Why Do Dogs Behave Like They Do?
And how to we get more of the behaviors we like?
Dogs do what works for them. By the laws of animal behavior a creature will continue to do a behavior when it is in their self interest to do so, either because it is the safest option or because it results in something they like. Similarly behavior stops if the outcome of doing it stops achieving what they want or is painful or scary. We can manipulate what motivates our dogs in order to increase or decrease the likeliness of behavior. Dogs also learn by association: if a sound, person, animal or situation predicts an amazing outcome then the dog will have a positive association with it. If something predicts an unpleasant or scary experience then the dog will have a negative association with the initial stimulus.
I will never use fear, safety or pain to motivate a dog. I will leverage things that dogs love -usually food, play, attention, access to the outdoors or their friends, in order to give them feedback about what behaviors will or will not work for them. It is the individual dog however, who determines exactly which of these things are more or less motivating for them. For example: When Scout sits nicely when I come home she gets lots of attention, which she loves! If she jumps up on me, I walk back out the door or ignore her and she loses access to me, which was what she wanted at that particular moment. Jumping did not work, sitting worked fabulously.
My challenge to you as your dogs guide to the human world we ask them to exist in is to catch them doing the right things and REWARD these occurances, so that the likelihood of those behaviors happening again increases. If they are walking nicely next to you, give them a snack!; if they are laying nicely on their bed occupying themself with a chew toy, drop them a delicious morsel; if they are sitting nicely at the door, let them out; are they calmly hanging out with a child? Give them some positive feedback!
Sometimes your dog will get the behavior wrong. They usually do it because it was fun, reinforcing or they just don’t know better. They don’t know your Gucci handbag was $500, it just felt good in their mouth and they always get your attention when they grab it. They pulled on the leash to get to that dog or that smell because it was really exciting. Try to avoid giving them the opportunity to rehearse the wrong behaviors by, for example, putting your purses and shoes out of their reach. Rather than just saying “no,” show them the right behaviors to do instead such as providing them with interesting chew toys or asking them to go to their bed and rewarding them for being there rather than just telling them to get out of the kitchen.
Some of the behaviors that we consider “bad” can be the result of fear or anxiety, such as barking at a person approaching them or growling when you try to cut their nails. In these contexts these behaviors are the dog trying to ask for space and the scary thing to move away. Punishing the behavior so that it doesn’t work is the wrong appraoch here. With fear our methods for modifing the behavior change and we need to turn our attention to 1) Ensuring the dog feels safe and then 2) Helping them gradually build a good associations with the stimuli they find worrisome. The behavior(growling, barking, etc.) is really only a symptom of the underlying emotion and we need to address this core emotion (fear, anxiety, worry) first in order for the behavior to change effectively.
By framing the way we look at our dogs and their behavior through the lens that all behavior has a function, and it is our job to help them learn what behaviors function really well for them in a human world in addition to ensuring they feel comfortable and safe, we can help our dogs thrive in our worlds and set ourselves up for a positive relationship with our furry friends for the rest of their lives.
