The blank slate theory
Related to my last post, there’s this pervasive theory (brought about by Behaviorism) that everything that a dog is doing, every problem (every success) is because of what the human is doing.
Aside from the fact that it’s been scientifically proven to be incorrect, it’s bunk. And it’s a little ego-centric, if you ask me. (Or if you read my blog, which is practically the same as asking me. XD)
“Uh,” I hear you cry. “Why is it ego-centric?”
It assumes every response the dog ever has is because of something the owner did. In other words, the dog does nothing that it wasn’t taught by the owner, which means if a human wasn’t there to teach it, it wouldn’t do anything.
Okay, that’s an over-statement. But c’mon. All you have to do is look at an owner who has more than one dog, and it’s clear that dogs are each different beings. Otherwise the two dogs would act nearly exactly the same.
Now, do owners influence dogs? Of course! Sometimes heavily. If you look at multiple dogs that you’ve owned, and they all have the same behaviors (good or bad) that’s probably you.
None of my dogs have been good at stay. I can’t blame the dog: the related factor is me.
All of my dogs have given me great trust. The related factor there is also me.
Lily was stubborn. Cash was submissive. Doc easily went manic. Scout is calm. I’m sure I’ve had some influence, as my own life and training techniques have changed, but let’s be honest: that’s mostly the dogs.
“If your dog is anxious, you’re making it anxious.” Sure, IF your dog is aware of you. If they’re always hyper-focused, then your behavior might be adding to the problem, but it’s not the sole problem: you dog isn’t even aware of you.
“The dog can feel your tension down the leash.” Yes. IF they’re aware of the tension on the leash. (There is a subconscious component here: if their muscles are tense because they’re pulling, they can subconsciously attribute that to whatever they’re looking at. But they’re not thinking, “Dad is tense, I’ll be tense too,” if they aren’t aware that Dad is tense.)
If you adopt a dog and it’s aggressive toward other dogs, clearly you didn’t cause that, and their old owner isn’t there to be causing it anymore. It’s the dog’s issue.
Yes, we certainly do things that encourage bad behavior (or simply don’t discourage bad behavior). And there’s tons of things owners can do to help resolve bad behavior, encourage good behavior, and so on. But let’s stop pretending that our dogs wouldn’t have issues if it wasn’t for us. Our dogs are their own beings. Our job is to help them, not claim creation of their entire being.
