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Changing Your Dog’s Behavior

Michael Baugh CPDT-KA, CDBC

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.

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.

(originally published on the Houston Pet Talk blog site)

Sit Happens – No Problem

Michael Baugh CPDT-KA, CDBC

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?

The Time for Truth

Michael Baugh, CPDT-KA, CDBC

There are few things more controversial in the dog world than this plain-spoken statement. You don’t have to use intimidation, pain or fear to train a dog. It is, of course, the truth. We have century-old behavior science to back it up, hard evidence from dogs and dozens (if not hundreds) of other species. Still, if you put the idea out there people will balk. Humans are, in so many ways, a punishing species focused squarely on what is bad and how to “correct” it. So many trainers still use fear and pain as a first choice in handling dogs. Others fall back on it for “certain dogs” or “harder cases.” They defend their positions with the fiction there will be “a case in which the dog’s life is at stake.” Some dogs, they say, need to be punished. They use more acceptable words like “firmness” and “discipline.” The irony is that we won’t tolerate abuse of dogs in other contexts, but we tolerate it in training. Rescue groups lament the suffering their fur babies have endured at the hands of ignorant former owners. Some even suppose abuse that may have never actually happened. Then these same rescue groups refer their dogs to people who openly and shamelessly brutalize and terrorize dogs in the name of training.

These are the same people, trainers and self-professed dog advocates, who will hurl their anger at the truth. They will ignore the evidence of sound behavior science. They will punish the facts here as they punish dogs, without thought or regard for what is right. Some have already begun typing their fury in response to these words. So be it. This essay is not for them.

This is, instead, for the growing majority of trainers and behavior consultants who understand that the best learning happens in a relaxed, pain-free environment. It’s for those who know that training is about contingencies and attaching value to behavior. This essay is for those intelligent people who’ve already discovered that our relationship with dogs isn’t about who’s in charge; it’s about how we learn to communicate together. They are the people who learn and teach and remember every day that training isn’t something we do to dogs; it’s something we do with them. These words are for the reward-driven, science-based trainers who would never inflict fear or pain on any dog. This essay is for them and it’s an open challenge, a call to action.

Find your voice and be heard. Set your own fear aside. Take solace in knowing that you are not only technically correct in your methods but also morally sound. Stop waiting for change. Make change happen.

There was a time when we thought the best way to eliminate pain-based training was to include it in our ranks, and educate the perpetrators. That time has passed. The Association of Pet Dog Trainers is now peppered with trainers who proudly use shock collars, prong collars and choke chains, trainers who throw things at dogs and shake cans at them, and trainers who all the while call themselves “positive.” They are using The Association brand, founded on creating better trainers through education, and refusing to use that education to better themselves. We must insist that our professional organizations set clear standards that reject pain and fear in training.

There was a time when certification was novel and a choice for the few. Others were satisfied to opt out and rest on their own good reputations and skills. That time, too, has passed. If we do not distinguish ourselves collectively, we will be marginalized summarily. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior recently published it’s “10 Life Threatening Behavior Myths about Dogs.” It’s a handout for veterinarians to give to their clients. Myth #9 is “Oh he has a behavior problem? Send him to a trainer.” The “myth” discourages contacting trainers for help, and instead encourages clients to consult their veterinarians (many of whom have no behavior education). The veterinary community is being encouraged by their own leadership to marginalize our hard-fought expertise and professionalism as mythology. We must insist on certification (if not licensure) within our profession if we are going to insist that other allied professionals recognize us.

There was a time when we were the new age trainers, the soft alternative to “traditional” trainers. That time has passed, as well. We are not the alternative. We are the standard-bearer. There is no more time for ignoring the unacceptable behavior of pain-based trainers. We all know that ignoring what is wrong is not enough to bring about change. We don’t just ignore bad behavior; we starve it. Let pain-based trainers (and those organizations who recommend them) wither in a market in which you flourish. Focus your attention (and the attention of others) on the excellence of your work, and celebrate the means to those ends. You are correct and morally sound. Be heard. Raise the banner high and let it be known that science-based and reward-driven training isn’t one way to train; it’s the way to train both quickly and effectively. You know that is true. We must speak this truth and speak it loudly.

There was a time when we could afford in-fighting and back biting among ourselves. We played at competition with each other to our own demise. Time’s up. In Houston, many of the best reward-driven like-minded trainers in the market meet monthly. We call each other with tough cases and refer to each other freely and frequently. We are competitors and friends. We work hard to secure each other’s success. We also hold each other accountable under a common goal to eliminate the use of fear and pain in the name of training. Our success individually and collectively helps dogs escape horror and brutality. To that end, we must work together; and we do.

I remember a time when the future of dog training seemed assured. Education alone would lead us to a time when all dogs were taught gently and intelligently. The only dog whisperer was Paul Owens, and no one hurt dogs on TV for the sake of infotainment. No one worried about a coming “culture war” in dog training. In time, pain-based training would just go away. All we had to do was wait. That time never came. It won’t, unless we act.

We must reject pain-based training immediately and thoroughly. Reclaim your professional organizations. We must demand professional recognition from ourselves and our peers. Certify and license dog training. We must challenge ourselves to be the standard-bearers of training. Starve out those who frighten and hurt dogs. We must come together. There’s no doing this alone.

These words are for you dear fellow trainers who are kind of heart, intelligent and gentle. These words will bring on attacks, to be sure. Cast them aside. Humans are a hard species, especially when someone speaks out. Nothing is more controversial, it seems, than the truth.