I have a pet peeve about dog training. Okay, actually I’ve got a few peeves about dog training; you caught me! I’m only going to mention one of them today though. It’s when people transpose the words “treat” and “reward” when talking about reinforcing a dog’s behavior. As in, “When the dog sits, give him a treat.” Or, “Reward the dog for not jumping up.”

Actually using either of the words above in a training scenario isn’t totally accurate; the word “reinforce” is the one that best suits the action and intention when acknowledging a dog’s correct response in an exercise in an attempt to increase the likelihood of a behavior.

Let’s look at the definitions of these words. All can be used as nouns or verbs; I’ve chosen the definitions of the words used as a noun, something you give to a dog.

When you’re constantly preaching about the importance of bite inhibition, puppy training, socialization and getting dogs through that crazy-making adolescent period, it’s easy to forget the reason for all this work.  In fact, as a trainer, it sometimes feels like all the dogs in the world are either a disaster or a potential disaster.  I start to wonder why anyone in their right mind would even have a dog!

While contemplating this feeling of hopelessness this morning, I suddenly realized how quiet it was in my backyard.  As I sat on the deck sipping my coffee, I looked around to see what my dogs were doing.  Two were lying quietly near my feet taking an after-breakfast nap.  Two others were taking a leisurely walk together through the upper property, taking turns sniffing various spots of interest.  The fifth dog was casually checking mole holes and eating bits of grass in between.

The other day I was practicing fun nose work in my garden with Dune and Hugo. It was Dune’s turn and I’d hidden a single cotton swab infused with just a hint of birch oil along a fence line, near some tall grasses and Mexican sage plants.

I released Dune to search and he scanned the environment with his nose before even taking a step into the area. The wind was blowing and he didn’t catch the scent right away, I could tell because he didn’t turn immediately to the left, where the odor was hidden a mere five feet away, but instead veered slightly right to begin his perimeter search along the top rock wall. Halfway through his perimeter search he abandoned this strategy and made a beeline across the garden, heading straight for the source. He found it in less than 30 seconds. Good boy!

How many behaviours can you think of that you do which do not have an emotion associated with it?

Now answer the same question but think about your dogs behaviour instead.

I think most people now accept that dogs have emotions but there are probably still people who disagree.

It’s hard isn’t it? Not as easy as you first thought. I did the same when the question was first asked to me. “I thought I am sure I can come up with something… There must be something… What about pooping? Nope! I am sure you will agree that there can be lots of emotions associated with the act of defecating.

So if we think of our dogs and their behaviours, is it simple as saying “the dog is being aggressive.” Or is there more to being aggressive than the observable behaviour?

Lets consider this in a little more detail: