How to Use Your Dog's Unwanted Behaviors to Reinforce the Behaviors You Do Want

Did you know that you can use your dog's unwanted behaviors to your advantage? Premack's Principle states that when a more likely but less desired behavior is paired with a less likely but more desirable behavior, the less likely behavior becomes more likely to occur. Basically, the more likely but less desired behavior can serve as a reward for the less likely but more desired behavior - and therefore increase the occurrence of the current unlikely behavior. A bit confusing, I know, but stick with me and I promise this will all make more sense in just a few minutes.

This means we can use your dog's squirrel chasing to make the act of chasing prey less likely to happen. We can use your dog's affinity for running away from you to strengthen their recall. And, we can use your dog's door-dashing to reinforce their willingness to "wait." Let's take a deeper look at these examples.

Stop Squirrel-Chasing By Chasing Squirrels

Thunder is my rescue Rottweiler and he loves chasing squirrels. He particularly likes to check on known ground squirrel burrows, and he has a vivid and most accurate mental map of where they all are on our regular walking routes.

Thunder would pull on the leash with the full force of a 70-lb. fur-covered freight train, meticulously charted for optimal ground squirrel interception. At first I laughed in bewilderment of Thunder's pure strength and determination, in shock and horror of having lost all authority in the matter, and also in the absurdity of what the scene must have looked like from an onlooker's point of view. That laughter quickly turned into desperation.

Then I learned about Premack's Principle and how to apply it to my seemingly perilous situation. To my surprise it actually worked, and much faster than I had anticipated. Here's how it all came together:

When we got within half a football field's length of the usual squirrel-stalking spots I paid close attention to Thunder's body language. His whole body tensed up, he held his head high with his gaze locked in on the rodents' residence, and his stride changed from leisurely to militant. Before he started pulling with all the relentless might of a black hole, I stopped and firmly held my ground. Then I waited.

I waited for a while (a few minutes, but who's counting), and as soon as Thunder looked at me, or otherwise disengaged from his mission, I said "Okay!" and started running towards the target. He was confused for a split second, but was quickly stoked to be bounding towards the squirrel den with me in tow.

As Thunder caught on to the game I increased the criteria. Once he knew he had to look at me before we could chase down squirrels together, I required him to look at me longer. Then I asked for a "sit" or "come." Then we would run. If he started pulling too hard again, I would stop and wait for him to offer a calmer behavior.

After a few weeks of consistently playing this game, Thunder now usually gets within about 20 feet of the most enticing spot before he pulls on the leash. And it's not nearly as hard of a pull as it once was. On some days and in some spots, we can approach a squirrel hole without any pulling or need for me to get Thunder's attention. Dogs are smart and they do what works for them, usually seeking out the path of least resistance and quickest return. Thunder has figured out that he gets to check out the squirrel holes and trees faster if he stops pulling when he gets to the end of the leash, or stops pulling altogether.

This game has also worked for several of my clients and their dogs' affinity for chasing birds and other prey animals. I would, however, NOT recommend using this method for approaching people, other dogs, other predatory animals, or potentially dangerous prey animals, like javelina.

Is chasing prey animals with your dog ethical? I think of it this way: prey animals are used to running and hiding from predators, and with your dog on a leash, it is highly unlikely that your dog is actually going to catch anything. It's like we're giving the prey animals safe practice of their survival skills. And, if chasing down a few squirrels leads to our dogs not impulsively chasing after them, it's a long-term win for squirrels everywhere.

Send Your Dog Away To Get Them To Come Back to You

This game works really well and really fast - like first time playing it fast. It's the easiest and funnest example I'm sharing today, so I encourage you to give it a try.

The next time you take your dog on a walk, take some treats, a ball, or their favorite toy. This game works best with your dog on a long-leash (10+ feet). I generally don't recommend retractable leashes, but for the purposes of this game it'll work fine enough.

Start by letting your dog explore as they wish (while still leashed of course) in an open space. The first time they come to you or within a few feet of you, say "Good job!" "Yes!" or whatever other marker word you use, or otherwise get your dog's attention, then throw a treat or toy away from you for your dog to go get.

I find that this game works best if you start walking slowly in the opposite direction as you threw the fun item. Chances are your dog will run back to you. When they do, repeat the previous steps: mark, toss, walk. After a few repetitions, you might try standing still and seeing if your dog still runs back to you. They probably will, but if not, start walking away again.

It won't take long for them to learn the game: "I come close to my human, they throw something fun for me to chase and retrieve. This is really fun!" You'll quickly become the most fun and interesting thing in their environment, making this game an excellent way to teach and reinforce recall while out and about.

Technically, this game isn't founded on Premack's Principle as purely as the squirrel-chasing example. It could be argued that the treat or toy is more motivating than running away from you, making general positive reinforcement the learning mechanism. In my experience, though, in many cases the running and chasing are just as (if not more) motivating than the items - I find that dogs more regularly approach their human when the fun items are thrown rather than just given. I invite you to test it out! Try giving your dog a treat or playing with them in your vicinity when they approach rather than throwing the item for them to chase down. You could additionally or alternatively teach your dog a "release" cue or a "go sniff" cue and use that instead of treats or toys.

Allow Your Dog To Dash To Reduce Dashing

If you've made it this far you probably have a good idea of how this one works. I'll give you two variations to try.

The first way to try using Premack's Principle is to have your dog in their harness and on their standard leash. Stand with your dog so that if they were to make a run for the door they wouldn't be able to make it to the threshold; either stand far enough away, or if space is limited shorten the leash. Have another person open the door, and wait for your dog to sit, stand calmly, lie down, or look at you - make the criteria easy for your dog - and then go out the door with them. If you don't have another person to open the door for you, you can contain your dog in another room or secure backyard while you open the door. Then go get your dog on leash and approach the already open front door and wait for the desired behavior. Over time you should be able to get closer to the door and sustain calm behavior longer before allowing your dog to make their dash.

The second way to approach door-dashing combines Premack's Principle and negative punishment. I'll explain. Have your dog suited up for a walk as you would have in the first flavor of this exercise. Stand in between your dog and the door (hold on to that leash), and while facing your dog, reach behind you for the doorknob. Your dog will likely recognize the sound of the doorknob turning and will likely make a movement towards the door. When they do, remove your hand from the doorknob and don't make another attempt to open the door until your dog settles. You should be able to start slowly opening the door before your dog makes a move. Every time they make an advance for the door, close the door. They'll start learning that every time the door opens a little bit and they make a move, the door closes, getting them no closer to going out that door. This is negative punishment - removing something (access/hopes for access to the outdoors) to reduce the likelihood of a behavior (moving towards the door). Once you have the door open enough for you and your dog to comfortably exit and your dog is holding his position for a second or two, allow them to exit the house and go for their walk. This is where negative punishment morphs into Premack's Principle, with dashing out the door being the reward for not making a mad dash before given the okay.

As with everything else, I encourage you to try both methods with your dog to see what works best for them. Some dogs have a hard time settling when they see that front door wide open. Some dogs become frustrated and distressed when the hopes of going outside keep getting taken away. You may also need to implement additional management practices to help keep you and your dog safe while teaching them not to dash out the front door.

Other Applications of Premack's Principle

I personally love Premack's Principle. It's counterintuitive, but so effective. And it often feels like we're playing fun games with our dogs rather than training.

Other applications of Premack's Principle that I've used include allowing a window-barker access to a window when they're quiet, letting a couch potato who shouldn't really be on the couch get on the couch when they get off the couch when asked, and giving a rock-obsessed dog a rock when they drop the rock they have (I quickly switched to positive reinforcement on this one because rocks on dogs' teeth isn't great). In many cases you'll mix Premack's Principle with more general learning methods, like positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and negative punishment (please never ever use positive punishment), or you'll switch from Premack's Principle to one of these other methods.

And before you know it, you and your dog will be speaking the same language and the things that your dog didn't, wouldn't, or couldn't do, like not chasing squirrels on first sight, coming when called, or waiting patiently at an open door, will become routine habit and you'll live happily ever after.