A different view of "basic skills"

Enabling dogs to control their environment

I recently watched someone’s instructions about teaching a dog to wear a muzzle. There was nothing exactly wrong or aversive about what was shown. But it bothered me and made me sad. So I was rather surprised at myself and was wondering why it put me in a bad mood.

Then I realized:

• the protocol relied heavily on luring

• it was boiler plate and projected each step to take weeks

• in the end the dog would always rely on being lured or best case scenario tolerate having the muzzle put on

• the process allowed so much room for errors

• the prescribed steps ultimately did not encourage the dogs to actively stick their heads into the basket and make it fun for them

• tolerating is passive after all and deprives the dog of choice and control

I guess I felt disappointed for the dogs. A missed opportunity for collaboration.

In the end it would leave the dog with learned helplessness, without an opportunity to view a new puzzle game and choose and think things through for themselves.

Let’s think about basics differently:

When you acquire lots of smaller skills they can be put together in different ways to achieve a bigger variety of behaviors. It’s like having a bunch of tools that can be put together like LEGO blocks that are available to you to build different things when put together in a different order.

One might call that “basic technique”.

Like a ballet dancer who knows their positions and can then seamlessly use those basic positions put together in a different order to dance different choreography. Or to take a musician as an example: you practice components like scales or triads so when they appear as part of the composition you identify them as: Oh ! G major.!!!.and it’s already pre programmed or a reinforced easy skill. It then gets inserted in the new chain of known behaviors.

Even though the traditional “sit and stay" are parts of a dog ‘s basic behavior toolbox they are only useful when they contribute to knowing what to do or how to behave in different contexts. It gives dogs the opportunity to put those component skills into their own toolbox and allows them to solve puzzles and learn faster . They get to apply them in real life and are given the confidence to act on their own and freely without prompting.

Added Proprioception:

There is so much talk about giving dogs agency. There also is a lot of talk about allowing dogs to be dogs. So it seems to me that with all the sniffing and licking and relaxation the pendulum has swung to an extreme. We certainly don’t want to go back to the need for extreme obedience but we should also enable the dog to integrate further into our culture in general. Let’s show them that they CAN stick their heads deliberately into something, that they can walk backwards and do it on purpose, that they can rest their chins on different surfaces. Do it in a playful and fun atmosphere and reward them for those “trick-like” skills. Let’s make it part of their basic technique.

Inspiring enthusiasm

If we viewed a practical set of skills as part of dogs’ basic education we would provide pretty obvious solutions for them. Kind of like roadmaps to “stick their head into that muzzle” when presented in a situation that reminds them of a previously learned concept. Additionally it would provide so many opportunities for enthusiasm when presented with a new challenge. A whole different attitude to bring them and their humans delight and satisfaction.

Think about how much closer your relationship with the dog would be!