Occum's Razor

A well established principle in the study of animal behavior is that of parsimony.  Also known as Occum’s Razor, it mandates choosing the simplest explanation for a behavior that accounts for the facts, even if more complicated options are available. 

I need to put this in my memory bank or possibly tattoo it to my forehead.  The more you understand about dogs or people for that matter the more you need to remember this simple principle.  How often I have seen myself and others jump to a complicated explanation for the simplest thing.  So worried about what was the dogs motivation, what were the precipitating facts, etc.  While context is important,of course, it can sometimes muddy the waters.  Sometimes dogs do stuff just because they are dogs.  The same reason men do things we never understand, they are men.

This stuck me as especially poignant, given my struggles with Phalen.  Sometimes, he is just a dog, doing what dog's do.  I may not like it, it may not be what my mommy brain wants to process, but it is what it is.  He is a dog and will do dog stuff.  I tell my clients that all of the time, somehow I forgot to learn the lesson myself.  Do as I say, not as I do.  

I had gone off the deep end this week trying to figure out why Phalen had attacked the sheep.  I thought that he didn't respect me, that God forbid that jackass at the training seminar was right, that all of my hopes and dreams for Phalen and I were gone.  Yes, I have a flair for the dramatic.  But even with my dramatic tendencies, I was devastated.  My confidence had been shaken and I even considered no longer training.  I was sure I was far to unqualified to be teaching anything to anyone about dogs, when I couldn't even help my own.  I was actually considering giving up, something I don't do lightly.  My Commodore 64 brain was on major overload.

Occum's Razor would force me to know that Phalen was being a predator in a pen with prey.  Hmm, wonder what happens in that scenario.....Do I still need to take my part of the responsibility, of course.  Better management and better skills could have made for a very different scenario.  I can take care of those things and have already begun the process.  I can help Phalen with other skills by taking it slow, but always being aware that he is a predator and the sheep are prey.  

I will look at behavior differently, and stop apologizing when my behavior friends come up with a complicated explanation and I "dumb it down".  Turns out, it's not so dumb afterall.

Husbands Are Harder to Train Than Dogs

Give me a crazy, or frightened dog any day!  I would much rather work with them than try to train a husband.  There is something about the opposable  thumbs on the husbands that makes them think they know everything.  I have them too, but I don't know everything!  Maybe I am blaming the wrong body part!  Whatever it is, they are very difficult to train. I have tried modeling behavior, explaining behavior, reinforcing for the behavior that I like and yet the retention of the skills seems to be lacking.  Let me rephrase that, he knows what to do, he chooses not to do it.

My hubby is great with the dogs most  of the time, but recently, he has begun  slipping into laziness.  Yelling seems to be his first instinct.  Really yelling?  We are not a yelling family!  He would never even think about yelling at me, of course, he has learned that it really does not achieve the desired results.  I come from a family of yellers, which is why I don't.  If I feel the need to raise my voice, everyone better run for cover.  It's what makes it so effective.  I can count on one hand the number of times per year that I have to raise my voice on a school bus full of middle school students. I prefer to ask nicely, reward the behavior that I like and have very clear boundaries  I train and live my life the same way.

Ron comes from a very passionate Polish family.  They all yell all the time and they don't even know it.  I'm sure he doesn't realize he is doing it, because he looks so confused when I confront him.  He looks at me like I am from mars and that I am deranged.  I calmly explain that he is indeed screeching at the dogs and that none of us appreciate it.  He is baffled.  I again explain our way of training and remind him of our principles as intelligent,evolved, sane, human beings.  If he still doesn't get it, I am sometimes forced to use the ultimate weapon.  Tears.  There I said it, I am not ashamed.  The tears get his attention and he again returns to the sane loving man that I married.

He may need a behavior plan, or medication, or maybe he just needs a time out.  Maybe I should send him to a workshop, a little Suzanne to straighten him out.  Or maybe, I will remember that dog training is not his chosen profession, cut him a little slack and be thankful that he loves me and the dogs.  I think I like the last plan best but maybe I will lace it with a few chocolate chip cookies or kisses to as a reward for behavior I like.