Rationalization – The Very Skill That Dog Owners Take Away From Their Dog.
Here’s some psychology for you – from the very man that dog trainers blame for the Quadrants Of Dog Training.
If a child reaches out and touches a hot stove – the negative consequence of a burn immediately becomes reinforced – and becomes a natural “Negative Reinforcement”. The child learns quickly to avoid the hot stove. It’s something in the environment that punished the child and shaped their future behaviours to avoid touching the hot stove. Monty found a wasp nest one day, got stung 12 times. Those stings quickly became a Negative Reinforcement to him – and shaped his behaviour to avoid wasp nests in the future. That’s how it’s supposed to work – however.
Welcome to the wonderful world of “Operant Conditioning”. We learn through our own actions what is positive and what is negative in our environments – it’s all about consequences. No different for the dog.
Operant Conditioning is all about that first interaction with something new in the environment. The consequences of that first meeting are going to be either positive or negative. And that consequence is going to dictate how you interact with that new thing in the future. That’s Operant Conditioning. If that first meeting is of Positive Consequence – then it’s not a big deal in the future. But if that first meeting is negative – then it will always be negative. And again – it’s no different for the dog.
Punishment is the forced application of Negative Reinforcement – designed to remove a behaviour from an animals repertoire. But it doesn’t work. True and natural Negative Reinforcements are all around us in the environment – they keep us safe – and keep us from doing stupid things. We have operantly learned to avoid certain things because they became a negative on the first meeting. Is the avoidance warranted – that is the question that gets into rational versus irrational fears.
Moving cars are a natural negative reinforcement in the environment. But yet, walking down the sidewalk with cars whizzing by tends not to be a big deal. But we learned at some point not to step in front of a moving vehicle – it’s not going to end well. We learned to avoid stepping in front of a Negative Reinforcement. Operant Conditioning is all about survival of the fittest and survival of the animal. Make a stupid enough choice – and you’re taken out of that game.
Now – here’s the real science for you.
As a human being – you have the ability to rationalize – but so does your dog. When you meet something new in the environment that you are not sure of? You have an emotion called fear or anxiety – and that is controlled by the Limbic system of your brain. That emotion is also your instincts that drive your very behaviours. Your behaviours are the outcome – the result of your instincts. Fear drives certain behaviours. Joy drives other behaviours. Disgust drives certain behaviours. Etc.
In response to that fear or anxiety – the limbic system of your brain sends signals to your adrenal glands to increase your cortisol and adrenaline levels. This puts the animal that you are into “fight and flight”. Do I need to fight for my life? Do I need to run away for my life? Or can I make this thing “not a big deal”. That’s your 3 choices in the face of something you’re unsure of – something negative in the environment.
But the animal that you are needs time to process that information. Is this thing really that big of a deal – or can I become indifferent to it – neutral to it – socialized to it. There are many things in the environment that we have become indifferent to.
So in the face of a “Negative Reinforcement” you have 3 choices. The dog only gets 2 choices. Fight or flight. Why?
Because dog trainers are telling you to interfere with that rationalization process. When your dog goes fight or flight – step in and reward or punish the behaviour. They can never follow through to being neutral – socialized. This is the ultimate in punishment ladies and gentlemen – cause without realizing it – you are taking away the dogs very Operant Conditioning – they never get to learn to become indifferent.
If every first meeting that the dog has ever been through ended on a negative note? That’s the very reason why your dog is terrified of everything. And Positive Reinforcement in reality – is turning negatives into positives.
What is fear at its core but lack of trust and understanding? It’s trust and understanding that conquers fear. And when fear doesn’t exist – and trust does? The cortisol responses won’t be necessary. The fear won’t be necessary – and if there is no fear – there is no fight or flight – then the behaviours resulting from that fear won’t need to exist. This is extinction by pure definition.
All reactivity and aggression has a cause – there is a reason for the dog showing aggression. What pisses you off? What makes you show aggression? You honestly don’t know how to answer that question – and is the reason that you don’t understand your dogs aggression.
Understand something very clearly – your dog is not broken but you’re being told to fix the dog until they are broken. The reality is – the only thing you are destroying is the relationship with your dog.
Number one thing I hear from dog owners – I do not trust my dog. You cannot respect or be confident in that which you do not trust. And again – it’s no different for the dog. If they can’t trust you – then they have no reason to respect you and they surely won’t be confident in you. And I’m sorry – but that is called a toxic relationship. Stop trying to train your way out of a toxic relationship and a trauma bond.
You are the only one that can fix your toxic relationship. And you don’t need trainer to do it. Skinner himself would tell you to replace dog with human child and ask you what would you do different? That’s what you need to do with your dog. Would you shove food into the face of a scared child? Would you prong or shock the child? No, that would be abuse – but the dog. What about the dog?
Doing nothing is the hardest skill you’re ever going to learn. Read this one to understand.
