What is Behavior Modification?
Trainers may often use the term “behavior modification” to differentiate problem behaviors that need to be changed from basic skills that people teach dogs, like “manners,” tricks, or puppy training. However, behavior modification is simply changing behavior patterns. This means that all training is behavior modification, because the goal is changing behavior – yours and your dog’s.
Behavior Modification Works Beautifully
I believe that behavior modification works so well that any dog behavior can be changed. The human part of the process is the weak link, but human behavior can change, too. Understanding human behavior is the key to dog behavior modification. Four major human factors directly affect dog training.
The Human Side of Behavior Modification Training
- Dogs don’t live that long, so humans have to jump right in with behavior modification training. Many make it into their teens, maybe even the high teens, but you need to get started right away to shape the dog you want in time to enjoy them for as long as possible.
- Humans value lots of stuff like having homes and careers, spouses and children, more than one pet, hobbies, vacations, gardens – and training the dog. There’s a limited amount of time and energy for each. Learning to use behavior modification to train dogs requires desire, commitment, time, and effort.
- The brains of all organisms are always driving toward the most benefit for the least effort. Call it laziness, call it efficiency, call it evolutionary pressure – sometimes the principles of behavior modification can be challenging to identify.
- Part of the “least effort” factor above is that humans like to do things on auto-pilot. It takes effort to become aware of your actions. Awareness opens the door for expending more effort to change what you’re doing, and your brain says, “Why bother?” If you want change, it requires deliberate learning and the effort your brain doesn’t want.
Behavior Modification Training for Humans
The factors of dog life expectancy, time and energy commitments in many areas, brain resistance, and self-awareness can limit your success if you’re not careful. Your dog is already learning and so are you, every minute of every day. Things that you might not even notice are already taking you closer to some of your training goals and perhaps farther from others.
Your own behavior modification is necessary. Commitment to goals is required for achievement. Specifically define your goals so you know where you’re going and when to make a turn along the path. Create space in your life for the necessary actions that take you down the path to your goal. Those time management techniques you set aside for later? It’s time to use them. Every minute of your 24-hour days is already accounted for. But this is your life, your goals, your dog – if you want the goal, you can get it. You might even enjoy the process because you’ll be spending quality time with your dog!
The Canine Side of Behavior Modification Training
What about the variability in the dogs we live with? What factors do they bring to the table?
- Some dogs are easy to train. That means they fit into your goals right off the bat. Their motivations and tendencies fit like a glove with the desires of the human side of the partnership.
- Some dogs don’t fit into their human partner’s lifestyle and behavioral tendencies very well. These dogs are more difficult for the particular human to train.
- Dogs have lots of stuff they want to do. They like to explore, run, play, exercise, sleep, swim, chase, jump, work puzzles and solve problems, get and give affection, and more. They don’t have access to many of these options without the help of a human, unless they are feral or a “village dog.” They will do the things they can, nonetheless!
- As with humans, the brains of dogs are driving toward the most benefit for the least effort. Benefits can be offered by almost any part of the environment, including but not limited to the human in the picture. The human may not always understand what benefit a dog is getting from a particular behavior!
The Breed
Choosing a dog that fits into your goals is part of the structure of a satisfying future. People write about dog breeds all the time, and I have even touched on it in my article, “Many Dog Breeds, Many Dog Temperaments.” Breed genetics are not to be discounted as part of who a dog is.
The Individual
It is extremely important to understand that the background of your individual dog helped make him that way he is now. It’s equally important to understand the body language and other behaviors of the individual dog as you begin to live with and observe him. You may not know very much about your dog’s experiences before you met him, but you don’t need those details. The behaviors he shows will tell you about his motivations.
Dogs don’t lie; they’re quite transparent. Don’t get caught up in imagining stories about what might have happened in his past – that won’t benefit you. Recognizing the behaviors your dog is showing will allow you to appreciate those you like and to create training sessions to change the ones you don’t like.
Your Choice of Dogs
Nature and nurture both contribute to a dog’s temperament or personality, and that’s what makes him a good or bad fit with a human whose personality is also formed by nature and nurture. So many combinations of humans and dogs are possible! Choosing a dog that can be your partner is key.
Your Choice of Learning Opportunities
You have control over the opportunities you offer your dog. You can give him options that he wants and needs, but that also reduce or prevent stress, build physiological health, and teach the behaviors you want to see in your dog. Quality play, exercise, affection, enrichment, and training can help you. But the wrong kinds can hinder your progress toward your training goals.
Your Choice of Behaviors
Does your dog startle when a car drives by? Does he hate the idea of getting into your car for a ride? These behaviors indicate you have some behavior modification, or training, to do.
On the other hand, maybe your dog already volunteers to retrieve things. Some dogs exhibit cute behaviors like sitting up or bowing, all on their own. You can maximize these behaviors with training, allowing desirable behaviors to fill your dog’s repertoire and leaving minimal room for behaviors you don’t want.
“Easy” Dogs
Many humans have had an “easy” dog in the past. I did! Of course, all our family dogs when I was growing up were “easy” for me because my parents carried all the responsibility. My memories are of perfect, beautiful dogs who did everything right – but I’m sure that wasn’t always the true story.
I did have a “perfect” dog myself, as a grown-up. My third dog, Robin (Donahan’s Harbinger of Spring) was a dream dog. He was an English Springer Spaniel, from a breeder who selected carefully for breed type AND temperament. Calm, confident, curious, and friendly to adults, kids, dogs, and cats, Rob approached new things with optimistic curiosity. If startled, he recovered so quickly and was ready to try again. He was easy and fun to train, very interested in anything I wanted to try. He fit my lifestyle like a glove, but Robin would probably have been successful in any household.
Rob, who passed away in 2003 after a good, long life, was a psychologically balanced dog. I have met many people who have had a “perfect” dog. Particularly when that dog was their first, they came to believe that all dogs were like that. Don’t we wish! People are often surprised when the dog they get after their “perfect” dog is substantially different.
Problems with Human Factors
Here’s where human issues begin to interfere. Every organism is trying to get the most benefit for the least effort. That includes humans! If a dog is not actively breaking something at the moment, humans can tolerate a lot of annoyance without being driven to make changes. However, if a dog is in the process of choosing a behavior that leads to something being broken, and you don’t change things before the choice is complete, then the current trajectory will result in the predicted outcome occurring. This outcome could be a chewed chair leg or couch cushion or a destroyed landscape.
Tolerance taken too far can lead to a dog learning behaviors you don’t like. The human brain will lead you to believe that tolerance is putting in the least effort for the most benefit. In truth, you are not looking far enough into the future, leading to incipient failure in achieving your training goals.
Combine the tolerance of behaviors that are leading to something opposite your goals with the fact that humans have many other items on the to-do list, and you get the prevalence of unruly dogs stealing food from the counter, jumping up on people, and digging up the landscaping.
Problems with Dog Factors
Dogs have a lot of stuff they like doing, some of which we don’t particularly care for. We’ve already talked about counter-surfing and digging, and there are so many other behaviors that are typical for dogs but disliked by humans. Tendencies toward some behaviors, like pointing at birds, herding animals, guarding territory, and even biting, have been carefully bred into some dog breeds in the past. Other behaviors have been selectively reinforced in individual dogs, sometimes accidentally. This is why you should carefully consider which dog is the right one for your household. Learning does not go away.
What’s the Big Deal?
When a dog performs a behavior, he gets practice so that he gets better at doing it. Vince Lombardi said, “Practice makes permanent; perfect practice makes perfect.” From the dog’s point of view, the way he is practicing is perfect. The behavior the dog is practicing is beneficial to him, perhaps in ways we can’t see. Maybe it’s fun, exercises certain muscle groups, or fulfills some innate drive or need.
Dogs, like humans, are driven to get the most benefit for the least effort. They have no ethical concerns about gaining self-worth by doing hard work. Combine that with the fact that the behaviors animals enjoy or gain invisible benefits from are not always obvious or predictable, and your training goals can easily go out the window.
Behavior Modification Training is a Pathway
Thoughtful, deliberate training allows humans to use minimal effort and time after an initial learning curve. Learning a new skill or a new way to solve an old problem always requires a learning curve. Remember, your brain doesn’t want change. The first step is self-awareness – noticing your habits, the immediate, routine responses you use. Awareness often starts with noticing what you did after you did it. As you learn, you’ll be able to predict, and then plan your responses.
Behavior modification, or simply training, is the path you choose between where you are now and where you want to be. Where you are now is described by the current behaviors you see in your dog – the ones you like and those you don’t. Where you want to be is your training goal. Training is creating experiences for good associations and selecting behaviors to reinforce, skillfully applying positive reinforcement to build them.
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