12/04/2024
Management is something of a dirty word in animal training. It is often viewed as a cop-out. It's something you do when you can't "train" an animal well enough. And there are a lot of discussions around how “management fails”, often as a means to discredit the use of management in behavior modification strategies. But the truth of the matter is that management is a key first step to behavior change in any species. This includes humans.
When we are trying to make different choices in our own life; such as eating a more balanced, and nutritious diet, the first thing we do is implement management strategies to facilitate those changes. We make sure to give away the foods that we know don’t serve our new goals, or stop buying them from the store. If we are looking to engage in less screen time we set timers and screen time limits on our devices. If we are hoping to spend more time engaged in exercise to benefit our health, we might sign up for a sport, work out classes, or even designate a gym buddy to go with us to encourage us to develop and maintain those habits. We utilize management in our daily lives to help us make positive changes, or maintain certain necessary behaviors. We pack a lunch the night before, so we don’t spend extra money on eating out. We set a budget to help us save for a rainy day, or a vacation. We set up management strategies in our own lives, and never think twice about it as a form of ‘failing to change behavior.’ We absolutely see it as a necessary and fundamental part of behavior change. Hell we have entire careers dedicated to “management.”
So why do we treat management solutions as a less-than option for animals? Why do we expect dogs, horses, or cats to simply change their behavior with out first modifying their environment to facilitate that change?
In learning the sequence of events is : Antecedent. Behavior. Consequence. This refers to how learning occurs with in the brain. That is that the antecedent of a behavior is everything from a cue (“Sit”) to the environment in which it happens, these proceed the behavior (the dog sits) which then prompts the consequence of that behavior (a reinforcer is given for the dog sitting.) In behavior modification the antecedents are often less about verbal or concrete cues, and more about the environment in which certain behaviors occur. A dog who struggles on leash with other dogs present, who over reacts and becomes reactive or presents with aggressive behavior, our first step to helping them is to stop putting them into situations where those things occur. This is management. We alter the environment (we chose to walk at low traffic times, or in areas with minimal others present etc) to better serve the dog’s learning to manage their emotional overload in a more desirable fashion. If we have a cat who becomes aggressive towards new people in his home, the first thing we do is provide that cat with a quiet , comfortable space away from company that he can be in to avoid perfecting his ninja cat attacks on our visitors. This is managing the environment to avoid rehearsing the undesirable behavior. Management is a vital part of behavior change, using it is not a failure to “Train the animal”, it’s a key component to ensure they are able to learn new behavior patterns.
