Gail Fisher, All Dogs Gym & Inn - The perfect place for pets and their people

On our training class application, we ask new students, “What do you hope to accomplish?” Often students list behaviors they want to cure—that is, things they want their dog to stop doing. Topping the list are:

With the exception of “come when called,” each of these involves a “don’t” rather than a “do.”

To help achieve their goals, we focus students on ‘do’ goals—to envision what they want rather than what they don’t want the dog to do. Here’s the difference.

Focusing on behavior an owner doesn’t want—on eliminating behavior—means providing an undesirable consequence for engaging in it. In behavioral terms, this means “punishing” that behavior. For example, consider jumping up. Some punishing consequences include scolding, kneeing the dog in the chest when he jumps, and giving him a time-out. Sometimes the consequence gets the point across to the dog not to jump up ... on that person. But even if the consequence works, it rarely carries over to other people. Owners often tell me that they have been able to stop their dog from jumping on them, but “I can’t get my (friends, mother-in-law, uncle, etc.) to knee him in the chest.” And when you think about it, why should they? It’s not a visitor’s job to train your dog, especially when it means balancing on one leg to knee a dog that’s hurling itself at you. Not only could they potentially hurt the dog, but they could be injured, too.

The other drawback to viewing behavior as a “don’t” is that the dog has to engage in that behavior for there to be a punishing consequence. The dog won’t feel the knee in his chest unless he jumps up. He won’t get a time-out until after he’s done something wrong. He won’t “corrected” for pulling on leash unless he pulls to begin with. But some behaviors are more worthwhile to the dog than any consequence you can provide. For example, a scolding or time-out for going into the trash won’t eliminate or overcome the reinforcement the dog got eating scraps, and enjoying tearing things up and tossing them around. So punishment doesn’t lead to an improvement in the dog’s behavior.

The best approach to eliminating behaviors you don’t like, as we teach our students, is to envision and train the behavior you want your dog to perform. Visualize your dog sitting politely as guests enter your home. Picture your dog walking calmly by your side with slack in the leash. Train your dog to play with a toy rather than your child’s hand. In other words, train your dog to ‘do’ rather than to ‘don’t.’

By starting with a clear picture of the behavior you want—the behavior that replaces the one you don’t like—you are well on your way to training your dog to perform an “incompatible behavior”—incompatible because if your dog is sitting politely, he cannot be jumping up. If he’s walking calmly by your side, he can’t be pulling on leash. And if he’s chewing his own toy, he won’t be chewing your kids’ hands. That’s the focus of positive dog training—rewarding the dog for the behaviors you like, and in the process, eliminating those you don’t like without the need for any punishment at all.

For more on this, and to learn more about your dog’s behavior, join me Thursday, January 14^th from 7:00-8:30 at All Dogs Gym for a free workshop on All About Dog Behavior and Training. Learn about normal dog behavior, and strategies for addressing behavior you don’t love. In celebration of National Train Your Dog Month, bring your questions (but please leave your dogs at home) and let’s “talk dogs!” Space is limited so reservations are requested. To reserve a spot, call All Dogs Gym (603) 669-4644, or email info@alldogsgym.com.

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Copyright © Gail T. Fisher, 2010. All rights reserved. http://www.alldogsgym.com For permission to reprint this article or suggestions for future topics, please contact us.

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