Keeping with the theme of decision making in what to work on with your dog, I’d like to talk a bit about deciding whether or not to change a behavior.
Many of my clients come to me with an idea of what a dog should do, of how a dog should behave. Or sometimes they ask questions like “is it ok that Sparky gets up on the couch?”. “Is it ok if Sparky sleeps in the bed with me?” My answer is – you, your family, and your dog get to decide together. Every family has different household needs.
Some behaviors absolutely need to be changed for the safety of you, your dog, or other outside parties. Anything that falls into the category of safety risks should definitely be on the list of behaviors to change. You might address these problems with a combination of management and training*.
For other behaviors, it might not be so straight forward. All of the behavior your dog does is for a purpose. All behavior exists to either gain access to something or to gain distance from/prevent something. So, it is important to consider the impact of a behavior on the entire household – not just on you, but on your dog too.
It might be easier to demonstrate this with some examples:
Doug steals socks.
He always has since he was a tiny baby. I’m not sure exactly why socks, because I’m not Doug. But I could guess that they either smell good or feel good to hold. I’ve been very careful to never, ever chase him or go get the sock from him, because I didn’t want to turn it into a game. I didn’t want him to steal socks. For a long time it really bothered me. But here’s the thing. He’s never so much as made a tiny hole in any sock. He just carries it around for awhile, then abandons it and, later, I go retrieve it. This is not a safety risk (he doesn’t ingest the sock material or show aggression when someone approaches while he’s holding the sock). It is a minor annoyance. And at some point, I decided to stop worrying about it. It’s really quite cute. And harmless. And he is getting something out of it or he wouldn’t keep doing it. So I’m not going to change this behavior.
Now, if your dog steals items and chews them or swallows pieces of them, that could be a safety risk. If your dog steals items and then displays aggression over the item when you approach, that is a safety risk*. In those situations, you need to use management and/or training to minimize the safety risks. This might mean trading a special treat for a stolen item, keeping counters/tables/floors clear, and providing lots of dog-safe things for your dog to carry and chew.
Dan likes to dig.
The photo below gives you an idea of just how much he likes to dig. He will dig enormous holes. I’m not sure exactly what he gets out of this activity – maybe it feels good or smells good. I do know he likes to watch earth worms, so maybe he digs until he finds a worm to watch? Whatever it is, the activity itself is enjoyable for him.
When Dan was young, my father-in-law taught him to dig on cue. If Dan was digging he would go stand by the hole and look at it with Dan and say “dig-em dig-em dig-em Dan” and Dan would dig and dig. After a few episodes of this, Dan would begin to dig if you chanted “dig-em”. This turned out to be quite useful. The only harm in Dan digging is when he digs in my flower bed. I don’t really mind if he makes a hole in the yard. That is fix-able. I can fill it back in. But I do enjoy my flowers. So, if Dan is digging in a spot I don’t like, I can make a small hole in another spot and encourage him to dig there. In this case, I did decide to change the behavior. But by offering a different digging area, Dan can still get all of the enjoyment of digging. I don’t need to stop the behavior completely and I probably shouldn’t. Dan does this behavior for a reason, even if it isn’t super clear to me what he gets out of it (since I’m not Dan)
Before you begin to change your dog’s behavior, consider why he is doing that behavior. If you still decide you need to change it, can you provide an alternative for your dog to gain the same or similar experience another way?
***If you are observing a behavior that poses a safety risk you should work with a qualified professional dog trainer or behaviorist to make the situation safe.***