Or empowerment.
The meaning of this barbaric word is to give the dog the opportunity and the competence to make decisions, to have choice and therefore, control over its environment.
In today’s society, the dog’s guiding principle is to adapt to our decisions without discussing or expressing any opinion.
Food time, the right time for a game, when to go out, with whom and where?
In short, we decide everything for them.
And then, how could he express himself, since he doesn’t speak?
Without turning them into non-listening dogs, wouldn’t it be reasonable to give them the opportunity to say “yes or no” in certain situations?
This is quite possible, while guaranteeing safety and community living skills, and will have many benefits for your duo.
LETTING YOUR DOG CHOOSE: AN ABSURD IDEA?
HOW TO GIVE YOUR DOG A CHOICE ?
I’m not telling you to let Titou cross the street in front of a car, jump on grandma who is coming into the house or even let him eat anything at the risk of poisoning him.
But giving him choices will have many positive consequences on his behavior.
The notion of control is essential for a living being, even vital.
A dog that has no possibility to make its own decisions risks to shut down and obey without thinking, in a robotic way.
So what are the great benefits of encouraging decision making:
Self-confidence building
More commitment and effort during training
Strengthens the relationship of the human/dog duo
Physical and mental stimulation
Develops the ability to make decisions in the future
So in what situations is it possible to adapt? Here are some examples:
If your household has several animals, it is quite possible to put several baskets in place. This way, they can choose to sleep alone, or in groups, according to their desires. We don’t have to force the dogs to be together all the time, because each one may want and need their own space. It’s a bit like a couple, we may love each other, but that doesn’t mean we want to be with the person 24/24.
During your walks, let the dog choose the path (as far as possible without putting him in danger of course). Give him time to sniff his scent. This is his moment, so let him enjoy it without rushing him.
If Titou decides to spend his walk doing only 200 meters with his nose on the ground, that’s ok. It’s not necessarily necessary to run a marathon every time you go out.
Take a storage bin and put Titou’s different toys in it. He will be free to choose the one he wants if he wants to play during the day.
The idea is the same for the chewing activity, offer him different elements to chew: hoof, trachea, ox skin, etc.
Let the dog choose what he wants to take on a daily basis without influencing him.
Your dog will not become “capricious”, on the contrary, a bond of trust and mutual respect will develop.
And another advantage: You will get to know him better, because each individual is unique!
LETTING YOUR DOG CHOOSE: AN ABSURD IDEA?
THE CHOICE OF THE DOG DURING A TRAINING
The dog has the RIGHT to say “no”, “I need a break”, “I don’t feel ready” or “it’s too hard”.
He will not go to the trouble to annoy us, because this is a human concept (this is anthropomorphism: the tendency to attribute human reactions to animals).
Titou will not do what we ask him to do for various reasons of his own. It is up to us to listen to him and understand why.
A dog that asks for a break that will be respected during a training session will be a dog that will come back more easily with you for the rest of the work.
This will also allow you to observe and analyze the “why” Titou disengaged: Were we too fast in our exercise? Was the session too long compared to the previous time?
This idea of choice is very well known in an increasingly popular approach: Cooperative care (or medical training), which consists of teaching the dog to indicate, through consent positions, if he wants to be handled/treated.
But we will come back to this in a future online training, so stay tuned!
In addition, a dog that is given a choice during a work session will be a dog that is less anxious, will offer different behaviors afterwards, and will easily turn to its human referent. Let’s make the decision to be their guide, the person they can trust, rather than punishing them for no reason.
LETTING YOUR DOG CHOOSE: AN ABSURD IDEA?
THE NOTION OF CHOICE BY RESPECTING THE DOG’S CARESS
We tend to consider the dog as a nice cuddly toy with a big heart. This is not totally wrong, except for the “cuddly” part.
It is very important to understand that Titou, as nice as he is, does not have to accept everything from us.
Many bites could be avoided with a good reading of the dog.
This starts with the calming signals.
These are different mimics and gestural postures that the dog will emit to express his discomfort or to express himself in different situations (games, meeting, etc…).
These signals can be emitted against another dog, animal, but also towards us.
The most known are: licking the nose, yawning, raising a foreleg, turning away the head, panting, etc…
If you want to know more, we recommend this very complete and quick book:
Calming Signals – by Turid Rugaas
After reading this, you will have a better understanding of your canine friend and what he wants to express to you.
But let’s get back to our famous cuddles / caresses.
There is a very simple way to know if the dog appreciates your caress:
Stop touching Titou and wait.
If he comes back with pleasure by pushing you with his head, resume your scratching moment. If he moves away or does not come back, maybe he was undergoing this moment without saying anything.
This does not mean that he does not love you, but that he may want to be quiet for the moment. Observe and adapt to what your dog wants to communicate.
GIVING YOUR DOG A CHOICE: AN ABSURD IDEA?
DEVELOPING A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR DOG THROUGH THE POWER OF CHOICE
We can influence Titou’s choice by reinforcing every good decision he makes.
Positive education will therefore make sense:
Example: We are on a terrace, drinking a coffee. Titou looks at the passers-by in an intrigued way. We take the choice (we as human beings) to say nothing and wait. Titou relaxes his leash and decides to sit down, and… A delicious treat is given to him.
He will quickly understand what behavior to adopt to be rewarded, because the behavior “sit / down / be quiet” will have been valued.
Let’s choose to work together because of his opportunistic side, rather than fighting for results.
By dint of being reinforced, behaviors will even be suggested naturally by the dog: looking at us if a car passes rather than running after it, sitting down before crossing the road, coming back naturally on a regular basis during a walk, waiting calmly for his bowl, etc…
Let’s think about “what would I want my dog to do instead of the annoying behavior?”
In this way, the requests will no longer have the notion of an order from us, but will be proposed in advance by our dog who will seek to please you.
TO LEAVE THE CHOICE TO HIS DOG: AN ABSURD IDEA?
The collaboration between human and dog is a constant work, long, but worth it.
It is up to us not to forget that a dog remains a dog, with his needs and instincts, and we cannot bend him forever to put him in a little box as we see fit. Giving choice does not mean dangerous freedom.
But it is also up to us to make efforts to respect him as an individual, let him scratch, dig holes, roll around on the floor, play with his friends, eat smelly bones, etc.
We ask so much of them already.
Let them be dogs as much as possible.
What have you already put in place to give your dog a choice?
