And Why Can’t He Refuse?

And Why Can’t He Refuse? by Frances McCormack “Don’t want to. Don’t care.” He’s not a teenager anymore, but boy does he sure act like one at times. “Nah.” (Of course, I’m sure he’d say the same thing about me: “doesn’t listen,” “knows what she wants and relentlessly pursues it,” “head like a sieve”…we’re not going to talk about my counter-surfing at this point). “ Whatever.” But he’s a dog who has a very strong idea of what earns rewards, what rewards he wants, and what has helped him acquire those rewards in the past. Don’t we all? And isn’t this how we learn? Most often, his “prefer not to, thanks very much” arises out of that learning history: either a strong history of rewards that exerts an equally strong influence over his choices, or a gap in his learning that I’ve overlooked in making a request of him. And it’s absolutely his right to refuse. And the onus is entirely on me to ensure the foundational learning is in place before asking anything of him. This is most certainly not stubbornness. Still for him, and for all dogs, I bristle at the insistence that a dog will assent to any request we make if they understand what we’re asking and if the rewards we offer are of sufficient value. There is as great a risk in perceiving our dogs as creatures who may wilfully refuse as there is in perceiving them as creatures who can be trained to do anything. Neither of them is respectful either of who they are or of the learning process itself. And these positions aren’t as far apart as they might appear on first glance. I appreciate that the claim that dogs don’t wilfully refuse our request grows out of a resistance towards traditional training methods that treat a dog’s learning like a battle of wills. But the suggestion that dogs can be moulded into doing whatever it is that we desire if our training and our rewards are of sufficient quality is equally coercive. Both perspectives arise from a tendency to desire that our dogs’ lives and decisions be ultimately within our control, however seemingly benevolent the underlying intention. Instead, we can, and perhaps should ask questions about what we seek to teach them and why, whether it is in line with who they are and what they have already learned. We can think about designing and engineering their learning to set them up for success. If we view learning as an opportunity rather than an imperative, then it becomes dialogic: a way of engaging with, connecting with each other, of conversing, and exchanging knowledge. In this, we open ourselves up to the wonderful potential of filling our own learning gaps: of

understanding the why behind what we might perceive as error or refusal…and perhaps of being humble enough to recognise that like all of the most successful partnerships, we can negotiate and compromise with our dogs while helping them develop the skills to move through our human-oriented world. Much as they do for us in theirs. More Reading Chasm Opening Up The gulf in approaches to living with dogs; the persistence of a focus on compliance and obedience, even if differently packaged. This blogpost argues for learning to be underpinned by connection, mutual reward, and a focus on lifeskills. It proposes some methods for developing connection and learning from our dogs. Shaping By Rewards Using the example of Zip's protectiveness of valuable food resources, this essay demonstrates the ways in which careful examination of what an individual finds rewarding can shape the learning by addressing needs. Can’t Not Learn Since learning is always happening, how do we take responsibility for it, and how should we assess what learning is happening? What is a Trainer? Opening with a consideration of the multivalence of the term "trainer," this post explores different approaches to the engineering of learning from sports to life skills. It thinks more broadly about the development of skills as a way to address seeming "behaviour issues," and reflects on the fact that by building the process of engineering learning on rewards and connection the gulf of understanding between the two species involved can be bridged. Cue Seeking is Connection Connection is very individual and to be authentic we have to observe, slow down, understand our dogs and meet them where they are. Read More Cue Seeking Being an active learner and seeking opportunities for more rewards Read More Fast does not mean better We are becoming surrounded by a culture of fast. We are being sold that immediate gratification is the only solution. Read More Dogs are Born To Learn We can build tremendous learners when we get beyond the idea that “dogs are trained”. Read More What’s Cooking? A Warning About Recipes Recipes for “training” dogs are so prevalent in how we live with and talk about them that their existence often goes unquestioned. Read More A teaching plan The pathway ahead, a road map for success. Details of what, why, when, how. Read More What Words Conceal The language across all kinds of media paints a picture of dogs and our relationships with them. Read More The Spaces Between At the heart of learner-centred education, the teacher acts as a guide whose role is to elicit rather than to impart

, and learners quickly become empowered and equipped to transfer their knowledge and skills to new scenarios. Read More Learning is not for spectators Are you an Active Learner? Or: Are you getting your money’s worth for online courses? It would not matter what subject we are talking about:... Read More The Fade-in Protocol Even though today we are surrounded by many available protocols for teaching with positive reinforcement, there is still a persistence that a dog should be set-up to make an error. An error is simply the difference between my expectation and the dog’s response. No more “distractions”, but faded-in environments. Read More The Value of Experience The non-experienced, or current generation of imposters, have attended a course, read a book, got a certificate and have yet to gain experience to deepen their knowledge or understanding of the subject, protocol, method … Read More Do We Want Impulse Control? Teaching your Collie “impulse control” is the wrong way of thinking about their urges, and certainly an unhelpful way of dealing with them. Read More Submit a Comment Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Comment * Name * Email * Website Δ