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Companions
Bad to the Bone	Wendy Anastasiou
Do you get the feeling your dog is being naughty on purpose? Does your dog get excited when you scold him? Are your punishments failing to achieve the best results? You may be having punishment problems. People often fall into the trap of only engaging their dog when the dog has done something naughty. Say the owner finds the dog chewing a shoe, so they yell at the dog, maybe even hit him, and then put him outside to punish him. Later, the owner lets the dog back in, the dog returns to the shoe, and the cycle continues. Why isn't the dog learning? The dog isn't learning because the owner is actually encouraging the dog to do more naughty behaviors. The process of punishment without counter conditioning, or praise for doing good things, leads to a dog that is very well trained, at being bad. Dogs have a tendency to repeat behaviors that get them rewards, more frequently than behaviors that yield no reward. Rewards can be treats, love, attention, movement, toys, and play. If your dog likes, desires, or needs something, it is a reward. This is how basic training works; the dog sits, you give him a treat, and over time he sits more often hoping he will again receive this reward. This concept is still at work even when you aren't teaching commands. Back to our example. The dog is chewing a shoe, the reward of chewing is built right in, so the dog is already reaping a reward before the owner catches him. Then the owner pays a lot of attention to the dog; even though the attention is negative, it is still attention and the dog sees this as a reward. Sure, it isn't a great reward, but it beats nothing. Then the owner fails to offer the dog an alternate behavior, like chewing on a dog toy for rewards; counter conditioning doesn't take place, so the dog doesn't learn a good way to get rewards, he only remembers the old naughty way that worked pretty well. Later, the owner lets the dog back in, and the dog does the only thing he knows how to do to get attention, he picks the shoe back up in hopes of once again engaging his owner. Avoiding this cycle is easy by doing three simple things. First, start rewarding your dog when he is good. We have a tendency to ignore our dogs when they are being good. We think ìWhew, the dog is being good, I can sneak away and do some workî; the dog is ignored, so he doesn't know you like what he is doing and that you want the behavior repeated. Next time your dog does something good, go over and tell him, say ìgood dogî, and give him some love; then he will know you like this behavior. Second, don't make a big deal out of bad behaviors. Next time your dog does something bad, calmly stop the behavior with as little attention as possible. The less attention he receives for doing bad things, the less reward he gets; so, the less likely he is to chose these behaviors in the future. Finally, if you catch him doing something wrong, don't punish him; simply say ìnoî sternly, and redirect him to a behavior you do like, tell him ìgood dogî when he does the new behavior. Redirecting your dog is called counter conditioning, you are informing him what are good behaviors, and giving him a chance to succeed. By combining these steps, and giving lots of rewards for being good, he will start to choose good behaviors when he wants attention from you; and you will no longer have punishment problems. Wendy Anastasiou owns Life with Fido, Canine Behavior Modification Counseling and Training, which specializes in creating happy, well-adjusted canines, one paw at a time. Call 937-470-7684, or visit lifewithfido.com for information on in-home consults and private classes, in-hospital consults, and group classes at Hartwood Animal Hospital, hartwoodanimalhospital.com
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