Dog Behavioral Modification 101

The field of dog training and dog behavior is an ever-growing field, with more new information emerging all the time.  It’s also a controversial field, with many experts disagreeing with certain approaches to behavior modification.  I’m going to review some basic pieces of information regarding approaching your dog’s unwanted behavior.

Before reviewing this, it’s always important that owners distinguish between “unnatural” behavior and “unwanted” behavior.  With behavior that is natural for a dog, it becomes important to approach them with patience and understanding that we are truly trying to alter that which is essentially natural for them.  And it being natural, we shouldn’t feel disappointed, frustrated, or that something is wrong with our dog.  Natural dog behavior includes digging, barking, sniffing our delicates, and potentially chewing on something before they know any better.  These things aren’t wrong, they are unwanted.  Unnatural behavior can be any natural behavior taken to excess, ie. barking that is persistent without relent all day long.  This is a tough determination for an owner to make, as we are not as sensitive as they, and often times there are real reasons they are overstimulated which are still natural.  Unnatural behavior may also be obsessive behaviors, ie. a dog I once knew who’d fixate on the last place he saw his ball, and not leave until physically forced.  He’s stare for hours.  This may be more natural for a terrier breed (their job is to find the vermin in the hole), but it wasn’t natural for his breed.


1. Positive Reinforcement.  This is often considered the most effective method.  Versus constantly reprimanding them for unwanted behavior, focus must be to reward them for desirable behavior.  Often times the challenge here, is that we pay less attention to our dogs when they are being perfect.  If your dog is just calmly by your side, being mellow and sweet,  he needs to be praised.  He can make a reward correlation between going potty in the right place, being mellow, not barking, any time he is great or does an appropriate thing.  The reward can be treats, play, affection; whatever is your dog’s motivator.  I cannot stress enough how easy it is to miss acknowledging good behavior when it isn’t related to potty training. 


2.Negative Reinforcement.  This includes presenting a negative stimulus following an undesired behavior.  For example, shock collars or choke collars, as well as invisible fences.  They don’t learn what is “right”, but they learn what is wrong because they receive a negative response when they perform it.  This is considered less effective than positive reinforcement because it punishes them, yet doesn’t show them truly how to behave. 

3. Punishment.  I take away something you like when you do something I don’t like.  I personally feel there is a fine line between this and negative reinforcement, because like negative reinforcement, it shows the dog what you don’t like, but it doesn’t necessarily show him what you really want him to do .  Some argue another example of punishment is turning your back when  your dog jumps.  He associates a negative result.. you turn away.. but he may not learn it’s because he didn’t sit.  He just understands it’s because he jumped.  He may stop jumping, but don’t expect he will make the assumption to sit.  He may just walk away.  A personal exception, I think, to this is removing a snack if they become aggressive over it.  But, I feel this can be a mixture of positive reinforcement also.  If he’s being naughty, he loses the snack.  When I give it back and he allows me to take it again without complaint, I pour the praise and allow him to keep it.

4. Classical Conditioning.  This is where you teach your dog to associate things together.  I ring the bell by the door, I go outside.  I go outside, I pee and my owner is happy!  Clicker training falls under this category.  I hear the click, I know to do something as per I was trained.

5. Counter Conditioning.  This is using something incompatible with the undesired behavior.  Using play to bring your dog to a different emotional state.   For a dog who is fearful, we try to create a different emotional state by countering their current one with other stimulus, ie. throwing the ball/frisbee.


6. Desensitization.  This is tantamount to when we see people overcome their fear of snakes by slowly increasing their exposure, until before you know it, they’re holding the snake.  This could work with an item which scares the dog unreasonably, like a specific house item that is natural.  This is also the approach many take with separation anxiety.  You leave for 5 minutes.  Then 10.  Then 20.  Slowly you desensitize your dog to the anxiety caused by your departure.

They key thing to remember about all behavior modification, whether cats or dogs, is that we need to acknowledge the behavior immediately.  It’s not fair to try and correct your dog for something they did 5 hours ago that you missed.  Yanking him by the collar to drag him to a pile of poop will probably not resonate with him; we will never fully understand how long their short term memories are.  In all fairness, when I come home to destruction I don’t punish my dogs, but I definitely vocalize unhappiness towards the pile of debris without directing it towards the dog.  Catching them in the act is a whole other issue.  Consistency is everything, and everyone in the house must utilize the same modification methods.  If not, the dog will not understand.  There is a difference between using a louder, dominant voice and freaking out and yelling at your dog.  The later will cause your dog to be fearful, and it’s intensity is not proportionate to the offense.  I hesitate to write about dog behavior and training, as this issue stirs a lot of passion in people.  It’s the biggest area of argument.  Case in point, at Petsmart adoption events, the employees use water bottles and spray the dogs who won’t stop barking.  This would fall under negative reinforcement.  People walk by and make snide comments about it being cruel, but many others find this an effective method, so long as you are not spraying their faces directly.  I concur with not spraying faces; it’s less about being cruel and more about not wanting your dog to accidentally inhale the water.  That would be bad.  If any readers have used methods to train which they found super effective, I encourage you to jump on our forum section and share with the other readers!

Using Punishments in Dog Behavior Modification

Written b

y Sam Kabbel, CPDT-KA, President, Pet Behavior Solutions

What is punishment?

The word punishment evokes all kinds of emotions and opinions.There are a variety of techniques and “schools of thought” with regard to the use of punishment in resolving behavior problems in dogs.This article is not meant to address techniques or methodology, but rather to address punishment as a scientific term and its use in behavior modification.Punishment is defined as a consequence that when applied following a behavior, reduces that behavior.There are two “types” of punishment – one where something bad happens and one where something good stops.Both of these types of punishment are aimed at reducing an unwanted behavior.The thing we struggle with the most is the type and intensity of the punishment needed to affect behavior.

As seen on TV

Television programs offer much information to the dog owning public about how to resolve problems.We see everything from using treats and toys to scruffing and pinning a dog.The problem is that these programs rarely show what doesn’t work, nor do they show the potential side effects of the various techniques that arise following the taping of the show.When seeing follow up cases, we only see the successful cases.We never see what to do if the suggested technique doesn’t work.Finally, these shows are abbreviated versions of systematic protocols which should be tailored specifically to each case and modified as necessary as the situation evolves.

One size does not fit all

I think we could all agree that repeatedly punching a dog for reacting inappropriately toward a guest or another dog would be an abusive method of attempting to modify behavior. Further, gently scolding the dog in a sing-song voice is unlikely to be effective for most dogs.My point is that there are so many ways to handle things that we need to go back to basics. I always think about the child’s story, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, when referring to the intensity of punishment. The porridge cannot be too hot or too cold – it must be just right.The punishment cannot be too harsh or too mild – it must be just right.But who determines if a punishment is too harsh or too mild?The trainer or behavior expert, the owner, the television show or book, etc.?None of these!The determination needs to be according to the dog with which we are working.For some dogs a stern yell would be devastating where another dog could interpret a swat on the hindquarters as affection.Unfortunately, I see pet owners trying to follow the advice they receive from their friends, family, television shows, and books.More often than not, these techniques are inappropriate for their situation.Further, pet owners are not trained in how to evaluate the effectiveness of these techniques nor are they trained in the proper administration of these techniques.This often leaves me, as a practitioner, with a dog that has either become sensitized or desensitized to consequences.That makes the issue far more challenging to resolve.

Why is the behavior occurring?

Generally, pet owners either fail to look at the motivation of the behavior before reacting to it or they make erroneous assumptions about the motivation of the behavior.Let’s make it even simpler – instead of trying to come up with a motivation – let’s look at what makes the behavior work or continue.Here is a simple example:Let’s imagine a dog that as a 6-month-old used to tuck his tail and hide behind his owner when people or other dogs would approach.Now he is 18 months old and he isn’t tucking his tail anymore.Now he is growling as they approach and lunging as they pass.If you just met the dog without knowing the history – you may not be able to tell that the motivation of the behavior is still fear.On the surface, it may look like a dog trying to be “dominant” by aggressing.Regardless of the motivation – what makes the lunging persist? What is the dog trying to accomplish by lunging?Think simply — space and distance from the target!From the dog’s perspective the behavior works because people and their dogs don’t stick around after the growl and lunge.Either the dogs and people keep walking farther away or the lunging dog is taken away as quickly as possible.Either way the dog gets what he wants – space!In order to change the behavior we have to make that not work for the dog by changing the outcome when the dog engages in that behavior.(This is known as operant conditioning.)The dog would need to find that he isn’t able to chase people away and that his behavior doesn’t give him the distance he wants most.If he is not getting the outcome he is expecting, then the inappropriate behavior is no longer reinforcing for the dog.That paves the way for new, more appropriate sequences to teach the dog!

Feedback to the dog

It is said that dogs like to please their owners.This is because dogs love the feedback that they receive from their owners when their owners are happy.Dogs tend to do more of whatever earns our affection. (In terms of learning theory, affection acts as a reinforcement.)In contrast, punishments don’t make dogs happy.Generally dogs don’t want to be at odds with us since that interrupts the symbiosis of the bonded, social relationship.

Emotional stress: anger and frustration

Most punishments are all too often merely an expression of our own anger and frustration with the situation.We react emotionally instead of remaining emotionally detached and responding decisively. The last thing the dog needs is to have us respond to an already emotional situation for them with more strong emotion!Yelling, yanking, pinning, and other related techniques generally cause stress and anxiety for both the dog and the owner.Increasing a dog’s emotional stress never helps.Like people, dogs don’t think rationally when they are stressed and emotional.We have to help them to be less emotional and to weigh out their options with our guidance.Often we should choose a consequence that is more frustrating than harsh.Appropriately created frustration of an appropriate intensity brings about problem solving and creative thinking.Here is an example to which we can all relate:When we are faced with a road closure on our route to work – we have to find a way around it and will be likely to choose that route for as long as the road is blocked.The road closure creates frustration, but creative thinking and problem solving reduce that frustration because we have found another route that works better.Dogs need to learn that their current (inappropriate) way of reacting no longer works.This will require owners to have patience, consistency, repeated practice, and guidance for a more appropriate behavior (i.e., a new route to work).Dogs need to rule out their existing behavior and find a new way to respond.

Superstitions

Another consideration is the creation of superstitions, which occurs when a dog learns the wrong aspect of what we are trying to teach them.If the fearful dog described above is scruffed and pinned to the ground for growling and lunging at approaching people and dogs – what sort of superstition could be created?From the dog’s perspective, bad things happen or mom/dad is really upset when people and/or dogs approach, so the need to create distance increases!!The dog may learn that the approach predicts even worse things so create distance sooner and with more intensity.

Suppression or resolution?

Finally, harsh punishment may cause an immediate cessation of a behavior.Often times, this immediate cessation is merely a temporary suppression of that behavior.It is like getting a speeding ticket.There is nothing like a $ 150 fine to temporarily reform a speeder, but after a few weeks he/she is right back to speeding again.With dog behavior modification – we need to address the whole picture – what is the dog getting from the current behavior and what do we want him to do instead?Without both aspects of behavior modification – we rarely obtain a long term solution.The dog needs to rethink the entire scenario with our guidance and become practiced in the new sequence so that becomes his new default or automatic response.

Measuring success

Finally, effectiveness must be measured in terms of the frequency, duration, and/or intensity of the behavior we are trying to change.We need to see that we are getting progressively less of that behavior now as well as in the future.We also need to ensure that we have yielded a calmer, more confident dog that is no longer emotional or stressed in those situations.

There is so much to consider when using punishment that it is critical to seek the help of a professional who possesses the education and experience to consider all possible outcomes and create an effective protocol for a long term solution.A credentialed professional should be able to advise you as to a proper protocol with consequences that are appropriate for your dog, the situation, and your family.Please contact us for more information:

info@petbehaviorsolutions.com or 602-324-8948.

Dog Behavior Modification

Posted on 11:20 PM

Common dog behavior may include digging holes, barking, soiling specific spots and much more. One day you might find yourself to come home from work and notice that your dog has marked his spot on the floor, right next to the door. There may be a reason for this, and there might not. Even if there was a purpose for what your dog did, you can offer other options instead of trying to stop certain dog behavior. Try dog behavior modification. This simply means what you are trying to do is modify or in other words, change your dogs behavioral instincts. Pet dog behavior should not be taken lightly and needs to be correct as soon as possible before a habit is developed. Here are a few tutorials for Canine Behavior Modification and how to help your dog become a better pet. With this dog behavior advice, you will be better off at understanding dog behavior and problems.

Time Out for Behavior Modification

International Association Animal Behavior Consultants

June 23, 2011

Joyce Kesling, CDBC, Professional Trainer

Time Out for Behavior Modification

 

The use of Time Out (TO) procedures can be useful in management and treatment for some of the most common behavior problems in dogs; especially those related to social interaction.  Dogs are social creatures…preferring the company of their human companions or other dogs.  The loss of social contact can be very useful in treating attention seeking and competitive play behavior.  However, there are specific procedures necessary to apply TO correctly, thus minimizing any negative affects.  

J. P. Scott’s research was the first detailed view of how effective “separation-related distress” can control dog behavior.  “TO is based on the finding that mild separation distress can be contingently applied to control undesirable social excesses” (Lindsay 2000; p. 310). 

The contingencies used in the application of this procedure should include appropriate timing, bridging cue, repetition and duration of TO.  A richly rewarding training environment will affect the dog’s attitude toward the TO.  Reward based training should provide the dog many opportunities to make the correct choice for their behavior. 

Keep in mind, TO should decrease excessive undesirable behavior, thus the dog learns to employ more acceptable and rewarding behavior.  The TO removes the opportunity for rewarding activity and studies reveal that “animals work hard to escape or avoid TO from positive reinforcement” (Lindsay 2000, p. 310). 

Timing and Bridging Cue 

Timing and the use of a bridging stimulus (cue) are essential.  Any delay in removal or bridging the inappropriate behavior could result in the dog misunderstanding the punishment.  If for instance, the dog starts biting at the cuff of your pants immediately use the bridging cue (enough) and remove the dog to the designated TO area.  The time out area should be decided prior to initiating the TO.  According to Lindsay (2000), you should also employ a leash and collar avoiding using your hands for anything other than “delivery of prompts and affection or other rewards for compliant behavior.” 

The TO area suggested could be a lighted bathroom or utility room.  Lindsay (2000) suggests placing the leash in the door jam, preventing the dog from doing anything other than sitting or standing.  The dog should be quiet and calm before allowing to exit.  After TO, you should return the dog to the training environment allowing him reinforcement for any acceptable behavior. 

 I recommend using the dog’s kennel and/or tethering can be done later.  Done correctly, using a cue i.e. “enough” while immediately removing the dog to the kennel, this does not cause the dog to view their kennel as a “bad place” misunderstood by many dog trainers.  You make it clear using an appropriate cue designated and IF you’ve trained your dog correctly to love their kennel, using treats, toys, safe chew objects and for naps and sleeping.  The dog will associate the difference in contexts. 

Deciding on how, when and why one should/could use time out should be evaluated by a professional.  If you’re having any serious problem between you and your dog, you really need the advice of a behavior specialist, certified in dog behavior. 

Repetition 

In the beginning the TO procedure should be repeated as often and consistent as necessary.  Some behaviors deeply entrenched may take repeated TOs.  During the first stage, TO should be implemented on a continuous schedule and when there is sufficient evidence the dog is suppressing the unwanted behavior; the schedule can be more variable.  This will prevent the unwanted behavior from recovery.

Duration 

It has been noted that most dogs are responsive to short TOs of no more than 2-3 minutes and as short as 30 seconds…for aggressive behavior the TO could be as long as 5-10 minutes, but for the most part this should be avoided.  After the TO period, you should return the dog to the same training environment and encourage an acceptable alternative behavior.  If the dog repeats the unacceptable behavior he should be returned to the TO area.  This TO procedure should be repeated until the dog presents a close approximation to the desired behavior. 

The time in a reinforcing environment and TO is used to control dog’s natural impulsive behavior.  The dog should understand if implemented correctly impulsive behavior gets them TO, where as calm quiet acceptable behaviors gets time in the rewarding environment.  This will only work if you are providing a rich and rewarding environment.  The downside of punitive training methods may encourage the dog to accept TO as rewarding for escaping the non-rewarding environment of punishment-based training. 

This is a brief overview of this procedure.  Implementing the correct use of time out needs assistance from a professional trainer or behavior consultant well versed in learning theory as further explanation is necessary.  Time Out applied incorrectly has the potential for damaging the human-canine bond that is necessary for a cooperative relationship.  

References

Lindsay, Steven R. ( 2000 ) .  Handbook of applied dog behavior and training.  Iowa: Iowa State Press.

Responsible Dog & Cat

Training and Behavior Solutions

Combining Art and Science Training Animals

Joyce D. Kesling, CDBC

P.O. Box15992

Sarasota,Florida34277

941-966-1188

 http://responsibledog.net

http://responsibledog.wordpress.com/

http://k9psych.wordpress.com/

http://k9psych.blogspot.com/

 

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Mahatma Gandhi 1869 – 1948

Copyright Responsible Dog & Cat 2004 – 2011