Anyone who watched my presentation at the Behaviour Conference will have seen me start the talk with a simple, but important way to consider behaviour. I proposed that there were just two types of behaviour we need to think about : ‘The behaviour we do ourselves and the behaviour we judge in others.’ Have a good think about that! When we break it down like this, we can easily see the difference between the often-two-dimensional ways we judge behaviour in others, compared with the complexities and nuances we experience behind our own behaviour.
Let’s start with the behaviour we judge in others. As a
species we are very judgemental of behaviour. There are many reasons for this
and I will not delve too deeply into those here, but when considering a dog
centred care approach we must start by recognising how our own judgements and
expectations of behaviour may stop up us from offering the support the dog
needs. We need to remember the norm is still to see behaviour on a continuum of
good to bad and it can be very easy to define a behaviour based on our own
agenda and outlook. As a result, judging behaviour this way often just projects
our own narratives and expectations. This, in turn, can lead to a focus on just
wanting to change or control that behaviour without thinking about what the dog
might have been communicating through it in the first place. Whilst judgement of behaviour is, of course,
important when we consider safety and its effect on others, we must also
remember that the animals (or humans!) emotional experience might be quite
different to any determination made externally as to its suitability.
When we come to consider our own behaviour, we know it is
really rather complicated right!? We
know of all the many factors that affect us, that feed into our own emotional
experience and then on to what drives our behaviour. We also know what it feels
like to have our behaviour judged, scrutinised and challenged by those who have
no idea of our emotional experience. We can think back to examples from school,
or maybe in the workplace or even within our own family or social network -
Having people that just arbitrarily make assumptions and create expectations
that may have no resemblance to our own needs, and that are just based on what they
find appropriate etc. If we think to a time where we were put under pressure to
act in a certain way, without the ability to express emotional need or to
behave in a way we felt most comfortable, we can easily identify with what that
control and coercion feels like.
Within dog training we have become really good at being able
to create, change and challenge behaviour in dogs. The focus (and arguments)
have often ended up being over what methods or tools are best, what approaches
get the best ‘results’ and how to get
them the fastest. Much of this is based on the foundation of the human having
decided what is appropriate, what is allowed and what is expected. Indeed the
dominance model was built on those projections- a model that still sits large
in the zeitgeist. Even as we have moved away from that model and shifted
towards using rewards, we have not been so quick to move away from the human
ego and its focus on getting behaviours we want and expect.
So, here is the rub. Behind the dog’s behaviour there will
be an emotional experience, and often real genuine emotional need. If we just
seek to change behaviour in an arbitrary and unilateral manner, we risk just
getting behaviours we find more appropriate, but that offers little internal
value to the dog or indeed relief for their emotional need ( I will be writing
about relief in another article). The mantra that is often used is ‘Reinforce the good, ignore the bad’ but
we can now see the possible problems with this. Those ‘bad’ behaviours may well
be communicating real need and the seeking of relief. By ignoring those what is
the dog really learning – is it learning to stop that behaviour as it won’t be
reinforced or more fundamentally that help doesn’t come? And those ‘good’
behaviours - are we supporting behaviours that have any use or internal value
to the dog, or are they based purely on our expectations of what ‘we’ want
because we have judged them as good?
So, the real consideration has to be to stay mindful about
the role our own judgements play in deciding the appropriateness of behaviour,
and to try to ensure if we are going to create or support a behaviour that it
is has some use to the dog as well as for us.
This is the essence of a Dog Centred Care approach. It
invites us to try and put our own judgements and expectations into some
alignment with the dog’s emotional experience and their communication of that
emotional need. It encourages us to slow down the process, not do it faster,
and allow the time needed to learn from the dog. If we simply focus on the
behaviour we want, we risk getting the wrong end of the stick!
Over the coming months I will be inviting friends and
colleagues to come and help unpack this and consider different angles as well
as practical applications. No one 'owns' this approach - and it will take many
voices and collaborations to examine how we move closer to understanding our
dogs emotional experience and care needs.
Thank you to my wonderful friend Denise O'Moore of Mighty
Dog Graphics for the amazing graphic.
Andrew Hale Dog Centred Care
