Not Just a Laughing Matter
By Lesli Richardson
You know you shouldn't do it. You just shouldn't. Just like you know you shouldn't eat canned whipped cream right from the can when no one is looking, or eating double fudge ripple ice cream right from the carton.
Why shouldn't you do it? Because even though you know you shouldn't, and you know that in the long run it can have detrimental effects (added pounds, your spouse asking who used up all the whipped cream) it doesn't seem to hurt anyone or anything right then, right?
What am I talking about?
You know what I'm talking about. The last time your dog did something sooooooooo wrong, and yet looked so darn funny doing it and your first reaction when you caught them in the act was to laugh even though you should have given them a correction. Like when you caught Fido shredding the newspaper and he gave you the guiltiest look imaginable and then immediately came up to you groveling for forgiveness and you just HAD to laugh.
That's what I mean.
Perhaps not that particular example but if you've got a dog you've had at least one experience similar to this.
Why is it wrong? At least the poor dog isn't getting beaten by an abusive owner with no concept of dog behavior, right?
Wrong. It's wrong because dogs are smarter than many people give them credit for. They might not be able to do calculus (then again, neither can I) but they can figure out very quickly that if the human is laughing and not correcting them, it must have been at least a half-way okay thing they did, right?
That, my friends, is what we call positive reinforcement. Or at least a backfired version of it.
We know from experience and from scientific testing that positive reinforcement is one of the most effective training methods (if not THE most effective). This works two ways, training stuff you want to train and training stuff you didn't mean to train.
Dogs, as I've said, are smart. They are not however mind readers. They can't tell if you are giving them positive reinforcement because they did what you want them to do or because you couldn't help yourself laughing.
What is the potential for this "oopsie" kind of PR training? The next time Fido sees the paper, he grabs it and starts shredding it, thinking you're going to laugh. But it's not so funny the second time he does it because you weren't through with it yet, and he doesn't understand why you are correcting him. Now you have inconsistent training and a thoroughly confused dog. This translates into training problems because now the dog loses his confidence and trust in you as a trainer, he doesn't know if he should or shouldn't do something, he becomes wary. This is what can happen if you aren't consistent in the messages you send your dog.
If you have a multi-person household (especially if some of these other persons are kids) you need to sit the entire family down for a talk. Definitely do so if you've notice erratic behavior with your dog. Remember, what you think is funny for the dog to do and what the kids think is funny for the dog to do are usually two different things. If your dog starts doing behaviors that are unacceptable (jumping up on furniture, chewing, stealing, etc.) then you need to track down the source of the inconsistency if you've ruled out other possibilities. Don't accuse your kids of doing it intentionally, but lay down what is expected from the dog and heck yes, use guilt-tripping to tell the kids that what they think is funny is getting the dog into serious trouble, and that's not right for the dog now, is it? How would they feel if someone told them one thing because it was funny and that got them into serious trouble with someone else?
(By the way, spouses are notoriously guilty of this too, so don't just assume it's the kids' fault.)
Consistency in training is a major issue, and not just to keep people in a household on the same page with each other in regards to the dog's behavior. It's also important to make sure you are doing the same thing with your dog each time you have a training session. Don't accept one standard of behavior (for example, a heel position) one time and then change the standard (it's okay to range forward or lag behind) in another session. The dog will think you're nuts and learn that no matter what he does he'll get a correction, so why try.
Over the next few columns I'll go into basic dog-training and behavior tenets and how to apply them to your dog's training sessions. I'll also be giving you updates on our very own Osama-bin-Bubble-butt.
Woof.