steps of behavior modification for dogs
Dog behavior modification refers to the process of changing a dog's behavior through training and conditioning techniques. It involves identifying and addressing unwanted behavior patterns in dogs and replacing them with desirable behaviors.
Communicating with dogs
Before reviewing the issue of dog's behavior modification, we must first learn the language of communication in dogs.
If you watch dogs playing in the garden, you will find that they are social animals that have the ability to communicate with each other.
Dogs acquired this complex language from their animal nature and kinship with wolves.
Although this language has changed dramatically, the basic impulses within the dog's mind remain the same. In modifying the behavior of dogs.
we also have to know the way dogs deal with each other is very important, as the way they stand, the movement of the tail and the sounds they make play an important role in the nature of the encounter.
Waving the tail does not always mean that this meeting is happy, as it depends primarily on the circumstances of this meeting and the way in which the dog waves its tail.
Smell is a vital thing in the world of dogs, you will find that they smell each other and smell specific parts of the body.
Although dogs are social animals and live in groups, the way dogs communicate varies, as it depends primarily on body language.
Surprisingly, despite the complex language with which humans communicate, we use body language for up to 80% of our communication.
Despite the great difference between the means of communication used by humans and those used by dogs, there is a common basis, and by trying and learning from mistakes.
we can reach the basic pattern with which we communicate, and this is one of the important axes in behavior modification, whether in humans or in dogs
Dogs have feelings and have a temperament that is affected by what is around them, they are not robots. But her feelings can be described as very simple, like the feelings of children.
This makes it difficult for us to understand her moods during training and to modify behavior.
In order to be able to illustrate some of the most efficient ways of training dogs and modifying their behavior, it is necessary to first understand some of the basic elements of dog psychology.
In order to reach the best results in training and behavior modification, you may need to change some of your previous ideas about dogs.
Yes, they are wonderful animals if we can establish a wonderful and unique relationship with them.
But she doesn't think like us, and she won't be able to. They do not look at or think about things like we do, and this fact in and of itself may cause problems in a dog's relationship with its owner.
When a dog does something that may annoy us, such as scratching a door or turning the table with its fingernails, there is no point in punishing it for something it did in the past, as it will not be able to connect this with that.
You will find that dogs are like little children, only living in the moment and not thinking about the past or the future.
And when you begin to understand the simple world of dogs that are not complicated by the rules of logical thinking, it becomes easy to start training, teaching and modifying the behavior of the dog that will live with you for the rest of his life.
Since the pampered dogs we raise in homes cannot act like dogs that live in the wild, they find themselves forced to try to coexist as a member of the family they live with and adapt to the alien human society.
Thus, these dogs will try to know their place within the family they live with. The higher the position that dogs occupy within the family, the more likely they are to have problems with them within the family.
When dog owners define their true place in the family, which must be lower than any member of the family, they become more obedient, easier to train, and faster in the process of dogs behavior modification, which is exactly what we want.
The most dangerous period in a puppy's life is between the ages of 5 to 12 weeks, when the bulk of his temperament and personality are formed at this early stage.
The puppy is looking forward to getting the natural, instinctive response from you to whatever it does, so it will try to communicate with you as it might with another puppy like it
This is the best opportunity to teach the puppy what you want and start early in modifying the puppy's behavior.
It is important to realize that dogs learn by categorizing things into true and false, and there is no room for one behavior to combine the two, as it mainly depends on the link between things and their results.
For example, if you teach the dog to sit or lie and this results in him receiving a reward with food, praise, or petting, the dog will wish to repeat this command to receive the reward.
Likewise, if the dog smells food in a basket and turns it over to get the food inside, then this action is good for him because he received a reward from it.
Similarly, the dog associates in his mind the concept of a bad experience and its results.
For example, if the dog pulls some orange peel from the basket but complains about its bad taste, this bad experience will become “avoiding the basket and the bitter peel inside” and other behavioral situations.
Genetic behaviors
Dogs inherit some of the behavioral characteristics of the type of original breed to which they belong.
This may cause you some problems with training and dogs behavior modification if you don't pay attention to these genetic behaviors.
For example, you find that hunting dogs tend to hunt by nature and use their nose a lot, compared to another type, such as Pekingese dogs.
So when you train her outside the house, it's almost a struggle to get her attention.
While we find that the puppies of the doll dog breeds are so small that it is difficult to deal with them, and you may need to be small in size too in order to be able to reach their size to perform some training exercises as well as modify the puppy's behavior.
A breed such as the Terrier gravitates quickly to anything that catches its eye, while young puppies are slowly absorbing what is going on around them.
These different breeds grow at different rates and are bred for different purposes that require reactions and moods specific to the breed to which they belong.
All of these breeds can be trained, but with different factors taken into account during training and dogs behavior modification.
We find that all shepherd dogs are easiest to train to obey, but if left to their instincts, they may use their innate intelligence in behaviors we do not want them to do.
Tone of voice
The first thing to keep in mind to dogs behavior modification is to observe the tone of voice; Where the different tones of the human voice provoke different reactions in the dog. The reaction of the dog varies depending on how high or low the sound is.
So, it's important to limit your commands to one word, eg "No" rather than using a long sentence that confuses the dog like "What did you do, you bad dog?"
Use a firm, clear tone when giving commands to your dog. Dogs can distinguish the same command when it comes from an old person or a small child, despite the difference in the tone of their voice.
The dog adapts to both tone, which gives him the opportunity to know the age of the trainer, who uses one method in giving the dog commands.
Rewards
One of the very important things in dogs behavior modification is rewards, as dogs love to receive rewards from their owners. She doesn't care about her achievements, but what really matters to her is to always be a favorite of the members of the family she lives with.
Especially the individuals who occupy a higher position than them in the family. Dogs do not see the reward as we see it and do not understand this concept at all.
but we use this word to describe a vital part of training that makes us happy in dealing with it and modifying its behavior.
Always keep in mind that dogs seek to perform a behavior that results in a reward, and this includes the rewards they get from you as a leader.
Caring for her, praising her, patting her, petting her, giving her delicious food, allowing her to spend more time with you, playing with her with the ball, or any other type of actions or responses that give the dog the feeling that he is loved by you.
In the eyes of the dog, these are rewarding rewards. In modifying dog behavior, the use of rewards such as praise or food is an effective way to encourage the dog to repeat the behavior to obtain the reward.
Use food as a reward in training, but do not overuse it, as in many cases it negatively affects training. Whereas, when used in moderation, it becomes very beneficial.
There is another reward, which is playing, which is popular with all dogs and may help in the process of modifying behavior in dogs. We usually find her playing alone with her own toys or with old things at home.
So, you can use these things in training to expand the scope of the rewards that the dog gets. Dogs love to enjoy life and have the right personality to do this and like to have things that help them do so.
Reward and punishment
We've already shown how dogs are naturally reward-seeking, and thus avoid actions that bring them any benefit. This is normal, even we humans do it.
We will use the word punishment to describe the unpleasant experiences we rely on to help us train the dog and modify its behavior.
Some trainers do not prefer to use this term, as its meaning is always associated with a kind of revenge for lack of energy, which is not suitable for dealing with dogs.
Dogs always want to avoid unpleasant things. They do not like to be hurt, angry, or feel rejected by a member of the family in which they live.
Hence, we can use these experiences, which from her point of view are a punishment, to control her and modify her behavior.
Direct punishment or bad experience takes many forms. It may just be your ignoring the dog, or your refusal to be with you as punishment. If the dog is chewing its own chain, for example.
We can put a foul-smelling substance on it, and this in itself is a punishment, as he will find that chewing things has bad consequences for him, without your direct intervention.
Most humans, like these animals, can use the vocal threat of using the command "No" as we each see fit.
If the little puppy does something wrong, holding him by the back of his neck hard and looking at him strictly for several seconds is a kind of threat and leads to good results.
if you have the necessary skill to do this, which will contribute to modifying the dog's behavior.
Your position in the family allows you to do this without a problem. The only thing that you will not find in this article is the suggestion of hitting the dog as a punishment for its misbehavior.
which is unacceptable, and you will find that there are other effective means by which we can get to what we want.
In the following, we will show an example showing how reward and punishment can be combined and how to implement this in training and dogs behavior modification.
When the dog is walking ahead of you and pulling you, this is undoubtedly annoying, but when you use the chain and the collar and pull the dog violently when he pulls the chain.
The dog will find this experience unpleasant for him because it hurts him, and he will not want to repeat it. If you perform this method skillfully.
the dog may associate his behavior with the painful outcome, causing him to stop repeating it.
Of course, it is better in dog behavior modifying to teach the dog not to do bad behavior through reward, not punishment.
but if the matter does not work in the first way, there is no alternative to using the second method.
But unfortunately, our human nature pushes us to punish the dog when we lose our patience, which affects the dog's training negatively and leads to slowing down the training process and dogs behavior modification.
Except for a few exceptional cases. So always keep in mind that teaching a dog how to reward him for not doing bad behavior is much better than teaching him by punishing him after doing this behavior.
Right time
Dogs will learn by associating any action you teach them to do (in this case, training exercises) and the command you give them, backed up by experience from which they receive either a reward or a punishment.
The speed of teaching the dog depends on how you reach this stage in its training. You will find that in the end it all depends on choosing the right timing.
Whether you reward or punish the dog, the reaction (whether reward or punishment) should come when the dog performs the intended behavior, or at least within two seconds for the dog to begin associating its behavior with your reaction.
Most beginners in dealing with dogs and dog behavior modification. Find it difficult at first to combine all training skills, giving commands, choosing the right timing, and praising at the right time.
But it all depends on the practice; it may sometimes be worth practicing these skills on your own before you implement them with the dog.
One training method
The reward is an important motivational method in modifying the dog's behavior, but there are many other ways to motivate the dog to want to be with you, as well as to motivate him to train and thus learn and behavior modification.
The leadership training program is an excellent psychological method to take advantage of the dog's instincts and push him to attention at the times you want.
It's a good idea to link your dog's instinct to get attention with having fun with you during training.
But make sure that it is under your control, not the dog's control, and in the interest of training and behavior modification.
When the whole family participates in the education and training of the dog and the modification of its behavior, everyone should use the same method.
To understand why, suppose, for example, that you are learning a foreign language and you have four teachers, each of whom explains in a different way.
You will find that education has become more difficult, so the family will need to agree on unifying the commands used and training methods used during training and behavior modification.
Also, most women complain that dogs pay more attention to the voice of men than to the voice of women, and this may be due to the tolerant nature of women, which may be against them in some cases.
Dogs learn obedience when the training is very clear and specific, something that men seem to do better than women, of course many of the best dog trainers and behavior modifiers are women.
But whether the trainer is a man or a woman, you will find that he is clear and specific and deals in the same manner so as not to cause confusion for the dog.
Do you know that dogs really mean guilt? It may seem that she does, but in fact her behavior is often an expression of her fear of punishment.
For example, if a person spends an hour trying to catch his dog in the garden, and eventually manages to stop him somewhere after he loses his temper.
You will find that the dog, during the last stage of his owner's attempts to reach him, feels that he deserves the blame and that he has become obedient to his owner.
In dogs behavior modification, we often assume that the dog expresses the reason behind our anger, but in fact he does not know this at all and does not feel guilty about anything he does.
All the dog realizes is your anger, as it has the ability to understand body language more than you think, and when the dog takes this submissive stance to calm your anger.
For the dog to reach this stage of fear, he must have sensed your anger in a situation before.
If you punish your dog as a result of your anger, all he knows is that you have punished him without knowing the reason for this punishment. So, try to release your anger in any way away from the dog.
ignoring
In a matter also related to dogs behavior modification, for wolves that live in groups.
wolves that occupy the highest position in the herd have the right to ignore any member of the team they do not want and choose some members to be close to them.
In fact, they maintain a great deal of their social standing in the herd by the way and time in which they deal with the herd members.
and pampered dogs also respond wonderfully to the amount of attention we give them to them.
In modifying the behavior of dogs, if you ignore the bad behaviors that you want them to stop, they will stop doing them. But this method usually fails.
Because dogs have the ability to persist and repeat the action greater than our ability to continue to ignore their actions.
Dogs have great patience; it seems that they were born from their innate ability to hunt.
Many dogs bark when they want to get our attention. Barking is not a natural behavior in the animal family to which dogs belong.
Which includes the wolf as well, but it is one of the behaviors that dogs acquired when they were domesticated. In modifying the dog's behavior.
it is preferable to ignore this barking if you can, unless the barking is caused by a problem with the dog.
Read this article about: How to deal with barking dogs?
The barking will stop in all but exceptional cases. In the same way, appreciating the good behavior of your dog.
If he responds to your call to him and comes to sit or lie in implementation of your orders and reward him by patting him and praising him.
he encourages the dog to repeat this behavior again and helps a lot in modifying the dog’s behavior.
Therefore, ignoring is a powerful technique used by the leader and behavioral therapist, but it must be used efficiently.
Many find it difficult to implement this method, and you will find that if you ask them to ignore the dog for ten minutes to correct its behavior.
Nine out of ten people cannot completely ignore their dogs in these few minutes.
We find that they either look at the dogs or move their head towards them when the dogs start to complain or bark or approach them and touch them, and then we find that dogs are smarter than their owners!
Summary of behavior modification techniques in dogs
- The most dangerous period for forming a dog's personality is between the ages of 5 to 12 weeks.
- Genetic behaviors do not change like the basic characteristics of the family such as color, size and shape.
- Work on developing your ability to use your voice efficiently in training.
- The dog must receive the reward as soon as he learns the correct behavior or within two seconds of doing it so that he can connect them.
- Choosing the right timing means the dog’s owner’s ability to make the dog associate in his mind what he has learned and receiving a reward.
- Commitment to using the same commands and signals is the secret of training success, i.e., the trainer must repeat the commands and actions each time in the same way.
- Guilt is a human concept that a dog does not understand.
- Ignoring is a powerful teaching tool that a dog can understand.
Article source: Twenty-one Days to Train your Dog Colin Tennant,2004, Interpet publishing
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