Dogs are remarkably honest creatures. It’s equally remarkable how often many dog owners lie to their dogs in order to get them to do what they want. And that might not be such a good idea.

There is a lot of talk about “balance” in dog training these days. But balance might not be as easy as just mixing equal parts of rewards and punishment. A lesson from hight school science class shows that equal numbers do not mean equal value. Sometimes balance means finding the right proportions.

Dogs are, in many ways, a reflection of their owner. They live with us and they learn from us. Sometimes they learn a little more than we would like and can use that to get what they want. But in the end, we all get the dog we deserve.

For more than two and a half years I have made a regular practice of sitting down and thinking about dogs. And I share my thoughts in these Canine Nation articles. I look at different perspectives and information. I try to see the larger contexts of our dogs and lifestyles with them. There is a lot to see. So I write.

Watching the recent Summer Olympics was one of those guilty pleasures for me. Sneaking off to catch a look at kayaking or track and field is something I only get a chance to do once every four years. It’s inspiring to see the best athletes in the world competing in their chosen sports, win or lose. To develop skills to a high enough level to compete at the Olympic Games is more than most of us can hope to achieve. But strip away the human drama and the athlete’s story and what you have left is learned behaviour whether it is sprinting, paddling a kayak, or performing the high jump.

Behavioural Science has been around for a long time. Studies of behaviour and learning in animals date back to Edward Thorndike in the late 1800’s. And yet, even with a tremendous body of research behind it, there is still fierce criticism of both Classical and Operant Conditioning. The major criticism of the Behaviourist approach is that it seems to remove “free will” from the equation. The suggestion that behaviour can be manipulated through reinforcement and punishment seems to upset many people.