Ain’t Misbehavin’©
by Martha Winters, CPDT
As cute and adorable as they are, puppies and dogs are not little humans in fuzzy costumes. With patience and a little training, you can teach your pup to understand what you want it to do.
Puppies are not born with good human manners. They do not know what we, as humans, consider acceptable behavior. And they do not understand English. Contrary to what many people believe…. PUPPIES DO NOT MISBEHAVE ON PURPOSE! Never forget this! Dogs don’t intentionally do things that are bad. PEOPLE do that! A dog merely behaves a certain way because it is beneficial to the dog to do so. PERIOD. It tastes good or it feels good or it’s fun or it gets your attention or it makes him feel safe.
When your puppy receives a benefit from his behavior, he will want to repeat that behavior more often. He learns to associate good results with that activity. If an activity brings unwanted consequences or nothing worthwhile, your puppy will be less likely to repeat that particular behavior. He wants pleasant things in his life and wants to avoid anything he doesn’t like.
A beneficial outcome (known as a reward) can come in the form of anything the dog finds pleasing. Be careful not to project into the dog what types of rewards you think he should like. Don’t try to force your pup to like something that he doesn’t. (“By golly, I bought these treats on sale, and he’s gonna eat them whether he likes ‘em or not!”) It won’t work. A fun project is to make a list of 30 items that your puppy likes. These items come in three categories: food, toys and activities. After you compile the list, rank the items in order of your dog’s preference, you know, which one he likes best, then second best, etc.
Dogs do not enjoy everything equally. It will be very helpful in your training to know which things your dog likes a little and which ones will make him do back flips. When training your dog, you are competing with all the stimuli and distractions that are enticing him. Let’s say you have a small dry dog biscuit in one hand, and a live squirrel in your other hand. Which item do you think will grab your dog’s attention? If you said the squirrel, you’re going to be right most of the time. Now, let’s say your dog is chasing a squirrel in the backyard, and you call him to come, as you waggle a dry dog biscuit in your hand to lure him. Which activity do you think he will decide to do? Remember, dogs do not purposely misbehave. So as he continues to chase the squirrel, keep in mind that he is not defying your orders. He is simply making a choice as to which activity will benefit him more at that time. He will always go for the best game around when there is a choice.
Dogs will try different behaviors until they find the one that works. All too often we pay attention to our dogs when they are behaving badly, and ignore them when they’re good. For example, your dog wants your attention, so he sits quietly in front of you, looking at you. You ignore him. So he paws at your leg. You ignore him. So he barks you, and you tell him to be quiet. Well, you have just rewarded the dog for barking by paying attention to him.
So the next time he wants your attention, his first attempt will be to bark at you, because that’s what works. When a dog wants attention, he will take the attention in any form. Nasty attitude or not, you are reinforcing the behavior you don’t want.
Instead, a good way to teach your puppy to do the behavior you want is to CATCH YOUR DOG IN THE ACT OF DOING SOMETHING RIGHT. When your pup is being an angel, let him know you like it. The moment you see him start to do something you like, reward him immediately. So when he sits near you and silently looks up at you in that adorable way, pay attention! Reward him. It’s not always necessary to tell your pup to do the behavior in order to reward him. The fact that the little doggie is doing something you like is reason enough.
