If we want to effect change with our dogs behaviour, we need to look at who is truly in charge. This isn’t a matter of dominance, rather, it is a matter of who is calling the shots, who is serving who and what messages are we portraying to our dogs. It is not overly common that we are dealing with truly dominant dogs who are taking over because of dominant behaviour. It is more common that we are dealing with dogs who take advantage of situations and who do what works for them. Allow me to explain.
Dogs are opportunistic creatures. If they find something that works, and that gains them what they desired, they will keep on doing it. Dogs do what works, it’s as simple as that. So if it works for your dog to gain your attention by acting out, they will keep on doing it, and this is what I see the most in regards to dogs with “bad” or inappropriate behaviours.
Many times, unknowing humans are giving in to the dogs every demand and desire, not really realizing that this is what is causing many of their problems. Think of it as an equation, that I’ve made up myself because math is not my strong point: X predicts Y therefore X will continue to happen if it consistently predicts (or equals) Y. So we need to no longer allow X to predict Y. I will provide some examples of what I mean below.
Example one:
You are working at your kitchen table, and your dog decides that they want your attention. Your dogs starts to whine and bark. You stop working because you think the dog needs some play. You play with your dog, then go back to work. This happens over the next few days, and the behaviour ramps up, becomes more persistent, and is now happening multiple times throughout the day. X (the whining and barking) =/or predicts Y (play time), therefore, the dog will continue the behaviour because X has been consistently producing Y, which is rewarding for the dog. The dog isn’t being dominant, in fact, at first, the dog may not even be acting pushy, they are just testing to see what works. But the dog becomes pushy due to the predictability of X and the rewarding nature of Y, and now the behaviour becomes stronger, more persistent and quite annoying.
Example two:
You are training a Place command. You teach your dog what place means, and have built up some duration. Your dog starts to test the boundaries when you begin to work on distance. Each time the dog breaks place, you go back to them, replace them and pet them. This happens over the course of a few days as you try to add distance. The dog starts to get up more now, even if you are not a far distance from place, and you are frustrated. In this scenario X (getting up) equals/predicts Y (you coming back to touch them), therefore, a dog who enjoys the contact, finds it rewarding and doesn’t enjoy the distance will continue to break place because X means that Y will be happening, and they prefer this over you moving away.
In both of these situations, there is no dominance involved, rather, it is a dog learning that certain actions will predict certain results, therefore, the actions strengthen and continue. These dogs, however, end up controlling situations and calling the shots because the humans continue to help produce the desired results for the dog. This is a trap that happens with many behaviours that end up becoming pushy and/or dangerous. Most of these things happen with attention seeking type behaviours; whining or barking for pets, acting out for play, barking to demand walks, bugging people the moment attention is off of them – mouthing, jumping, humping, grabbing, stealing etc. And though sometimes the humans dole out negative consequences such as yelling, chasing, grabbing and correcting, if they aren’t clear in the dogs eyes, the attention seekers will accept the negative attention as attention they’ve craved and a vicious cycle ensues.
So here is a challenge for you if you really want to start changing your dogs bothersome behaviours. Step back, observe and have a look at the things that the dog is getting rewarded for that you find irritating, offensive or annoying. Write down the behaviours, and what happens after these behaviours are performed, and what you do when these behaviours are performed. Are you rewarding them somehow? Is your dog telling you to jump and how high? You could be inadvertently rewarding these annoying things with play, positive or negative attention, a walk, food, freedom, touch, training, chasing and the list goes on. Start to consciously work on not allowing these behaviours to be rewarded. Whether that means ignoring, correcting or removing, if you don’t immediately stop the X predicts Y equation, or if you try and stop it sometimes but other times allow it, the dog will continue to act out, push you around and call the shots.
It isn’t difficult, per say, to stop these things in theory, but typically we are also dealing with habits from the human end of the leash, that are harder to break then the dog end. We give in, we cave, we feel sorry for, we say “just this once”, we are inconsistent, we fall back on habits, we have a hard time with change. But if you want positive change in life and in your dog, you have to change yourself and any bad habits you may have, in order to produce any positive movement forward, in order to convince your dog that you call the shots.
At this point, I should mention, it doesn’t matter how well obedience trained your dog is, they can still be bratty, pushy annoying creatures when not in command (and we don’t always want them to have to be in command), so this isn’t just for the untrained dogs, this is for the dogs taking advantage regardless of how well they know their obedience. I should also note here, that a dog who knows how to push your buttons is a dog who can manage to get what they are looking for because frustration is the very reason why the human end gives in.
So make a list, stay strong, get everyone on the same page, take charge, stop allow X bothersome behaviour to predict Y rewarding in the dogs eyes, and start to change your dog for the better today.
Happy training!!
Smart Dogs Canine Training Milton 