What is reinforcement? And how does it work for my dog ?

Well, in behavioral psychology, “reinforcement is a consequence that will strengthen an organism's future behavior whenever that behavior is preceded by a specific antecedent stimulus”. [1]
Therefore, in positive reinforcement training, we like to use primary reinforces (such as food and play) to strengthen the behaviors, which we would like to see our dogs continue to offer.
But our dogs don’t only find reinforcement in playing and getting food from us when training. There are multiple scenarios throughout their day, which they find reinforcing.  And this often lead to behaviors, which we (the owners) regards as highly unwanted in our daily lives with our dogs. Here are a few examples that I often hear from clients:
My dog jumps on me and/or visitors.
My dog runs along the fence, barking at the neighbor dog.
My dog gets in the garbage.
My dog jumps on the counter.
My dog chases the cat.
and…well, you get the picture.
We might not like these behaviors, but for some reason, our dogs find value in practicing these behaviors – he finds it reinforcing - because frankly, otherwise he wouldn’t continue to do it!
Jumping: Your dog gets excited, when you get home (or when you have visitors over) and his first instinct is to greet by jumping towards your face. For him it is highly reinforcing to greet you like this. Oh and all the attention that goes with it..whoop whoop.
Running and barking at neighbor dog: Oh, the thrill of running and barking – so exciting, best game ever!
Garbage: yes, score – yesterday’s chicken pieces.
Counter surfing: Mmmmmm…butter.
Chase cat: Cat runs..yaaa the chase is on. Again, super thrilling and fun.
 
My point is, that your dog will continue a behavior if he finds it reinforcing. And he will NOT stop it UNLESS you understand how to modify a behavior through management and training.
Often (unintentionally) we are the ones helping to create these “rude” behaviors by allowing our dogs the “freedom” to practice these unwanted behaviors. Our dogs only do what comes natural to them.  Think about the greeting behavior for a moment: Our dog rushes to the door, super excited and shows his excitement by jumping. We react AFTER the fact he did the unwanted behavior and we correct the dog. But next time, we again allow him to rush to the door and since he doesn’t know what else to do in his level of excitement, he jumps again. And time after time, we correct him, yet still nothing works. Why? Because we don’t teach him that there is another behavior that is more reinforcing. And until we do, he will continue to repeat the same behavior over and over again.
Now, I know some of you will say, well just knee your dog in the chest or step on his paws. That will make him stop. I’m sorry, but that is just lazy and rude. Instead, let’s teach him the behavior we WANT him to perform at the door. A sit maybe? or just keeping all four paws on the floor? No matter what our goal behavior is, first we need to change the current set-up and routine. Why? Well, this quote I love might explain it best: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” In this case it is us, the owners, who are clearly the definition of insanity, when expecting our dogs to behave differently even though nothing changes in the environment or set-up. So, to modify an existing behavior, we need to approach it in two steps:
First, manage dog so he can’t repeat the same behavior. Often a leash on or a barrier, such as a baby gate or exercise-pen, will help stop the dog from repeating the unwanted behavior, because now he can’t rush to the door. But this is only management.
Secondly, let’s train and reinforce the behavior we do want. Teach your dog, that when sitting, or just standing calmly, you or your visitor will walk closer towards him to pet him. But as soon as he pulls on leash, jumps, gets up from the sit, you (or visitor ) stops moving forward towards him. You don’t have to say anything. Your reaction to his action is an instant consequence which doesn’t work in your dog’s favor. And he gets that fast. As soon as he is calm or sits, you can now start walking forward again. He will quickly realize that there is a pattern: When  sitting or waiting calmly, he gets what he wants, which is your attention and petting. When jumping or pulling, he gets nothing.
It is our responsibility, as dog owners, to help our dogs navigate through our set of expectations and rules by teaching them, what behaviors we want in different scenarios.  And then reinforce the shit out of them, so our dogs learn these new skills and can be successful next time.

And in regards to the garbage can….just put it away. Problem solved.
  
 
 [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement