This one has been banging around the inside of my noggin for a while. Impulse Control is just not something I think about with my own dogs. And yet it seems to be a real issue for many people.
Hmmmm. You and I have chatted about this from time to time. I see it as a catch-all phrase for a wide variety of behaviours. Yes, I think it often is about behaviour about which we aren't keen, but I could probably argue that all behaviour is impulse driven.....it's the control piece that I think trips us up.
I don't struggle with its use that much....or rather, I struggle more with the owner/handler's response to it. I think that a dog described as "lacking impulse control" can result in unfortunate consequences.....punitive ones, potentially, or consequences that don't actually give the dog an alternative behaviour. And it can result in folks ignoring an anxiety or fearfulness issue that can be erroneously seen as an "impulse control" thing.
And I know a few dogs, not many thankfully, to have been trained to within an inch of their life....and I see no spontaneity there. No spark. No willingness to just try shit to see what happens.
I get what you're saying. It's that business of "not behaving" as a choice of behaviour strategy. Many times people feel that "Impulse Control" training is just about getting the dog to STOP doing something. There is no real thought given to how to address the underlying impulse or need that produces the behaviour.
So they get into a loop of "see the behaviour-stop the behaviour" without providing an acceptable alternative outlet for that need. In large part, that's why I wanted to write this. Impulse Control should not be thought of as "stopping bad behaviour" so much as "my dog has a need, how can I give him a better way to deal with it?"
Blanche, I agree with your points - some dogs are over-trained and some dogs are anxious/fearful. I think Eric's point was not about ignoring those issues but about putting together a well thought-out training plan for *your* dog rather than rote "impulse control" games which can be found on YouTube
Fair enough. And the flood of "insta-fix" games makes me mental.
I think that we (present company excluded) tend to look for the simplest (i.e. isn't going to require a lot from the owner) answers and that is, I suspect, where a lot of the "impulse control" stuff comes from.
It's simplistic at heart and may be ignoring other issues.
Hmmmm. You and I have chatted about this from time to time. I see it as a catch-all phrase for a wide variety of behaviours. Yes, I think it often is about behaviour about which we aren't keen, but I could probably argue that all behaviour is impulse driven.....it's the control piece that I think trips us up.
I don't struggle with its use that much....or rather, I struggle more with the owner/handler's response to it. I think that a dog described as "lacking impulse control" can result in unfortunate consequences.....punitive ones, potentially, or consequences that don't actually give the dog an alternative behaviour. And it can result in folks ignoring an anxiety or fearfulness issue that can be erroneously seen as an "impulse control" thing.
And I know a few dogs, not many thankfully, to have been trained to within an inch of their life....and I see no spontaneity there. No spark. No willingness to just try shit to see what happens.
I get what you're saying. It's that business of "not behaving" as a choice of behaviour strategy. Many times people feel that "Impulse Control" training is just about getting the dog to STOP doing something. There is no real thought given to how to address the underlying impulse or need that produces the behaviour.
So they get into a loop of "see the behaviour-stop the behaviour" without providing an acceptable alternative outlet for that need. In large part, that's why I wanted to write this. Impulse Control should not be thought of as "stopping bad behaviour" so much as "my dog has a need, how can I give him a better way to deal with it?"
Make sense?
It does. And I agree. I wasn't arguing against your position so much as throwing out what was floating around in what passes for my brain.
Blanche, I agree with your points - some dogs are over-trained and some dogs are anxious/fearful. I think Eric's point was not about ignoring those issues but about putting together a well thought-out training plan for *your* dog rather than rote "impulse control" games which can be found on YouTube
Fair enough. And the flood of "insta-fix" games makes me mental.
I think that we (present company excluded) tend to look for the simplest (i.e. isn't going to require a lot from the owner) answers and that is, I suspect, where a lot of the "impulse control" stuff comes from.
It's simplistic at heart and may be ignoring other issues.