Home  Articles and tips What Is My Dog Thinking? |
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Written by Graeme Hall "The Dogfather" - Call 01604 493007
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Dog psychology and dog behaviour explained in common-sense language.
When clients are looking for dog training or a dog behaviourist in Northamptonshire, I'm often asked: “What is my dog thinking?” In fact it’s probably a question that dog trainers have been asked ever since cave men (or perhaps cave women!) domesticated the first wolf cubs and kept them in and around the home. Dogs and people have a lot in common – but the differences between us are perhaps what give us the best clues as to what our ‘best friends’ are thinking.
 You don't need to be a dog psychologist or a dog trainer to understand how it works. Remember Pavlov's experiments, whereby he rang a bell every time he fed dogs and eventually they salivated whenever they heard the bell - even when there was no food? Psychologists call this Classical Conditioning. Interestingly, it affects humans too. I have a friend who was involved in a serious car accident last year. Now, whenever he hears screeching tyres, it sends a shudder up his spine – One particularly traumatic episode was enough to condition his fear response to the sound of the screeching. In this respect, dogs and people can learn how to respond to their environment in similar ways.
I read the other day that humans and dogs share about 70% of their DNA. Of course, it’s the other 30% that makes us so different. I’m not sure that there’s a correlation between similarity of DNA and similar behaviours but it’s an interesting analogy to help us to understand our dogs. Let’s say that in many ways we behave alike and in other ways we differ greatly. The trick, of course, is in understanding in which situations we differ and if possible, why. It's the secret to good dog training
Let’s take one aspect of that. Those of us who watch Cesar Millan, The Dog Whisperer on TV will have heard the phrase “Dogs live in the now”. What does this really mean? Let’s consider an example: A man has a dog – let’s call him Fido - who is a very obedient dog in general and who always comes back when called in the garden but when they are walking over the fields, if Fido sees something interesting such as a rabbit, he runs off and comes back in his own sweet time no matter how much his owner calls. When he does get back, his owner is angry and embarrassed and so he shouts at Fido, who cowers. The problem is getting worse over time. (Incidentally, if you have a dog recall problem, I can help. Have a look at my One-To-One Dog Training)
Recall is a common dog training problem that I help clients with. (Others include pulling on the lead and lunging or running off to other dogs, dog aggression or even fear responses too). At the heart of teaching recall is that dogs are different to us in that they do not equate the running after the rabbit (or whatever) with the shouting that happens afterwards. As humans we might ask ourselves “What did I do to make him shout?” “How can I avoid that?”– We might rationalise and work out the connection for ourselves. Dog's don't!
Dogs, as far as we can tell do not think in this way. To them, it’s perhaps more like: “Rabbit = great fun; Coming back to Dad = bad news!” Fido’s owner might object, and point out that he “knows he’s done wrong because he cowers”. No. That’s not it. It might seem like that but he cowers because he sees that Dad is angry in this moment, and so he is afraid, naturally. What he doesn’t understand is why. He makes no connection with what happened a minute ago. Is it any wonder that the problem is getting worse? Look at it from the Fido’s point of view – “Running after rabbits is great fun” (we call this a self-rewarding behaviour) “… but returning to Dad involves him shouting things I don’t understand. It makes me scared and confused. So it’s no contest: Running after rabbits wins every time, and the longer I can stay out there, the better!” (Incidentally, how we get around this kind of a dog training issue is subject matter for a book, let alone a short article. Self rewarding behaviours can be tricky to correct and it may be that a little help from a professional dog trainer will go a long way if you have a dog training problem like this).
The key point to remember is this: For your dog to make the connection between something they do and your reaction to it, they need to see the reaction at the same time. For practical purposes, let’s take this to mean within half to one second. Your reaction might be positive or negative depending on the situation (“Good boy/girl” or perhaps “No!”), but for it to have any chance of being a learning experience, you absolutely must make it immediately. (Conversely, if you ‘missed the boat’, like Fido’s owner the best thing to do is often nothing. It won’t fix the problem, but at least it won’t make it worse either)
So if you want to help your dog to understand you, stay in ‘the now’. It doesn’t come naturally to us, but it’s easy with a little practice!
Dog training in Northamptonshire or anywhere else: 01604 493007 - 07710 581007 or Ask The Dogfather
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