Training v Behaviourism – The early days

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Alpha Dog: Leader of the pack, top dog

Beta Dog: Subordinate to the alpha dog

Omega Dog:  Very submissive dog

There are also  Alpha, Beta and Omega females, but for the purpose of easy explanation, this article refers to the male.

By the time behaviourism arrived in the UK I was already a full time, freelance, professional dog trainer and a full Member of The British Institute of Professional Dog Trainers with a flourishing business.

This new approach to the art of teaching canines was met with very conflicting attitudes. On one hand, there were the old fashioned trainers who viewed anything new with scepticism and I freely admit that I was rather sceptical at first. In a rural environment where one was dealing with dogs worrying sheep, chasing traffic and aggression plus the normal training and behaviour issues it didn’t appear to be very practical. Also, the high fees being charged by the new behaviourists it was not surprising that the idea took a bit of getting used to.

When one of the early behaviourists arrived in Cornwall 30+ years ago and charged £100 to see a dog, evaluate, write a report and offer solutions it was not surprising that the lady had few takers and needed to supplement her income from another source.

On the other hand, there were the youthful progressive converts who welcomed this new way of approaching problems with relish. For them, this was the way forward and training was a thing of the past. It was quite fascinating to watch as the two camps diverged. For me, the issue was quite simple, did this new system assist or was it just an ill-thought-out fad or some sort of money-making scam.

It didn’t take too long. A food-based system that rewarded good behaviour.

Examples were manyfold from jumping up to toilet training. Dogs being logical creatures would quickly work out that the humans would dish out treats for certain behaviour and to maximise the amount of food received follow the treats. It wasn’t rocket science and as a result, I embraced these new ideas, however, I rapidly came to the conclusion that whilst this inventive idea had so much to add to our knowledge it was not the panacea to cure all ills and unfortunately did come with some complications. This of course was to be expected as new ideas always take time to settle in.

What’s in a name?

In the early days, very few people really understood the difference between training and behaviourism as the two regularly crossed over. Training was and still is the art of teaching the dog to perform certain tasks, to respond to commands and sometimes how not to behave in a certain way.

Behaviourism is the art of solving problems, modifying behaviour, and teaching in a non-confrontational way.

The first problem was that our new behaviourists appeared to want to turn this newfound knowledge into something mystical.

To turn themselves into some sort of guru, who somehow had suddenly re-invented the wheel. A new language came about. Alpha, Beta and Omega which was rather ironic as I now live in Greece.

Around this time I visited an elderly gentleman who had been visited prior by a behaviourist. His complaint was that the lady couldn’t remember his dogs name. In fairness the pensioner was a little hard of hearing.

The poor man was quite annoyed.

“She couldn’t remember his name. My dog’s name is Ben, she kept calling him Alf, Alf the dog, she wouldn’t stop calling him Alf the dog.”

Of course, it was obvious what had happened, the lady was referring to Alpha Dog more commonly known in those days as a Top Dog.

So where were the conflicts?

1. Why did we have to start using Greek? Well, as I have said it added to the image of mystery, and to differentiate between the “new progressive behaviourists” and  the “old fashioned trainers.”
2. The biggest flaw in those early days was the assumption that if you used treats then all dogs would respond favourably. This is not the case. The assumption that all dogs would respond in an identical fashion was patently false. If that were the case then all somebody had to do was to write the book and we would all be out of business. Let’s be honest there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to raising children and the same applies to dogs. How many books have been written, how many videos have been produced and how much conflicting advice is available on the internet?
3. In the early days in order to belong to any of the organisations that were in the forefront relied as much on what you weren’t allowed to do as much what you were allowed. I briefly considered the idea of qualification myself but I unashamedly took the view that my job was to help people sort out their problems and this I was determined to do and passing an exam and having my freedoms restricted in any way was never an option. I was also unwilling to spend time writing reports which was the practice in the early days when my time was better spent dealing with the practicalities of solving the problems. Having read one of these reports I was horrified to find that one of my clients had previously paid a considerable fee only to given a very detailed report that indicated that the problems were complex!!
4. Despite the success of behaviourism another major issue was that occasionally old fashioned dog training was necessary. Whilst training requires a more confrontational approach this is entirely consistent with the behaviourists assertion that there are Alpha, Beta and Omega dogs.An Alpha Dog is the leader of the pack, and he is accorded the privileges of rank, he is greeted first, fed first, in fact everything is first, however, he must never be allowed to rule unchecked as included in the pack are humans and where it was necessary an Alpha Dog needed to understand that he was only in charge of his own pack. He was definitely not in charge of the humans and bullying was unacceptable. Further more his behaviour in public, particularly to other dogs, occasionally required a reminder as to who really was “the boss.” Bearing in mind that he exerts his authority by force, either physical or by personality, training in certain circumstances was totally appropriate.
5. Another problem to face and reconcile was that obvious one where you arrive at the clients house only to find out you only have 2 seconds to react to 100lbs of dog that comes flying through the door, determined to show you who is the boss. I guarantee you that tossing him a choc drop and asking him nicely to desist from his attempt to tear you limb from limb isn’t going to work!!
6. One of the other problems of a reward based system is timing. The food must be given at exactly the right moment. Sometimes even a couple of seconds delay can create confusion as the dog is being rewarded for doing something unrelated to the event that was the object of the exercise. Further more the inappropriate use of rewards causes confusion.
7. There were occasions when behaviourism was going to take time to achieve the desired result and like it or not there were times when a client was unwilling and in fairness were not able to give the time required or have the finance available.
8. In any circumstance having a plan B is essential and in the early days that came from training.

I have no doubt that the modern behaviourists have overcome many of the issues that prevailed in the early days that come with new innovations. As times move on we must be able to adapt, and adjust, be able to be aware of the advances in knowledge and learning and to be able to accept huge changes within our respective professions. At the same time be able to retain the skills we learned early. Rarely does anything come along that totally replaces the current knowledge, it merely enhances what we already know.

For those of you that are intrigued and impressed by what you see on television programs, please be aware that so much goes on behind the scenes that is hidden from you. What appears to take only a few minutes to produce a desired response may in fact be the product of some very intensive work behind the scenes that you never see or is the result of weeks even months of work. Bear in mind behaviour or training in real time rarely makes good television.

Finally you need to accept that despite what you are led to believe some behaviour problems cannot always be successfully explained.

In conclusion, has behaviourism made training redundant? Absolutely not.

Behaviourism is another welcome and valuable addition to the way we interact with animals and behaviourism and training can easily be used in tandom as and when required.

The modern behaviourist is a highly qualified professional who’s knowledge is way beyond that of the trainers of my era. They have spent years learning their trade.

My only advice is if you are looking for one please make sure you are paying for a qualified expert and not somebody who has done a weekend course and refers to themselves as a behaviourist.

When a human dies there is a bridge they must cross to enter into Heaven. At the edge of the bridge is every animal that the human encountered during their lifetime. The animals, based on what they know of that person, decide on which humans cross the bridge….. and which are turned away.

North American Indian saying

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