When I’m burning sticks in my fire pit in the yard, I have a goal of continually keeping the pile symmetrical. It occurs to me that this goal runs parallel to training goals in my training sessions with animals. We humans use a similar approach when creating new habits for ourselves that make our lives work better. Identification of behavior boundaries, building a strong foundation to grow on, and making quick decisions are the factors of creating change in our lives.
Boundaries
When using a fire pit to burn a big pile of branches, I need to keep the fuel within the boundaries of the pit – the physical edges. Safety is key. I don’t want to draw flames outside the pit. Boundaries are also important when building a fire on the ground or in a fireplace or wood stove. Any time there’s fire involved, you need boundaries. You need boundaries around the behaviors you want to build, too. They keep your behaviors safe from errors and your learner and yourself safe from frustration.
Inside the boundaries, I want to use the available space efficiently so I can burn the most yard waste in the least amount of time. I want an effective structure to support a nice, hot fire that burns up the sticks quickly. Using all the available space helps me reach my goal quickly while keeping the fire within the boundaries. I want to all the available tools to build my goal behaviors quickly and efficiently, too.
A Strong Foundation
Whether I use a cone-shaped structure or a criss-cross layout, I start with a basic foundation in that shape, either using kindling (tiny, dry sticks that will light quickly) or a bit of newspaper tucked between the sticks. I set up the foundation so that when I light the paper or kindling wood, the flame is likely to catch onto the other sticks, building my fire to a point of sustainability.
Quick Decisions
As I add sticks, I make a quick decision each time as to where to put them. I might add a single stick, large or small, choosing the location and orientation as I toss it on. I might add a handful of smaller sticks, each time adjusting orientation so my fire keeps growing in the direction I want – toward symmetry.
Building a Behavior is Like Building a Fire
It occurs to me that building a fire is very similar to building a behavior in an animal. Think about it. I start with a vision of the final behavior I want. I set up my training environment to support getting the first small piece of behavior I want. Even at this early stage, I’m already planning what the next steps might look like so I know them when I see them.
Boundaries
I must remain within the boundaries of the behavior. This means that I will be careful not to allow the environment to lead the learner to do something completely different from the behavior I want. With a fire, boundaries provide safety. With behaviors, physical safety could be a factor in some cases when we need to use protected contact with a wild, fearful, or aggressive animal. But boundaries are always key for keeping the behavior development smooth and consistent. This could be considered “safety” for the behavior itself. Staying within boundaries can help you create a nice, clean behavior without extra elements and with the strength and momentum needed for development.
A Real-life Training Example
For instance, if I’m training a dog to touch a target with a paw, I don’t want the dog to pick up that target with her teeth! Retrieving the target does not look much like touching it with a paw. Many dogs would offer retrieving right away, so I have to plan ahead.
A Strong Foundation
This scenario occurred the other day when I was starting to teach Daisy to do a paw target. I want a clean paw touch, without dragging or pushing the target. These are the boundaries for the behavior I want to build.
I first used a plastic lid on the floor for the target, and Daisy was driven to retrieve it. When she touched it with her paw, she slid it around on the tile, also not what I wanted. So I took the plastic lid out of the picture to tighten up the boundaries of the behavior, limiting the possibilities of behaviors Daisy was likely to offer me.
I changed the target to an “X” of blue painter’s tape, directly on the tile. To Daisy, this apparently didn’t look like something she wanted to pick up with her teeth, and she couldn’t move it. We progressed more quickly toward the goal behavior. The “X” provided clear boundaries in this case.
Quick Decisions
Using my fire analogy, what if I had tossed on a log in such a way that the pile toppled to one side or another? To start re-balancing, I would need to place the next piece of wood on the opposite side of the pile. I could also poke the structure with a stick to help re-position. I would need to consider the balance of the structure through the next few additions of sticks.
Similarly, I had started with a quiet room and limited the choices of behavior Daisy was likely to offer. When I received the information that Daisy was going to retrieve or push the plastic lid, I knew I had to re-set my training environment to ensure getting the paw-target behavior I wanted. I had to make quick decisions, change things immediately, in order to stay within my boundaries and build the strong foundation I wanted for the behavior I was building.
Fires and Behaviors Change
A fire constantly consumes added fuel, requiring a series of decisions, one with each addition, always changing. What goes into a fire can’t easily be removed. I can add things in a way that helps me toward my goal of symmetry. With a toppled pile like I described above, I might pursue a short-term plan of placing wood on the opposite side from where the structure was leaning. However, I have to constantly be aware of what the fire looks like. It’s not just my additions of sticks that affect the symmetry, but also the fire consuming the fuel. My plan requires almost constant adjustment.
You Can’t Easily Remove Burning Wood from a Fire
Just as you can’t easily remove burning wood from a fire, you can’t remove pieces of behavior you’ve created through reinforcement. We have to be aware of just what behaviors we’re creating, what they look like, and what is likely to happen next.
Behaviors develop along predictable trajectories, but they are influenced by so many stimuli that it can be challenging to keep growth steady. Even when we carefully set up the training environment by training in a quiet room, noises, smells, and visual stimuli can always invade. As trainers, we make errors in cues and reinforcements that can shift the growth trajectory of a behavior. The learner’s past experience is always influencing the learning currently taking place, just as our past experience influences the teaching. There’s a lot going on.
Situational Awareness
Awareness of all these factors helps take away the mysteries of teaching and learning. They are not mysteries at all. We have a lot of control over what takes place and that gives us the power to create behaviors we want. The behaviors our pets offer result first in reinforcers they want and later in the enrichment of their lives and ours. Learning can be tracked. Situational awareness allows us to monitor how our behavior and the environment affects what our learners are learning.
A well-built and properly tended stick fire results in safe and effective destruction of yard waste with minimal time and effort required. Well-structured training results in a proficient or perhaps even fluent behavior that is easy to maintain for a lifetime.
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