The
following is a blog post by Patricia
B. McConnell, PhD, CAAB. McConnell is an applied animal behaviorist who has
been working with, studying, and writing about dogs for over thirty years. Even though this was written nearly 10 years
ago, it is still a great “job description” for a professional dog trainer.
Canine
Dimensions certified dog trainers participate in company-sponsored training
programs throughout the course of their careers. They learn #1 through 5 during
initial training, and they are continually learning #6 through 10 over the
entire course of their careers. The great thing about the dog training
profession is that whether someone has been training dogs for 2 months or 20
years, the learning never stops!
Who Should Treat Behavior Problems in Dogs?
First off, I think that the most
important factors related to who is qualified to treat a behavioral problem is
their KNOWLEDGE and ABILITY, not their degrees or credentials. I am not
dismissing the value of credentials, believe me, I busted my tail for my Ph.D.
and I am very proud of it. I have tremendous respect for others with advanced
credentials, and describe some of the vets that I work with as walking on
water. I also add CAAB after my name with pride, just as I have tremendous respect
for DVMs who are Board Certified in Behavior. But that said, who do you want
helping you rehab a rescue dog who growls at visitors? Any dog trainer? Any
vet? Any CAAB? No... you want someone who understands canine ethology, as
well as operant and classical conditioning, who can read communicative signals
from dogs extremely well. You want someone with experience working with dogs
with behavioral problems, who can refer to a vet when necessary, and someone
you can relate to (and who can relate to you), who does a good job being your
coach, teacher and cheerleader all at the same time. What qualifies someone to
do that? Knowledge and ability, yes? But knowledge of what, and ability to do
what? Here’s some thoughts – not inclusive probably, but good enough to
continue our conversation.
MINIMAL KNOWLEDGE TO WORK WITH
CANINE BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS:
1.
Canine ethology, including the influence of genetics on behavior,
developmental influences (in utero, neonatal, early social development), normal
social structures of dogs in different contexts, communicative signals (these
need to be known in depth, such that a 10 millisecond and 2 millimeter change
of a dog’s lips is clearly noticeable and meaningful to the observer), play
behavior, predatory behavior, agonistic behavior.
2. In-depth knowledge of operant
conditioning (including + and – reinforcement
and punishment, and when they are best used or avoided); in depth knowledge of classical
conditioning, counter classical conditioning and desensitizing
(and the difference between and when to use each one over the other).
3. Experience applying #’s 1 and
2 to behavior problems in dogs, ideally by first learning basic training
and handling.
4. An in-depth understanding of what
behavioral problems are often caused by or correlated with medical problems, including a good working knowledge of structure and
function, basic physiology and what behavioral problems always require
an appointment with a veterinarian.
5. An in-depth understanding of
the most common diagnosis of behavioral problems, what behaviors are
‘symptomatic’ of these problems, and best practices to solve them. This includes
knowing what these labels mean, how useful the labels actually are (not
always) and how to help the client understand what we can and can’t know
about what is motivating their dog.
6. Anyone who wants to work with
dogs with behavioral problems, in my opinion, should be a good trainer with the ability to read a dog and know what he or she is
ready for (or not), knows how to use their actions, including movement and
voice, to influence a dog’s behavior, can read visual signals extremely well
and is able to interpret them correctly (i.e., dog tongue flicks when asked to
lie down). No one should ever give a client instructions about what to teach
their dog, without being able to demonstrate how to do it successfully to the
same dog, in the same context as the clients.
7. Consultants absolutely must have
fantastic social skills with people,
and be able to create a welcome and supportive environment for the client. Specialists
who are great with dogs but not with people are not suited to do behavior
consulting, period. There is no equivalent of surgery in behavioral
treatment and rehab, in which the specialist never has to interact with the
‘patient.’ You’re either really, really good with people, or you’re in the
wrong field. (Could I make it more clear how strongly I feel about this?!) The most common complaint that I hear from
clients is that the trainer/behaviorist/veterinarian was rude/busy/disconnected/shaming
etc. I do not know this for a fact, but
I believe that part of the bit of good I’ve been able to do in the world is
because I like people as much as I like dogs, and I want to help them both.
8. The ability to take all the
knowledge listed above and customize it for each case. Cook book solutions don’t work very often, and I’ve seen
client after client who came to me after being given some handouts and some
generic advice about this or that, which didn’t end up being very helpful.
Being a behavioral consultant means knowing how to present information in a way
that clients can use and adopt.
9. The ability to say, without
hesitation, “I don’t know” and “I was wrong.”
10. The ability to stay connected
with a network of knowledgeable people.
