I Told My Dog "No."

I thought I would write about this because it is a subject that comes up frequently in my conversations with clients who are learning about dog behavior and how dogs learn. A new client might describe a problem that they are having with their dog, like jumping when greeting. I ask them "What have you tried"? Usually the response includes, "We say 'No!'" Dogs live in the now. There is a very small window of time in which dogs can make a clear association between an action and its consequence. This applies to unpleasant consequences (ouch) and positive consequences (yum). A consequence has to be immediate in order for a dog to associate it with their own action. Dogs do not have the capacity for language. They are visual animals. "No" does not mean anything to a dog. "Stop it" does not mean anything to a dog. They may react to your tone of voice, but are they able to connect something that they just did with why you are annoyed right now? Probably not. Dogs live in the now. Dogs do not have values in the same way that humans do. Sharing is a value. Making a judgment is a value. Social acceptability is a value. Along with values comes impulse control. This is a difficult concept for dogs. If the dog sees a muffin on the table, the dog is not going to ask himself/herself whether taking the muffin is a good or bad thing to do. Dogs are hardwired to take the muffin. Why? Because they have the opportunity to take it, and it is beneficial to them to eat it. This is how they are hardwired. My border collie Quicken has always been a counter surfer. He once ate seven red velvet muffins that I left out to cool on the counter. When I discovered this indiscretion, I kicked myself for leaving the muffins on the counter. I did not blame Quicken. Think about a group of three-year-old children learning to share. If the child has a toy, keeping possession of the toy is the child's immediate response. Sharing the toy is a concept or value that the child has to be taught. Human children have a powerful brain that allows them to connect consequences to their actions and to project those thoughts forward in time. Dogs cannot do this. They function off of their "old brain" or "instinctive brain" most of the time. Dogs are black and white thinkers. Is it safe? Is it dangerous? And do I benefit? If the dog was punished at the instant that the dog tried to get to the muffins, the dog may learn not to try to access the food as long as a human is present. And the punishment would have to be substantial enough to make the dog avoid doing it again. If the human is not there, chances are the dog would still take the food. I teach my clients to practice "smart management." Manage your dog in a way that prevents unwanted behavior from happening in the first place (put food away and secure your trash). Train your dog to offer an alternate, incompatible behavior that they can be rewarded for, like keeping four-on-the-floor when greeting a human. Over time, the dog will start to default to the rewarded behavior and the unwanted behavior will disappear. And finally, if saying "no" and "stop it" was effective, we wouldn't need to have this conversation. Right? Keep learning. www.noelhoffmann.com Copyright 2024 Noel Hoffmann