Clean Run - April 2017 - 30

Throughout my time in the sport of dog agility, I have taken a passionate and competitive approach
to training and competing with my dogs. Lessons in mental attitude and mental game have since
followed, and continue to greet me at both expected and unexpected moments. Often these are lessons in failure,
frustration, success, mental toughness, and mental vulnerability.

Sense of Self
Science and Story
By Tori Self

As humans interacting with another
species it can be very easy-and very rewarding-to address the human-canine
relationship from what we often call the
"heart" rather than the "mind." Many of
us (myself included) have formulated
philosophies around concepts of the
heart, emphasizing emotion and feeling
rather than cold, hard science. We frequently anthropomorphize our animals,
giving them human characteristics and
traits. But what about the facts? Research tells us that we often err when we
listen to our "gut" rather than the data,
or when we formulate a story rather
than staying impartial. Is this problematic for us as dog trainers, owners, and
instructors? Or is it possible there is
some benefit to following intuition? Perhaps it is the case that story and science
aren't really all that different.
On the one hand it is not uncommon
for society to overlook or neglect scientific values. Pseudoscience abounds. All
too frequently claims are made without
scientific evidence to back them up, and
often our most important decisions are
made based on these claims. This can
lead to inconsistencies, stagnation, and
a lack of answers or direction for future
endeavors. Neglecting a scientific approach does not often result in effective
progress. Yet scientific thinking is also
a cornerstone of today's world. Direct
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observation, in depth analysis, keeping
detailed records, these are all procedures
that again and again result in success.
When it comes to working with animals
we should remember there is value in
objectivity when taking a scientific approach to communication and training.
We must repeatedly review goals and
objectives, constantly analyzing the best
and most efficient procedures. But to get
the most out of our time with our animals, our relationships, we should also
consider the value of the story.

Deﬁning Behavior and
Behavioral Function
When we talk about dog training what
we're talking about is behavior, both
human and canine. We can break the
concept of behavior down into two main
categories: public and private events,
also known as overt and covert behaviors, respectively. Overt behavior is that
which has the potential to be observed
directly, such as a dog barking or a
person engaging a dog in play. Covert
behavior occurs within an organism and
is not directly observable by others. This
may involve events conceptualized as
thoughts or feelings.
The science tells us that behavior is
behavior, be it directly observable by
others (overt) or not (covert). So why

the distinction? We can use overt behavior to help us predict the likelihood
of an individual engaging in a specific
response in the future, or to uncover
general laws of behavior. This is because
we can readily access overt behaviors,
manipulating stimuli that come before
and after, and measuring levels of responding. Conversely, covert behaviors
are concealed in such a way that we
can't access them; only the individual
emitting the behavior can observe it.
This means we're limited in the ways in
which we can measure and record covert responses.
However, covert behaviors are just as
real as overt behaviors; both events are
still happening, it is simply the ability to
observe that varies. Unfortunately because of this we often make one of two
major mistakes when addressing covert
responses in animals:
1. We give covert behavior too
much credit.
2. We don't give it enough credit.
Giving covert responses too much credit
is often demonstrated in our ability to
anthropomorphize our dogs. This can
be fun and harmless, but sometimes
inadvertently results in misreading the
cause of behavior. I have come upon
many dog agility competitors with
Clean Run | April 17

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - April 2017