Could Your Dog Use a Behavior Makeover?

By Joan Hunter Mayer

Do you find your dog’s barking, jumping and counter-surfing annoying? How about ignoring you when you call their name? Pet parents, are you interested in learning how to turn your dog’s trying behaviors into ones you can embrace? Then you’re ready for a dog behavior makeover! Read on for techniques you can use immediately for teaching your dog new behaviors that will replace the ones you find irritating.

Following the below suggested order of training steps can help bring out the best in your best friend using a humane, force-free approach.

Step 1. Determine the Goal Behavior

You’ll first want to think about your behavior ‘wish list.’ Keeping in mind that realistic expectations are key, consider what you wish your dog would or wouldn’t do.

Then figure out if the goal behavior involves asking your dog to LIKE something, such as having nails trimmed or teeth brushed– or like someone, strangers, for example. Or do you want your inquisitive canine to DO something? For instance, is the target behavior to greet guests politely or walk on a loose leash? We’ll need this information for subsequent steps.

Step 2. Determine Your Dog’s Baseline

What does your dog already know? To achieve your goal behavior (from Step 1), do you need to start from scratch or refine an existing skill?

What is their baseline? What is the current behavior? Remember to be objective and note what you see without assuming human motivations for a dog’s actions; be careful to avoid subjective jargon  (stubborn, dominant, etc.). Common dog behaviors can include predation, barking/vocalizing, a unique greeting style, digging, chewing, counter-surfing, pulling on the leash, eliminating whenever/wherever, sniffing, and rolling in stinky stuff.

Now that you have determined the goal behavior (Step 1) and the baseline (Step 2), you’re ready to move on to Step 3.

Step 3. Teach New/Alternate Behaviors or Refine Existing Skills

From Step 1, you know if the goal behavior is something you want your dog to LIKE or to DO. So, how do you get your dog to like something? ‘Learning by Association’ is how we can change an emotional response. To illustrate this concept, think about how your dog reacts to the sound of the food container or sight of his food bowl or enrichment toy, your car keys, or his leash. Typically, in these scenarios, you are observing a reflexive, emotional response to an environmental trigger. One event predicts another; the leash predicts a walk, for example.

You can use knowledge of this concept to create what is called a positive conditioned emotional response (CER+) to things you want your pup to like, such as wearing a harness or a muzzle or participating in grooming, healthcare, or other husbandry activities (nail trims, ear cleaning, etc.).

Now, let’s say, from Step 1, you have determined that you want your dog to DO something. This is where the second learning path, ‘Learning by Consequence’ comes into play. All animals change behavior based on experiences and consequences of their own actions. And we know that reinforcement increases a behavior.

We can apply this learning path to dog training by rewarding behaviors we like and want. Rewards and reinforcements then serve as motivators for desirable (to us) behaviors. Examples of positive reinforcement include attention, activities, and at times, food, but keep in mind, rewards don’t always equal treats.

Based on this information, it’s time to write up your dog’s motivator list, including favorite activities, games, toys, and foods. (This list can be modified as your dog’s preferences change.)

Training Tip: Remember, behaviors are driven by consequences, not the request. Oftentimes, the “What’s in it for me?” or “Why should I?” should be answered by more than guardians saying, “Good dog.” For those “expensive” behaviors — those that are really difficult for the dog or more important for the human — dogs should be highly compensated. As they say, you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. In this case, it might be a juicy piece of chicken!

Also, be sure to deliver reinforcement after the dog performs the behavior, as a reward, rather than beforehand (that’s a bribe). The difference between motivation and bribery all comes down to timing.

Step 4. Management

Prevent unwanted behaviors from being practiced by managing the environment. What does managing the environment entail? Among other things, it means not giving your dog the chance to make the wrong choice and get rewarded for it. Management is just setting your dog up so that the incorrect choice is (nearly) impossible to make.

Step 5. Reward Removal

However, this is the real world. While the goal might be setting your dog up for success where good decisions are rewarded, and the incorrect choice is next to impossible to make, life happens. An example would be allowing your dog access to the yard to romp, play, and sniff. But incessant barking and digging up your new flower bed are the result! So, the consequence is a “too bad” and having to go inside – reward removal. Removal of something a dog wants decreases behavior. Remember if employing this “Time out” consequence, you’ll need to provide your inquisitive canine the opportunity to try again so your dog learns to discriminate what the better choice is.

Dog Behavior Makeover Final Tips and Reminders:

• Plan ahead. Train the behavior before you need the behavior, or as is commonly quoted, “Train for a situation, not in a situation.” Dress rehearsals are a wonderful way to prepare in advance.
• Teach your dog what you want.
• Reward behaviors you like and want.
• Have realistic expectations.
• Manage the environment to prevent unwanted behaviors from being practiced.

I’ll leave you with one last consideration. Think about what you have already tried. Pay attention to what works and what doesn’t work. If what you’ve been trying isn’t working…change your own behavior and try something different!

The Inquisitive Canine was founded by Santa Barbara certified canine behavior consultant and certified professional dog trainer Joan Hunter Mayer. Joan and her team are devoted to offering humane, pawsitive, practical solutions that work for the challenges dogs and their humans face in everyday life. As a specialty trained Family Paws Parent Educator (FPPE), Joan offers services both in-person and online for growing families. If you are feeling inquisitive and have dog training questions, we invite you to contact The Inquisitive Canine for A Pawsitive Approach for Positive Results ™.