Problem behaviors become problematic habits over time when fed the right reinforcement. Usually that reinforcement is inadvertent.
We use our recall command to get them in from the back yard too many times, and they no longer respond to it. It doesn’t pay as much as the yard. Soon they run away from you when you say ‘come’! Or we push the dog down and scream ‘off’ when our dog jumps on us, yet it continues to do so! Jumping seems to get you to interact with them, so they keep doing it!
When we try to solve these problem behaviors, often we are thinking about how to get rid of the problem. This tendency to react to the problem leads to unfortunate choices when training a dog. These choices involve correcting or punishing the behavior the moment after it has happened. If we were to actually diminish the behavior effectively using these methods, the dog must either feel mild discomfort consistently and repetitively enough times that it makes a difference, or experience such a traumatic emotional/physical event in the exact right moment after they exhibit the behavior that it correlates that the behavior caused the event, thus no longer repeating the behavior. As you can imagine, using these methods are not only hard to get right, but they have negative consequences for the dog ranging from diminishing relationships, deteriorating tolerance levels, and raising overall stress.
So what do we do to change behaviors effectively? Well, we limit the opportunity for the dog to repeat those problem behaviors by setting up some management practices based around the problem, and we start to reinforce an alternative incompatible behavior from the problem. It all sounds so easy right? Well, here’s a run down of problem behaviors, the management practice you need for it, and the replacement behavior you should be thinking of reinforcing.
Jumping———-
Leash/gate/turn away silentl———-
sit upon greeting, 4 feet on the floor
Chewing furniture———-
Crate/gates/bitter apple(potentially)——
chews/down stays /go to spot
Alert barking——
limit access to doors windows/increased exerise————-
Go to spot/down stay/Look at that
Demand barking——-
turn away/walk away/silent/no eye contact——
identify triggers and engage proactively with some appropriate engagement.
Leash reactivity——-
attention to distance/toys/high valued food—-
name recognition/find it/look at that
Counter surfing—-
eliminate access to area when unattended——
go to spot, down stay, leave it, touch
Stealing inappropriate items——
gates/tethers/appropriate toy boxes——-
Settle, find it, fetch
Mouthing/play biting——
easily accessible chew toys/decrease time spent engaged in one sitting———
teach kisses, get it, find it, drop, take, give(appropriate items)
Couch/bed——
Gates to block the room completely, or gates to lay on top of the furniture, x-mats to make the surface uncomfortable.
Teach go to your spot in the room with the furniture on an appropriate bed, down stay, settle.
Lunging ahead/pulling—-
Use front clip harness, head halter, stay in less distracting places while learning————
Heel, touch, find it( always behind you), lets go, name recognition
