Training
Be Careful What You Teach Your Dog
The Sun Chronicle, October 19, 2009
Whenever I give advice about dog training, I am always sure to remind people to be careful about what they train their dogs to do. Sometimes what seems like a good idea at the time can lead to problems down the road. For example, take the new dog owner who gets so excited by hearing the first bark of their puppy that they encourage the pup to “speak” so everyone else can hear the adorable little yarf. This owner shouldn’t be surprised when the cute little puppy becomes a not so cute nuisance barker as an adult.
The same goes for the owner who grumbles back at the play-growling puppy during a game of tug of war. This owner is teaching the dog possession aggression and shouldn’t be surprised when their adult dog snarls at them if they try to take something out of the dog’s mouth. When shaping behavior, owners should always consider how a conditioned response might play out over time.
Surely, it is usually pretty easy to see the potential negative impact of reinforcing behaviors like jumping up on people, barking and even allowing puppies to “mouth” arms or hands. In my experience, however, I have found that with certain dogs even the most innocent and seemingly “good” training can easily become hugely problematic.
I was doing a bit of interior painting a few weeks back, and found myself leaning against the ladder while taking a snack break. Drew, the smartest of my three dogs, was close by in case a morsel of food dropped on the floor. I don’t know if it was the paint fumes or the sugar high, but the next thing I knew, I was using my last bite of whoopee pie to teach my dog to climb the four-foot stepladder. Drew loves sweets, and after just a few tries my brilliant little spaniel was limbering up the down the ladder.
Almost immediately, I knew that I was going to regret what I had just taught my precocious food-driven diva. The next day, she was already using her new coordination skills to scale a 5-foot high bank of dog crates so she could steal her sister’s food. On day two, she managed to climb some stacked items in my spare room and then leaped across onto a goody table for an all-she-could-eat buffet of gourmet dog cookies.
By day three, Drew was stringing more trained behaviors together as she used the climb, high-ten, spin combination to steal a bag of treats off the top shelf of the 7 foot high computer desk. When I discovered shreds of the plastic bag, I immediately staged a “dog gone wild” behavioral intervention and began rehabilitative training to prevent a possible dog explosion from over eating.
In retrospect, I think it would have been much more useful instead to have taught Drew to hold the paintbrush in her mouth. At least then she might have been able to help paint the lower half of the room.
Wags,
Tracie
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TRACIE LALIBERTE of Attleboro wants readers to know that Dog Pawse is now on Facebook and welcomes everyone to join the group for some dog-loving fun. You can contact her with any dog-related questions at tracie@dogpawse.com.
