FE360: Achieving a Balance Between Motivation and Control

Lecture: Control! (4):

Our ultimate goal is to help our dogs develop self-control as opposed to us exerting external control.  External control can be physical (holding a dog by the leash or collar), verbal (using trained cues to alter the dog’s behavior), pressure based (verbal or physical insistence from the trainer) or space based (purposely controlling distance thresholds).  

To be most useful self-control needs to be offered by the dog rather than insisted upon by the trainer.  We rarely use cues for self-control.  Instead, we set up a variety of situations where self-control is highly reinforced.  We want our dogs to generalize the idea of self-control and offer it when they find themselves in situations where it will work in their favor.  How can self-control work in your favor?  That’s the key to success!  Self-control MUST lead to desired outcomes.  It has to be worth the effort.  Giving up the obvious temptation has to quickly lead to an even better outcome.  

Here is an example of a classic psychological study in self-control, the marshmallow study.  This research suggests that there are preexisting individual differences in the amount of self-control that kids will display.  

They really put them to the test here, and leave them with the marshmallow for 15 minutes.  The purpose was not to change their behavior, but to see how long they could resist.  As educated trainers, we know that this approach would be ineffective in changing behavior.  We would want to reinforce control very quickly.  

In terms of the overall outcome of this type of study it was determined that the kids who showed the most self-control ended up having better overall outcomes in a number of areas as they grew and developed.  Being able to control yourself in tempting situations allows you to be more successful in a variety of ways.  

Exerting willpower is not only difficult, but it is a limited resource.  There is lots of psychological research on this topic and it all points to willpower as something that can be quickly used up.  The good news though, is that we can strengthen it through the right type of training.  It’s not about simply denying what your dog wants.  That leads to conflict and frustration for both dog and trainer.  It’s about setting up self-control challenges where the dog is mildly tested, yet quickly wins.  And when your dog becomes proficient at any given level, then challenge is increased.  Over time, this approach will build up a resistance for succumbing to temptations.  

One other related issue to address here is the difference between control and calm.  These are definitely not the same thing.  A dog can be controlling himself, yet be highly aroused and energized.  Think of a highly motivated agility dog on the start line.  He may hold his stay until released, so he has controlled himself, but he is definitely not calm, and you wouldn’t want him to be.  It is also possible to be calm, but not exhibiting self-control.  A dog can quite calmly enjoy the sandwich you left on the coffee table.  Control refers to an external mastery of action and behavior.  Calm refers to an internal arousal state.  These are two very different things.  They can interact and sometimes they occur together, but not always.  We can work on control with training based on operant conditioning, but calm, being an internal state that relies on a variety of variables, falls back into the realm of classical conditioning.

We will be using your dog’s desired reinforcers to serve as challenges and distractions for impulse control training.  The things your dog wants are the things that he will learn to resist until given permission for access.