Operant Conditioning Theory is not unique to dog ... while few professional trainers recommend any degree of punishment. For example, you’re trying to teach your dog to lay down.

In operant conditioning, coined by B.F. Skinner, we learn through reinforcement or punishment. We avoid touching a pot of boiling water, for example, because we will burn our fingertips.

An animal trainer, for example, might reward a dog with a treat after the animal shakes the trainer's hand and pauses for a count of five. Operant conditioning was introduced by the psychologist B.