Just Label Them Smart!
We humans love our labels; no I’m not talking about designer clothes labels, but rather the way we toss around our assumptions about other humans, as though one had significant insight about the person.
As an example say we meet someone at a party; typically we immediately form an impression. When asked about the party we might say that we met a very interesting person. Maybe we met a rude person or perhaps we said that the person was kind. And while you may have an image of this person, based on these labels, another way to look at these words is that they don’t describe the behavior. We call these constructs which reduces the need to describe each detailed observation. As an example if the person was labeled “Kind”, perhaps one could say that Mary offered to bring Bob a a plate of food from the buffet, as he had a broken leg. If on the other hand, she ignored his request for help, we might call her rude, unless Bob was her ex husband in which case we might label her… But I digress.
Not only do we humans love labels for human behaviors, we also love labeling our dogs’ behaviors too. I can’t count how many times I’ve dealt with a reactive dog, a stubborn dog, spiteful dog, aggressive dog and sometimes a lazy dog!
From a behavioral lens, this only tells me what the dog owner thinks about their pet. Furthermore, these labels do not describe anything about what the behavior looks like, give context for the dog’s action or inaction for that “lazy dog”.
Most importantly, it does not generate a way to change the behavior. Let me explain. If you have a “Lazy” dog, what do you put into a training plan to inspire the dog not to be “Lazy”?
What about a “Spiteful” dog? Should I have a discussion to find out why he plotted to trip his owner on their walk?
Yes, labels can imply some serious behavioral issues, however, it is so important to get a description of what it looks like, and who or what was the direct stimulus that elicited the behavior response.
The label, “Reactive” is one of those behaviors that conjures up images of a dog barking and pulling towards another dog. In reality, this dog could just as easily be barking at a passing car, or perhaps he’s barking at his favorite neighbor. You see “Reactive”, which by the way could be ANYTHING he perceives in the environment, does not describe whether the bark is due to fear, excitement, or other emotions.
We need to peel back the layers so that we get to the root of what is driving the emotions and then we can lay out a plan that works towards reducing the emotions and or teaching the dog a new behavior to do when faced with certain stimuli. This is very difficult to do with only labels.
As an example, I have very smart dogs. What images are evoked?
HAPPY TRAINING & ENRICHMENT
© Fran Berry CPDT-KA, UW-AAB all rights reserved 2022
