Our dog, Zora, keeps climbing the fence! We live in a rented house so we don’t really have the option of changing or upgrading the fencing. We’ve lived here for over a year and she has just recently started doing this, since mid July. How can I prevent or change this behavior?
Cynthia D.
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Dear Cynthia,
Don’t fence me in! The old Cole Porter song is a bit dated now, but your dog obviously has a case of old fashioned wander lust.
The good news is, this falls squarely into to the category of “dogs will be dogs.” Left to their own devices dogs will do doggie things, and that includes busting out of this place (wherever this place may be) to do a little exploring. Here are some things to consider.
Manage the behavior. If you’re not already, you really need to closely supervise Zora in the back yard. That means that you never leave her out there unattended. You have to be there with her to make sure she’s not up to no good, or up and over the fence. If she’s hopping the fence right before your unbelieving eyes, take the extra measure and put a leash on her for potty breaks out back. We don’t want to leave anything to chance here.
If Zora is an “outside dog,” might I suggest you make her an “indoor dog” in a hurry? It’s not as hard as you might think. Most of the time, it’s just a matter of teaching potty training and some basic doggie manners. The effort is well worth it. Backyard dogs get in trouble; they get out, and sometimes they get hurt (or worse). Don’t take that risk.
Changing behavior is all about verbs, actions. We can observe behavior in real space and time because it is physical and often includes movement. We describe behavior with verbs. He sits. She runs. They eat. Remembering that helps us steer away from the labels we put on dogs, like dominant, dumb and stubborn. Those are adjectives, and the only real way to change them is to stop using them. Actions, on the other hand, we can change.
I didn’t invent the science of behavior change (I wish I had). In fact, there isn’t a dog trainer in Houston or anywhere else for that matter who can make such a claim. The truth is, the core concepts of animal training (including the human animal) are more than a century old. And they are among the most tested and verified bits of knowledge in the field of psychology. That’s a good thing really. We dog trainers don’t have to reinvent the process. Be careful of those who claim to. I wrote about the science of dog training in the March 2011 issue of Houston PetTalk. While we are always refining the way we apply the science of behavior change in dogs, the fundamentals remain the same.
Ah science. There seems to be a collective yawn when the topic comes up. Maybe our concept of science reminds us of boring afternoons in the classroom. That’s not what I’m talking about here. Using behavior science in dog training is cool, very cool. In fact, every trick you have ever taught your dog is an example of applied behavior science. Dolphin shows are excellent examples of it. Behavior science is actually happening all around us. Dog trainers use it all the time in some form or other, even if they don’t fully understand it.
Photo Courtesy: Robyn Arouty
Here’s how it breaks down. A behavior is repeated (and becomes habit) when there’s a history of favorable consequences following the action. How about an example? Put on a sweater – enjoy warmth and avoid being cold. Nice! Here’s a doggie example. Knock over the garbage can – enjoy snacking on the spilled food scraps. The actions of putting on a sweater and raiding garbage cans will increase over time because of the consequences. Changes in the environment set these learned behaviors into action. Let’s look at the human example again. The temperature drops when the sun goes down – put on a sweater – avoid the cold. The temperature drop didn’t cause the action of putting on a sweater, but it did set the stage. Perhaps the sight of a garbage can and the absence of people set the stage for the action of knocking the can over. In both examples, it’s the consequence which keeps these actions going time and time again.
You’re on your way to understanding how to change behavior (your dogs’ actions). Cues from the environment (we are part of our dogs’ environment, by the way) and consequences in the environment influence our dogs’ actions. That’s very good news for those of us who live with dogs. Why? Because we can change their environment. We can remove garbage cans as a potential trigger of destructive behavior. We can also provide food-delivery toys like Kongs and Bob-a-Lots for better behavior when the dog is left alone. Now we have the tools we need to change behavior. We actually had them all along.
Think of anything your dog does that you’d like to change. Remember to use verbs. Then think of what happens right before the action, and right after. Those are the trigger and the consequence. Can you change either of those, or maybe both of them? When a visitor comes to the house (trigger), and your dog jumps on her (action), does she pet him (consequence)? How many of those environmental pieces can you influence? Better yet, could you teach your dog that when the visitor comes (trigger), he sits politely (action), and she gives him a snack and some petting (consequence)? I bet you could.
The best part is we’re focusing on our dog’s actions and things in the world around him we can control. We’re not worried at all about labels. Those are adjectives and they are not of use in changing behavior. We’re all about verbs (like sit, and come, and look at me). And we’re not just looking at our dog’s actions either. The best way to change an animal’s behavior is to make a few little changes to the environment, and this often means changing our own behavior.
Now we’re talking about a wonderful noun: Relationship.
Good dog trainers know we don’t teach dogs to do anything they don’t already know how to do. That may sound like nonsense, but it’s true. Your dog already knows how to walk beside you, and come to you. He also knows how to stay put and lay down. He knows how to sit too. The trick of training your dog is to teach him to do those things a lot, in all kinds of situations, when you ask for the behavior.
So yes, it’s true, sit happens. It happens all the time. In fact, most of my students have already taught their dog to sit on a verbal cue by the time they meet me. But here’s the rub. The dog will sit when asked so long as we’re inside, and the person is facing the dog, and (by the way) nothing much else is going on at the time. The question we really want to ask isn’t does your dog know sit? It’s how strong is your dog’s sit, and in what context? There’s the rub indeed.
Sit can be used to remedy dozens of problems, including jumping on people (he sits instead), bolting outdoors (the dog is sitting not running), stealing things off counters (can’t do it if he’s sitting), and chasing your kids (impossible if you’ve asked him to sit instead). Achieving these goals is very doable, but we need to start with the basics. Never give your dog the final exam before you’ve taught him the material. That’s just not fair.
It’s not about the word. Start teaching sit by temporarily taking the word out of your vocabulary. Instead, every time you see your dog sit say “yes” and give him a delicious bit of healthy food. Once he sits, take a few steps backwards and see if he follows you and sits again. Say “yes” and treat him again. This is called capturing, like catching a bit of action on film (behaviors are actions). Do this over and over, so that your dog gets hooked on sitting. Every time he sits, after all, something great happens.
Name it. When your dog is thoroughly addicted to sitting for you, name the action. That’s right, when you are 95% sure he’s going to do it anyway you are going to cue your dog to “sit.” This seems backwards but it’s not. Verbal cues (they used to call them commands) are not directions to do something; they are permission to do something. Your dog is already begging to sit for you. Now the word is going to give him the green light. Say it once. Your dog can hear you, so repeating the word sit is not useful.
Take the show on the road. Now you can start using sit as an antidote to more troubling behavior, but take it slow. Ask for sits in gradually more difficult situations, but not so difficult that your dog fails. Remember the rule about not giving the final exam too early. The best way to teach your dog is to set him up to succeed, raising the bar of difficulty a little at a time. Since your dog is working at a game he can win, he will be excited and energetic about sitting. “Yes” and treat enthusiastically. This is going to give you the opportunity to teach quick sits in more distracting settings. Forcing sits by yanking a chain or pushing on hips is less exciting and slows the process (it can also hurt your dog).
Let your imagination guide you to further challenges. What else can you teach your dog to do that is the opposite of bad behavior? Look back and notice the things your dog is already doing well. Capture that behavior and use it to crowd out the stuff you want him to stop doing. Dogs who walk calmly on leash (good behavior) don’t lunge and pull (bad behavior). Dogs who eliminate outside (good) don’t do it inside (bad). Dogs who lay quietly on their beds with their Kong Toy (good) don’t beg at the table (bad). You get the picture. It’s all a matter of replacing the bad with the good. Add to that, it’s a great way to build a relationship with your dog. And isn’t that why you got a dog in the first place?
