I have a real weakness for some types of food that are not good for me…like Cheetos and yogurt covered nuts. It is why I do not have it in my house. Eating that stuff in large quantity causes my pants to get tighter and can make me bloated the next day.

My parents began keeping a stock of food like that a number of years back, and often the pantry is my first stop when I get there to visit. I know I won’t be happy about that decision the next day. I know the older I get the more difficult it is to keep those extra pounds away. But in the moment, I am not thinking about the long-term consequences. I am thinking about the undeniably delicious taste. My mouth begins salivating even before I walk in the door.

Sure, the next morning I wish I had more will power but I simply don’t. And I had been going there a lot more often before my mom passed, and now to see my dad

However, I’ve come up with a sort of plan to keep this habit under control. These are some of the strategies I have come up with.

1. I allow myself to open the bag of Cheetos, however, instead of putting the bag on the counter and taking pieces directly from the bag, I now also take out a very small container and dump some Cheetos (or other chips) into the bowl. Then I seal back up the back and put it back in the pantry. This way, I only eat the little portion I have allotted for myself.
2. I focus on other things instead of snacking like talking to my dad and sister, helping to prepare dinner (when I am there early enough), or watching tv in the living room.
3. If I am at my parents’ house by myself, when I am in the kitchen, I envision how I will feel the next morning if I eat a lot of that junk food which now can stave off that craving for over doing it.

What does all of this have to do with dog training, you ask. That is a very logical question. A lot actually because Behavior is behavior no matter the species.

First let’s look at the problem behavior….eating too much Junk Food at my dad’s house. In this case, the reinforcement for continuing this behavior – sensory and I am thinking it began with an emotional piece too as I more than likely began this behavior as an emotional crutch during a difficult time (and then it became habit). The punishment came the next morning when I would feel the effects of what I had done.

In this case, the punishment is occurring way too far away from the behavior. It is the consequence that occurs very close to the behavior that is the most salient. The punishment was not even registering in my mind at the time of eating junk food but the immediate reinforcement sure did maintain that behavior.

I see that a lot of this same kind of example with dogs too (and any other species as well). The one that immediately comes to mind is the dog that defecates inside and is reinforced by the relief of pressure in his body, then is punished hours later when his person discovers what he did; or the puppy that tore up a pillow because he was bored and it gave him an activity to do, then is punished when his person sees his handiwork.

All of us, including our pets, are constantly making decisions based upon where the value is for us at any given moment. There are times when, even when the punishment occurs sooner that the animal still continues to do the behavior because the value of the reinforcement way outweighs the potential aversive consequence.

This is why, in any behavior change protocol, preventative strategies need to be in place to keep the animal from practicing (and getting reinforced) for the behavior while you are teaching alternative behaviors…and teaching those alternative behaviors with as high a value of reinforcer.

In the case of my junk food eating at my dad’s house, I came up with strategies that work for me to stop that habit from continuing. If I only have a small bowl filled with Cheetos (and the entire bag is not kept open on the counter), I can not practice over eating them. Over time, this has just become the way it is and I no longer crave having the whole bag out on the counter. Focusing on other things when I am at his house is giving myself an alternative behavior to do instead of the problem behavior. Meanwhile, reminding myself (when needed) of how I would feel the next morning if I over eat, has served well to be an immediate aversive to warding off my temptation to fall backwards.

With your dog (or other type of pet), when he is doing something you do not like, think of the Cheetos. And think about how you can prevent practice of the problem while building value for an acceptable different behavior.

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