Can We Control Our Dog’s Behavior?

Michael Baugh CDBC

Can we control our dog’s behavior?

No. The actions our dogs perform, their behavior, is the product of their brains and nervous system.

However. We can greatly influence our dog’s behavior. That’s an important distinction. Behavior is driven by countless environmental factors, both external (for example, a new person) and internal (for instance, if the dog has a sore hip). We are a key part of our dogs’ environment. So, we play a significant role in their behavior responses and choices.

Here is what we can control and what we can’t.

The setup. I like to call this part setting our dog up for success. We have control over where our dog is, what he’s exposed to, when and what he eats, his exercise routine, and more. If our dog is afraid of new people in his home, we are in control of how that person enters and the location of our dog. This influences his response. If we are training our dog to lie down on cue, we get to choose where we teach this, affecting our dog’s ability to make the right choices.

There are many names for controlling the environment for our dog’s success. Behavior scientists call it antecedent arrangement or antecedent control. Trainers sometimes refer to it as managing the environment.

The behavior. What our dog actually does in any given situation is pretty much up to him. Our dogs choose their actions based on several factors. The most important of these is their perception of safety. Like us, when it comes to making calm, deliberate choices, they do best in a non-threatening environment. Chill scene — chill behavior.

Some behavior isn’t a choice at all; it’s a split-second response. The inner brain and the body react before reasoning kicks in. Trainers sometimes label this “reactive behavior.” It’s not a choice. But it’s still the dog’s doing.

The outcome. What results from our dog’s behavior choices or responses? If we pay attention, we can exercise a great deal of control here. Yes, other players in the environment are competing for sway in the outcome game (think: squirrels, other dogs, or that smelly dead whatever-it-is). But let’s not underestimate the real stake you have.

We can (and should) reinforce the behavior choices our dogs make that align with how we want them to behave. That’s easy to control. Use bits of food, appropriate touch, and warm, smiling verbal praise.

What about behavior responses, those quick, emotionally driven behaviors that bypass the reasoning part of the brain? Those are less influenced by food and praise. That so-called reactive behavior is our dog’s way of seeking safety by escaping or by driving an offending stimulus away. We can calmly move away with our dog so he can feel safe again. Teaching and reinforcing a new pattern of behavior is the long-game remedy for “reactivity.”

What we Control

✅ The setup: We have a lot of control here.

🚫 The behavior: Our dog decides or responds.

✅ The outcome: We get some control here, too.

Can we control our dog’s behavior? No, but also yes, kind of. We need to understand that our dog has his own agency, makes choices, and experiences sudden responses. Let’s respect our dogs as thinking, feeling beings.

And let’s also focus on what we can control. It’s a lot, actually. That should make us feel empowered. We aren’t helpless once we put our attention where it will have the greatest effect.

Sedona Dog Trainer Michael Baugh CDBC specializes in aggressive dog training. 

What is Functional Aggressive Dog Training?

Michael Baugh CDBC

If your dog is doing something you don’t like, or, worse, something dangerous, a smart trainer or dog behavior consultant will ask the question: What’s the function of the behavior? It’s called a functional analysis. It’s also kind of a dog training joke.

What’s the function? WTF? Get it?

Our dog’s behavior has a function. They do what works.

Here’s an example. Our new puppy pees on the rug in the dining room. We don’t like it. WTF? Great question! The function of that behavior is to relieve the discomfort of a full bladder on an absorbent surface. If we’ve reprimanded our puppy in the past, peeing in the dining room might also serve the additional function of avoiding our scolding.

Here’s another example: Our dog comes to us when we call her. The function? Get a treat. Enjoy some additional play. Gain access inside. Anything we have in store that works for the dog.

Functional analysis asks what the existing behavior accomplishes.

Functional dog training asks what we can teach instead.

It can look a lot like basic training, with one notable difference. We might teach rudimentary cues like come or lie down, but we are teaching them with a specific function in mind.

It’s not magic. It takes a lot of practice.

Coming when called, to use that example again, can teach a dog to avoid a triggering situation on cue. (Yes, the pool guy is here. Come! Get a treat. Now, let’s go do something else.)

Similarly, lying down on a mat, in a bed, in a crate, or simply going to another room can become a functional alternative to barking or lunging. Aggressive triggers can become cues for calmer behavior.

What’s the function of this training for us? It can make our lives with our dogs easier and more enjoyable.

What’s the function for our dog? Pretty much the same. These newly learned behaviors create distance, predictability, and access to reinforcement. Those experiences can actually reduce the intensity of our dog’s big feelings. That makes their life easier and more enjoyable, too.

This is all pretty straightforward, but if your intuition tells you it’s hard work, you’re right. We are teaching our dogs alternative functional behaviors; that’s not terribly hard. Dogs are quick learners. We are also attempting to influence how our dogs feel in situations that have previously frightened or angered them. That’s the harder part.

Be patient.

Be kind.

We teach our dog these new functional behaviors in low-stress sessions. Use food. Model calm behavior. Train; don’t test. This is what trainers mean when they say, “Set your dog up to succeed.”

Add distractions gradually. Create winning experiences our dog can handle, ones in which our dog can succeed with their new functional behavior.

Back to that coming-when-called example: practice calling the dog away from the windows when no one is outside, then maybe when a family member is outside, then eventually when the pool guy is outside but we aren’t right up next to the window.

Oh, and what about that puppy? Take him out every two hours. Wait for the pee. Praise. Treat. Play. Wait a minute. There might be more, maybe even “big boy potty.” Treat that too. Make outside the place with the best payoff. Relief plus good times.

Back inside with your puppy, have some fun, cuddle. Supervise. Safely confine when you can’t. Lots of structure, routines, and awareness win the day. No need to punish accidents because we aren’t letting accidents happen. Well done, clever human.

Now we’re putting the fun back in FUNction.

Michael Baugh teaches aggressive dog training online and in Sedona, Arizona.

Could AI Train my Dog?

Michael Baugh CDBC

 

 

 

 

 

Some dog training is robotic. In fact, I teach some techniques that way. Keep your hands relaxed and still. Cue a behavior. If the dog performs the behavior associated with the cue, mark the behavior with a click or a clear marker word. Then, reach into the treat bag and deliver a bit of food to the dog. The process is crisp and clear. Non-human artificial intelligence could pull it off.

Actually, AI would nail it. Dogs perceive cues from non-human sources all the time. AI can already perceive live video. Remote feeding devices have been around for decades. It’s a no-brainer, literally. (Well, our dog has a brain, but you get it).

With some work, artificial intelligence could actually train with environmental cues, like teaching a dog to station on a bed when a doorbell rings. That would be cool.

The only thing missing would be everything else.

Training with our dogs isn’t only about teaching a list of tasks. It’s about learning communication. Our dogs learn from us, our verbal phrases, our body language, and facial expressions. And we learn theirs. Faced with a new and potentially challenging situation, the discourse is easy. Our dogs and we navigate the situation on the fly. This is how our dog learns behavioral flexibility. It happens in real life, with us.

Artificial intelligence is excellent at learning patterns. It’s quick. It uses pattern recognition to infer outcomes. That’s amazing. And it’s getting better. AI can learn a great deal about us. It can learn about our dogs. Artificial intelligence will never be human, though. Never a dog, either.

I fell in love with my dogs while teaching them. It’s intoxicating, that flood of neurochemicals: oxytocin, dopamine, adrenaline. I don’t know them all. It’s a cocktail you can only make with a dog. A friend. Another living being.

The first time I ever taught a dog to stay, we looked lovingly at each other from across the room. My dog wanted to run to me. I wanted her to. But we both knew the game, so much fun, waiting. Artificial intelligence is helpful; I’m glad it’s here. But AI will never know what I felt teaching stay that day. It will never feel.

Humans and dogs evolved with each other. We grew up together over millennia. Our interactions are as sloppy and unpredictable as they are inspired. Yes, we communicate with clicks and treats. And we communicate with laughter, and play bows, and winks, and smiles, and stillness, and brief moments of silence. Yes!

Trainers sometimes tell students that dogs are forgiving of our messy, inconsistent training. I wonder if they thrive on it. This is who we are together: dogs and humans. Organic. Alive. Perfectly flawed.

I know it sounds diminutive, but AI has its place. Help my brain, my wobbly memory. Help me see the pattern here I don’t see. Maybe artificial intelligence will claim some big spaces. Heal our bodies. Enrich our lives. Open a world at our fingertips.

Things dogs do.

Tread carefully, my dear sensitive, loving fellow humans. Take my hand. Laugh with me. Tremble if you must. So much is unknown. Make room for this artificial invention of ours, but keep it out of your heart. Meet me out on the path instead. Walk with me, just a couple of people chatting.

And AI, our helpful illusionist. Respectfully. Stay away from my dog.

MIchael Baugh teaches dog training in Sedona, Arizona and Houston, Texas. He specializes in aggressive dog training. 

Related article on my Substack: Are Human Dog Trainers Obsolete?