BARKS from the Guild Autumn 2014

Page 14

COVER STORY

The Many Faces of Behavior Myopia: Recognizing the Subtle Signs

“JOY”

CE” “CONFIDEN

Photos of Bella by Preval Photography Polaroid © Can Stock Photo

T

“ANGER”

“FEAR”

In this series of photos our cover dog, Papillon Bella, is showing an array of overt and subtle facial expressions that convey her emotions

The creation of a behavior modification protocol that ignores emotional information or does not create an improved emotional state is behaviorally myopic, say Angelica Steinker and Eileen Anderson

he fundamental goal of any behavior modification lunging, it can overshadow nuance and make us miss the 1 more subtle behaviors. When this occurs, we actually overprogram should be to improve the dog’s and owner’s emotional states, both during and after the look our obligation to improve the animal’s quality of life even though we might be presenting a potentially effective process. If emotional, genetic or medical information is behavior modification program. omitted from the functional assessment process however, Dog trainers have an ethical obligation to do everything the ensuing behavior modification plan will be incomplete, they can to improve the quality of life for both the dog which not only runs the risk of recommended intervenand the owner. Having completed a behavior modification tions being inappropriate and misdirected, but may also have disastrous consequences. Unfortunately, behavior my- program, dogs should feel safer and happier. Similarly, the process should create dogs who are more resilient because opia such as this is an all too common occurrence in our of the improved baseline regarding joy and happiness – industry. which also leads to a more desirable result for the owner. From a dog’s point of view, the most damaging aspect here is the complete disregard for his emotional state. It Causes of Behavior Myopia can be particularly catastrophic when covert or subtle beFocus on Operant Conditioning haviors are ignored as, arguably, they are the most imporDog training tends to live in a world of operant conditiontant information a behavior consultant has. But we are all prone to focusing on what is most obvious. For example, if ing2. In the light of this bias and a failure to include rea dog is engaging in overt behaviors such as barking and spondent conditioning in a training protocol, emotional 1 For the purposes of this article we will reference dogs most frequently but the concept applies to all animal training and behavior modification programs, as well as human-to-human interactions. 2 A full glossary of behavior terminology used in the article can be found on Page 20. 14

BARKS from the Guild/October 2014


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.