When we are working on a behavior modification program, there are three steps to success.
1. Satisfied ⇨ Are your dog’s needs being fulfilled?
A behavior program is only as good as its foundation. The most important aspect of this foundation is your dog’s biological fulfillment and wellness. This category encompasses physical, mental, and social health.
- Is your dog physically comfortable?
- Does your dog have any medical concerns that need to be addressed?
- How we feel physically greatly impacts how we feel mentally – and that’s where behavior change happens, for better or for worse.
- Are your dog’s physical exercise needs being met?
- All dogs are individuals, and all dogs have different levels of exercise needs. There are some general trends – puppies and adolescents tend to need more physical activity than seniors.
- Working bred dogs tend to need more activity than show bred dogs.
- Breed groups also play a large part in predicting exercise needs – herding breeds were bred to work all day in the fields, while retrievers often only worked during the hunting season and were housepets the rest of the year.
- Are your dog’s mental enrichment and stimulation needs being met?
- Just like exercise needs, enrichment needs differ from individual to individual, but often follow similar trends!
- We separate out physical exercise from mental enrichment because often dogs need more of one than the other. Some dogs are satisfied with a few minutes of problem solving versus an hour of exercise, for other dogs it’s the opposite.
- Are your dog’s social needs being met?
- Just like humans, dogs have varying levels of sociability.
- Some dogs really thrive when they spend a lot of time around canine companions, while other dogs do best with time spent around their human companions.
- Other dogs may be antisocial and strongly dislike socializing – these dogs need adequate time spent away from other dogs and people.
When we are asking if our dogs are fulfilled, we are aiming for a sweet spot – not too much, not too little. The goal is for your dog to be SATISFIED, not exhausted!
2. Supported ⇨ Are you helping your dog make good choices?
Support comes in two varieites: passive support and active support. We utilize support any time our dog needs help making good choices. Just like humans – dogs don’t always choose to do what’s best for their wellbeing! Sometimes they need us to help them out.
Passive Support: Structure & Management
Structure and management refer to passive support – ways we help our dogs without needing our direct intervention. The behavior nerd term for this is “antecedent arrangement” – how we modify our environment to support our dogs. Crates, gates, exercise pens, leashes, and barriers are incredibly common examples of structure and management. For reactive dogs, this might include walking them at quieter times of the day or using visual barriers on windows to prevent them from seeing triggers.
It’s important to remember that passive support isn’t cheating. It is an important part of any behavior program! Everyone uses passive support, and everyone’s support looks different. For some people, passive support is walking your dog on a leash. For others, it’s ditching walks entirely and getting all your exercise needs met in fenced areas!
Active Support: Utilizing Skills & Advocating For Your Dog
Skills are the final piece of our behavior program, but the correct utilization of them falls into our support category! You can have the most well trained dog in the world, but if you don’t know when to use those fancy behaviors they’ve learned – your dog might find himself in a tough spot! The biggest thing to remember here is timing – and determining the right timing deserves an entire article!
Advocating for your dog is the other aspect of active support. This means protecting your dog’s mental, physical, and social wellbeing by intervening on their behalf. Never be afraid to step between your dog and something they’re afraid of, even if it means coming off as rude. Your dog is relying on you to feel safe.
3. Skilled ⇨ Do you and your dog know how to do the behaviors you need to succeed?
Any trainer worth anything will gladly tell you that dog training is only half of the equation. You and your dog are a team, and everyone on the team needs to learn how to do all these fancy skills! Your learning is just as important (if not more so!) than your dog’s learning during sessions.
Human skills include both training and handling mechanics, as well as learning to read canine body language. Training mechanics refer to the logistics of a training scenario, including timing, reinforcement delivery, and use of cues – among other things. Handling mechanics refer to the logistics of how you interact with your dog, both when you’re utilizing your skills and in your day to day life. Most companion bred dogs are very forgiving of mechanics errors from people – they were bred to live alongside us as social companions, and tend to read us well. Working bred dogs tend to be less forgiving of mechanics. They were, after all, bred to work alongside experienced trainers and handlers.
Dog skills can include a massive variety of things! From pattern games to obedience skills to tricks and sports, there are a ton of things we can teach our dogs. These skills serve different purposes and functions. Pattern games are simple behaviors that can be utilized to change your dog’s feelings about things. Obedience cues are mechanical behaviors that can be used to direct your dog’s positioning. Tricks are behaviors that can fulfill your dog’s mental enrichment needs. Sports can satisfy physical and mental enrichment needs.