Oh Behave! » Jean Donaldson

Mutt Myth Exposed: Sleeping on Beds Doesn’t Make Dogs Behave Badly

Lisa-Anne Manolius — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:36:10 +0000

If I let my dog on the furniture or sleep on my bed, he’ll think he’s dominant over me.

I’m sounding the Mutt Myth Alert!! Let’s bust this myth one piece at a time.

First, no one can look inside a dog’s head and read his thoughts. My dog Vinnie sometimes sleeps in my bed. When he’s snoozing there he looks peaceful and comfortable, but I have no idea what he’s thinking. Neither does anyone else.

“Dominance” is a term that’s misunderstood, misinterpreted and misused rampantly in discussions of dog behavior. In ethology (the scientific study of behavior), dominance refers to “priority access to a limited resource,” and is dependent on context and the distribution of resources. This is not what most people have in mind when they say their dogs are trying to dominate them.

In my experience, what folks usually mean when they say their dogs are trying to dominate them, is, Fido isn’t doing what I want him to do, or, If I let Fido do X, he’ll try to control me.

Let’s take a common sense look at this notion of “dominance as control.” As expert dog trainer and founder of the SF-SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers Jean Donaldson points out, humans control everything dogs need and want in life – food, water, playtime, walks, medical care, companionship, affection, access to other dogs, shelter, sleeping spots, and ultimately, life and death. Given that, who’s dominating whom? Who’s really in control? Here’s a hint – it’s not the dogs.

Though we can’t read dogs’ minds, we can observe their behavior. What’s more, we can manipulate the environment, resources, and consequences to get dogs to behave in ways we like and want to see more of. Simply put, dogs can be trained, undesirable behaviors can be changed, and at the end of the day, much of our dogs’ behavior is up to us.

Sleeping on a human bed is surely far more comfortable than sleeping in a crate or on the floor. When Vin lounges on my bed, he’s rewarded immediately by softness and comfort. Because sleeping on the bed is inherently rewarding to him, every nap on the bed sets him up to nap on the bed more frequently in the future.

There’s no scientific evidence showing that bed snoozes will make Vinnie want to control me, nor that they cause dogs to behave badly. Dogs do behaviors that work to get them what they want. I’d bet lots of money that Vinnie likes sleeping on the bed because it feels good.

Even if he secretly wants to be my boss, the reality is that he’s only allowed on the bed if it’s OK with the humans in the home. Each dog guardian gets to decide what behavior is acceptable from her dog. Some people don’t care if their dogs pull on leash. Others don’t mind if their dogs beg under the table during dinner. I don’t mind if Vinnie sleeps on my bed; in fact, I like it.

Comfy or trying to seize control?

If I were to decide that Vinnie could never again be on the bed, I could implement that change easily. I’d manage the environment to prevent him from getting on the bed – i.e., keep the bedroom door closed or install a baby gate across the door.

I’d also make his sleeping spot more attractive and comfortable. I could put blankets and a crate pad in his crate, or get him a nice plush dog bed.

He’s already trained to get off of beds and furniture when we ask him to, so if I were to find him on my bed, I’d ask him to get down and direct him to his comfy crate/dog bed.

With consistent practice, he’d learn that whenever he gets on the bed I’m going to ask him to get off and go to his own bed. Dogs are economical in how they spend their energies and creatures of habit; in time, he’d stop getting on the bed as often and instead, go to his own bed.

I suppose Vinnie could be plotting to dominate me. He’s a clever guy. When he wants to play tug, he brings his toy to me, drops it rather dramatically at my feet, and sits there and stares at me for a while. If I look at him, he picks up the tug toy and tries to put it in my lap. Sometimes after all that, I get up and play tug with him, but that’s when I feel like it, when I have the time and the energy, and according to my rules. When we’re finished, he likes to go to my bed and take a nap. I see him, smile, and think he looks adorable.

* * *

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some dogs behave possessively around furniture and sleeping locations. This sort of behavior, known as resource guarding, is normal dog behavior, and doesn’t arise from letting dogs sleep on beds. It’s a common behavior that many dogs come pre-programmed with and is an advantage in the wild. Dogs that guard food, sleeping locations, and other resources have a better shot at surviving. Resource guarding presents safety risks for humans; fortunately, it’s a behavior that can be changed through positive training. If your dog growls/behaves aggressively when you approach him when he’s on the bed, on other furniture, or when he’s eating or playing with toys, punishing or trying to “show him who’s boss” is dangerous and will make his behavior worse. Instead, consult with a good positive reinforcement trainer as soon as possible.

The Truth About Tug

Lisa-Anne Manolius — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:59:01 +0000

During a recent consultation, a client mentioned that though her 6 month-old shepherd mix loved to play tug, she’d decided the game was taboo. She’d heard that tug would make him “aggressive.” I’ve heard this concern from loads of dog owners. But fortunately, it ain’t so.

Aggressive behavior is usually caused by fear, stress or anxiety, not fun and games. In fact, many expert dog trainers (such as Jean Donaldson and Pat Miller) maintain that that tug, if played by a few simple rules (see below) is a fabulous game to play with your dog for lots of reasons.

Tug is a wonderful energy burner for dogs and something you can do inside to burn some of that doggy energy. Vinnie’s an especially high-energy dog; I suspect that on rainy days, if not for tug, we’d both go a little bonkers.

Tug is a great legal outlet for dogs’ natural predatory instincts. Instead of shutting natural dog behavior down, tug allows dogs to redirect their energies to the game.

If played by the rules, tug teaches your dog to control his jaws even when he’s really revved up, and is fabulous impulse control training. Your dog practices calming himself down when he’s in a state of high arousal.

Tug offers lots of lovely little real-life training moments for real life rewards – another tug match! It provides an appropriate safe outlet for puppies’ and adolescents’ natural desire to mouth and play bite. Perhaps best of all, tug is FUN for you and your dog and deepens the bonds you share.

Follow these simple rules to ensure you and your dog are safe whenever you play tug:

Only play with 1 or 2 designated tug toys. They should be long enough that your dog’s teeth area far from your hand. Braided rope or fleece toys are best because they’re strong and won’t hurt doggy teeth or gums.

Play begins only when you initiate the game by offering the tug toy to your dog. Don’t allow your dog to lunge/jump/snatch the toy from you. If he does that, say, “Too bad,” or “Uh oh,” matter of factly and put the toy away for 20 seconds.

Take frequent obedience breaks. Ask your dog to sit (or do another easy behavior) every time you offer him the tug toy. After he sits, reward him by offering him the tug toy to grab onto.

Teach your dog to drop the tug toy on your cue. Ask him to do so randomly during tug matches.

Teeth on skin means an automatic time out. If his teeth make any contact with your skin even by accident, immediately say “Uh Oh,” or “Too bad,” and put the toy away for 20 seconds. This will teach him to be extra careful with his mouth during tug games.

Avoid doggy injuries. Keep the tug toy level with his shoulders and don’t jerk it around. Move the toy side-to-side instead of up and down. Keep the intensity of tug games appropriate for his age and overall physical condition.

Safety first. Don’t allow frail people or kids under 13 to play tug with your dog. Make sure that anyone who plays tug with your dog knows the tug rules and always follows them consistently. An adult should always supervise tug games between dogs and kids.

“Instead Of Thinking” – Dealing With Unwanted Behavior

Lisa-Anne Manolius — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:42:36 +0000

One of the most frequent concerns among dog guardians is how to stop unwanted behavior. As Jean Donaldson explains in her phenomenal book, The Culture Clash, much of natural dog behavior is at odds with what humans find acceptable.

Dogs however, need appropriate outlets for their energies, which are usually significantly higher than ours. Without legal channels for behavior and energy, dogs become frustrated, bored, and stressed. In that unfortunate condition, it’s just a matter of time before dogs find other ways to vent. Behavior borne of frustration and boredom is often even worse and less acceptable to humans than the original unwanted behavior. Excessive barking, destructive chewing, fence fighting, and digging are just some of the behaviors in which frustrated and bored will engage. Besides all that, it’s not fair or humane to consign any animal to a life of chronic boredom, frustration or stress.

Enter, “Instead Of Thinking.” It’s not enough to find ways to shut down undesirable behavior. A far more effective strategy is to train your dog to do alternative behaviors that are acceptable and incompatible with the undesired behavior.

Let’s use jumping up as an example. Jumping up is a natural normal dog behavior. Dogs do it to greet us by getting closer to our faces. But most people don’t like it when Rover jumps on them. This is a classic instance of the clash between behavior that humans deem acceptable and that which is acceptable and common among dogs.

Well hello!

Typically humans think in terms of, How can I get Rover to stop jumping up? “Instead Of Thinking” asks a different question: What would I like Rover to do instead of jumping up?

Instead Of Thinking solves two problems at once: it stops the unwanted behavior while providing Rover with an acceptable alternative.

Sitting to greet people is an alternative behavior that’s acceptable and incompatible with jumping up. If Rover is sitting to say hello to people, he isn’t jumping on them. The training plan would be two-fold. You’d stop rewarding Rover altogether for jumping up, teach him to sit to say hello, and reward him with attention and lovies when he sits.

With consistent positive training, voila! Rover will learn that jumping up never works to get human attention but sitting does. If everyone who meets Rover follows the same plan, his jumping should decrease substantially and eventually stop. Instead of jumping on folks he’ll do lovely sits to say hello, and he gets a legal outlet for his exuberant greeting energy. Doing a short down stay or hand-targeting are two other examples of alternative behaviors that are incompatible with jumping up.

Rover won’t learn these things overnight, especially if he has a long history of jumping up and being rewarded with some kind of attention when he does that. Patient consistent practice will pay off so hang in there with your training plan.

The next time you find yourself wondering how to stop Rover from doing X, put on your Instead Of Thinking cap. Ask yourself, What would I like Rover to do instead of X? Then start training Rover to do the alternative behavior, reward him handsomely when he does it and stop rewarding him for doing X.

Rewarding Rover for desirable alternative behavior is a powerful tool in your training kit, and means he’ll do more of that behavior in the future.

Happy Training!