Psst…
Allow me to let you in on a couple of little secrets regarding dog training.
Are you ready for it? Ok, here they are.
Dog training is not rocket science. It is not complicated. There is no magic to it. There are no special techniques, tricks or skills. Some trainers talk about the use of “balanced energy”. Some use terms like positive reinforcement, behavioral shaping, systematic desensitization, counter conditioning. All of the later by the way are very valid tools. However at the end of the day if you keep these two things in mind you would be well on the way to solving any issues you are facing with most dogs.
So what are those two things? I will lay them out for you.
Secret number one....a dog’s behavior is usually a precursor to a specific response. In other words, a dog does something in order to get something. If it does not get what it wants by doing a particular behavior, it will move to another behavior to bring about a more desirable result.
Keep this in mind, I will discuss it more in a minute.
Secret number two...dogs do not speak human.
That’s right. They understand certain phrases for sure but for the most part the spoken language is a foreign one to them and one they are not native in. Ponder that for a second. I will come back to it.
Here is another point that really pertains to both secrets above...we humans tend to make our canine companion’s behavior more complicated then what it is.
I have heard owners say things like
“My dog counter surfs and I have tried everything to keep him off the counter but nothing works...what do I do” or “We are walking and my dog pulls my arm out of it’s socket...I have tried every training collar out there, I use the “tsssst” sound but nothing works”
The whole “nothing works” is a really big statement to make. When I question most owners on what they have tried, usually I get a short list of one or two things they have done. Most times these solutions are ineffective because they are not getting at the root of the issue (for more on this, see EXAMINING PROBLEMS AS A WHOLE), the owners have set themselves up so that they cannot be consistent AND the solutions do nothing to detract the behavior as the dog is still getting the desired result.
Let’s take the counter surfing statement as an example and analyze it.
A dog counter surfs because it has learned when it does, it sometimes leads to getting some food left on the counter. The food can be the cooling turkey or it could be the left over crumbs from the breakfast toast. Simply, the dog has learned by committing a behavior ie jumping up on the counter, it will get a desired result ie food.
Most people understand this.
They resort to yelling at the dog to “get down and get away”. Some use a spray bottle and squirting the dog. Leaving aside the ethics of these practices, they CAN work IF you are around the counter EVERYTIME the dog passes. However they really do nothing to address the root of the issue. This kind of solution usually fails because you cannot be consistent and the dog gets smart. Your dog quickly figures out that he can jump up on the counter when you are not there, get the food and make a get away.
So, how do you fix a behavior like this?
The BEST way is to ensure you have clean counters when you are not directly in front of them. If the dog gets no results from jumping on the counter, he learns there is no desired outcome for the behavior and the behavior will disappear. It is a solution albeit an impractical one.
You need to change your focus. The first step is to ensure you are recognising and rewarding your dog everytime he resists jumping on the counter. Give him a reason to not jump up there. This will pay dividends. The second thing you need to do is to develop a pattern where you are effectively able to interrupt the undesirable behavior each and every time replacing it with a more positive behavior which will get the dog a desirable result. By doing so, you can shape this new desirable behavior and have it replace the old undesirable one.
How do you do this?
If you want to discourage a behavior like counter surfing, you want to ensure that each and every time for a longer time frame, you can effectively interrupt the behavior as soon as it happens. I like to use a tethering exercise where I attach a leash to the dog, the other end gets attached to me. Now the dog cannot jump up on the counter without me being there to supervise things, to control and interrupt the urge. I usually like tethering for a couple of weeks. It puts me in tune with the dog and the dogin tune with me. It is a really powerful tool. During this time, I am also going to teach the dog alternative behaviors to jumping on the counter which will lead to desired results for both myself and the dog. I will work them through long sit or down stays in a specific spot while I am cooking the meals. These stays are reinforced with desirable treats or even parts of the food that I am cooking (if it is ok for the dog to eat). The reinforcement needs to be consistent and timed in order for it to be effective especially in the beginning when you are looking to mark and shape the behaviour. Once it is established you can begin challenging the dog. Leave the room for short periods of time with the dog in the stay and you watching. If the dog breaks, you come back in the room, return the dog to the stay position and start over. If the dog does not break…reward HEAVILY.
This is just basic psychology. It is not quick. It is not pretty BUT it allows consistency and it is effective. It also minimizes any of the potential pitfalls resulting from other more intrusive less savy means (for more on this read: ETHICAL HIERARCHY PART ONE and PART TWO)
So the second statement: a dog does not speak english.
This is one that baffles me. We humans think that if we say something to our dog and our dog does not do what we tell them, all we have to do is say it a little louder and the dog will respond. It is both funny and sad. Little word of advice...if your dog is not responding to you after you tell them to do something the first time it is either because 1. your dog really does not understand what you are asking or 2. you are not making it enticing enough for your dog to do it. Yelling the command a little louder may result in your dog doing what you wish but your dog is not going to like it AND the effectiveness of the yell decreases the more it is used.
Proper communication is so important. We humans do a very poor job at it with other humans. Look at all the misunderstandings which happen in our daily lives. When it comes to communicating with our dogs, we suck.
You can see the breakdown in communication as you read through the last example.
The first set of failed solutions were good examples of poor communication. It was neither consistent nor was it effective. In the second set of solutions, you can see how this type of communication was much more effective. It allowed the owners to be consistent and to shape a behavior.
Let’s examine the second scenario I presented with the pulling dog and look at some of the ways owner’s communication is inconsistent, and ineffective. Let’s propose an alternative way to communicate to your dog proper manners when walking.
First off, let’s examine why your dog is pulling. He is pulling because he is outside, smells all kinds of smells. He sees a dog walking toward him and he wants to get at that dog. He hears a squirrel in the trees and he wants to check it out. He is very stimulated.
This is all typical behavior. Your dog’s brain is moving forward and he wants to go in that direction.
A typical response of an owner is to pull back on the dog. The resulting response from the dog is normally to pull harder. It is called oppositional reflex and results in a huge tug or war. Training collars get introduced. Some help the pulling, but usually they just mask a bigger issue and when the dogs become conditioned to the collar, the behavior returns. Sounds like “tsst” get used making the owner sound like a choo choo train. Unfortunately at times, the owner just gives up because they hate walking their dog. All this is so preventable if the owners just learn to communicate effectively with their dogs.
So lets go back to first preventing the behavior from the dog getting it’s desired response. There are a number of different ways that you can handle this which are effective. Some ways are more effective with certain dogs than others. One of the methods I explain to owners during the one on one phase is “the tree method”.
If every time the dog pulls you stop moving (become a tree), the dog quickly realizes that it cannot move forward to investigate more . Once this is realized the dog will must move on to another behavior. The next step is to introduce an alternative desirable behavior and shape it. So dog pulls, you stop, call the dog back to your side. You reward the dog for returning and continue on (thus giving the dog exactly what it wants for doing a behavior that you want). The dog begins to pull, you stop, call the dog back to your side, the dog returns, you reward and continue. Eventually the dog understands when he pulls, moving forward stops BUT when he is by mom’s and dad’s side, he gets rewarded AND moves forward. (for more helpful walking tips see: WALKING DOGS)
Hmmmm, PROPER COMMUNICATION.
It did not involve yelling at the dog. It did not involve making any special sounds. It did not involve forceable corrections and it did not involve the use of any training collar. Again, this method is not quick and it is not pretty. It might mean for a number of walks, you only cover short distances in a specific time frame when you could get much further by just walking. However, at this point try to keep in mind, it is not about quantity of milage but the quality. Also please note, I am not discounting the value of a training collar or the use of proper body language as both are another means of being effectively able to communicate with your dog when used correctly. What I am saying is to start with the basics and use those tools to solidify them. You build a solid foundation with the basics, the rest just adds to the foundation and strengthens it as opposed to masking the existing cracks.
By using the practices I just discussed, it really does build a solid foundation with most dogs allowing you to address most issues. Slowly building on a solid foundation comprised of proper and effective communication with your dog where proper behavior is taught and understood will allow you to shape desirable behavior. It will allow you to work the behavior through increasing distractions and will allow you to have a fantastic canine companion.