Perfect, imperfect, “Fur Angels”, monsters seeking dominance’, the list of labels we put on dogs feels infinite. Working with a dog begins a process of getting to know them and learning what makes them happy, afraid, excited, and motivated. Reflecting on dogs I've learned with and from paying attention to the core of those relationships inevitably reminds me of the value of the dog, who they were when I met them and what they brought to me, followed by how I worked with them. Wherever and however these relationships began, as they evolved, I’ve found myself in awe of the uniqueness and brilliance of each dog, of their capacity for learning.
I often meet dogs needing to learn a skill or skills to help them live and function more comfortably within their families. Identifying where a disconnect is happening as well as the intersection of the dog’s needs and the family’s needs. Working to identify the struggle I simultaneously watch for the absence of struggle. What does the dog gravitate toward and what kind of motion do they look for the opportunity to engage in? To be able to work with their strengths we need to identify them and define, to a point, their purpose. Noticing innate talents means seeing the whole dog as they are.
Godfrey: Marathon Dog
Recognition as it relates to teaching and learning with dogs reminds me of a Boxer named Godfrey. I was managing a startup, nearly dogless, doggy daycare when I met him. He was an eleven-month-old Boxer brought to me as one of the first daycare dogs. It was the dead of New England winter, and the snow was high and frozen and icy. The temperature outside was consistently below freezing. Environmental enrichment opportunities outside were limited. consequently, the dogs had few environmental distractions from each other. (A huge bonus of an outside play yard is the environmental distraction in the form of smells in the air and from the ground.) Godfrey was young, vital, and powerful. Godfrey greeted dogs with a Big-Bang-Hello. He ran with single minded enthusiasm toward the few dogs he’d met, stopping maybe an inch away from them, lean closer to the dog and stare directly into their eye,,,all while very happy and non-threatening but it was a lot for most dogs to process. I began working with Godfrey having no plan for putting him with other dogs. I wanted to address some skill deficits, not a temperament concern.
Godfrey’s motion had very little subtlety as there was rarely a twist, wag, or wiggle in his body as he would bound toward other dogs. I didn't have access to dogs who would meet or tolerate this energy and I didn't want to plan for playgroups where this style of interaction was supported or facilitated. My challenge was in finding a way to alter his style of interacting with the other dogs, to slow him down a little bit while giving him a fulfilling day while I was working with him.
So to start off, I made a list of Godfrey’s favorite things and his talents.
Godfrey’s favorite things were observably only one thing, running fast in straight lines, stopping short, and then running again.
Step one was an inspired vision that took some time to become tangible!
Godfrey loves to run so start off running!
Become the conductor!
Teach Godfrey to change direction!
Reinforce changing direction with more running!
He will be running ‘with, not at.’
I didn't have any dogs I could enlist for this project, but I did have myself and had time. I could take him into play yards and work with him on my own. I knew he loved running and I knew he was always excited to see me and ‘go do something’ so that was our starting point. Our sessions were short and charged with fun for Godfrey as they were mini workouts. There was a long snowbank running the length of the side of the building and I would start practicing directing his motion just a little bit with him on the snowbank which, looking back, acted as a sort of very wide and shallow platform.
· Step 1 – Cooperative Running: the behavior of running from one side of the building to the other with me facing him and side-galloping. This way, he could focus on me and my pace because I was maintaining eye contact with him. We would run to the left of the building and then to the right of the building, facing each other. So the running back and forth tapped his love of motion. Godfrey loved this game! This was purely **fun with purpose** ;the first step of a long-range plan for . the seeds of cooperation and communication were being developed.
· Step 2 - I began indicating a change of direction with a slight drop of my shoulder. We already knew when we were going to need to change from going to the right to going to the left. I was cuing the timing of the turn by dropping the shoulder indicating the direction we would be going in next. So, if changing to going right, I would drop my right shoulder and then raise up my left shoulder a little bit to indicate the shift in momentum. He thought this was the best game ever. I wasn’t sure where I was going with the work I was doing with Godfrey. I did feel that the small skills Godfrey was learning were already making a difference in his level of excitement and he was showing signs of a nice recall.
· Step 3 - With the twisting and communication established I felt that more work was needed before Godfrey was ready for group play. Part of the reasoning behind this was that there was some packed snow in the play yard which could lessen our ability to manage the dog-to-dog interaction. In a way I was interrupting him, connecting with him, recalling him, and then moving on to something else that was fun.
· Step 4 – Pick a dog for Godfrey to play with who would be the “Goldilocks” I needed as ‘not too rough and not too distant/passive.’ I needed a dog with stamina and who would play with Godfrey and who would not be put off by Godfrey’s anticipated enthusiasm. I chose a Lab/Pit/Husky(?) mix named Red. Red was Boxer a year older than Godfrey. I wanted Godfrey to start out running with a dog not with a dog who he could run ‘at’. It worked well. The dogs were able to run together without having a significant amount of contact play, you know the stuff that social media pictures of dogs thrive on. I added contact play to Godfrey’s experience methodically as I would give a teenager access to drag racing.
This was not going to be a launching of Godfrey into high arousal play with another dog it was going to be a session with a dog present and not highly engaging for Godfrey Both dogs were moderately independent for different reasons.
Note: The dog I chose for Godfrey was not highly social with dogs or people. He was highly tolerant, nonplussed by almost any behavior from other dogs. This is what I wanted for Godfrey. I wasn’t looking for a Best-Friend/Soulmate I was looking for a dog he could run with and do some shoulder bumping without escalating. I wanted him practicing all the cooperative skills he was learning so these new skills would become stronger in his play style with dogs so that the group of dogs he could be with was larger.
My relationship with Godfrey was magical. The day I had to say good-bye to him is imprinted in my mind. I never gave him an indication that I was not going to see him again. There was one moment when I felt, in my heart, that this was the last time I would see him ( it was ) and I glanced behind me to just sneak a quick look at him and I caught his eye, totally by accident, he froze and then he ran to the fence line because he knew something was wrong. I recognized what made him stronger and what confused or upset him. I had his back and he had mine. Godfrey was very much my sidekick and more of a day care mascot than a daycare dog. One reason I don’t have pictures of him is that he was most often hanging out with me when I was taking pictures of the other dogs.
Circling back to the thought that recognition individualizes reinforcement, Godfrey’s transformation from disengaged dog to one who was able to communicate a range of information to other dogs without a engaging in mosh pit style interaction. This dog could move like a dancer. In fact, I didn’t put him in groups with dogs who played too roughly as he didn’t enjoy that style of interaction and most likely never would have enjoyed it. Had he been placed into a highly physical group of dogs what would his reaction have been? I don’t know because it never happened.
One aspect of Godfrey was that he adored his family. Due to his youth and what may have been some separation distress he could be destructive at home. He did not need high levels of exercise; he needed an understanding friend and some dog-to-dog skills that would help him be friends with dogs who were appropriate for him. So, he needed the friends he would enjoy not ‘friends’ who would serve as a canine gym in motion to wear out Godfrey and themselves.
Lessons from Godfrey
…..assess, value, plan, revisit/reassess
I cannot count the lessons I learned from this dog but I can pick out the big takeaways for me.
Know the dog. I’ve been thinking about the best teams I’ve seen in my experience with dogs and their people. We are not always learning how to build strong bonds in puppy classes or training schools, but some people and their dogs manage it well on their own . The commonality I see in all of those families is that the humans know and understands their dog well. I see an acceptance of their dog which provides its own form of safety. Life is lived with their dog’s personality, abilities and dislikes taken into account.
Personality cannot be put on cue. When you consider the individual needs and tendencies of the dog you are living with or working with you often get a truer picture of how to best work with them. Sometimes being able to say ‘I have no idea what to do here…,’ in stressful or challenging moments, can be your first step to working with your dog as opposed to at your dog. When taking smaller steps a hidden and equal action occurring is that you are not doing some of the things you had been doing that were abrasive or ineffective with your dog.
As much as Godfrey charged at us, the way we worked on this behavior was to ‘not’ charge at him. I ignored the behavior I wanted to soften and minimize while I planned for how to set Godfrey up to learn skills that would benefit Godfrey and his family and the daycare.
Focus on the Strengths and Not the Weaknesses.
Every positive step you're taking can remove, alter, or soften a mistake you’ve been making in your interactions with your dog or in your expectations for any dog. Taking the pressure off of your dog’s situation can be an instant game changer. There is an element of acceptance present in recognizing certain characteristics in others which sets you free from unrealistic expectations you may have been placing on a potential outcome. I could have looked at Godfrey and thought ‘How can I get enough safety for him that I can walk away and let him figure the rest out on his own?’ He was channeling BamBam from the Flintstones most of the time …..there was not going to be an instant change in him.
Do you think they understand when the person working with them ‘gets them’?
Do you notice a difference working with people who understand and recognize you?
The beginning of every behavior change plan is akin to a zero point on a graph. Getting rid of as many impediments as possible helps you focus on what is tangible and going to be effective.
I almost titled this “Recognition is Reinforcing”. Recognizing who a dog is and what may be motivating or de-motivating them is at the beginning of productive work with them. What I’m saying is that recognition opens up many doors for more effective reinforcement going forward. You can’t use reinforcers you are not aware of right? If your goal is happiness, clarity and understanding moving toward creating a more cohesive Godfrey, then recognition reinforces all of those, making it, ultimately, a reinforcer of all good things. So, in my heart of hearts, I maintain that that recognition is a reinforcer because without it we’re just another creature with thumbs working with a dog using your tool-brain.
Godfrey also taught me to look past the breed and what I’ve been told about the dog's history and homelife. Taking time to see the actual dog can make all the difference for both of you.
Note: In practicing a modified version of the work done with Godfrey a trainer suggested that a workable name for the communication from human to dog would be ‘I have a secret’. This would be to compel the dog to want to be with you. This is a super catchy name and is not quite how I would describe it. I see I ‘have’ a secret as adding possession to the interaction. The human has the secret and the dog can then choose whether or not to join with the person to share the secret. I shy away from possession as a component of work with dogs and especially a dog who has motivation or shyness challenges.
If I were to label the behavior it would be more like ‘I have a thought of a story and it is a wonderland story where all good things happen and you joining me makes that story real’ And then you and your dog build a system of communication that you can add words can cues to as it evolves.
Increasing nonverbal communication and connection in a way that feels like understanding and recognition and magic to both the dog and the human is my goal. Leveraging that for a sport can be a continuation of all those good feelings but it's not my goal. And I think dogs know the difference between someone who is there for them and someone who wants to get something out of them.
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