The Mindful Dog

Written by Tina Flores of doggyeinsteinstraining.com. Illustrated by me.

If your dog doesn’t love ALL DOGS, or they used to love all dogs and have stopped loving all dogs, or if they may appear to bark/growl at some dogs on the street, or don’t wish to socialize with all dogs they meet, THEY ARE NORMAL. They don’t need “fixing”.

“Dog Sociability Is A Spectrum” - Written by Miranda Hitchcock of everydogaustin.com, illustrated by me.

I attended the CAAWT 2021 conference (behavior science + animal training) back in July and took some notes for my Behavior blog. As we know, “Positive reinforcement” in dog training refers to giving dogs something they want - eg, delicious food - in order to train and strengthen desired behaviors. 

The Constructional Affection Approach is for dogs who really really want our attention but don’t know how to ask for it “nicely”.

The solution is giving the dog the ATTENTION they want, while at the same time teaching them to ask for and receive this attention without jumping/mouthing/barking/scratching. Using a “conjugate reinforcement schedule” means that we make the reinforcer (tactile affection) always available to them and flowing and changing in magnitude and duration depending on the dog’s behavior. No punishment, no force, no withholding.  (*This approach is NOT for dogs showing signs of fear/aggression/uncertainty. See my notes on C.A.T.)

This poster was created in collaboration with Sean Will and Maasa Nishimuta and is free to share and download. 

https://www.caawt.com/interaction-guidelines-poster

Questions? Get in touch with Sean and Maasa at www.caawt.com

This is an awesome DOG BODY LANGUAGE quiz funded by an Australian city council to promote responsible dog ownership and to educate the public about reading dogs.  With drawings by me :)