Creating Bad Habits
Published June 14, 2011
Victoria Schade
As a dog trainer, I strive to have a household free from canine turmoil. We’re still working on Millie’s jumping-up-on-people habit, but overall I think we’ve built a pretty peaceful world. When we’re sitting on the porch and Sumner lets out a throaty grumble at a neighbor’s car, a simple, “Thank you, that’s enough,” quiets him right down. When Millie gets bored and grabs a sock, she allows me to walk right up to her and take it from her mouth without protest. When I have to wipe eight muddy paws after a romp in the yard, both dogs listen to my request to “Wait, gotta wipe your pawsies” before they rush past me. It’s pleasant, stress-free living.
However, my husband Tom recently upended a major part of my diligent training. Until now, he’s always deferred to me when it came to the dogs, but he invoked Senior Dog Privilege the other night over our al fresco dinner. We were enjoying pizza on the porch, and Sumner had roused himself from his nearly constant naps to stand next to Tom. Sumner let out an operatic trill in the hopes of getting a piece of crust, and Tom paused and looked at him.
“Not bad. What else ya got?”
“What are you teaching him?” I sputtered, “He’s going to beg forever now!”
“Forever? He’s old. . .let him enjoy his golden years.”
Tom shifted his focus back to Sumner. “Are you gonna sing for me?”
Sumner howled again, but it wasn’t quite enough for Tom. He looked at me with an evil grin and said, “I’m going to wait until he gives me the loudest, most obnoxious howl before I give him this crust.”
I have to admit that I was impressed with Tom’s grasp of learning theory. . .he wanted to reward the best (or in this case, worst) example of the howling in order to reinforce it. Sumner stamped his feet a few times and then really let it out.
“Good boy, here you go!”
Tom handed over the crust. And a bad habit was born.
I have to admit that Sumner’s new and improved begging habit doesn’t really bother me that much. It’s funny to see our old man acting like a puppy. I know I’m not the only one who not only tolerates but actually encourages canine misbehavior. . .I have clients who have conversations with their barking dogs, and welcome bear hugs with paws on shoulders.
What naughty behaviors do you encourage?
Training & Behavior
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Comments (2)
We have a 7 month old Great Dane Mastiff. He was doing so well with his training, then we got him neutered. Ever since he has been acting out, chewing things if we leave him out of his crate at night or while we are gone, so we have started to lock him up again. He has also started to not listen, yesterday he ran out into the road, and was jumping up and down on a girl as she ran by, something we absolutely can not have due to his size.It's not that we dont realize he needs boundaries, it just makes no sense that he has started bad habits again after we have worked with him for 7 months and he has been doing so well. Is there something we could be doing wrong? Or is he just acting out because he got neutered? If anyone has advice, or can help please respond.
No behavior is "naughty" if the trainer desires and controls it. It's naughty for a dog to bark and howl without ceasing - it's not naughty to do it on command, and to stop on command. It's "naughty" for a dog to jump up on a person of it's own accord - it's not naughty for a dog to do it when the trainer invites them to do it, and gets down when told.
In my years with dogs, I have found that it's ideal to reteach a pre-existing "naughty" behavior as a trick - so that the trainer/owner assumes control of it. Teach an obsessive barker to "Speak" and to "Stop," and you've turned that naughty behavior into a controllable trick.
My American Eskimo dog loves to bark when my SO comes home. So, we taught her to howl at this time instead. She still gets to vocalize, but in an acceptable and controlled manner. A little compromise and understanding goes a long way with a dog!