In Tad We Trust

Michael Baugh CPDT-KA, CDBC

I get to see Tad again tomorrow, and the anticipation has had me thinking about the brilliant truth of teaching and learning.

Given the right set of circumstances, a learner will tend toward making the right decision. Scientifically that means if we set up the environment correctly our student will succeed. That includes both environmental cues and pleasant consequences for the learner. So much for the nerdy part. Here’s the softer part. All of my students really are working toward success; it’s the natural tendency of progress.

307041_220341031359673_157397620987348_653800_1263080296_n — A perfect learning relationship

There isn’t anything inside Tad that predestines him to behave poorly. There’s no internal badness in dogs that we humans have to break or dominate. Dogs, like all other learners are naturally (meaning it’s in their nature) built to discover the easiest right choices for behavior, and to act on them. In fact, even “bad” behavior is at the time the perceived right choice for the dog. Our job as teachers is simply to clear the path, make the choices we prefer more obvious, and reinforce those correct choices joyfully. That’s teaching.

I always trust my client dogs to find and make the right choice. If they don’t, I look at myself first to make adjustments. I never look inside the dog for sinister intentions with flimsy labels like stubbornness or jealousy. What can I change in this student’s environment to make it easier for him to make a correct behavior choice? When he makes that correct choice, how can I tell him he got it right so that he makes that choice again in the future? I joke that dog teaching isn’t a religion it’s a science. Still, it takes a whole lot of faith to ask those questions, trust the dog, and trust the process.

I smile every time I remember that humans can be trusted too. When we talk about a learner’s environment, we’re really talking about relationships. A supportive, empathetic relationship between a teacher and a learner (and really we’re all co-learners) sets the client up to succeed, every time, without exception. I nod respectfully to the late Carl Rogers who brought this knowledge to us. Humans are naturally built (meaning it’s in their nature) to ascend to the highest level of success possible, given the right environment and relationships. Abraham Maslow called that “self actualization,” and all of us are on the path. My path as a teacher and a learner fills me with faith every day. I trust the people I teach, and the dogs they teach in turn. I learn from them too. Certainly, it’s not always easy. Tiffany will tell you that, as will Tad in his own way. Still, we travel on together, clearing the path for our better selves, applying the science with abiding faith.

Something to Chew On

Michael Baugh CPDT-KA, CDBC

Dogs chew. It’s not just a puppy thing either. Dogs actually chew throughout their lifetime. It helps pass the time, keep their teeth clean and diffuse stress. More than that, it appears to be fun and satisfying for most dogs.

A lot of folks ask, “How do I get my dog to stop chewing?” We should probably ask a different question. Perhaps, “can I teach my dog to chew something else other than my stuff?” Now we’re on to something. The idea is to teach your dog to chew this and not that. Here’s a straightforward two-step process.

Step one: limit choices. Make it more difficult, if not impossible, for our dog to make the wrong choice. If your dog is chewing furniture, keep him away from his target. If he’s tearing up clothes, make sure all the clothes are out of reach. Woodwork? Safely confine and carefully supervise your dog. Some trainers call this management. I call it good common sense. Don’t set your dog up to lose time and time again. The truth is your dog doesn’t live by a moral compass. There is no right or wrong; there is only available or non-available. Make the wrong choices hard to find.

Step two: make it easy to make right choices. Give your dog chewing options which are both allowed and better than the other options (like furniture). I’m a huge fan of fully packed Kong Toys. Don’t just smear peanut butter in there with a measly treat. Load that bad boy up with a meal. Then revel in watching your dog solve the puzzle of unpacking it. Of course, there are tons of other chewing options. My dogs love elk antlers. Stella, in particular, really enjoys cardboard paper towel rolls. Of course, I give these to her and we always supervise chewing. Avoid putting out too many choices for chewing. Remember, we want to make the choices easy. A room full of toys and chew sticks doesn’t make for easy choosing. Everything looks like a chew toy in that setting, and then we’re back to square one.

Changing your dog’s behavior is all about making smart changes in the environment. Left to their own devices dogs will do the best they can, but they won’t always make the right choices. With just a little help from us, they can win every time. Make it harder for them to chew on the stuff we don’t want them to chew on. Make it easy and rewarding to chew on the right stuff. Keep that up for a few months and watch what happens. You’ll be so happy watching your dog chew up something you gave him that you’ll wonder why you ever wanted to make him stop.

Originally published on the Houston Pet Talk blog.

Keeping Tabs on Tad

Michael Baugh CPDT-KA, CDBC

I like to stay in close contact with my clients. This is especially true for cases which involve bites, or even lunging and barking. With my newest clients, Tiffany and her dog Tad, I’m using an online training journal. Tiffany and I share the journal on Google Docs. Daily, or at least every other day, she adds an update on her progress with Tad. I respond with feedback, and sometimes notes on how we can make his behavior-change plan more efficient and more effective.

The journal really helps all of us involved. It keeps Tiffany thinking about our training plan every day. She observes Tad more keenly and works with him more regularly, because she knows I’m expecting journal updates. The journal also helps Tiffany reflect on her own progress with Tad, because she has to take moment to stop and record her thoughts. Writing in the journal is a planned “pause and take a deep breath” moment.

As a behavior consultant, I benefit a great deal from the online training journal. There are several ways a behavior change plan can get slowed down or derailed altogether. One is poor execution. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t about beating up the client. Tiffany, as an example, is an extremely committed and intelligent person. However, two weeks will have passed before our next appointment (even a week would have been a long time). Much of the material she learned to help Tad is detailed and technical. Mistakes happen. It’s better to catch those along the way than two weeks down the line. The online journal is very helpful with that. As her coach, I can help her catch execution errors within a matter of hours rather than weeks. Of course, there are occasionally problems with the training plan itself. If an issue comes up on the training journal highlighting an error I’ve made educating the client, I want to be able to fix that immediately.

Tad benefits the most. Two species are learning new information at once throughout this process. One of the tricky parts of behavior cases like this is that both the human and the dog are putting brand new skills into action as they are learning them. That can set both the dog and the person up for some added stress and possible mistakes. For Tad’s benefit, it’s a good idea to have at least two human brains collaborating on his behavior-change plan daily. Again, that’s where the online journal plays a key role.

Of course the journal is not a replacement for regular phone and email check-ins. I do those with my clients as well, and that includes Tiffany. The journal is definitely a more-is-better addition to the client-coach relationship. We have two learners from two species taking in brand new information. Add to that, in some of these cases the stakes are pretty high. I’d rather not leave anything to chance. And if everything is going well, then excellent; checking in is still worthwhile. If nothing else, the online journal is a great way to remind Tiffany and I that we are both involved in helping Tad and that neither of us is walking this path alone.