I'm a firm believer of always setting your dog up for success. Sometimes, when we don't even realize it, we are setting up our furry pals to fail. It's the small things we are overlooking, and once you realize it, it's amazing the difference YOU can make in your companion's life.
This whole thought started for me with a conversation about using a mousetrap to deter counter surfing. I'm studying behavior right now and how a dog views the world. With having a noise reactive dog it's given me a new insight to his world.
There's several ways we can look at the aversion of the mousetrap. When the dog would jump up on the counter, the mousetrap (enclosed in a container) when moved would scare the dog and make him not want to jump up there again. What happens if the mousetrap doesn't go off? In my experience, the dogs I know may set off the trap, but do it anyway and just learn to avoid the aversion of the mousetrap. Or, in the case of my house, said dog would run from the sound, hide until he felt safe again and then refuse to step into the kitchen again.
Let's view why this would happen. Dogs view things with not just what they see and hear. Think about it this way, dogs associate us just not by sight but smell also. So, what happens if there is hamburger cooking or something with a distinctive smell when said mousetrap went off? The dog may associate the aversion wrongly. This can happen very easily and can be very bad as next thing you know; you have a domino effect of behavior scares.
I've found it simpler to set your dog up for success instead. I originally set Greyson up to fail by sitting dinner on the counter and clicking and rewarding when he ignored. When we moved into our new house Grey had a fear of our kitchen because that was the location where glass hit glass as we did dishes. Once we overcame that (with lots of patience and rewards) we reinforced 4 on the floor (as in 4 of his feet). He now sits and waits patiently for his turn to eat and treat. Now, had we done with the kitchen like we did with the rest of our house, it probably would have been simpler. In our house we remove temptation. Simple as that! We manage Greyson's interaction with items and normal household activities.
When Greyson was little it was summer time and of course that means flip flop season. In the matter of weeks, I went from 15 pairs of flip flops to none. Every chance he got, he shredded and devoured them. He wasn't picky either, we could be sitting in the room with him and he would grab one and start chewing. No amount of taking shoes from him worked. We traded out shoes for rawhides, toys, and chewies; and no luck. Inspiration hit and we had a shelf that was waist high. Greyson could "see" the shoes, but they were no longer in his domain ("the floor"). Voila! No more shoe eating. My floors no longer look like a crime scene of shredded mess.
From that day forward, the shelf was a key component in our life. We realized that by removing the temptation we received the resulting behavior we wanted (no shoes shredding). In all actuality, we didn't train Greyson this instance he trained us to remove items from his domain.
I call this management, rather than training. WE manage what he has a possibility to come into contact with. WE determine if we want a remote shredded by putting it up when not in use. WE determine if we want dirty laundry drug out, by putting IN the hamper and not in a pile on the floor. Since getting Greyson, our house is much more orderly due to us not wanting things destroyed.
Often times, I hear the words, "Well, I gave Fido and old shoes to chew on and he started eating my new Nikes!" Old socks are another I hear a lot about. Now, my question is simple...How is Fido supposed to tell the difference between new and old? When did humans expect dogs to learn such a thing? After I stop mentally giggling I turn to confused faces, to which I can only answer people by explaining that to a dog, there is no new or old, only theirs and theirs. Yes, that's not a typo. Once you give Fido his first shoe or sock, you have told him they are all his. You have begun his behavior.
Now imagine what happens if you remove those yummy feet-smelling treats. The unwanted behavior stops. Imagine that! How simple is that? I like to tell the human child in our house, "If you pick up YOUR stuff, the dog won't eat it." We provide lots of Greyson appropriate toys and chewies, but if YOU leave the temptation in his domain, then you are responsible for its loss.
Let's transpose the management theory over to the counter surfing problem. Remove the temptation. Don't leave food on the counters, tables or anywhere else. If you leave it there and you don't kennel or gate the dog, then YOU are responsible. I know people who don't allow the dog in the kitchen until they are done cooking, and after they put dinner on the table, they feed the dog and go have dinner. My father in law does this and it works great and he doesn't have a 100 pound boxer counter surfing. They are managing. A lot of people use gates and to me that is okay as well.
Now, let's move the management theory to walking on a leash. Dog pulls? Stop moving! Dog relaxes and leash goes slack? Start moving! Rinse and repeat! Sounds crazy, huh? Your dog will get it though and after a while, BOOM!, your dog is walking loose leash and all is well with the world. Well, sorta, ya know. Dogs are amazingly smart and once they pick up on how to get what they want, it's amazing what happens. By managing their ability to move forward during a walk, they will relax and they will work with you.
So, give it a try! Look through your house and see what you can do to manage Fido. You'll be amazed at what you come up with!
