Bing Blog #23
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"DUH, Mommy!!" --
October 1, 2006 The other day I was on the treadmill, reading my book, “Canine Aggression Workbook”, by James O’Heare (I know, I know, I must be the only nut who goes to the gym to read dog books!). On page 69 was a description of how to begin to better know your dog. By identifying your dog’s three main appetitive motivators and three main aversive motivators, you can get a good idea of what drives your dog’s behavior, at least from a ‘personality perspective’. “OK”, I said to myself. What are Bing’s three main appetitive behaviors? Appetitive behaviors are things your dog is really motivated to get or find. For Bing, I’d have to say that I am number one (aw…I know!), then food, and then tennis ball. Of course, the order of these depends on the context. Next, I looked at his three main aversive motivators. These are the things that your dog doesn’t like and will do anything to avoid. “OK”, I said to myself…they would be….someone reaching over his head to pet him, reaching up to close the hatch of the car….Holy Shit!!! |
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Bing, age 16 months |
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| Now, for all the time I’ve been writing about Bing, and for as well as I know him and for as long as I’ve been working with him, this was the first time that I can remember that I put these two situations together in the same context. I’m sure I’ve talked about them before, and I KNOW that I’ve talked about these as being his two biggest challenges, but it was SUCH a Eureka moment that I nearly leapt off the treadmill to run home and tell Pete! After a minute or two I was able to convince myself that this was not a good enough excuse to quit exercising, and I told myself that this was not really a Eureka moment. However, I have since gone away on a short, quick vacation and come back and still want to write about it, so there must be some significance to it. At the very least, it gives me a new strategy from which to work. I probably won’t do anything different than I have been doing, other than perhaps to be more consistent in my efforts. But sometimes it is so refreshing to see the same old picture in a new light. Today, I said to Pete that I aim to have a zero tolerance policy toward the car door closing; my goal is for him to always have a treat when the crate door closes, the bottom gate closes, the hatch closes, or when Pete gets in the car. We already have everyone else get in the car first, since others getting in the car seem to insult him! In is simplest form, this is an arousal issue. In reality, it’s really a bear to deal with because I often find myself in a hurry to get him in the car for walks or to go to class etc, so I often don’t ‘feel like dealing with it’. Too bad!!! If I want to travel with Bing, and I do, I need to quell this aversive motivator for him. Wish me luck, or at least send me positive energy! Ali |
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