Train the Dog in Front of You

We can only train the dog in front of us.  Pay attention, because the dog in front of you can change rapidly!  This is true whether you have multiple dogs or just one dog with many moods.  You have multiple dogs in one skin and you can’t always be sure which dog is going to show up. 

Are you faced with the silly, playful goof today?  Or an alert, watchful dog whose attention is captured by activities outside pertaining to a construction job?  Perhaps you’re dealing with a dog who got a little hyped up earlier in the day due to a vet visit.  Is your dog stressed out to the point where he can’t eat a treat offered as a reinforcer for a behavior you like?  All these dogs are inside every dog, whether they show up often or not. You can learn more about what a dog’s body language tells you through our Dog Reading Course.

Behavioral Precursors Tell the Tale

I’m a bit lazy, or perhaps I just try to be efficient.  If it’s not broken, I don’t fix it. If everything is going well, I may not choose to put extra effort into making changes.  Sometimes, when I’m working on something else and my dogs let me know they need to work on a particular behavior, my lazy side may ignore this message.  You see, I have multiple selves inside of me, just like my dogs do.

The dogs let me know what’s about to happen, what I might need to choose to help them with, by showing me behavioral precursors.  These precursors may be signs of the development of a behavior I don’t like.  This is my opportunity to train the dog in front of me – the one who needs guidance to adjust the trajectory of that developing behavior.

Barking

Daisy, black dog extraordinaire, barks a lot.  Albert the Springer barks a fair amount, too, but in different ways and for different reasons from those that drive Daisy to bark.  This is why dog trainers can’t usually answer the question, “How do I get my dog to stop barking?”  The question is too broad.  We need to identify the stimulus for the barking and the reinforcer that is maintaining the barking.  In short, why the dog is barking, what he’s trying to achieve, and the body language communications that accompany the barking.  Then we can make the necessary changes to change the behavior.

Barking to Make Something Go Away

The type of barking I really don’t like for Daisy to exhibit is stimulated by the invasion of our yard by passersby, delivery personnel, or people mowing the lawn.  One might call it territorial behavior, but I focus on the stimuli and the reinforcers that maintain the behavior because I can use that information to create a training plan.  The reinforcer is the invader moving away.  The function of Daisy’s barking is to cause someone to go away.  When the invader leaves, the barking stops.  This is easy to observe in the moment and something I’ve seen many times.  Science has demonstrated that the reinforcer maintains the behavior.  The behavior is valuable to Daisy because it makes invaders go away.  Person comes in the yard, dog barks ferociously, person leaves. 

The Mail Carrier Example

Daisy is certainly not unique in this behavior.  The story of the mail carrier has been commonly shared for decades as an example of the function of barking.  Mail carrier approaches door, dog barks, mail carrier leaves.  The mail carrier was going to leave after delivering the mail anyway, but the dog’s brain has made an association between this process and barking. Thus, the barking becomes fluent in that situation over time.  The dog is a bit superstitious in this example.  We know the mail carrier was going to follow the exact same process whether the dog barked or not.  But the dog perceives the process differently.  His brain has mapped a series of stimuli in which his barking has an important role.

The ”Watchdog” Example

In many situations, a dog’s barking really does make people and other dogs go away. This outcome can help support the mail carrier situation.  Accompanied by ferocious-looking postures, bared teeth, and jumping up onto a fence or door, barking can truly have an impact on visitors or trespassers, a.k.a., “invaders.”  If the people who are targets in this type of scenario are paying attention, they are likely to move away from this dog that looks like it may attack, which would be a good idea for their safety.  In these cases, the function of barking is very clear:  make the invader leave.  Behavior never stays the same, though. It is always developing along a pathway we can observe if we pay attention. If not carefully trained, dogs that behave this way often become uncontrollable and dangerous when faced with visitors, trespassers, or even family members.

Barking is Overrated

I don’t really like barking of any kind. I can happily live the rest of my life without either “mail carrier” type scenarios or “watchdog barking.”  Dogs are naturally a bit territorial so I know I can count on them to let me know if something untoward is going on and that’s all I need from them in terms of barking.  Untoward things requiring this type of notice aren’t going to happen very often.  Playful barking is all I want to hear from my dogs, and I prefer it to be at a very low decibel level.  This is part of my ongoing vision for my dogs, and thus part of my training plan.

Dogs are Learning All the Time

Daisy had been practicing her “go away” barking behavior for a good while by the time she came to live with us at the age of three.  Any time people “went away,” it reinforced her barking, so she is very good at this behavior.  Remember, learning goes on all the time.  Dogs don’t need us to teach them, they keep learning as the environment produces responses to the behaviors they choose.  If we want things to be a certain way, we have to guide the learning, which means deliberate teaching or training. 

Daisy’s “Watchdog” Behavior

Daisy’s “go away” barking is accompanied by body language indicating the stimulus she’s barking at should not attempt to come closer.  She becomes very focused in these events and typically does not come when I call her.  This means she is somewhat out of control at these times, and I don’t want that.  If I go to her, speak to her, and take her collar, she will come away with me.  At other times, including when Daisy is up to 70 feet away and barking at a squirrel or bird, she will come immediately when I call her; but not when she is doing her “watchdog” barking at an “invader.”

Prevent Behaviors You Don’t Want

We have 2 acres composed of several individually fenced yards.  I am careful to keep the dogs inside when Steve, our mowing guy, is here to prevent them slipping through an open gate and also to prevent further development of Daisy’s barking behavior.  But barking happens indoors, too.

When Steve showed up the other day, I was working at my desk with the dogs napping in my office, which has a windowed door onto the back porch.  I had two well-behaved, relaxed, thinking dogs with me and thus, a lot of control over the situation.  I was intently working on something so I didn’t consciously notice Steve’s noisy mower right away. 

Suddenly, A Different Dog

Daisy noticed Steve right away and started barking intermittently.  These precursor barks were “alert barks”:  single, brief barks accompanied by alert body language as she continued to lie on her mat with her head and ears up, oriented toward the door.  This set of behaviors was stimulated by Steve’s noise at a distance of about 75 feet.  Albert was pretty much the same dog he had been before Steve arrived but Daisy was a different dog now.  She was in a transition period toward becoming a watchdog.  If the noise Steve was making had stopped, the precursor barking would likely have stopped too.  But Steve had a job to do, so his noise was not only going to continue, it would come closer to us at some point.

Every Dog is a Group of Dogs

Your dog is excited, relaxed, stressed, playful, affectionate, and independent at different times.  You can’t use the same techniques to manage all these different dogs.  If Albert has a leash on, he behaves very differently than when he is off-leash.  Your dog may come when called reliably, every time – unless he has a squirrel treed.  Some dogs will go into a crate, another room, or onto a park bench – but they won’t jump into the car when asked.  Your dog may sit, lie down, and do tricks when you ask at home, but at the vet’s office it seems like he can’t hear a word you’re saying.

This is how the different dogs within your dog can manifest.  Different environments, situations, and moods, or internal conditions of our dogs, result in different sets of behavior.  When we recognize what’s going on, we can affect environment, event progression, and behavior both in the moment and in training sessions to prepare the dog for future experiences.

Different Daisies

Daisy is typically wiggly and relaxed on her mat in my office, just like Al.  We spend lots of time there together.  They happily rest and will quickly get up and perform a task I request, gobbling up a treat afterward.  Both dogs will ask politely to go outside every once in a while, and quietly return to their mats if I tell them it’s not the right time for that.  Lovely play sessions between the dogs occur from time to time, and when I want to pet a dog they give me access.  I still manage to get work done while enjoying the breaks they offer me.

My First Approach When Steve Showed Up

As Daisy started turning into a “Watchdog,” I let my lazy/efficient side take over, trying to multi-task even though I know humans aren’t good at that.  I tried to continue my work and just toss treats to both dogs.  This can be a functional approach if the training situation is short.  For instance, sometimes Jane the parrot scurries around the floor of her cage and makes noises, gets the dogs barking playfully and bouncing around, and I remind them to leave her alone and lie on their mats.  I toss a few treats, one at a time after they lie down while Jane is still being noisy.  She calms down, the dogs remember their jobs, I stop tossing treats and continue working.  But that’s when I have Daisy, the “Silly Barker,” motivated by the parrot’s antics.

I Can’t Train Daisy, the Watchdog, Casually

Daisy, the “Watchdog,” needs my full attention because I really want to change her barking behavior.  In this case, as Steve’s noise continued, Daisy’s barking escalated to a higher level of focus.  She would grab the treats with a hard mouth and eat them quickly while remaining focused on the stimulus.  I had to completely stop what I was doing at my desk and begin a training session in which I gave more treats as Steve came closer and fewer as he moved away.  I used the noise level as my guide, just as Daisy was using it as her guide.  If I want her behavior to change, I have to do the work because she has no desire to change it – her barking works just fine in her opinion.  My job at this moment is to train dogs and my desk work has to wait.

If I Want Change, I Have to Create It

Letting this behavior develop is almost unavoidable at times when I’m not around, although I do use window coverings, baby gates, and doors to keep the dogs from becoming over-stimulated and practicing behaviors I don’t want while I’m gone.  But when I’m right here, I don’t believe I have the luxury of deciding to ignore the barking and continue my work.  That would be like giving her free rein to make a choice about her behavior, when I am confident I know that I won’t like her choice.  If I want Daisy to learn to lie quietly on her mat while I’m on a Zoom conference or the phone, I must direct her learning here and now. 

Employing a Variety of Tools

After giving about a million treats, the mower was far enough away that I could happily run with the dogs into the kitchen to quickly create Licki-mats.  This whole process is fun for them.  I got to take a breather while they went to town on those, planning my next moves.  Two Licki-mats later, Steve had moved farther away to the back pasture and was loading up to leave.  The dogs had the opportunity to associate the mowing noise with the behavior of relaxing and licking gooey delights off of Licki-mats.  We can’t know what associations dogs have made until the next stimulus picture occurs, but this is not the first time I’ve used these training techniques during mowing time so I feel pretty good about it.  I cleaned up the counter and went back to my desk work. 

Have a Plan – Be Prepared

Think – Plan – Do. How convenient it would have been if there were previously prepared Licki-mats or Kongs in the freezer!  Oops, we had run out.  I made up more after Steve left and they’re in the freezer now for next time.  Preparation is one key to success. 

Put Your Observation Skills to Work

This is what dog training looks like:  paying attention to what dogs are learning and making changes in that learning if we have a different vision.  Al, my Springer, has no issues with the mower.  Daisy, however, does.  Allowed to confront the terrifying situation on her own, she tends to become defensive, bark aggressively, and claw and bite at the fence!  Changing that behavior is important to me, so I have to NOT let it occur.  I also have to provide opportunities for her to make new associations and try new behaviors. 

Why not just work with Daisy and ignore Albert?  Because his lovely behavior is free to change!  With the high excitement level accompanying the mowing noises, and Albert’s high-anxiety personality, I don’t want to experiment with that trajectory.  Behavior never stays the same, and I want to make sure his behavior choices continue in the direction of calmness in the presence of the mower while Daisy’s choices begin to lean in that direction too.  I have to use classical conditioning for both in these situations. 

Daisy and Al pose while wearing hats, anticipating the treat that is sure to follow!

The cardinal rule of training is, “Prevent what you don’t want, create and reinforce what you do want.”  It’s another key to success. It’s also the motivation behind training the dog in front of you. The first step is recognizing which dog you have and remembering your training goals.

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