For some reason this morning while driving to my boot camp, I thought about animal training and what it entails. I attended the (former) San Francisco SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers, now offered as an online course http://www.academyfordogtrainers.com/ - the brain child of dog trainer extraordinaire Jean Donaldson.
Jean explains that [dog] Training … “At its very best (i.e. the” best” trainer training the “best” dog), will greatly alter the probability of behavior occurring.” Now notice that she mentions behavior changing, or in other words, the dog learning something else… as a great probability. I guess one can read this predicament as a “good news/bad news” statement. Yes indeed, if we train the dog the chances of our dog doing what we want just went up - way up but the bad news is that is just a probability- kind of a numbers game.
In my “Academy” (as the training program is fondly known in the dog training world) binder - next to Jean’s description of training I added a note that reads: “80% (change in behavior) is easy, every notch above 80% is hard.
Perhaps the statistics above should be embossed in all dog trainer’s business cards, websites, etc. in an effort to educate our clients and remind ourselves of the task at hand.
The problem lays I think, not so much with the 80% “rule” but with the (oh so very) human assumption that it is a piece of cake to change behavior in any living species. As we now know, nothing could be farther from the truth! BTW, I hear also that dogs are one of the easiest species to train!
Once we are aware of the implications in modifying behavior we can set realistic expectations for our dogs.
Yes it is true that any good trainer can teach a dog anything! However, it begs the question: how long will it take? Are we (or our clients) willing and able to control the environment so that the dog stops repeating the behavior we now want to modify?
Are we willing and able to be consistent (much easier said than done!) with consequences administered to the dog for exhibiting the “correct” behavior as well as consequences for failing to do so? Of course, by consequences I am NOT talking about aversive- another discussion all together… It also begs the understanding of when and where we want our dogs to perform a given behavior. Any training plan should ask: when specifically should the behavior take place? And where? In other words, we must take into consideration the context (environment if you will) where we need our dog to perform. It is not the same to request that our dog holds on a sit/stay for 2 minutes in the kitchen than the same behavior at the park where our dog is surrounded by interesting smells and sights.
Some behaviors, of course, do not need training. I am thinking of Rioja here, who after discovering last night in their toy basket the new stuffed octopus, she took it to bed with her. Really cute behavior with no training required! :0)
Jean explains that [dog] Training … “At its very best (i.e. the” best” trainer training the “best” dog), will greatly alter the probability of behavior occurring.” Now notice that she mentions behavior changing, or in other words, the dog learning something else… as a great probability. I guess one can read this predicament as a “good news/bad news” statement. Yes indeed, if we train the dog the chances of our dog doing what we want just went up - way up but the bad news is that is just a probability- kind of a numbers game.
In my “Academy” (as the training program is fondly known in the dog training world) binder - next to Jean’s description of training I added a note that reads: “80% (change in behavior) is easy, every notch above 80% is hard.
Perhaps the statistics above should be embossed in all dog trainer’s business cards, websites, etc. in an effort to educate our clients and remind ourselves of the task at hand.
The problem lays I think, not so much with the 80% “rule” but with the (oh so very) human assumption that it is a piece of cake to change behavior in any living species. As we now know, nothing could be farther from the truth! BTW, I hear also that dogs are one of the easiest species to train!
Once we are aware of the implications in modifying behavior we can set realistic expectations for our dogs.
Yes it is true that any good trainer can teach a dog anything! However, it begs the question: how long will it take? Are we (or our clients) willing and able to control the environment so that the dog stops repeating the behavior we now want to modify?
Are we willing and able to be consistent (much easier said than done!) with consequences administered to the dog for exhibiting the “correct” behavior as well as consequences for failing to do so? Of course, by consequences I am NOT talking about aversive- another discussion all together… It also begs the understanding of when and where we want our dogs to perform a given behavior. Any training plan should ask: when specifically should the behavior take place? And where? In other words, we must take into consideration the context (environment if you will) where we need our dog to perform. It is not the same to request that our dog holds on a sit/stay for 2 minutes in the kitchen than the same behavior at the park where our dog is surrounded by interesting smells and sights.
Some behaviors, of course, do not need training. I am thinking of Rioja here, who after discovering last night in their toy basket the new stuffed octopus, she took it to bed with her. Really cute behavior with no training required! :0)
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