Regret is a pretty human experience, or so we believe so far. Those woulda-coulda-shouldas tend to replay in our big ol’ primate brains, torturing us over things we can’t ever control.

Lucky for dogs, they don’t seem to experience regret, or certainly in the tortuous way that we do. But certainly, they continue to experience the outcomes of interactions with their environments, often times over long periods.

Recently, my dog had a big vocal response to another dog right at the doorway in the vet’s. I knew I shouldn’t have put him in that situation, I had the option to slow things down that I didn’t take. Why oh why did I let it happen?!

Put the blame on me.

Make it make sense

Not 20 minutes before, this same dog was visiting a large chain pet shop where a small breed dog, also visiting, barked and lunged and snarled at him at every glimpse at varying distances.
And this same dog barely glanced his way despite the barking, lunging and snarling.

Not 18 hours later, this same dog pottered along ignoring a sensitive dog who needed some help with proximity with other dogs.
And this same dog gave his new buddy space and time to develop comfort, without social pressure.

The Animal Never Misbehaves

Behaviour functions. But more, behaviour functions under specific conditions. The picture, or context, to the dog, tells them which behaviours result in which outcomes.

No “bad” or “good” behaviours, just functional.

When this same dog snarked, it was a very tight spot, right at the door, the other dog was not restrained and he moved forward into the door as we moved in.

Big dramatic vocalisations function. The other dog is moved out of the way and the path is cleared. Efficiently.

Think about this context:

• at the vet’s where all the stressed and sick dogs are
• tight space, right at the door in a space only the width of the door
• anticipation of pain, stress, separation from their human, feeling ill

For this same dog, he didn’t really show strong stress-related responses. Huh?! He just vocalised, he didn’t lunge or pull forward…he continued on to pass three more dogs also in the waiting room within less than a metre, and had a couple of relatively invasive procedures that he tolerated well, all in the following few minutes.

All he wants to do is to get into the consultation room for treats. He pulls in and immediately engages to play treat chasing and catching games.

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The presence of that obstacle, on top of all those other layers, creates a picture where more urgent responses get results more efficiently.

Behaviour works!

Labels are convenient

But they’re not much more useful than that. We like to label dogs because it reduces our accountability, it organises their responses in ways we find easier to rationalise and most of all, saying that “The dog is —-” puts it on the dog.

When we call this same dog “reactive”, “aggressive”, “over-reactive” or whatever, we are probably not helping that dog, and not representing behaviour accurately.

While behaviour is most certainly in the environment and not in the dog, I do want guardians to feel better and I don’t want them to feel blamed. Loving and living with a dog who show behaviours of concern can be lonely, humiliating, frustrating, upsetting…well, you get the picture…

But because our dogs’ behaviours function for them within the worlds we have created for them, we can adjust those environments so that healthier, safer, more acceptable and appropriate behaviours can function too.

That’s empowering, right?! And that’s why I emphasise this with guardians. With this understanding, we start to view behaviour differently, we start to look at the picture from our dogs’ points of view, we can take actions to adjust those conditions.

Guardians’ behaviour is in the environment too. Our behaviours are reinforced by our dogs’ behaviours and our dogs’ behaviours are reinforced by that of their humans. It’s a loop and it’s all in the environment.

Labels Pathologise

Our labelling of behaviours contributes to pathologising behaviours that function. This can be the focus of some approaches to helping with behaviours of concern, and may even be necessary in relation to some categories of behaviours. Regardless, behaviours function.

When we label, we not only put the focus on behaviour being in the dog (“the dog is x”), we remove focus from where adjustment is needed; we remove focus from the systems, from the environmental conditions where behaviour functions.

Dogs who have learned that vocalising works most efficiently to gain distance and social relief have learned this because they haven’t been able to gain distance in other ways. They’re confined, they’re restrained, they don’t feel able to move away.
The systems. The environmental conditions.

Distance is your friend

Even where guardians are skilled and knowledgeable at helping and supporting their dogs, sometimes, those environmental conditions are not so easy to adjust.

Off-leash, out of control dogs are frequently allowed, and often encouraged, to run up to other dogs who are not comfortable or not interested. This has become a defining issue in dog-culture, the impacts of which are wide-reaching and terribly damaging.

Recently published work, Hart & King, 2024, found what so many guardians report, that other dog handlers allowing their dogs to behave inappropriately is the greatest challenge.

Remember those big ol’ primate brains? They allow us to understand the experience of others, without ever having to share that experience. Yet, many many people relay to me that they never understood the challenges of having a dog showing behaviours of concern until they had their dog.

A lack of understanding of normal canine behaviour informs unrealistic expectations. Not understanding that a dog running up to another uninvited is just as rude and inappropriate as a person doing the same to an unfamiliar person or not understanding that dogs in a tight veterinary context need more space and clear doorways.

These are still environmental issues, systems issues, and most of all, education issues. With our big ol’ primate brains, so capable of regret and empathy, why isn’t this a piece of cake?

Labelling allows for cognitive short cuts and cognitive dissonance. Other skills of our big ol’ primate brains.