Is impulse control a thing?

Let's face it, we are all driven by impulses and controlling those urges can be a bit tricky sometimes...I know the self control it takes to not eat an entire packet of biscuits the instant I open them, or down a whole bottle of gin in one go or to not run over an ex when I see one cross the road. But we do need to curb those desires because as delightful as it is to float through life without a care in the world, it's unrealistic. And possibly illegal at times. 

No really, do dogs learn impulse control?

When it comes to our dogs we do need to exercise some control over them for safety, and teaching them right from wrong is arguably one of the most important things we can teach them. Acquired bite inhibition is one of them, not launching themselves at us and other people, not counter surfing, not escaping the house at every given opportunity, not pulling us until our arms dislocate on walks, not running off and coming home when they feel like it, not eating whatever and where ever takes their fancy...do you see where I am going with this?

Training through simple and enjoyable impulse control (which could arguably be called stimulus control, as effectively we teaching our pet to do or not do something under certain conditions) and boundary training exercises like bananas, or stationing is the foundation to my work. I believe a dog learning self control and good behaviours for himself is better behaved than a dog who obeys commands robot like! 

Shocker! DID SHE JUST SAY THAT? 

Yes. She did. Performing on command/cue/request whatever you want to call IT is great and actually really important, but take away the scaffolding of the command and what is left? Does the dog know how to behave in that context without being told what to do? 

Dogs (and this applies to other species too) won't know that something they are doing is wrong,

They are simply obeying the laws of behaviour and seeing what works and what doesn't to get them access to what they want. So let's say your dog steals food from the worktop while you prepare meals. Does he know this is wrong? Is he being naughty, stubborn or is he simply taking the opportunity to get food without working for it?

I often hear owners say their dog 'knows he has done wrong as he hangs his head in shame when I tell him off for it.' (By the way, it's probably not shame; they are simply reacting to your change in body language)

When asked if they have taught him what to do instead of counter surfing they usually say no. The key thing is to remember is dogs and other animal repeat behaviour that pays them. So surfing the kitchen counter pays your dog because he gets food and attention for doing it. Train him to do something else instead such as hang out in his bed with a stuffed chew toy while you prep the dinner and manage it when you can't supervise directly and prevent rehearsal of the unwanted behaviour until trained. Problem solved. 

So, how do you train learned self control? 

Games and fun times. Just playing with your dog (or cat or rabbit, or horse...) not only creates a social bond between you both but is an instant way of teaching without setting aside extra time, you can this as part of your day.

For instance, waiting for eye contact before giving pup access to something they wants, teaching them to wait by making the toy go limp (dead prey, not much fun to chase) and waiting for them to be calm, wait for eye contact then claiming the toy as yours and waiting for eye contact to restart the fun. How easy is that? Or simply observing for an offered drop of the toy!

I love flirt poles for legal chase outlets and manners, flirt poles are like cat teaser toys only bigger. Susan Garratt's Crate Games are excellent way of teaching impulse control as are the Naughty But Nice videos. Leave it - take it - drop it can all be taught through play with toys (although my preference is the positive “what’s this?!” to leave it), emergency stop and recall both can be taught with play, not jumping up by playing 'four on the floor' (Chirag Patel has an excellent video of this), counter surfing can be modified by playing 'pay away' games and simply paying calm behaviour when you see it all add up to the bigger picture of the pup learning; it's cool to be calm, it pays to not run away. 

Since taking the photo of Koda, I have become less of a fan of teaching dogs to wait around food like this, it can cause frustration and conflict some dogs - frustration is a negative emotional state - so I don't actually teach or recommend it nowadays, nor do I recommend removing food or bowls from a dog or any animal for that matter whilst, eating...you already control everything in your pets lives why give them a bowl of food then insist on taking it back. I've a story about that actually. Once upon a time I was eating dinner with my whole family, I was about 5 I think and my grandad was tease and kept nicking my ice cream. So when i looked around and he had took the whole bowl I got really cross and screamed at him and told hi, to F OFF!!! The moral of that story is put yourself in their shoes.

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