The role of management in dog behaviour training

The role of management in dog behaviour training is so often understated or shrugged off as avoidance. But there are some excellent reasons why it should take centre stage in your dog behaviour modification plan. In this blog, I’ll talk you through why it’s not cheating at all. And why it could make the difference between success and failure for you and your dog.

If you haven’t heard of it, management happens when you adapt something in the environment in order to change your dogs behaviour or response to it. It’s a way of preventing your dog from doing something you’d rather they didn’t. It could be something simple like removing the shoes that your puppy likes to chew. Or it could involve using a long line, closing the curtains so they can’t see passers-by, getting a lockable bin, introducing a muzzle to prevent scavenging, removing a rug, installing a stair gate, getting a crate, or even walking at a different park.

Set them up to succeed

When you embark on a behaviour training programme with your dog he has no idea what you want from him. As far as he is concerned there was nothing wrong with things the way they were. In fact, his previous habits were probably quite rewarding to him, so we need to help him learn a new, more rewarding way to behave instead. Preventing him from rehearsing old behaviours mean they stop being rewarded, while you create a new (more preferable) habit that he will eventually revert to instead.

Also, when we use management we aren’t putting our dog in a situation they aren’t ready for. A good example of this is the recall. If they haven’t fully learned a recall yet, letting them off lead too soon could mean they make mistakes. Using a long line will stop this from happening. Ignoring recall can be particularly rewarding, as often the dog has chosen to play with other dogs or chase something they shouldn’t. But even extra sniff time can be rewarding, so the dog quickly learns that running off is fun.

More control also means faster progress

Using management to ensure your dog gets things right every time, means you make faster progress too. Lets think about the use of a dog crate in puppy toilet training. The crate encourages the puppy to hold onto their pee for longer. When you let them out of their crate, they will need to go. If you rush them to their pee spot straight away, you are almost guaranteed to have rewardable success, which will encourage that choice in the future. Without the crate, the pup would probably have just gone in the kitchen, when you take them outside when you get home, the pup no longer needs to go so they just muck about in the garden. Here they normalised toilet in the house and they get to play in the garden as soon as you get home – not very useful! So we can see how when mistakes happen, it prevents progress and can even slow things down. Check out my video on the 80:20 rule (below) for more about how that works.

Encourages reward based training

Using management encourages you to be more proactive in your approach too. When you plan ahead, you give your dog the best chance of success. This means more opportunity to reward your dogs lovely new behaviour choices. When you don’t plan, the chances of your dog making an error are high, and the temptation to try to change an unwanted behaviour, that is already in progress, is high. Then, if you try to use rewarding things like treats and toys, you are in danger of rewarding the wrong thing, which is no good either. So the alternative is to try an aversive method such as shouting, jerking the lead, or an eCollar, worse!

In the example of reactive behaviour, management might look like making space between your dog and his trigger. When you plan ahead and manage the space you are supporting him to stay calm and earn a treat. If you get too close and the reactive behaviour has already started, you are more likely to revert to lead jerking and shouting to try to get them to stop. We can see how prevention and management is a million times better as it leads to something reward worthy!

Less stressful for us, and them

Constantly trying to manage a dogs behaviour while temptation surrounds them is hard work. You might have noticed!! If a dog steals your glasses, for example, you could spend your whole day chasing and retrieving them, and getting nowhere!

It’s not just stress, any emotion can be eased by management. If a dog is afraid of other dogs, he’ll cope better when he is far away compared to when they are up close. Managing this space means you can start the process of teaching a new response to a trigger without having to put your dog in a frightening situation.

Separation anxiety can be managed by only leaving a dog alone for very short periods of time. Managing that time carefully means your dog won’t need to experience severe anxiety while you work through the training process. For some dogs, this could mean starting very small – maybe just moving towards a door, or going out for a few moments, is enough.

Prevents rehearsal of unwanted behaviours

When a dog practises any behaviour they get better at it and it becomes a deeper habit. When they are able to practise old habits as often as you try to practise new ones you will not win. A good example of this is when a dog barks out the window while you are out. If the dog spends three hours barking at passers-by, and you come home and spend 30 minutes doing training, you’ll not get anywhere. The unwanted behaviour will become a habit faster than your preferred behaviour. Closing the curtains, or moving your dog to a different room while you are out means that the only time your dog has opportunity is when you are training.

Offers a detox

Management has an extra benefit for your dog. Using management to avoid situations give the brain a break and allows it to unwind a bit. This is particularly important when a dog is suffering with anxiety, but can benefit any situation. For the anxious dog, it allows them to relax and feel safe and protected for a while, which is fantastic for building confidence. Constant exposure to things that frighten a dog will only reinforce that fear, and could even push them to fear situations and places that are similar. If a dog even suspects they might encounter something that scares them, they will in high alert for it, and this is what makes fear grow. Having a detox is a good way to undo this.

Management vs Training?

If management prevents a situation from happening, training changes the way a dog behaves. When we train our dogs we teach them the response we want. If we tried to do this while our dog is full of emotion, or while temptation is within easy reach, we would be working our backsides off and getting nowhere fast. Likewise, if we simply managed the environment, and did nothing to change the behaviour, your dog would probably just revert to old habits as soon as they could.

Doing both means that, in time, your dog will make better choices for themselves, whatever the situation! It also means, that you can eventually stop! Choosing one or the other means you will always be doing most of the work.