Behavior vs. Obedience
I recently watched a Facebook Live featuring Dr. Liz Bales, Tabitha Kucera, and Dr. Pike, and it was a really interesting conversation. They covered a lot of ground on various topics, and one of those was behavior vs. obedience.
When I talk to people about the challenges they’re trying to work through with their pets, I think a lot of them mistakenly equate behavior and obedience. It’s an easy mistake to make because we’ve historically relied on trainers to “fix” our dogs’ problems. They were the only option we had, and every issue was thought to be a training issue. And it seemed like it was true, because the methods used to “fix” them caused our dogs to shut down and appear to be compliant, or they complied out of fear. To drive the point home, TV shows celebrating cruel tactics showed miracles being pulled off in an hour, and were so heavily marketed that the average dog owner thought “training” would be their saving grace.
The ABWC website defines behavior as “the collective response to stimuli, coping skills, and general mental state of being.” Obedience (training) is described as “the dog’s repertoire of learned skills.” They follow that by saying “You can have a completely untrained, but behaviorally normal dog or an extremely well trained, but horribly anxious dog.”
So what are some things about our dogs that we might want to modify or “fix”? And are they behavior or obedience issues?
cave dog manners = obedience
excessive barking = behavior
appropriate greeting for a temperamentally sound (but maybe excitable) dog = obedience
separation anxiety = behavior
begging at the dinner table = obedience
aggression = behavior
counter surfing = obedience
fear = behavior
leash manners = obedience
leash reactivity = behavior
One of the most important things to know about behavior issues is that they need to be diagnosed, and the only people who can diagnose and treat are doctors. Diagnosis is critical, because for some issues, the underlying cause is a brain chemical imbalance. For others, it’s pain or chronic itching. Those conditions require medication to relieve them, and medication itself might be enough to allow your dog to be the happy, loving dog they’re meant to be. Trying to train those issues away can make the problems worse, frustrate you and your dog, and use up financial resources you might need in order to pay for the medications and/or therapies your dog needs to overcome them.
The truth is, you cannot cure behavior problems. You can treat the underlying causes, you can manage the environment, but if treatment and management stop, the behavior will return. Sometimes it returns because treatment stops working. When that happens, a doctor needs to make adjustments to the treatment plan.
Treating behavior challenges is a life long process, but with the right team, it doesn’t have to be an emotional hardship.
If you are trying to figure out how to address problem behaviors with your dog, and you aren’t sure which professional to seek help from, you can email solutions@vindicatedrescue.org, and we can provide some guidance.
