When over-management becomes mis-management

I’ve been thinking a lot about Environmental Management.

Its ‘oh so’ important in behaviour modification and a key factor when either working to rehabilitate or train new behaviour. The way we use our environment when working with dogs can completely change the outcome we are hoping to achieve, it can define success or failure or to put not such a positive/negative spin on it, the pace and ability the dog will absorb the new or alternate concepts.

Analyzing the world around us is a key concept in dog training, every consultation should involve it. With a background in business analysis, I can easily say for me, that it is an ingrained process. Much like the ‘Kit’ car from that 80’s series, Knight Rider, I am constantly scanning to ensure the dogs I’m working with are safe and aren’t going to encounter any surprises. I’m looking at which dog is doing what, how its looking as it is approaching, how my clients dog is responding and then making split second decisions as to whether to move forward or back away.

Enter Maple

I have been through this process with my own dog, see ‘Maples Story – How I ruined her and then fixed her’ blog-post, that . This was at a time when she was showing reactivity and discomfort around other dogs. I would see when she wasn’t relaxed in greeting, or the other dog wasn’t being appropriate or when the situation needed some intervention. And so, I did, I intervened, interrupted, I recalled, I encouraged and if I felt an approach wasn’t ok, we got out of Dodge…fast. Essentially, I supported and guided her around this whole process and it helped. It helped her transition back into feeling comfortable around MOST other dogs.

Enter my dilemma

As a Dog Trainer and Behaviour Consultant, I work with a lot of reactive dogs. In fact, I’d hazard a guess that 70% of my cases are reactive dogs. These are dogs who have formed negative associations around other dogs and react aggressively. Dogs who need to be micromanaged in order to help them achieve and progress towards alternate responses in certain situations. I am continually reading the body language of dogs I’m around and when I’m not in consult, I’m watching it, talking about it, reading literary articles, books. It’s second nature. I’m a bonafide behaviour geek however I fear I may be taking it a little too far with my own dog.

I started to notice I was doing the same when I was out with my dog, Maple, walking. I saw myself analyzing every interaction, every body shape, position and movement. Not only was this hard work, I wasn’t exactly taking time to smell the flowers myself let alone pee on them! 😉

If I thought a situation had any risk factor, I’d either talk Maple through it with various cue words or I’d recall her, and we’d continue in another direction.

Then it dawned on me. I was walking around with my apron strings still on, not for my human child but for Maple!

Enter self-reflection

I went home, made a cuppa and found a sunny spot. By micro managing Maple, was I giving her the opportunity to make her own judgement? To practice her own tools for dealing with potentially risky or even just unusual or unexpected situations? Was I managing her interactions so much that she didn’t have a chance to decide herself how she would respond?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking low key management, I’m talking, I have trained a cue for when a dog is approaching, and she hasn’t seen it. I only need to say, ‘heads up’ and she’ll turn and look up from what she’s doing therefore seeing the dog approaching. Yes, it means she’s safe, yes, it means she won’t get a surprise, but does that mean she is really being free?

Am I letting her down because of my own fears?

Enter hindsight

Upon some serious self-reflection and a bit of a blog blab (thanks guys!), sadly I think I am micromanaging my own dog’s interaction with her environment. I need to cut those apron springs and give her the space to make her own reactionary responses, good or bad, and then deal with it. By realizing I was minimizing HER opportunity to make HER own choice, I felt terrible, like I was a dictator, and no one enjoys living with that!

I reached a new awareness. Even when you think you’re doing what’s right to look after your loved ones, sometimes we need to trust their ability to be themselves. If they fall over, we can help them up and support them to try again but as the adage says, ‘it is better to have tried than never to have tried at all’. By not letting her try I’m not letting her grow.

Enter solution

My walks are very different now. They consist of me of trying to keep my gob shut (not easy for me) and let her be her. I would never let an altercation happen if I could help it but by managing EVERY interaction she doesn’t get to practice her own ways of dealing with life’s surprises and given the chance, I’m positive, that most times, she will be way better at it than I will ever be.

Time for me to let her out of her little cocoon to spread her wings and be whoever she is, and that in itself….will be my reward.

I have a feeling she will surprise me…

NB: I do not recommend trying this unless first consulting with a qualified dog trainer or behavioural consultant