I had a lesson today with a new student. The appointment was to deal with his dog’s separation anxiety. However, it wasn’t that. This situation was a good example of why it is important to know proper terminology and definitions.
It is easy for uneducated dog trainers to toss around various terms to describe what dogs are doing and make recommendations regarding what you should do with your dog. What isn’t easy is learning and using the correct terminology to make more accurate recommendations. That takes study, evaluation, coaching and experience. For example, I hear trainers use the term, “reactive”, to describe a variety of responses dogs have to stimuli. The problem is that there is not a single definition of this term. It can mean one thing to this person, and another thing to another person. Another term that is tossed around is “energy”. In physics, energy has a clear and accepted definition. In dog training, it can mean anything and everything. Don’t even get me started about how popular TV and social media personalities use terms they don’t understand like “dominant”, or “aggression”, or “leadership”.
Imagine a doctor diagnosing you with cancer, and then putting you through a full treatment: surgery, drugs, radiation, and counselling. Then, you find out you don’t have cancer, instead you have an autoimmune disorder which didn’t require surgery, those drugs, the use of radiation, or counselling for living with cancer. You wouldn’t be too happy about that outcome.
In the case of my student, his assumption was separation anxiety. But the symptoms displayed by his dog didn’t fit that diagnosis. If I was to have applied a solution for separation anxiety, it wouldn’t have solved what his dog was doing, and it would have wasted his time and money.
A clear, precise and accepted definition of a thing makes it easier to determine whether you are dealing with that thing. Many behavioral and learning terms have been clearly defined and accepted. Some are defined in the scientific literature. Other terms are defined by the leaders in the dog training profession. There is no need to create new words to describe what has already been defined. There is also no need to dream up words to cover for a lack of effort, curiosity, and experience or as a marketing gimmick.
For a doctor, there are generally accepted terms and procedures, backed by experiments and ongoing research. Doctors can converse about a medical topic with their peers because they are speaking the same words with the same meanings. That doesn’t generally exist in the dog training community. It is very frustrating discussing dog training with another dog trainer, because the first obstacle is to get everyone agreeing upon the terminology. It is even worse debating with online trolls who have no background doing anything, yet professing themselves wise. A well-meaning dog trainer would do well to read science books and studies before arguing with others about this or that dog related topic. It is productive to find the generally accepted definitions, and get experience and coaching observing and working with these organisms, conditions, stimuli, or responses. That is a tall order. That’s thousands of pages of reading, and many years of work.
My position is this: you have an obligation to improve yourself as a dog trainer. Accept that you are a novice when you start out and work to learn to use the scientific terminology. It isn’t easy, since there is no one source dictionary or accompanying school with competent well rounded experts that encompass all you are going to need to know. It isn’t like going to medical school, with someone to test your competence according to defined standards. That’s even true with certified veterinary behaviorists since, in my experience and observation, they often lack experience with the terms they are using. They are too focused on applying a medical solution to problems that aren’t medical and I don’t see them teaching skills to dogs and developing those skills in dog owners. In addition to becoming a veterinarian, they have 5 years of working in a veterinary focused program to get their certificate… typically 2 years of medical/ behavioral study and 3 years working alongside another veterinary behaviorist. That is very isolated learning, much different than what the top trainers and competitors have done to apply knowledge, coaching and experience with dogs outside the confines of a university or veterinary office. (These two worlds should spend more time together, but they don’t.) I know this, after the first 2 years of study, and I had read a lot of texts, I didn’t know what I know now. And after even 5 years, I still had a lot to learn. No one is an expert with 2 years of college, and then doing that work for 3 more years, regardless of the field.
Next, you can find out the grey areas where there are generally accepted terms used by the experts in animal training and behavioral modification programs. I call these grey areas since there is a wide field of things that are still unknown about animals, regardless of the species. You can spend a lifetime studying just one species. There is no one who is a complete expert on any living organism: a specific paramecium, amphibian, mammal, bird, etc. You can’t know it all, and you shouldn’t expect to know it all. Some topics are of more interest to science, especially if there is a potential for making money, and possibly there are some research papers or theoretical books out there that try to explore, explain and define terms. Many things are still unexplored, or possibly poorly explained or understood, and there is no big money in finding them out, but might be the key to figuring out how to fix this or that problem with a dog.
Lastly, try to weed out those vague, trendy, marketing terms that some trainers use to cover for their lack of knowledge and to make themselves seem mysteriously competent. When I hear or see this stuff, it makes me disappointed in them. If they can’t properly define what they are doing, or diagnosing the dog, then you can guess their solutions will probably miss the mark and possibly do more harm than good. You see a lot of this with these so-called celebrity dog trainers on TV and social media. I would guess many dog owners have tried to get answers online by watching these people, only to find out that stuff doesn’t work.
I’ve been studying dog training and behavioral work for over 25 years, and I’m still trying to more clearly perceive, use and explain the terminology of behavior and learning. There is a lot to puzzle and ponder. My view is that this is the way it works in any field of study and application. Take physics: a physics term or concept is continually studied, tested, worked with and used. A well respected, deep thinking actively engaged scientist will always test the limits of the definitions of the phenomena they are observing and manipulating. You can probably guess that a new physics PhD doesn’t have as deep of a knowledge of anything as much as their professors, mentors and the pioneers of their field. This is why it is good to have the opportunity to bounce ideas around with others in your field to help you work out your understanding of these natural processes and objects. It is also good to tune out those who are not serious people who don’t care about correct terminology. I believe it is important to do a deep dive into the most significant terms every serious person uses and to push the limits. See if you can push on a concept and see how far it can go. How deep is that rabbit hole? You will discover things on your own along the way that might just be a breakthrough.
Here’s an example of that for myself in a different world: fitness. I was in the gym last week doing an exceptionally frustrating exercise, balancing on one foot while doing another movement. I have been working out with their athletic and rehabilitation program for over 10 years. But, on Friday, I got a revelation: that wasn’t just an exercise, it was a skill that I still haven’t mastered. It became clear to me why the instructors emphasize proper form. They have defined proper form for years and years. It wasn’t until Friday that I so deeply realized that if I was to get the most out of what I was doing and trying to accomplish, I had to change my priorities and get an even clearer definition of what I was supposed to be doing. I’m going to ask them, again, to go over proper form on everything. Get the form right, and the result will follow. Many times, when working out, people judge their performance by how much weight they can lift, or how fast they can run or how high they can jump. But that is the wrong focus. They are measuring a thing with the wrong yardstick, and they end up peaking out below their potential and probably develop life altering injuries in the long run. So, if you have the wrong definition of the issue, you’ll apply the wrong solution. Have the right definition of the problem, you’ll apply the correct solution. Dog training is more than learning, teaching and doing exercises, it is about skills. I knew that, but now I know that on an even deeper level.
For my student today, I came into the appointment thinking that the problem was separation anxiety. But before I taught a solution for that condition, I inquired and observed about the history and facts of the situation. Because I have a good definition of separation anxiety, I was able to rule out that as the root problem, diagnose a different problem, and then recommend a different solution. I am having the student apply these steps, but also, I’m asking for weekly feedback to ensure the issues are being resolved. My diagnosis wasn’t something that you’d find in a typical dog training book or program. Some parts were more easily defined, others were in that grey area I mentioned above. The grey area is why the solution needs to be tested.
For me, I keep studying and learning and doing. I don’t find that boring or unnecessary. I never assume I know all there is to know.
I had a biology professor in college who was an expert about one species of nematode. A worm expert. Yet, he didn’t know all that was to be known about worms. He still did experiments with them to make discoveries. Imagine that. But think of all the systems that he might have been puzzling over: nervous systems; metabolism; autoimmune disorders; cellular apoptosis; tissue regeneration; drug reactions; agricultural applications; and who knows what else?! He had dedicated his entire professional career to studying various aspects of these worms. Worm research is still ongoing, so there is still much to be learned. I think about him when I look at what it takes to become an expert about anything, especially a living organism.
Since I play clarinet, I observed that Benny Goodman had coaches, such as Franz Schoepp and Reginald Kell, both with classical backgrounds. By inference, we can figure he believed he needed more grounding in the fundamentals. He was also surrounded by the best jazz and swing musicians of that era. He didn’t get to the top without study, preparation, experience, coaching, peer feedback, or practice.
I’m still fascinated and curious about dog behavior and learning. The deeper I understand each term, I find I’m better at everything I do. The top people a dog trainer might seek out as a coach who will sound practically like a dictionary when they define terms. That’s true for physicists, doctors, mathematicians, and… dog trainers. I also find that the better I understand the terminology, the better I can use my intuition and experience to diagnose and solve dog problems.
Terminology can be a good or bad thing. Proper usage: Good. Phony or sloppy usage: Bad.