Behavioral Assessments, and How They're Used

 Behavior problems are known to be the main reasons why guardians surrender their dogs to shelters (Diesel et al 2010, Gates et al 2018, Wells et al 2000). A study “Using Principles from Applied Behavior Analysis to Address an Undesired Behavior: Functional Analysis and Treatment of Jumping Up in Companion Dogs” published in the journal Animals by Sadovsky et al in 2019 showed that using functional analysis of applied behavior analysis is promising in reducing the undesired behavior of dogs jumping up on people.

Anecdotally, I successfully use behavioral assessments of each respective foster dog in my care. In this situation, I observe the functional relations between the behavior of the foster dog and the corresponding environmental events, which is in effect a behavior analysis. I attempt to solve behavior problems by providing antecedents and/or consequences that change the dog’s behavior so they become happy, comfortable, and well-mannered citizens, prepared for their new permanent home.

To do this, first I define the target behavior of interest by observation and interpretation. For my current foster dog, this includes reducing observable, if mild, dog-to-dog resource guarding. Lizzie will freeze and growl if she is chewing a high-value bone and one of my resident dogs approaches.

I also want to reduce her readily observable jumping up on people for what I interpret as attention-seeking. I identify functional relations between the target behavior (jumping up or resource guarding) and its antecedents and consequences and identify an effective intervention for changing the target behavior.

While Lizzie has been with us for only three days, I immediately put jumping up on extinction (withholding all reinforcers that maintain the behavior such as eye contact, talking to her, or touching while the behavior is displayed) and started differentially reinforcing an incompatible behavior of sitting. Lizzie is quickly learning that to get the attention she desires, sitting is the best and fastest approach and yields a great variety of high-value attention and rewards while she is sitting.

For Lizzie’s mild dog-to-dog resource guarding, I have managed her environment so that there are plenty of resources to go around, including comfortable places to rest, and plenty of interesting (but not actual food) chew items. Actual ingestible, higher-value chews are enjoyed in her crate which also reinforces settling comfortably on her own. I feed Lizzie her meals alone in her crate in a separate room and immediately remove all food dishes when feeding is over.

I am implementing a conditioned response when a resident dog approaches Lizzie, she watches me feed them a treat and then receives a treat herself. This is rapidly becoming a conditioned response that when another dog approaches and Lizzie calmly watches them eat a treat, that is a reliable predictor that Lizzie also gets a treat. Instead of “Oh no here comes another dog I must guard what’s mine” the response is “Yay! Another dog is here so that means I get lamb lung, my favorite!”

Eventually this same counter conditioning method will be used while Lizzie has her high-value bone. When other dogs are near, she already has a positive response to their approach, and valuable outcomes continue while close to other dogs. Resource guarding is extinguished because it is never practiced so therefore is never reinforced. Proximity to other dogs in the presence of valuable food items while maintaining calm behavior is reinforced, thus increasing appropriate behavior in the presence of food and other dogs.