Thursday, June 24, 2010

Emotions in our Pets


Written by: Sam Kabbel, CPDT-KA, President

Pet Behavior Solutions





When a dog is shaved down for the summer, can he be embarrassed? When a dog misbehaves toward the newly adopted pet, is he being jealous? When a cat urinates on the bed pillow while her family is on vacation is she being spiteful? When a dog’s littermate passes after 10 years together, will the surviving dog grieve? Can our pets experience these emotions?


Dogs and cats have coevolved with humans leading to domestication. They are no longer the wild animals from which they descended. Does this mean that they have more human emotions due to domestication? Let’s look to science for some clarification. There are three types of brains in the animal kingdom:

Primitive or Reptilian Brain – This is the brain stem. The primitive brain supports the most basic functions of breathing, circulation, and digestion. It also involves the most basic aspects of behavior. Its main behavioral function is self-preservation and reproduction.


Intermediate or Mammalian Brain – The intermediate brain is wrapped around the brain stem. This brain involves memory, behaviors related to reproduction, hormones, perception of pleasure, and competition with others. The mammalian brain is the seat of 12 primary social emotions: anger, joy, fear, sadness, surprise, curiosity, frustration, acceptance, emotions relating to play behaviors, sexual attraction, separation distress, and social attachment.


Superior or Rational Brain – This brain combines the brain stem, the mammalian brain and a large prefrontal cortex. This is the brain of humans, elephants, dolphins, and primates. The superior brain provides logic and thought due to its highly developed prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex allows us comprehend good and bad or right and wrong. It governs our impulse control. The prefrontal cortex makes up 30% of the human brain where it makes up only 7% of the dog’s brain, and only 1% of the cat’s brain! While humans possess a moral sense of right and wrong, dogs and cats are unable to do that. They only understand safe and unsafe relating to self preservation. Here is an example: When your dog urinates in the house but you are unable to catch him because he won’t do it in front of you – that doesn’t mean he knows it’s wrong to urinate in the house. It means he has learned that it is unsafe to get caught because bad things will happen. That behavior is driven by cause and effect, not by a sense of right and wrong.


The superior brain allows us to process conflicting or complex emotions. The following are some examples of complex emotions: shame, guilt, embarrassment, love, greed, spite, empathy, and jealousy. Complex emotions involve thought and interpretation. Our culture and upbringing determine their meanings.


So if a dog can’t be embarrassed, how would you explain the sheepish look they have when they are first shaved? Embarrassment is defined as a socially unacceptable act witnessed by others that causes a loss of honor and dignity. Dogs don't get caught up worrying about how we perceive them. Unlike humans, they don't have egos that can be deflated. A better name for this sheepish behavior would be shyness which is defined as a feeling of apprehension, lack of confidence, or awkwardness. Dogs have varying levels of self awareness. The owners of many Labradors will tell you that their dogs don’t know they have a butt or a tail when they crash into things as they move and wag their tail. Conversely, the owner of a Sheltie may say if a hair on the tip of his tail is touched unexpectedly, he will tuck his tail and butt while turning around to see what touched him. This is similar to when a dog behaves in a way that we interpret as embarrassment. When a shaved dog looks embarrassed he is actually behaving in an anxious manner until he has acclimated to how the new haircut feels. This was an adaptive behavior in the wild for survival since anything that was different in their appearance could put them at risk of exposure to the elements or attack by someone else. Hiding and behaving cautiously or anxiously during these times would increase their survival rate. Despite domestication, there are still varying levels of awareness and concern in dogs.


How do you explain when a pet seems to be jealous? Pets are competing for resources or for things they value. What looks like jealousy is really competition. Competition is about survival and rank. It sounds like semantics but it is really important to understand that dogs aren’t conniving animals that stew about another’s advantages.


When a cat pees on my husband’s pillow is there really any other explanation other than spite? Let’s first look at the definition of spite: a malicious, petty desire to harm, annoy, frustrate, or humiliate another person. Spite is a complex emotion by its definition. A cat would have to comprehend a human’s emotions as well as what triggers those emotions. Then it would have to think up a way to elicit certain negative emotions based on an understanding of each person’s unique set of preferences, experiences, ownership rights, system for valuing items, etc. Humans view the act of eliminating as a private and almost dirty but necessary behavior. Animals don’t have those same hang-ups. They use urine as a scent marker in order to establish territory, ownership, or in order to make themselves feel more secure. Often, there is an anxiety component to marking behaviors or there may be some other reason altogether as to why it is happening. They aren’t doing it in order to get some sort of satisfaction when we become upset about it. There is always more to the story and we must look at every aspect of the behavior in order to resolve the issue. It sure feels like spite when the cat only urinates on the husband’s pillow or when the dog chews the most expensive pair of shoes, but it just isn’t.


Don’t dogs and cats grieve when their companion dies? Dogs and cats cannot experience grief in the same way that humans do. Grief is a complex emotion not a primary emotion. Elephants, who have a rational brain like humans, have complex grieving rituals when one of the herd is lost. When a dog or cat is struggling with the death of a person or animal what we are actually seeing is separation distress. Of course distress occurs from the termination of the bond, but there are other reasons for distress. Changes in the remaining pet’s routine resulting from the loss create anxiety and the emotions displayed by grieving humans can cause even more anxiety and distress for pets.


Why is it important to understand our pet’s emotions? When we ascribe complex human emotions to our pets it can create difficulty when we need to change unwanted behavior. We must understand the motivation of the behavior if we are to change it. For example, if a dog destroys the carpet when he is left alone for the day, we must understand the real reason he is doing it in order to come up with the proper solution. He may be experiencing separation anxiety when he is left alone and chews as an outlet for that anxiety or he may have learned that chewing the carpet when you are around just isn’t safe and therefore it works much better to do it when you aren’t home. The solution for each situation would be different because the motivation is different. If we ascribe spite as a motivator for a behavior, we are already wrong on the motivation and will likely chose an ineffective technique for resolving it. We then become more frustrated and we are at odds with our pet.


Dogs and cats have different brains than humans. We should not think of them as furry people complete with human drives and emotions. Instead, we should look at them as having more child-like emotions and embrace their innocence. Only through compassion and understanding can we truly have a mutually beneficial relationship with our pets.




Thursday, June 3, 2010

A Better Way to Train


Written by: Sam Kabbel, CPDT-KA, President (www.petbehaviorsolutions.com)


Pet Behavior Solutions has developed a different style of training that we call Choice Training™. Choice Training™ focuses on teaching your pethow to choose the behaviors you like instead of those you don’t. Your petis rewarded for making the right choice. Choice Training™ incorporates the best aspects of the other training methods but avoids their pitfalls. It works for general obedience training as well as behavior modification!



How do training methods differ?


Although there are many different methods for training dogs, most can be separated into two basic categories: traditional training and modern training. Traditional training focuses on correcting the dog when he does something wrong. For example, if a dog pulls ahead on a leash instead of heeling, the handler will apply a leash correction to get the dog into the heel position. Or, if the dog does not sit, the handler pulls up on the leash while pushing down on the dog’s hind-quarters until the dog sits. Dogs learn to obey commands to avoid these corrections. Modern training focuses on controlling the dog’s behavior by manipulating him into doing something right and rewarding him for doing it. For example, to teach a dog how to sit, a handler would rock the dog gently back into a sitting position or use a treat to lure him into position. The dog is then rewarded for sitting.



What is Choice TrainingTM and why is it better than the alternatives?


It is more fun for the trainer and the dog to teach behaviors without having to use training methods that rely on fear, pain, or discomfort. Choice TrainingTM encourages your dog’s creativity and problem solving. It makes them try harder to get things right and they don’t give up as easily because getting it wrong doesn’t result in a correction. Getting it wrong creates frustration and disappointment which creates a stronger desire to figure it out. Choice TrainingTM avoids the negative side effects of traditional corrections yielding more confident, compliant dogs. It does not involve bribing as bribes encourage a dog to hold out. (e.g., The dog is commanded to come but waits to hear the rattle of the treat bag before he decides to come.) With our methods dogs won’t only work for food, they will work for what they want which includes attention, freedom, access to something, etc. Dogs also learn that not compling results in the loss of those same thinhgs. Choice TrainingTM utilizes hope for something rather than expectancy. Hope is extremely powerful and is immunized from disappointment; expectancy isn’t. Choice TrainingTM promotes better reliability in training.



Why does it work? How does it work? Will it work for all dogs? (e.g., old, young, varying breeds, varying sizes, etc.)


We do not physically manipulate or force the dog, we manipulate the environment in order to maximize the possibility that a given behavior will occur. Our training teaches your dog that you control the resources and his choices either gain or lose those resources. We want the dog to make lots of mistakes in order to learn which choices work and which choices don’t. We use a system of positive reinforcement and negative punishment—good things happen, good things go away. You control the resources and your dog controls the choices. It’s all up to them how they behave; it’s up to us what we reinforce. Your dog always chooses the behavior; you learn to show him/her what choices are best. Choice TrainingTM is based on laws of learning and behavior—that which is reinforced will be repeated, that which is not reinforced will be abandoned.



Please contact us for more information about Choice TrainingTM and for help with your pet’s behavior and training.