October 22, 2024 • 15 mins
Unlock the secrets of effective dog behavior modification with our latest episode featuring your host, Will Bangura. Ever wonder why your attempts to correct your dog's behavior aren't yielding results? It might just be the environment you're overlooking. Join us as we unravel the critical role of environmental management in dog training, using the analogy of a broken water pipe to illustrate the need to "turn off the main water valve"—or, in this case, remove triggers that reinforce unwanted behaviors. This episode is packed with insights that will not only change the way you think about dog training but also equip you with practical strategies to implement right away.
Discover the cornerstone of successful behavior change through thoughtful management of your dog's surroundings. We'll guide you through the process of assessing and adjusting your environment to prevent the rehearsal of negative behaviors, setting the stage for teaching more appropriate responses. From blocking access to windows to making other environmental tweaks, learn how these simple changes can lead to more effective and lasting behavior improvements. Whether you're a seasoned trainer or a dedicated pet parent, this conversation promises to empower you with a fresh perspective and actionable tips for tackling behavioral challenges with patience and commitment. Tune in and take the first step towards transforming your dog's behavior today!
If you need professional help please visit my Dog Behaviorist website.
Go here for Free Dog Training Articles
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Imagine if you would.
The problem that you're havingisn't your dog and the dog
problems that you're having, buta broken water pipe.
And the problem is you've gotwater gushing out all over the
place.
And so you're like I need tofind a professional and you
contact me because I'm a plumber, and you say, well, hey, I've
(00:21):
got this problem.
I've got a broken water pipe,I've got water gushing out all
over the place.
How do we fix this problem?
Well, the first thing that I'mgoing to tell you to do is what?
Yeah, turn off the main watervalve.
Now, that does not fix thebroken water pipe.
But I don't care how hard wework, I don't care what kind of
(00:48):
fix we try to use, we are nevergoing to change or fix that
water pipe until we turn off themain water valve.
And it's only once we've turnedoff the main water valve that
we can even apply some kind ofsolution, some kind of fix, and
(01:10):
have any success.
Well, it's no different withyour dog and your dog's
behaviors.
We can't even begin to work ona fix and a solution to your
dog's behavior problem until youstart avoiding all of the
(01:37):
triggers.
All that and more in 60 seconds.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Raised by wolves with canine DNA in his blood.
Having trained more than 24,000pets, helping you and your fur
babies thrive, live in studiowith Will Bangura Answering your
pet behavior and trainingquestions.
Ladies and gentlemen, pleasewelcome your host and favorite
pet behavior expert, willBangura.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Would you like to go on?
Y'all ready for this?
Good day, dog lovers.
Hey everyone, welcome back toDog Training Today.
I'm your host, will Bangura,and on today's episode, I'm
(02:28):
going to be diving into a topicthat's often overlooked by many
pet parents and, quite frankly,even by many trainers, and I'm
talking about environmentalmanagement, what it is, why it's
so important and how it plays akey role in tackling dog
(02:50):
behavior problems.
Now, I know that might soundlike a lot, but stick with me.
By the end of this episode, Ipromise you you'll have a solid
understanding of why managingyour dog's environment is the
first and most crucial step inaddressing behavior issues.
(03:14):
All right, so let me set thestage here with a little simple
analogy, and the analogy is howI opened the show.
Imagine that you've got a brokenwater pipe in your house.
What's the very first thing youneed to do before you even
(03:36):
think about fixing the pipe?
That's right.
You've got to turn off the mainwater valve.
I mean, it wouldn't matter howhard you work to fix the pipe if
water was still gushing out,right, you'd just be fighting a
losing battle.
So turning off the water isn'tthe fix, but it's an essential
(04:00):
first step.
Well, the same thing applieswhen we're talking about dog
behavior problems.
When your dog is acting out,whether they're barking at, say,
the mailman, lunging at otherdogs on walks, or even growling
at guests there's a main valve.
(04:22):
There's there's a main valve.
There's a main valve in theirenvironment that we need to turn
off before we can fix thebehavior.
And that's where environmentalmanagement comes in.
So what exactly isenvironmental management?
(04:43):
Well, in terms, it meansadjusting your dog's
surroundings to remove orgreatly minimize the triggers
that cause the unwanted behavior.
Now, this is not the fix to thebehavior problem itself, not
the fix to the behavior problemitself, but, just like shutting
(05:07):
off the water valve, it's thefirst step that allows us to
actually begin the process ofbehavior change.
Now let's break this down just alittle bit more.
When your dog is exposed to atrigger little bit more.
(05:29):
When your dog is exposed to atrigger like, let's say,
somebody walking by the frontwindow, they may start barking.
Every time this happens,they're essentially rehearsing
that behavior, and the more theypractice it, the stronger it
becomes.
It's like they're building ahabit, and habits are tough to
(05:52):
break right.
This is why it's so importantto stop the dog from rehearsing
the behavior.
If your dog continues to betriggered by the same thing day
after day, that behavior getsmore ingrained.
(06:14):
Before we can even beginteaching the dog a new, more
appropriate behavior, we have tofirst manage their environment
to prevent them from practicingthe old one.
(06:38):
Let's take a really commonexample like nuisance barking at
, well, somebody passing by.
So your dog sees someone walkby the house and they bark and
then the person walks away.
Well, from your dog'sperspective, they think I barked
and the person left.
Mission accomplished and theperson left Mission accomplished
(07:00):
.
It reinforces the barking,making it more likely to happen
again the next time someonepasses by.
Because, as far as the dog isconcerned, the person walking by
, well, hey, they're kind ofscary.
And then their behavior is bark, bark, bark and the scary
(07:21):
people now are gone.
As far as the dog is concerned,it was their barking that
caused the scary people to goaway and that behavior then
becomes functional and theconsequence meaning the
individual walking away as aresult of the barking is what
(07:45):
reinforces and strengthens thatbarking to happen again in the
future because it worked.
Now you and I both know theperson walking by was probably
going to walk by anyway.
They weren't going to stay.
But in the dog's mind, it's thesequence of events, and the
sequence is here's a person,they're scary, I bark, the
(08:09):
person goes away.
Therefore, when there's a scaryperson, if you bark, you can
get them to go away, and that'show that becomes reinforced.
So how do we turn off the watervalve in this case?
Well, it's simple we block yourdog's access to the window.
(08:33):
This could mean using frostedwindow film, closing the blinds
or keeping your dog in anotherpart of the house where they
can't see people walking by.
By doing this, you'reeliminating the trigger those
people walking by and you'repreventing your dog from
(08:53):
practicing the barking.
Now, again, I want to emphasizethat this is not the solution
to the problem.
Just because you're blockingthe trigger doesn't mean the
behavior is fixed, but what itdoes do is stop the behavior
(09:14):
from getting worse and it buysyou the time that you need to
start working on behaviormodification.
All right, let's take anotherexample Leash reactivity.
This is when a dog barks,lunges or maybe growls at other
dogs or people while out on awalk.
(09:36):
The trigger here is other dogs,people or even things like
bicycles if a dog reacts to that.
If you keep walking your dog inthe same environments, exposing
them to the same triggers, thereactive behavior is only going
(09:57):
to get more entrenched.
So how do we manage thisenvironment?
Well, we could change the routethat you walk, take the dog out
, perhaps during quieter timesof the day, or even create more
distance between your dog andthe trigger, perhaps by crossing
(10:20):
the street Again, this isn't afix, but it's crucial for
preventing your dog fromcontinuing to rehearse that
lunging and that barking, thatreactive behavior.
And this principle applies toeven more serious, more complex
(10:44):
behaviors too.
Let's talk about something likeaggression towards strangers,
towards guests not handledproperly, and allowing your dog
to continually interactaggressively with guests before
(11:05):
any behavior modification isdone can actually make the
problem worse.
In cases like this,environmental management might
mean putting your dog in aseparate room, might mean
putting your dog in a separateroom, putting the dog maybe
behind a baby gate or in a cratewhen guests come over.
(11:25):
You're essentially controllingthe environment to prevent your
dog from rehearsing thataggressive behavior.
So why is this step so oftenoverlooked?
Well, I think a lot of people,including some trainers, believe
(11:46):
that they can just dive intotraining and solve the problem
right away, but withoutaddressing the environment
without first turning off thatmain water valve, we're setting
the dog up for failure.
If the dog keeps being exposedto the same triggers over and
(12:08):
over, they're going to keeppracticing the same undesirable
behavior, and the more theypractice, the harder it becomes
to change.
One thing that I hear and I hearit a lot, from a lot of pet
parents as well.
I don't want to avoid theproblem.
Won't my dog eventually justget used to it?
(12:32):
And the answer to that isusually no.
The reality is, the more yourdog is exposed to a trigger
without any intervention, themore ingrained that behavior
becomes.
This is called conditioning.
Each time the behavior happens,it's being reinforced in some
(12:52):
way, even if it's just the factthat the trigger goes away when
the dog reacts to it.
Now I don't want to give theimpression that environmental
management is the fix.
I can't say that enough, it'snot.
But it's the foundation thatallows us to start the process
(13:14):
of behavior modification.
Once we've managed theenvironment and prevented
further rehearsal of theunwanted behavior, we can then
begin to teach your dog new,more appropriate behaviors.
Whether that's through counterconditioning, desensitization or
positive reinforcement training, the key is to give your dog
(13:38):
the best chance of success.
And that's where many petparents and trainers go wrong.
They skip this step and wonderwhy the behavior doesn't improve
.
But it's like trying to patch abroken water pipe while the
water is still gushing out.
(13:59):
You have to stop the flow ofwater first before you can fix
the problem first before you canfix the problem.
So, to sum things up, if yourdog is struggling with behavior
problems, the first thing youneed to do is manage the
environment, identify thetriggers that are causing the
(14:21):
behavior and figure out ways toreduce or eliminate your dog's
exposure to them.
This will stop the behaviorfrom getting worse and give you
the space that you need to startworking on long-term solutions.
Remember, this isn't a quick fix, but it's an essential first
(14:45):
step towards real behaviorchange.
All right, that's it.
Yeah, that's it for today'sepisode of Dog Training Today.
I hope this has given you somevaluable insights into the
importance of environmentalmanagement.
If you're dealing with anybehavior issues with your dog, I
(15:07):
encourage you to take a stepback and look at the environment
first.
Turn off that water valvebefore you dive into training
and you'll set yourself and yourdog up for success.
Thanks for tuning in and, asalways, if you have any
questions, feel free to reachout to me.
Until next time, take care ofyour dogs and happy training.
Imagine if you would.
The problem that you're havingisn't your dog and the dog
problems that you're having, buta broken water pipe.
And the problem is you've gotwater gushing out all over the
place.
And so you're like I need tofind a professional and you
contact me because I'm a plumber, and you say, well, hey, I've
(00:21):
got this problem.
I've got a broken water pipe,I've got water gushing out all
over the place.
How do we fix this problem?
Well, the first thing that I'mgoing to tell you to do is what?
Yeah, turn off the main watervalve.
Now, that does not fix thebroken water pipe.
But I don't care how hard wework, I don't care what kind of
(00:48):
fix we try to use, we are nevergoing to change or fix that
water pipe until we turn off themain water valve.
And it's only once we've turnedoff the main water valve that
we can even apply some kind ofsolution, some kind of fix, and
(01:10):
have any success.
Well, it's no different withyour dog and your dog's
behaviors.
We can't even begin to work ona fix and a solution to your
dog's behavior problem until youstart avoiding all of the
(01:37):
triggers.
All that and more in 60 seconds.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Raised by wolves with canine DNA in his blood.
Having trained more than 24,000pets, helping you and your fur
babies thrive, live in studiowith Will Bangura Answering your
pet behavior and trainingquestions.
Ladies and gentlemen, pleasewelcome your host and favorite
pet behavior expert, willBangura.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Would you like to go on?
Y'all ready for this?
Good day, dog lovers.
Hey everyone, welcome back toDog Training Today.
I'm your host, will Bangura,and on today's episode, I'm
(02:28):
going to be diving into a topicthat's often overlooked by many
pet parents and, quite frankly,even by many trainers, and I'm
talking about environmentalmanagement, what it is, why it's
so important and how it plays akey role in tackling dog
(02:50):
behavior problems.
Now, I know that might soundlike a lot, but stick with me.
By the end of this episode, Ipromise you you'll have a solid
understanding of why managingyour dog's environment is the
first and most crucial step inaddressing behavior issues.
(03:14):
All right, so let me set thestage here with a little simple
analogy, and the analogy is howI opened the show.
Imagine that you've got a brokenwater pipe in your house.
What's the very first thing youneed to do before you even
(03:36):
think about fixing the pipe?
That's right.
You've got to turn off the mainwater valve.
I mean, it wouldn't matter howhard you work to fix the pipe if
water was still gushing out,right, you'd just be fighting a
losing battle.
So turning off the water isn'tthe fix, but it's an essential
(04:00):
first step.
Well, the same thing applieswhen we're talking about dog
behavior problems.
When your dog is acting out,whether they're barking at, say,
the mailman, lunging at otherdogs on walks, or even growling
at guests there's a main valve.
(04:22):
There's there's a main valve.
There's a main valve in theirenvironment that we need to turn
off before we can fix thebehavior.
And that's where environmentalmanagement comes in.
So what exactly isenvironmental management?
(04:43):
Well, in terms, it meansadjusting your dog's
surroundings to remove orgreatly minimize the triggers
that cause the unwanted behavior.
Now, this is not the fix to thebehavior problem itself, not
the fix to the behavior problemitself, but, just like shutting
(05:07):
off the water valve, it's thefirst step that allows us to
actually begin the process ofbehavior change.
Now let's break this down just alittle bit more.
When your dog is exposed to atrigger little bit more.
(05:29):
When your dog is exposed to atrigger like, let's say,
somebody walking by the frontwindow, they may start barking.
Every time this happens,they're essentially rehearsing
that behavior, and the more theypractice it, the stronger it
becomes.
It's like they're building ahabit, and habits are tough to
(05:52):
break right.
This is why it's so importantto stop the dog from rehearsing
the behavior.
If your dog continues to betriggered by the same thing day
after day, that behavior getsmore ingrained.
(06:14):
Before we can even beginteaching the dog a new, more
appropriate behavior, we have tofirst manage their environment
to prevent them from practicingthe old one.
(06:38):
Let's take a really commonexample like nuisance barking at
, well, somebody passing by.
So your dog sees someone walkby the house and they bark and
then the person walks away.
Well, from your dog'sperspective, they think I barked
and the person left.
Mission accomplished and theperson left Mission accomplished
(07:00):
.
It reinforces the barking,making it more likely to happen
again the next time someonepasses by.
Because, as far as the dog isconcerned, the person walking by
, well, hey, they're kind ofscary.
And then their behavior is bark, bark, bark and the scary
(07:21):
people now are gone.
As far as the dog is concerned,it was their barking that
caused the scary people to goaway and that behavior then
becomes functional and theconsequence meaning the
individual walking away as aresult of the barking is what
(07:45):
reinforces and strengthens thatbarking to happen again in the
future because it worked.
Now you and I both know theperson walking by was probably
going to walk by anyway.
They weren't going to stay.
But in the dog's mind, it's thesequence of events, and the
sequence is here's a person,they're scary, I bark, the
(08:09):
person goes away.
Therefore, when there's a scaryperson, if you bark, you can
get them to go away, and that'show that becomes reinforced.
So how do we turn off the watervalve in this case?
Well, it's simple we block yourdog's access to the window.
(08:33):
This could mean using frostedwindow film, closing the blinds
or keeping your dog in anotherpart of the house where they
can't see people walking by.
By doing this, you'reeliminating the trigger those
people walking by and you'repreventing your dog from
(08:53):
practicing the barking.
Now, again, I want to emphasizethat this is not the solution
to the problem.
Just because you're blockingthe trigger doesn't mean the
behavior is fixed, but what itdoes do is stop the behavior
(09:14):
from getting worse and it buysyou the time that you need to
start working on behaviormodification.
All right, let's take anotherexample Leash reactivity.
This is when a dog barks,lunges or maybe growls at other
dogs or people while out on awalk.
(09:36):
The trigger here is other dogs,people or even things like
bicycles if a dog reacts to that.
If you keep walking your dog inthe same environments, exposing
them to the same triggers, thereactive behavior is only going
(09:57):
to get more entrenched.
So how do we manage thisenvironment?
Well, we could change the routethat you walk, take the dog out
, perhaps during quieter timesof the day, or even create more
distance between your dog andthe trigger, perhaps by crossing
(10:20):
the street Again, this isn't afix, but it's crucial for
preventing your dog fromcontinuing to rehearse that
lunging and that barking, thatreactive behavior.
And this principle applies toeven more serious, more complex
(10:44):
behaviors too.
Let's talk about something likeaggression towards strangers,
towards guests not handledproperly, and allowing your dog
to continually interactaggressively with guests before
(11:05):
any behavior modification isdone can actually make the
problem worse.
In cases like this,environmental management might
mean putting your dog in aseparate room, might mean
putting your dog in a separateroom, putting the dog maybe
behind a baby gate or in a cratewhen guests come over.
(11:25):
You're essentially controllingthe environment to prevent your
dog from rehearsing thataggressive behavior.
So why is this step so oftenoverlooked?
Well, I think a lot of people,including some trainers, believe
(11:46):
that they can just dive intotraining and solve the problem
right away, but withoutaddressing the environment
without first turning off thatmain water valve, we're setting
the dog up for failure.
If the dog keeps being exposedto the same triggers over and
(12:08):
over, they're going to keeppracticing the same undesirable
behavior, and the more theypractice, the harder it becomes
to change.
One thing that I hear and I hearit a lot, from a lot of pet
parents as well.
I don't want to avoid theproblem.
Won't my dog eventually justget used to it?
(12:32):
And the answer to that isusually no.
The reality is, the more yourdog is exposed to a trigger
without any intervention, themore ingrained that behavior
becomes.
This is called conditioning.
Each time the behavior happens,it's being reinforced in some
(12:52):
way, even if it's just the factthat the trigger goes away when
the dog reacts to it.
Now I don't want to give theimpression that environmental
management is the fix.
I can't say that enough, it'snot.
But it's the foundation thatallows us to start the process
(13:14):
of behavior modification.
Once we've managed theenvironment and prevented
further rehearsal of theunwanted behavior, we can then
begin to teach your dog new,more appropriate behaviors.
Whether that's through counterconditioning, desensitization or
positive reinforcement training, the key is to give your dog
(13:38):
the best chance of success.
And that's where many petparents and trainers go wrong.
They skip this step and wonderwhy the behavior doesn't improve
.
But it's like trying to patch abroken water pipe while the
water is still gushing out.
(13:59):
You have to stop the flow ofwater first before you can fix
the problem first before you canfix the problem.
So, to sum things up, if yourdog is struggling with behavior
problems, the first thing youneed to do is manage the
environment, identify thetriggers that are causing the
(14:21):
behavior and figure out ways toreduce or eliminate your dog's
exposure to them.
This will stop the behaviorfrom getting worse and give you
the space that you need to startworking on long-term solutions.
Remember, this isn't a quick fix, but it's an essential first
(14:45):
step towards real behaviorchange.
All right, that's it.
Yeah, that's it for today'sepisode of Dog Training Today.
I hope this has given you somevaluable insights into the
importance of environmentalmanagement.
If you're dealing with anybehavior issues with your dog, I
(15:07):
encourage you to take a stepback and look at the environment
first.
Turn off that water valvebefore you dive into training
and you'll set yourself and yourdog up for success.
Thanks for tuning in and, asalways, if you have any
questions, feel free to reachout to me.
Until next time, take care ofyour dogs and happy training.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.