If you’re struggling with dog behavior problems like counter surfing, reactivity on walks, running away, chasing, destructive behavior or inappropriate greetings, there’s a simple formula that can help you know what to do in the moment and what to work on next. I call it MRI: Manage The Don’t, Redirect The Dog, Intensify The Do. Instead of focusing on getting your dog to think “don’t,” we’re going to give them clarity about what we actually want them to do.
Imagine having the confidence to tackle any dog training challenge that you come across and know exactly what to do next. There are so many challenges that anyone can have at any one time. If you have a puppy, you may have a completely different set of challenges from somebody who has an older rescue dog, or somebody who has a middle-aged dog they’ve had their whole life.
I’d like you to think of a challenge you’re having with your dog right now, because this simple formula has the potential to change your dog’s behavior and the way you think about dog training.
For Dog Behavior Problems, Think “Do” Rather Than “Don’t”
When we’re dealing with dog behavior problems, it’s easy to focus on one thing: How do I stop my dog from doing that?
But behavior doesn’t happen out of nowhere. There’s always something happening before it and something that happens after it.
In dog training, we call this A, B and C: the antecedent, the behavior and the consequence. In simple terms, that means what happened before, what your dog did, and what happened next.
Take counter surfing. Your dog smells something interesting on the counter, puts their paws up to investigate, and discovers a piece of chicken. The smell helped trigger the behavior, and finding the chicken made investigating the counter worthwhile.
That’s why looking at what happens around a behavior can tell us so much. What was going on at the time? What caught your dog’s attention? And did something happen afterward that might make your dog want to do it again?
Traditionally, when we see a behavior we don’t like, the focus is often on stopping it. The dog jumps, barks or grabs something and the response is, “Don’t do that!”
But “don’t” is an abstract concept. I prefer to teach from a place of concrete, black-and-white “do.”
For every “don’t,” there is something we would rather our dogs do instead. Don’t jump on my guests could become greet my guests with four paws on the floor. Don’t counter surf could become go to your dog bed or stay engaged with me instead of investigating the counter.
That shift from “don’t” to “do” is important because it gives us something clear to train.
As my mentor Bob Bailey always said, “Dog training is simple. It’s not always easy, but it’s simple.”
And that brings us to MRI: a simple way to work out what to do in the moment and what your dog needs you to train next.
What Is Behind Your Dog’s Behavior?
Before we look at MRI in action, consider why the “don’t” might be happening. For me, there are five general categories of what people might label naughty behavior or dog training challenges.
- Stress, anxiety, fear or overwhelm
There is an emotional component to the “don’t.” If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know we deal with the emotional problem before we ever try to tackle the dog training problem.
- Excitement, over-arousal or anticipation
This category is also emotional, and those states can often present in similar ways.
- Tiredness
This is something we often see with puppies. Nipping and some destruction might happen when a puppy is tired.
- Curiosity
This is a biggie because it covers a lot of things. Dogs are curious. A lot of destruction starts when dogs are curious, and counter surfing often starts with curiosity.
- A previous history of reinforcement
Curiosity can lead directly into this category. Things like chasing other animals or chewing your shoes may continue because there is already a history of reinforcement for the “don’t.” The dog has discovered that the behavior pays in some way, so there’s a reason to go back and do it again.
Counter surfing is a great example because it can begin with simple curiosity and very quickly become something that has a reinforcement history. When Kim’s dog, Waffles, was four-and-a-half months old, he gave me the perfect opportunity to see that progression in action.
When Waffles Discovered The Counter
At four-and-a-half months old, Waffles decided to investigate what might be up on the counter. Counter surfing often doesn’t start with, “Hey, there’s something up there. I’m going to see.”
It might start with a cookie crumb on the kitchen floor. Maybe the baby is in the highchair and there’s food that has fallen into the foot tray, or the dishwasher is open and there are plates to lick. The dog’s focus, which started on the kitchen floor, works its way up until it becomes, “I’m not far from the counters. What’s up there?”
Curiosity followed by finding a great treasure leads to a history of reinforcement. And Waffles’ puppy counter surfing gives us a great example of how I use MRI when a “don’t” first appears.
Step 1: Manage The “Don’t”
When I see Waffles with his paws on the counter, the first thing I need to do is manage the “don’t” by stopping the reinforcement.
If I’m a long way away, I might use my positive interrupter. If I’m close enough, my preferred method is to take him by the collar and remove his paws. My puppies already have an unbelievable reinforcement history for collar grabs through the games we’ve played, so this isn’t coming in as punishment. There’s no jerking and there’s no emotion involved. The goal is simply to stop the reinforcement.
If your dog is in an emotional situation, such as reacting on a walk, management looks different. We need to get the dog far enough away from the trigger that they can get to a place where they can be calm, ideally before the reactivity escalates to an overwhelming level.
Step 2: Redirect Your Dog
Once I’ve managed Waffles’ counter surfing, I redirect him away from the counter. I move him away from the kitchen and toward his Hot Zone, which is a dog bed just outside the kitchen where he already has a lot of value for being.
Then I give him the opportunity to reorient and reengage with me.
If your dog can’t reengage, that’s a tell. It means there may not yet be enough reinforcement history built up between you and your dog, and that gives you information about what you need to work on.
If you’re out on the street with a reactive dog, you might need to back away quite a few steps before your dog is at a point where they can refocus. If it’s been an emotional event, I’d love that refocusing to be something simple like a Hand Target.
I’m also careful not to take Waffles away from the counter and immediately give him a cookie. I don’t want to create a behavior chain of “get up on the counter, get a cookie.” He can reorient to me, I might praise him, and then I can move on to intensifying the “do.”
Step 3: Intensify The “Do”
For everything our dogs are doing that we want to stop, there is a better behavior they could be choosing.
For Waffles, one of those “dos” is ItsYerChoice. If I’m playing ItsYerChoice and he goes for the food so that I have to close my hand, that’s a neon light telling me this puppy needs more reinforcement for making a different choice around food. I can make the game easier for him to be successful, so I have more opportunities to reinforce the behavior I want: choosing not to grab the food. That helps him learn that reinforcement is available without needing to steal it.
Another important “do” is his Hot Zone. I don’t like dogs near the counters when food is being prepared, so my dogs have a place just outside the kitchen that has tons of value.
I also make Reinforcement Zone part of the daily routine with my puppies. Initially, I’ll play in the kitchen with nothing on the counters. As I walk through the kitchen, the dog now has a focus. Rather than wondering what’s on the counter, the focus is on how they can earn reinforcement from me.
Notice The Behavior Before It Escalates
Once my puppy understands Reinforcement Zone, I can add attractive-smelling things to the counter. But I don’t wait until my dog leaves Reinforcement Zone and puts their paws up to see what’s there.
I notice the first stage. If the dog becomes distracted and starts air scenting, our reinforcement game comes out of the kitchen and goes back to the Hot Zone. Can we be successful there? Then can we try coming back in?
Dogs are curious and dogs seek reinforcement. Like all of us, we do what’s reinforcing. When you intensify the “do,” be intentional about what your dog really values. Sometimes a game of tug or a release to chase can be more reinforcing than a cookie, particularly when the “don’t” itself has value connected to an instinct such as chasing.
That’s the beauty of MRI. Manage the “don’t,” redirect the dog, intensify the “do.” It tells you what to do in the moment and gives you information about what your training needs next. For every “don’t,” there is a “do,” and that gives us somewhere productive to put our training focus.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dog Behavior Problems
What causes dog behavior problems?
Dog behavior problems can be connected to emotions, over-arousal, tiredness, curiosity or a previous history of reinforcement. Understanding what’s behind the behavior helps you know what to work on next.
How can I help with dog behavior problems without punishment?
Focus on what you want your dog to do. Manage the don’t, redirect your dog, then build value for the behavior you want instead.
How do you stop a dog from counter surfing?
First, stop access to the reinforcement on the counter and redirect your dog away. Then build value for what you want your dog doing instead, such as being in a Hot Zone.
Why does my dog keep repeating unwanted behavior?
Dogs do what’s reinforcing. If a behavior has paid off in the past, your dog has a reason to try it again.
What if my dog’s behavior is caused by fear or anxiety?
If there is an emotional component to the behavior, deal with the emotional problem before trying to tackle the dog training problem. For a reactive dog, that means calmly getting enough distance from the trigger that your dog can return to a place where they can be calm.
Gratitude
Today I’m grateful for the information our dogs give us through their choices. When something doesn’t go the way we’d like, we can use that information to see where our dogs need more understanding and where we need to build more reinforcement history. I’m grateful too for the simplicity of knowing that for every “don’t,” there is a “do,” because that gives us something clear and positive to train.
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