When we decide to acquire a dog, it is our responsibility to provide her with what she needs. More than that, what she has a right to have as a dependent. Biological rights! Which are:
Food
Water
Shelter
Safety
Safety and shelter in combination is secure attachment to a place and the group—now thought to be the primary aspect in preventing separation anxiety.
Social inclusion
Free movement where the dog lives
Autonomy to express feelings
Autonomy to communicate
Mental and physical stimulation—every dog should have an always accessible toy box, and play or work opportunities. Free sniffing also falls into that category.
Something that is often overlooked as a basic need is having opportunities to get necessary information. That is again free sniffing, but is also teaching our dog how our joint functions and her role in it. Instructional signals are part of that = establishing a line of communication that helps the dog out when she is conflicted or confused.
All these are biological rights, and when we decide to acquire a dog, our duty to provide without strings attached. Otherwise, if we hinge provision of basic needs on conduct, we generate perceived scarcity. Which:
Damages your relationship with your dog
Lowers cognitive attention at the moment—the dog has basic needs on his mind not the task
Creates existential pressure—anxiety and frustration
Conversely, dogs who don’t have to worry about basic needs aren’t stressed and can learn other things. Plus, dogs who experience their people as resource facilitators look to them for info: “What do you make of that? What shall I do?” You automatically get voluntarily connection.
Said all that, we can also make use of reinforcements to let our dog know that she got it right. Behaviors reinforced are repeated—reinforcement creates behavior—reinforce the behaviors you want to see again.
Soooo… How can we marry providing without strings attached with getting our dog’s cooperation? Or can we? Short answer: yes we can. Long one: read on.
What prompts a dog to act is dynamic. Fancily put, action is dependent on satiation or deprivation of the motivator. In real speak: does the dog want to access something because he hasn’t had enough of it, or does he want something else because he did have enough of it. An example is the free-fed dog who rarely performs for a kibble. Does this not present a motivational dilemma? No, it doesn’t. We just have to connect our species-specific human brain cells and figure out what floats our dog’s boat at the moment. That can include food, but special food, not kibble. And it’s certainly more than food. Studies with rats showed that it is not always food that drives their action: given the choice to navigate through two mazes with only one resulting in a reward at the end, they alternated between both. Life, for our dogs too, is so much more that a kibble or fingernail-size piece of liver. Rather, it should be. Don’t let treats be the core of your relationship.
One of the fathers of behaviorism, Edward Thorndike, said: “The approved view today is that an intrinsic interest in the activity regardless of ulterior consequences is an enormously superior means of learning.”
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are qualitatively different. With our dogs that means that whenever we can orchestrate an opportunity, or when an opportunity naturally occurs, where we can make something that is self-reinforcing available, we don’t need anything in addition. Access to these innate motivators we make contingent on conduct. “Don’t pull my arm out of my socket to get to the lake for a swim.”
Things just about every dog is intrinsically motivated by are:
Roaming and exploring instead of mindlessly walking beside the human—that could be contingent on the loose leash.
Chewing--given for free, but can also be the result of a moment of patience: “wait”.
Chasing—ditto. A moment of patience = “wait”, including when playing fetch. That has the added benefit that the human hand and the teeth of the dog don’t rush for the toy at the same time and collide.
Our Aussie Davie loved to play tag with me. She never satiated. Sometimes I invited her just to have some fun, but I consistently reinforced with that for not chasing deer.
Playing—a biological right, and can also be contingent on a moment of “wait”, or as a result of heeding to the recall cue.
The following are things many dogs like, but that can also be breed preferences:
Biting/Ripping—terriers and shepherds. My friend’s German shepherd wanted to bite on a toy after he successfully located a person in our recreational search and rescue game.
Greeting humans—retrievers, for example. Contingent on “wait” and a release cue like “say hello”.
Exploring tunnels and holes = terriers. Ditto.
Sprinting—sighthounds: “wait”.
Jumping—boxers, Portuguese Water Dogs, doodles. “Wait” then jump on the target stick or high-outstretched hand, not the body.
Digging—must be provided for free for terriers: a toy box that also includes props they can dig around in, a sandbox or designated digging plot in the yard.
Barking—many mini-dogs, also Shelties. Can be used as a reinforcement, i.e. prompt the bark.
Ditto pulling = northern breeds.
Swimming—after a moment of patience: “wait”.
Retrieving/carrying something in the mouth = retrievers. No strings attached. Provide appropriate items. Teach your dog to carry the mail home and fetch the slippers. Just like it was common in the good old days.
Following a scent = scent hounds, obviously. But most dogs like this. Teach scent discrimination and provide opportunities without strings attached other than, perhaps, keeping the leash loose. The Canine Kingdom of Scent by Anne Lil Kvam is one of my favorite books.
Also think:
Boundary checks together—which also fosters a dog staying within the boundary out of habit. It is part of humanely, i.e. non-shock-collar, teaching the dog to stay on home turf.
Picking berries when in season. All our dogs loved that. We pointed it out and made it available as the result of coming when called or keeping the leash loose.
Following animal tracks in the snow. That was especially satisfying for our Will—and contingent on not pulling, but all our dogs loved to use nature as their parkour—weaving through close-together-standing trees or jumping over a log or across the creek. We did this just for fun. No strings attached but as a naturally side-effect we got a lot of voluntary connection—because we were fun to be with.
Be creative. And if you use food, don’t let the treats do the work for you but combine it with your genuine attention and enthusiastic interactions: toss the treat and help your dog find it in grass, or ask him to catch it.
Fundamentally, when your dog wants to act on impulse but you don’t want him to, what you offer has to override what your dog wants to do. That can be anything extrinsically your dog likes, or something that is intrinsic. Bonus: high value rewards are transferred to everything that’s connected, including you and the leash. Conversely, if you have something meh not only won’t you be successful in changing your dog’s mind, and thus his behavior at the moment, but what you do together is meh also. That, too, isn’t that straightforward. I wish it were. But your reinforcement can be so desirable for your dog that she becomes frantic and loses focus on the task. In that case, lower the value. It is a dance. Lucky you if you have a trainer or behavior specialist who understands that dance. The advice I can offer you here is to have several different things on you and play with it.
Just don’t ditch the food bowl. So many dogs I meet who have to work for every kibble are very frantic. All of the time.
Comments