Before we get started with today's story, let's talk for just a minute about "functional analysis" and why every trainer needs to know about it. I am not a certified behaviorist and so I won't go into the science and technical details - for the purpose of this story remember: 1) Behavior serves a function, and 2) analyzing the function a behavior serves is an important step in deciding on a plan to solve a "problem" behavior. Essentially, animals do things for a reason - it helps to figure out the reason before you try to change a behavior. If this story piques your interest, get some training and practice with functional analysis.
Jane called me yesterday. "Bob, I am thinking about installing an 'invisible fence' in my yard - what do you think of that idea?"
"Hey Jane. Good to hear from you. I think that an invisible fence may have it's place for certain situations, I don't really know. Why, what is Spot doing that makes you think you need one?"
"Well, he escapes from the yard." [When?]
"When he thinks no one is home." [Is there any one home?]
"No." [Why is he in the yard?]
"Because if I leave him in the house he chews something up and pees and poops." [How old is Spot?]
"About a year - he's a terrier." [Does he escape from the yard if you are home?]
"I don't leave him out in the yard if I am home." [Is he house trained?]
"Not fully - well, not really at all." [Does Spot have a crate where he sleeps in the house?]
"Oh no, I don't want to do that, he has free run of the house!"
"Jane, it sounds like the problem may really be that Spot is not house trained - he chews on things and poops in the house when left to himself. I think I would recommend working on those things before putting up a more secure fence. If he was potty trained, he wouldn't go in the house, but you will still have a problem with chewing. For both of those issues, you are going to need to have a crate to train him in. If he is happy and secure in the crate, both of those problems go away. Then as he matures and learns what is good to chew on and what is not, he can be left alone in the house more often."
"Bob, he will never be happy in a crate - tell me something else."
Spot's behavior is not really the focus of our story - Jane's behavior is where we need to start.
Behavior: Jane puts Spot out in the yard when she leaves home.
Consequence: Jane comes home to a clean house.
Predicted Future Behavior: Jane will continue to put Spot outside and do so more often.
Continuing...
Consequence: Jane has less relationship with Spot.
Predicted Future Behavior: Jane sends Spot to live on a farm.
So, what can we do to get Jane her prefered consequence (coming home to a clean house) by performing a more prefered behavior (on our part)?
Behavior: Jane trains Spot to enjoy the environment of the crate while she is away or even just busy. Jane puts Spot in his crate with plenty of toys when she goes out.
Consequence: Jane comes home to a clean house.
Predicted future bahavior: Jane finds more ways to train Spot to behave in ways that will enhance their relationship.
Unfortunately, in this specific case, Jane has so far rejected all possibilities for house training Spot that I have come up with. But I am sure glad I tried to find out what was really going on before I tried to solve the "escape from the yard" problem.
You know what I tell Jane to do every time she calls? I tell her to call another animal trainer - she doesn't like my solutions - but she won't take that advice either :-)
I will continue to try to work with Jane and Spot and come up with more ways to try and teach her that she really can train her dog if she really wants to - but it is going to take lot's of small approximations and constant reinforcement.
