Article - Correction to Ethology dog training

FROM "CORRECTIONS" TO ETHOLOGY
By: Stephen C. Rafe
© 2008, Stephen C. Rafe. All rights reserved.

You've probably heard the term "ethology" before. And you may be hearing it a lot more now that dog professionals are becoming more sophisticated in their work.

First There Were "Corrections"
In the early days of trying to get a dog to do a human's bidding, it was all about "corrections" - a word that many mistakenly used to replace "punishment." When I first started in bird-dogging over 30 years ago, it was not uncommon for people to put a dog in a situation, let him screw up, and then whip him. Or fry him with a high-intensity "shock" collar. Many early trainers referred to the process -- setting a dog up to fail and then punishing it-- as "teaching the dog a lesson." Usually, the only "lesson" the dog learned was to avoid the trainer either by retreating and cowering and perhaps responding with fear aggression, or by standing its ground attacking the "trainer" (punishment-elicited aggression). In most cases, when either occurred the dog was branded "untrainable" and was then "washed out" of the program.

Then There Was "Training"
Unhappy with the failure rate, trainers began to search for a different approach, often feeling the pressure from dog owners to come up with better ways. So we entered the "leash-jerking" era. In fact, more than 20 years ago, I wrote an article called "Which Jerk Is at the End of the Lead?" The intent was to criticize the technique. The traditional trainers blasted me, which I expected. However, it opened up debate and dialogue and, later, change came of its own accord. The Greek philosopher, Epictitus, said that any new, worthwhile but controversial, idea goes through stages: First it is ridiculed, then it is debated, then it is taken for granted. This was no different. Over time, trainers began to realize that the best approach - at that time -- was to set the dog up for success and praise it. That it was best to teach anything new one small step at a time, with the focus on helping the dog learn how to be successful, and by providing each success with positive reinforcement. Soon dogs were learning faster and better.

Enter "Behavior-Modification"

It wasn't to long after that - perhaps about 10 years - that a growing number of professionals began to incorporate scientific methods into their programs. Their success rates rose, however, they were not without their critics. When traditionalists couldn't attack their methods effectively, they would attack the trainer's credentials. "How many dogs have you finished?" Others would attack their education: "Well you're just one of those 'white-coats'." Time does have a way of healing, though. And behavior modification endured. Certainly there were still trainers setting dogs up to fail and "correcting" them. And still others were jerking dogs around on chokechains and spike collars. But, for the most part, things were improving - and both the dogs and owners were better for it. Words like "behavior-modification," "positive reinforcement," and "shaping" became increasingly common. Soon people were understanding and using techniques based upon "systematic-desensitization," "counter-conditioning," "approximation-conditioning," and the like. And more and more dogs were successful. And so were their owners.

Now Comes "Ethology"
In their search for even-better understanding, some trainers, and an emerging cadre of behaviorists, began to look deeper. If it was good to understand behaviorism, they reasoned, it might be important to understand where canine behavior originated. And so they began to investigate the field of canid ethology to seek out the roots of our dogs' behavior. Ethology studies the reasons for why things are the way they are. In this case, why dogs behave the way they do. And to study that, it was necessary to go back to our domesticated dogs' ancestral roots - the wolf - in its natural environment. While there has been considerable debate about our whether our dogs descended from wild wolves (usually among those who have not read the research), those who have researched this field agree that dogs did, indeed, come from wolves. According to PBS's well-researched "Evolution of the Dog," today's domesticated dog, Canis familiaris, is a direct descendent of the gray wolf, Canis lupus: "In other words, dogs as we know them are domesticated wolves. And this is verified through "molecular dating" of DNA. And also contrary to popular belief, DNA studies show that the domesticated dog came about some 130,000 years ago, not 12,000 years ago as originally speculated. So, since this dates our dogs back to a time before humans even began "farming," rather than mere "gathering," it raises questions about whether we intentionally domesticated them - for companionship and/or protection, or whether they adapted to us for whatever we could offer them in terms of shelter, food, and so on.
( http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/5/l_015_02.html )

Given that background, we have a stronger basis for understanding why dogs do what dogs do by studying what wolves do in their natural environment. J.P. Scott and J.L. Fuller (Genetics and Social Behavior of the Dog) were pioneers in this field. Ahead of their time, they had already noted that dogs still have more than 60 behaviors in common with wolves. These genetically based behaviors include such concepts as fixed-action patterns (such as circling before lying down to create a resting place in the grass or snow), along with socialization, rank, critical developmental periods, and so on. Ethology actually takes us to a place where we can study the foundations of our dogs' behavior, whereas behaviorism is associated more with how dogs respond largely to stimuli.

Nicholas Dodman tells us that "Each tells us something different about an animal's response, but the conclusions from both disciplines, taken together, explain all that we see and understand about animal behavior." According to Dodman, "When a behaviorist is confronted with a behavior to analyze and/or treat, an ethological analysis is often the first step."

( http://www.petplace.com/dogs/ethology-the-study-of-animal-behavior/page1.aspx )

By studying the natural behaviors of dogs and the behaviors they still share with their ancestral wolves (ethology), we can arrive at a better understanding of our dogs' behaviors and how to treat them.

-- end --