I get a call, asking for help. That dog is doing this or that. What can be done about it?
We start with an Evaluation, which is the collection of information to come up with a theory as to why the dog is doing this or that, and then what should be tried.
Let’s call it Plan A.
Usually Plan A works.
Sometimes the problem continues. The original theory had to be tested. That testing then eliminates certain variables, and then a new theory can be developed and then… Plan B.
This is a normal process when unraveling some dog behavior or training problems. Since dogs can’t talk, I must figure things out in a different way. Knowledge and hunches need to be tested. Since you can’t think like a dog, you must do the next best thing.
The more experience and knowledge you have, the better. It is what motivates me to continue to study animal behavior. Sometimes a very obscure study, done a century ago, and mostly forgotten, points in the right direction. You study the obvious material at first, but it takes a lifetime to dig through giant body of scientific research that has been completed.
Today I was pondering the relationship between emotional states and learning. I’m working with a dog that has a certain type of fixation, and I’m pondering how that developed. Was it innate for that breed or line of that breed, or was it inadvertently caused by how the dog was raised, or a bit of both? Knowing the root of a problem helps you solve a problem.
This is partly why I am so opposed to cookbook solutions to most dog training problems. Generally, if you ask for advice, you are going to find someone that tells you to hammer on the dog until the dog submits. A horrible type of advice that has wrecked a lot of dogs. Rather than trying to figure out the problem, they will tell you to make the dog’s life miserable.
That doesn’t work out well.
Plan accordingly.