Michael Baugh CDBC
When I was a kid, I had fish tanks, two in my room and three more in other rooms in the house. Freshwater tropical fish. My dad taught me how to care for them, even to breed them. Sometimes a fish would get sick; it was usually bacteria or a parasite. My dad’s lesson: we treat the water. It’s not the fish; the tank is sick.
I think about my dad’s wisdom a lot when I’m working with dogs. Behavior problems can be unique to an individual dog. Some relate to prior trauma we know nothing about. Pain or illness causes some problems, certainly. A few issues are neurological. But mostly the tank is sick.
Our dogs’ behavior is a constant conversation with their environment, shaped by prompts and feedback from the world around them. And yes, that includes the people in their lives. Our dogs live in community with us, with our visitors, with the other animals in our home and on our property. We may not have caused our dogs’ behavior problems. Still, we are key players in the game. Changes we make in our own behavior, and changes we make in our dogs’ environment matter a lot. Even small changes in our dogs’ world can have a big impact.
You see? It’s not all the dog. Everything connects and interacts. Our dog barks at strangers; but not if we introduce the stranger outside. A dog might snap at children; but we can teach him to remain calm watching kids from his bed. Some dogs lunge at other dogs on walks; but not when we give them a little more breathing room when they pass. The cues remain the same. Their meaning for our dogs is what changes. The feedback from their world changes and, sure enough, our dogs’ behavior changes.
Treat the tank, not just the fish.
We can do this for ourselves too. When I feel anxious or sad, I can practice being calm and watch the world from a distance. Set the phone down. Slow the scroll. Let the doom fade. Meet outside and feel the sun. Give each other a little breathing room. We can set things differently, interact with each other a little differently. Even a slight change can have a big impact.
My dad and I would talk late into the evening while we watched the fish. He still lives in that memory, rent-free. There is a natural cycle to life, he taught me. It’s rough sometimes. The tank gets sick, sure enough. We do our best. Things get better. It’s all connected. And, you know what that means? None of us is ever really alone.
Michael Baugh CDBC teaches dog training in Houston TX. He specializes in aggressive dog training. Jack Baugh was a world-class salesman and, hobby fish breeder and wise old dude. He died in 2014 at the age of 89.