What IS Behaviour? Modification.

I find myself doing a lot of private one-to-one consultations over the summer months. It's a time where people are easily spotted walking their dogs on the street and taking them for outings to the forest, pet shop, or down to the local pub. This is a great time of year for owners to work with their happy-go-lucky dogs fine tuning commands and socialisation, however this can be a nightmare time for people owning aggressive dogs. I have met clients who are dodging other owners hiding behind cars, sneaking around corners, and walking their dogs in the early hours of the morning or wee hours of the night just to avoid other dogs bouncing towards them usually evoking a full out aggressive response. I have to admit I am glad the UK is more relaxed on dogs walking off lead as it avoids a lot of awkward behaviour from dogs who may be a bit more agitated on leash and allows my own dogs to explore the world beyond the end of a Flexi line, but not all owners have control over their dogs. Although your dog may be alright, the next one coming into the park may not be. It's unfair for a friendly off leash dog to be set up for failure by allowing it to go up to a reactive dog and possibly have a bad experience, but it is also unfair for a reactive dog to be put in the position where it is on leash, confined by most likely an anxious owner, having a flailing pup jumping in it's face causing it to aggress.

When working with behaviour cases my first priority is control. During a consultation I take the owners' and dog's details and make sure we cover the basics of control: WATCH, TOUCH, LOOSE LEAD WALKING, and a RECALL. I find these behaviours especially useful in managing and redirecting an agitated or under-socialised dog in case a provoking stimulus comes along - be it a human, another dog, or even fear to sounds or objects. I always tell people to practice these behaviours to complete fluency where they can request a behaviour on a random schedule of reinforcement in all kinds of different areas. In order to get this cooperation the dog must re-learn all cues in at least 5 different places, as they do not always readily generalise them in different locations.

But what really is behaviour? Is it really a matter of a dog sitting when asked to, coming when called, and walking nicely on a lead or is there something more? To me, training, especially when working with sensitive or out of control dogs, is a matter of executing the correct COMMAND and the right ATTITUDE. What does that mean exactly? Well, I don't just want my dog to do a "down" at a pub, I want him to fully settle down - relaxed and not phased by anything around him. The same goes for a reactive dog who may have fear issues with fellow canines - when working or encountering other dogs I want the dog not just to focus on me and walk nicely on leash (although that is great), but I want the dog to be calm and comfterable - not hyper active, alert, or agitated. So training is about acquiring a behaviour and an emotion attached to that. Over time you are shaping the rough edges of a dog's character to a more controlled pup and well rounded personality.

In order to get a more calm and stress free canine the basic control behaviours need to first be well rehearsed without any provoking stimulus around. Then the dog needs to systematically be subjected to the stimulus below threshold (before the dog begins to react) and correctly respond to cues and show calming behaviours. Over time with systematic desensitisation the dog will learn that there is no need to fret and the trust amongst the dog/owner team is significantly increased - a true bond is formed. It is important during this time that an aggressive or fearful dog is not subjected to projectile pups flinging across the park to say "hi", so management still plays a key in the training program. I love to use a marker (be it a verbal "yes" or clicker) and using capturing and shaping to work on getting the dog to offer a cue AND calm disposition. At this stage I do not reward or mark a loose lead walk unless the dog has his tail at a natural position, ears relaxed, fluid body position and a relaxed facial expression - if the dog becomes alert I begin to ignore it and only proceed with training if the disposition changes again.

You may be thinking - well why not interrupt or correct the dog or redirect it to a sit if it becomes alert while walking down the street? Doesn't ignoring it mean the dog can still practice the behaviour? Well, if there is another dog passing by I would probably lure the dog and continuously feed at a safe distance in order to control the dog, but if there is no threat of the dog to escalate in behaviour I prefer to wait for offered behaviour/disposition rather than luring. If the dog is not over aroused and if early stress signs can be identified before it escalates to full blown hackles up, lunging, snapping, or barking then the dog is not practicing the wrong behaviours - in fact it is communicating to me and as long as it's not a full blown outbreak, the dog will most likely not escalate into bad habits. I find that using food as a lure with hyper-sensitive or active dogs, especially if they are food motivated, often arouses them even more and doesn't always make clear to them which behaviour is the preferred one. Knowing your dog's threshold, triggers, and personality is a big help when working on modification. I am a big fan of rewarding as much SELF CONTROL from the dog as possible, without bribes or management tools after the behaviour is offered. Of course in order to get this far the behaviours need to be well practiced.

In some cases behaviour modification is a matter of weeks, months, or even years - and in other cases depending on the danger, severity, and longevity of behaviour the modification plan is for life. Taking an in-depth history can always be great in identifying triggers and a good beginning to understanding behaviour, however I still think we do not know half of the puzzle to assemble a full picture when it comes to behaviour cases. Rather than dwell on the past or fight with what the dog has done in the past it is important to have short and long term goals, and use every opportunity to practice behaviour - both cues and dispositions.

I have a client with a Shepherd/Collie cross who is a prime example that hard work, management and dedication can go a long way with an anti-social dog. Just this weekend her dog and mine were enjoying one of our off-leash socialisation walks with around 10 dogs present without feeling the need to react. We used muzzles to primarily calm our own nerves and the dogs behaved beautifully. Working on disposition is something I am keen on practicing with each one of my own crew over the rest of the summer months.