Dog Language − 20 February, 2008
OK, so last night I presented an idea to one of my dog clubs – the idea is to teach a workshop-type class on canine communication.
I am not going to go in to a lesson on dog behavior and communication, but suffice it to say that at my one dog club, most of the trainers use compulsion (punishment) only to train their dogs. This is typical of most of the old-school AKC obedience trainers.
Using such methods, most dogs eventually shut down and as their foundation is built through punishment and aversion, in times of stress you see down who literally cannot function – they are too afraid of making a mistake and being punished.
That being said, I am not a “purely positive” trainer – meaning I do use “corrections” to modify behavior, as needed. I feel that a dog does need to know there is a negative consequence for a bad choice. However, the foundation that I lay with my own dogs, and advocate others use, is mostly positive. I prefer to use rewards to shape the behaviors that I want and make the dog want to work for me. That way, in times of stress, when a dog reverts to it’s foundation, I have a dog that is not going to shut down but will look to make the appropriate choice. I use corrections to “polish” performance, not to create it.
So, at my one dog club, I see many instructors misdiagnosing or missing completely, the “calming signals” that the dogs are giving them. “Calming signals” are behaviors that dogs display that basically tell us how they are feeling – stressed, uncomfortable, etc. Because we are primates and they are canids, our natural body language is totally different. People unknowingly do things that are impolite or downright aggressive to dogs and we set them up to fail. And then we punish them – out of our own stupidity, really.
People tend to think dogs think and learn like us, and they do not. People expect dogs to learn OUR language (and we think we are the more intelligent species?) and punish them for their failing to do so. Millions of dogs a year are euthanized due to behavioral problems that uneducated owners have created.
Not that I am an expert – I don’t think anyone really can be. I learn every day. I have a certain amount of knowledge and experience, and I think the owners (and their dogs!) can benefit from my pointing out what our dogs are communicating to us. I think it would save a lot of dogs from inappropriate corrections and smooth out relationships between a lot of dogs and their people. I see so many people who are frustrated and angry at their dog’s obedience or lack thereof, and it is solely due to the fact that the dog doesn’t understand what the owner wants. In many cases the dogs are looking to calm the owners, show their respect or avoid punishment (which often seems not to work for the poor dog) and if the owner just recognized what the dog was saying, they could approach the exercise differently. To me, if the dog is unable to understand what I want from them, I need to step back and take a look at what I am doing wrong – what can I do differently to teach this exercise more effectively?
So I am looking forward to teaching the class. I will be taking a serious pay cut, as I am doing it for free (and cancelling my usual students that night), but I think it is worth it. Our club members and their dogs will do better, work happier, have better relationships and perhaps I will even inspire others to learn dog behavior, as opposed to simply learning how to train one. They are supposed to be our best friends, and I take that to heart – as a best friend I feel it is my duty to at least meet them halfway and learn their language.
Comments:
peahayes (March 27, 2008. 03:34am)
Wow, that is really interesting. When we first got our dog, I read some books that helped me to understand dogs a bit better. Do you have any recommendations of books that delve into the stuff you're talking about -- the calming signals, and how we are inadvertently impolite and aggressive?