Dogs will misbehave if it means eventual treat
Our dog pulls on walks. To combat this, we have been gently tugging at her leash when she pulls. When she returns to our side, we reward the good behaviour by giving her a cookie. It seems like she’s still darting out just as much, if not more. How do we get her to stay by our side?
“You get what you reinforce” is a very important concept in dog training. Our intentions are irrelevant in training. What matters is how the dog interprets the information.
It is not unlike a problem we faced with my son when he was little. He was supposed to practise math on a video game. Correct answers caused his spaceship to fly farther. Incorrect answers caused the spaceship to blow up — but he rather enjoyed watching the spaceship explode. The intentions of the game may have been noble, but the execution failed; it reinforced the wrong thing.
Intuitively, it seems that leash corrections combined with cookies for returning to our side should work; it rarely does.
Most dogs instead learn that pressure on their neck means owners are about to offer cookies. Many dogs pull to the end of the leash to make the owner tug on the leash. The dog knows that the correction predicts cookies.
Taking a correction to earn a cookie may seem far-fetched. Realize that we all do it. We work for an unpleasant employer to get paid. We undergo beauty treatments that hurt. Children blow up spaceships despite the disapproval of teachers.
Embrace the fundamental rule of “You get what you reinforce” to address the problem. Reward dogs for walking politely and not for returning after a bout of pulling. Initially, this might only be half a step. With practice, increase expectations until the dog walks politely for long periods.
Should the dog occasionally pull, stop walking. Encourage the dog back to your side. Do not offer a treat. Ask the dog to walk with you. When the dog is walking politely, then reinforce that behaviour. Reinforce what you want. What most people want is a dog that sticks by their side.
Our dog keeps getting into the dog food bin, knocking it over. He is healthy and his weight is good. However, if supper is late or if he’s bored, he starts to scavenge. How do we prevent him from feeding himself when we are not home?
Some problems require a strong dose of management. When dogs practise unwanted behaviour successfully, there is no incentive for them to stop.
Begin by securing all access to the food bin. Use latches if necessary. Owners can also put bins into a cupboard. Other families may need to confine the dog to a room or crate if the dog is home alone. Do not allow the dog to practise unwanted behaviour.
Management alone is prone to eventual failure. Replace the problem behaviour with an alternative. The issue at hand is not that the dog is scavenging. The dog’s predictable schedule has been broken. Boredom and hunger cause the dog to knock over the bin so they can indulge.
Offer an alternative food source to the kibble bin. Fill a food-dispensing toy or busy toy and leave it where the dog will find it. Break the cycle by addressing the root of the problem.
Satisfy their hunger in a manner that is acceptable. Offering an alternative while preventing the rehearsal of unwanted behaviours is a win-win solution. Yvette Van Veen is an animal behaviour consultant. Write her at advice@awesomedogs.ca