Hello and thank you in advance,
My wife and I, middle aged, and experienced owners in a way, are able to take a dog and make it an generally safe and acceptable pet in our home, but it's amateur and imperfect.
So I'm trying to up our game at having a well-behaved and safe, reliable dog when we finally buy a pup one day (we adopted older mixes our whole lives, otherwise).
I'm totally all-about positive reinforcement, as I've already learned on the fly how it can be both more effective, more quickly, and easier on the dog and your relationship.
But how or where can I learn how using positive reinforcement can keep a dog from performing impulsive, naughty things?
You can't ambiguously reward a dog for not doing something bad every 30 seconds and withhold the treat when it suddenly does something "wrong".
That are lots of positive reinforcement articles I find but so far they haven't covered the other half of the gamut.
I am still open to humane, mild forms of negative reinforcement if necessary for safety and order.
Where would you recommend I start seeking professional information or help?
I don't have much money but I did find basic obedience classes for only $195 for 6 weeks, at a popular place people train dogs for water sports, which interested me. That I can do. Or if it's more, like $50 a pop, but each lesson prepares me well for training on my own time, that's possible. But any money I can saver for more specific lessons, by reading & watching videos, first, to cover universal, elementary fundamentals, that's greatly helpful.
Thank you for your time,
Jeff in Silver Springs / Ocala, FL

First, make sure you're understanding reinforcement and punishment correctly as used in behavioral science.
Punishment simply means anything that has the consequence of minimizing or eliminating a behavior, and reinforcement is anything that has the consequence of making a behavior stronger or more likely to occur. Has nothing to do with how we might feel about whether something is punishing or rewarding, it's simply a description of an outcome.
Positive and negative have to do with adding something or removing something, nothing to do with "good" and "bad" which is how a lot of people interpret it - positive is good. There is positive punishment which means adding something that causes a behavior to decrease.

In real-time interactions with your dog I think it gets hard to parse out if something is being positively reinforced, or negatively reinforced (removal of something the dog dislikes). For example, when a young puppy learns to come when called, are they coming because of the addition of a treat (positive reinforcement) or because they're reducing their distance from their human who represents safety and resources (negative reinforcement).

In general I don't think it's super helpful for the average pet owner to get too bogged down in terminology or trying to figure out how to apply positive reinforcement to everything. But I DO think it's very important to figure out what motivates your dog and how to capitalize on that.

Secondly, dogs learn by many different means other than reinforcement and punishment. There are instinctual behaviors, dogs also learn by observation, trial and error, all sorts of things. There are also many behaviors that simply go away with time, habituation, or simply the dog growing up.
For example potty training - dogs instinctually want to keep their living and eating areas clean (instinct), will observe other dogs in the household potty outdoors and ask to go out to do so (observation), and as they grow and gain more control over their bladder and bowels and aren't as easily distracted (maturing) they will have an easier and easier time staying clean in the house. So while a well timed treat for outdoor pottying certainly doesn't hurt, there's really not much need for a reward or punishment if you allow instincts, observation, and maturity to play out.

Specifically, how can you use positive reinforcement to keep a dog from doing impulsive, naughty things?
The easiest answer is figure out what you want the dog to do instead. "Don't" isn't a behavior so if you're teaching "don't" or "stop" you're by default using punishment because punishment stops behaviors. If you want to teach a dog to DO something, you have to use reinforcement. If you want to teach a dog to do something with positive reinforcement, you have to know what motivates that dog more than the behavior you don't want them to do.

So... if my dog is jumping on guests and I don't want that behavior, I can teach a sit instead and reward that so that the dog is more motivated to sit than to jump. That's how R+ works to "stop" undesirable behaviors.
But remember, again, many impulsive behaviors dogs grow out of simply through the process of maturing. Especially if it's a behavior that's not that self-rewarding and you don't accidentally add any reinforcement to it. Like if a pup barks at you for attention and you yell back, the dog just got the attention they wanted so that behavior is more likely to continue. But if the pup barks and you get up and walk away, pup is likely to try something else. So make sure you do give plenty of attention when the pup IS doing things you like!

 

Hi Jeff,

It sounds like you and your wife are off to a great start! Positive reinforcement is definitely the way to go, and thinking ahead about impulse control will make a big difference.

You’re right—you can’t reward a dog for not doing something constantly. The key is management and teaching clear cues like “leave it,” “settle,” and “come,” so your dog knows exactly what you want.

Some practical steps:

• Books & videos: Pat Miller’s The Power of Positive Dog Training and Kikopup on YouTube are excellent for impulse control and everyday training.
• Classes: That 6-week local class sounds like a solid foundation. Even one lesson a week gives you tools to practice at home.
• Practice: Short daily sessions (5–10 minutes) in low-distraction settings, gradually adding challenges, build reliability.
• Safety: Mild corrections are fine if needed for safety, but most issues can be prevented with clear cues and management.

With consistent practice and positive reinforcement, your future pup will likely become a confident, well-behaved companion.