox to help navigate undesirable (but perfectly natural!) behaviors like distraction, chewing, attention seeking, and more to teach puppies how to behave instead. Reach out to your support team if the puppy doesn’t seem to be making progress or if you need help with management as they learn and grow.