At Pawsitive Tails, I have the opportunity to help dogs and their owners improve relationships by modifying behavior on both ends of the leash. While I call myself a dog trainer and behavior consultant, at the root of my daily interactions I am also a detective. If you’re interested in why your dog does what she does, channel your inner sleuth and look at the world that you share with her. I guarantee you, that more than the latest training technique or fancy equipment, great observational skills are essential to being a better trainer and handler – and happier dog owner.
What makes a good sleuth? Detectives hone their investigative and problem-solving skills by examining situations so that details and facts can be uncovered. Investigations are systematic, and any dog trainer worth his/her salt excels at asking questions that get to the heart of the matter. As a dog owner, you can do this too! The goal is to learn what sets the stage for the unwanted behavior to occur and what happens afterwards that keeps that behavior sticking around.
When we want to change behavior, our emphasis should be on observation not interpretation. We could spend plenty of time trying to figure out what’s going on inside your dog’s head, but why cloud our investigation with labels? Sure, I can label a dog as stubborn, jealous, or dominant – but that doesn’t help us fully understand the behavior nor does it assist me in developing a plan to help you solve a particular problem.
Freed from labeling, we can take our observations about what happens before and after the unwanted behavior and decide what we would like our dogs to do instead, and this doesn’t include “not” anywhere in the description. For example, you don’t want your dog to jump on you when walking in the door. Great! But what do you want her to do instead? Sit politely as you walk past? Wait on the dog bed for you to pet her? Take the time to visualize what you want to see and then we can figure out how you’re going to get there.
Being an ace problem solver is a hallmark of our favorite fictional detectives – like Sherlock Holmes and Nancy Drew – so once we’ve deduced what sets the stage for the unwanted behavior, we’ll change the surroundings to make it easier for your dog to do what you’d like to see instead. It’s definitely not “cheating” to make it easy for your dog to succeed. If a tether helps your dog stay on her bed in the beginning, use it. If a low-key approach reduces the intensity of her jumping, do it. When we see training as a partnership with our dogs, we realize that helping them get it right benefits everyone.
When the target behavior is easy to do, we’re able to reinforce it – thereby increasing the likelihood we’re going to see that target behavior again – so knowing what is reinforcing, what matters to your dog, is crucial. At Pawsitive Tails, we often use food, since it’s easy to dispense and your dog needs to eat. But even so, you need to know your dog’s individual hierarchy of deliciousness and how it can change in different situations. While she may routinely work for bisquits when practicing basic obedience, when the job is harder (like practicing the new greeting behavior), the “pay” needs to be commensurate with the task. Whatever the reinforcer, don’t be afraid to pull out what your dog really loves to get the behavior you want!
Once your dog has this new behavior down, we can gradually reduce the deliciousness/amount of reinforcement she’s receiving. First though, get what you want – consistently.
And if you’re not getting that behavior, we can troubleshoot training conundrums by doing further investigation, asking questions like: have I broken up the behavior into tiny enough bits so it’s easy to learn? Is my timing right on in that I am rewarding her immediately after the behavior? Can I change my way of delivering the food to help the behavior occur? This kind of troubleshooting can be tricky; so if you need help along the way, don’t hesitate to reach out to a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) or CTC (Certificate in Training & Consulting).
Ultimately, our goal at Pawsitive Tails is to empower owners to understand what makes their dogs tick and hone their training (detective) skills through excellent coaching, so that they can solve behavior issues throughout the life of the dog. While I love working with canines and their people, I’m also happy to put myself out of a job.
Lisa Gunter, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is a Certified Behavior Consultant Canine and Professional Dog Trainer with Pawsitive Tails in San Francisco. Utilizing the latest in humane motivational training, Pawsitive Tails successfully helps owners and their dogs address a variety of canine behavior and training challenges – including aggression, fear, and anxiety. For more information, visit sfpawsitivetails.com.
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