I tend to get a lot of calls about dogs who are exhibiting troublesome behaviors in regards to fear/reactivity/aggression. One of the biggest problems I find with owners is that they are inadvertantly choosing to work on the symptoms of the problem and not the deeper issue. Remember the blog entry I wrote about microwave dinners vs. spaghetti where I discussed how we tend to compartmentalize our dog's issues instead of realizing they are actually a complicated mess of different behaviors? If you missed it you can read it here: Think Spaghett, not Microwave Dinner .
Well, choosing to work on our dogs reactions in certain situations and not realizing their behavior in other areas are related is not the only problem. What I find many owners focusing on is the behaviors that bother US and trying to modify our dog's behavior without first figuring out why the behavior is happening. In other words, your dog acts aggressively towards other dogs on your walk. Is it because they are afraid of the other dog? Is it because they see you as their resource and don’t want to share you? Or perhaps they feel helpless being restrained on a leash and therefore over react to the passers by? While it is extremely important to work through these scenarios, we must make sure we are truly changing how they FEEL about those situations not just how they ACT in those situations.
I know many owners don't even realize the problems associated with simply changing behavior and neglecting the emotional side, others honestly don’t care how their dog feels about a situation they just want them to behave, while others may even have a hard time believe that dogs have complex emotions at all. Either way you slice it, you are walking a risky line by only addressing their behaviors in certain situations instead of truly uncovering the underlying issue. Why? Even if you are successful in modifying their behavior in certain routine situations, what happens when you find yourself in a situation that is not routine or expected? They will go into default mode. You see, if you only change the way a dog ACTS in a certain situation and not how the dog FEELS, when they get into a new situation their feelings will override their training. You will find yourself frustrated by the fact that all your hard work has seemingly been lost. This is why we truly have to change their view of the world, not just their behavior.
FOUNDATION-This may require a little bit of prep work before we ever work on the issue that bothers them (you) directly. Many times I get a phone call from a dog owner who has one MAJOR issue they need addressed YESTERDAY. They are often disappointed when I give them a realistic expectation of how the training is going to go. For instance, for many dogs who have behavior issues, I enroll them in my Work for a Living Program (WAFL). Many times, I will require the dog and owner to go through at least 2-3 weeks of the program before we directly address the owner's MAJOR issue. For many of my WAFL dogs, most of their issues stem from the fact that they are convinced they run the show and answer to no one. WAFL helps to change their perspective. If you start by trying to address behaviors in a particular situation without first making sure your dog looks to you for leadership, you are doing a lot of work in vain. You can be doing everything right but if your dog is not paying attention, or doesn’t care what your opinion is, than you might as well be doing the training sessions by yourself. Some owners have a difficult time coping with this idea, however, it is necessary to build a strong foundation before going into the situations your dog has the most difficulty with AND it will make your work easier when we do begin addressing that situation!
REHAB-Another element of this type of training that owners can have a hard time with is the "Rehab" period. The behaviors that you are hoping to address are likely full blown habits. What I mean by that is they have done these behaviors for so long, they might not even put a lot of thought into them. Well as you might have guessed, getting your dog to change a behavior requires that they think about said behavior. That is why it is necessary to take your dog through a rehabilitation period where they are not allowed to exhibit those behaviors. If we can start breaking those habits while we are doing our 2-3 weeks (or maybe more) of foundation work, it will make our job easier when we reintroduce them to those situations later in their training. For example, if your dog explodes with reactivity when he sees another dog on your walks, try to take him later at night or to a park where you are not likely to run into other dogs, you can even skip taking him for walks for this transition period if you feel like he can get his physical exercise elsewhere temporarily (like in a fenced yard). Our goal in this piece is to begin breaking the habit. The only successful way to do that before we have completed our foundation work is not putting them into those situations. Now would be a good time for me to explain idealistic vs. realistic. I realize that not everything I recommend is the easiest or most convenient option. However, it is the most ideal option. I always like to begin with my clients discussing the ideal situation, and then coming up with realistic options that are feasible for them. I always want to be clear however, and say the farther we stray from ideal, the less progress we will see. Another side note: make sure your rehab period does not turn into avoidance. It is a good idea to keep your dog out of those situations until you and the dog are ready to be successful at them, but if this rehab period becomes permanent, it is no longer rehab, it is simply avoidance. Dog owners who practice avoidance live in constant fear of the day they won't be able to avoid the situation that bothers their dog and that is certainly not the goal of the rehab period.
Once you have done your homework, then it’s finally time to get started on those specific issues you have been eager to address! Well….kind of…
BREAK IT DOWN-When you have done your foundation work and rehab period, we want to start addressing specific issues but we want to begin at a level that is going to be successful for you and your dog. For example, if you have a dog that is very reactive when someone comes into your home, you can simply start with the doorbell. Stand at your front door with the door open and your dog sitting there observing you ring the doorbell. What happens? Does their anxiety level immediately rise? If you continue to ring the bell, do they continue to be upset even though it is obvious that no one is there? If they do, this likely means they have a very strong (and negative) association with the sound of the door bell itself. They KNOW that sound means a stranger is approaching (in their minds it’s not unlike if you heard your burglar alarm go off, right?). If their association is so strong that seeing with their own eyes that it is not a stranger and in fact is their owner isn't enough to overcome that association, then we have some work to do before we go any further! If your dog has trouble remaining calm for step one (the doorbell) of a situation that has several steps (doorbell, going to door, opening door, person entering, and greeting. Etc.), than it is pretty safe to say we need to break it down into small enough pieces that your dog (and you) can handle successfully. I commend owners who try to work with their dogs to improve their behavior and not just live with them; however, if we throw them in the deep end of the pool before they get comfortable in the kiddie pool, all we will accomplish is increasing that fear/anxiety.
I understand that this might sound like a lot more work than you had anticipated. However, when you consider how much more you will be able to enjoy your dog for the next 15 years because you took a few extra steps to address their behaviors the right way, the price is cheap.
The days of "do it because I said so and that should be reason enough" are over, and they should be! It is time to truly start effective communication with your dog; you might be surprised what they are capable of!
Do you feel like your dog could benefit from my Work for a Living Program? Please give me a call! 785.408.6127
Well, choosing to work on our dogs reactions in certain situations and not realizing their behavior in other areas are related is not the only problem. What I find many owners focusing on is the behaviors that bother US and trying to modify our dog's behavior without first figuring out why the behavior is happening. In other words, your dog acts aggressively towards other dogs on your walk. Is it because they are afraid of the other dog? Is it because they see you as their resource and don’t want to share you? Or perhaps they feel helpless being restrained on a leash and therefore over react to the passers by? While it is extremely important to work through these scenarios, we must make sure we are truly changing how they FEEL about those situations not just how they ACT in those situations.
I know many owners don't even realize the problems associated with simply changing behavior and neglecting the emotional side, others honestly don’t care how their dog feels about a situation they just want them to behave, while others may even have a hard time believe that dogs have complex emotions at all. Either way you slice it, you are walking a risky line by only addressing their behaviors in certain situations instead of truly uncovering the underlying issue. Why? Even if you are successful in modifying their behavior in certain routine situations, what happens when you find yourself in a situation that is not routine or expected? They will go into default mode. You see, if you only change the way a dog ACTS in a certain situation and not how the dog FEELS, when they get into a new situation their feelings will override their training. You will find yourself frustrated by the fact that all your hard work has seemingly been lost. This is why we truly have to change their view of the world, not just their behavior.
FOUNDATION-This may require a little bit of prep work before we ever work on the issue that bothers them (you) directly. Many times I get a phone call from a dog owner who has one MAJOR issue they need addressed YESTERDAY. They are often disappointed when I give them a realistic expectation of how the training is going to go. For instance, for many dogs who have behavior issues, I enroll them in my Work for a Living Program (WAFL). Many times, I will require the dog and owner to go through at least 2-3 weeks of the program before we directly address the owner's MAJOR issue. For many of my WAFL dogs, most of their issues stem from the fact that they are convinced they run the show and answer to no one. WAFL helps to change their perspective. If you start by trying to address behaviors in a particular situation without first making sure your dog looks to you for leadership, you are doing a lot of work in vain. You can be doing everything right but if your dog is not paying attention, or doesn’t care what your opinion is, than you might as well be doing the training sessions by yourself. Some owners have a difficult time coping with this idea, however, it is necessary to build a strong foundation before going into the situations your dog has the most difficulty with AND it will make your work easier when we do begin addressing that situation!
REHAB-Another element of this type of training that owners can have a hard time with is the "Rehab" period. The behaviors that you are hoping to address are likely full blown habits. What I mean by that is they have done these behaviors for so long, they might not even put a lot of thought into them. Well as you might have guessed, getting your dog to change a behavior requires that they think about said behavior. That is why it is necessary to take your dog through a rehabilitation period where they are not allowed to exhibit those behaviors. If we can start breaking those habits while we are doing our 2-3 weeks (or maybe more) of foundation work, it will make our job easier when we reintroduce them to those situations later in their training. For example, if your dog explodes with reactivity when he sees another dog on your walks, try to take him later at night or to a park where you are not likely to run into other dogs, you can even skip taking him for walks for this transition period if you feel like he can get his physical exercise elsewhere temporarily (like in a fenced yard). Our goal in this piece is to begin breaking the habit. The only successful way to do that before we have completed our foundation work is not putting them into those situations. Now would be a good time for me to explain idealistic vs. realistic. I realize that not everything I recommend is the easiest or most convenient option. However, it is the most ideal option. I always like to begin with my clients discussing the ideal situation, and then coming up with realistic options that are feasible for them. I always want to be clear however, and say the farther we stray from ideal, the less progress we will see. Another side note: make sure your rehab period does not turn into avoidance. It is a good idea to keep your dog out of those situations until you and the dog are ready to be successful at them, but if this rehab period becomes permanent, it is no longer rehab, it is simply avoidance. Dog owners who practice avoidance live in constant fear of the day they won't be able to avoid the situation that bothers their dog and that is certainly not the goal of the rehab period.
Once you have done your homework, then it’s finally time to get started on those specific issues you have been eager to address! Well….kind of…
BREAK IT DOWN-When you have done your foundation work and rehab period, we want to start addressing specific issues but we want to begin at a level that is going to be successful for you and your dog. For example, if you have a dog that is very reactive when someone comes into your home, you can simply start with the doorbell. Stand at your front door with the door open and your dog sitting there observing you ring the doorbell. What happens? Does their anxiety level immediately rise? If you continue to ring the bell, do they continue to be upset even though it is obvious that no one is there? If they do, this likely means they have a very strong (and negative) association with the sound of the door bell itself. They KNOW that sound means a stranger is approaching (in their minds it’s not unlike if you heard your burglar alarm go off, right?). If their association is so strong that seeing with their own eyes that it is not a stranger and in fact is their owner isn't enough to overcome that association, then we have some work to do before we go any further! If your dog has trouble remaining calm for step one (the doorbell) of a situation that has several steps (doorbell, going to door, opening door, person entering, and greeting. Etc.), than it is pretty safe to say we need to break it down into small enough pieces that your dog (and you) can handle successfully. I commend owners who try to work with their dogs to improve their behavior and not just live with them; however, if we throw them in the deep end of the pool before they get comfortable in the kiddie pool, all we will accomplish is increasing that fear/anxiety.
I understand that this might sound like a lot more work than you had anticipated. However, when you consider how much more you will be able to enjoy your dog for the next 15 years because you took a few extra steps to address their behaviors the right way, the price is cheap.
The days of "do it because I said so and that should be reason enough" are over, and they should be! It is time to truly start effective communication with your dog; you might be surprised what they are capable of!
Do you feel like your dog could benefit from my Work for a Living Program? Please give me a call! 785.408.6127
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