The Weak Link in Compliance
Compliance is “the action or fact of acting in accordance with a wish or command.” When it comes to dogs, compliance is our expectation that our dog will do what we tell them to when we tell them to do it. The reality is that it's not that simple.
Dogs are sentient, emotional, intelligent creatures with genetic predispositions and free will. They participate in certain behaviors to meet innate desires or because the action of a specific behavior produces a consequence that they find valuable. The true problems arise when their needs and desires do not align with our own. This may cause us to place the blame on the dog for not listening or complying with our commands, but is that really the problem?
If I asked you what you think the weak link is when it comes to compliance, what would your answer be? Lack of training, stubbornness, distractions? The truth is that the weak link is often the human component. We tend to hold our dogs to a high standard that I don't always see dog owners holding themselves to. While we might expect our dogs to comply 100% of the time, the human component is often much less reliable when it comes to performing the necessary behaviors. I think one of the most common things I hear dog owners say is that they need the dog to come when they call. That very simple statement is far from simple in reality. A recall is actually a very complex behavior which requires a lot of impulse control and therefore really consistent, solid training. So when the dog doesn't come when called, is that simply a problem of compliance on the dog's part? Well, it depends.
There are behavior challenges that we consider to be easier to resolve in that the dog 's role in changing is very small, however, it requires that their human counterpart actively make changes. Let’s say you have a dog that doesn't enjoy being snuggled and it growls when anyone insists on snuggling with it. The answer is, stop doing the thing the dog doesn't want you to do, problem solved; But what if I don’t want to stop snuggling the dog, isn’t that non-compliance? Other behaviors are more complicated and require changes be made by the human while we work to change the dog’s behavior. For example, if your dog dashes out the door every time it’s opened, put gates or other management in place while you train your dog to perform an alternate behavior like waiting on a mat. Installing gates requires changes be made by the human, and while usually not permanent, we often hear a list of reasons why they can’t or don’t want to make the necessary changes, which is a lack of compliance, but it’s not the dog’s fault…
My job as a trainer, the majority of the time, is to teach humans how to communicate and work with their dogs effectively to achieve desired behaviors. This requires the humans to, in a sense, become baby trainers themselves, recognizing training opportunities and then marking and reinforcing the desired behaviors. Training requires commitment, consistency, and change; Those necessary changes in behavior are often not only the responsibility of the dog, but also of the human. Typical conversations may start with something like “I need my dog to do [insert behavior here], they aren’t doing it when I tell them to”. For example, if your dog is not coming when called, what needs to happen to change that? You may need to practice their recall more consistently, training in a variety of scenarios to proof the behavior. You may need to adjust rewards to better align with the environmental distractions. You may need to stop recalling them when it isn’t an emergency and there’s a high probability they aren’t going to respond. For recall training I tell students to use a long line, have a variety of rewards, use environmental reinforces, don’t let your dog off leash if you aren’t sure if they are going to respond to your request to come back. Sometimes students comply and sometimes they don’t. What I know is that no one complies with the training instructions 100% of the time and I don’t expect them to, that’s just not reasonable. So is it fair of us to expect full compliance from our dogs when we can’t manage to do the same?
I do not view my relationship with my dog as one that relies on her compliance with my every demand. In fact, I don’t make demands, I make requests. Don’t get me wrong, in those scenarios where I need her to respond to a request, there are consequences for her lack of response, usually a loss of freedom or access to something she wanted. But overall our relationship is cooperative and I view her behavioral responses as a form of communication. There is always a reason my dog is not responding to requests I am making and it’s my job to determine the cause; Whether it’s lack of training, motivation, or difficulty performing under the conditions of that context. When she is not able to respond to a request I am making I don’t simply view it as non-compliance, instead it is an opportunity to identify her current limitations and learn what I could and should do differently for next time. So I encourage you to consider the expectations for compliance that you place on your dog and be willing to view your future expectations with flexibility and a better understanding of what you may really be asking for, from one intelligent, sentient creature to another.
The photo for this blog is of my husband and Nova while hiking in the Adirondack mountains. She is very good about complying with requests while hiking as we have put in a lot of training and she knows it is required for her to have more freedom off leash. My husband on the other hand is not always so good at complying with directions for handling the dog, we are still working on his training.
