Do You Know The ABC’s Of Pet Behavior?
NOTE: I have a new pet behavior blog located at http://www.SoMuchPETential.com/blog. Thanks!
(past Hyde Park Living column)
Do you know your ABC’s?
Well that’s a strange question you may be saying to yourself. Isn’t this a pet behavior column?
Yep, it sure is. And the ABC’s I’m talking about are not related to spelling words. They are instead what I have been taught to help me understand why a behavior occurs so that as a pet owner and teacher, I can effectively set my animals up for success by influencing their behavior in the most positive/least intrusive way.
Let me back up. What I really would like for you to get from this column is a basic understanding that blaming an animal for doing anything you don’t want him to do is simply counterproductive. All behavior happens because it is serving a purpose for that animal. We may never know at any given time what our animal is feeling or thinking when he jumps on us or chews up a garden hose but we don’t need to know to still set our animal up to succeed. Using the ABC assessment, we can modify the animal’s environment and modify his behavior without any use of force or punishment.
The science of behavior
Applied behavior analysis is a systematic approach to solving behavior problems by changing the environment in which the behavior occurs. It involves looking at the very specific behavior (such as a bird biting or screaming) and the related environmental context that signals and reinforces it. We ask, “What happened *immediately* prior to the behavior (antecedent) to set the whole ball rolling?“ And, “What happened *immediately* after the behavior to reinforce it (consequence)?“
There you have it…the A (antecedent), B (behavior), and C (consequence)’s.
All too often when our pet is doing something we disapprove of we don’t even realize that we are responsible for reinforcing the very action we don’t want to see. Or in the heat of the moment, we end up punishing our pet – which can have detrimental side effects (the subject for a future column) and serves no teaching function.
Using the ABC assessment tool allows us to consider how we can rearrange the antecedents so that the problem behavior is never set into motion to begin with – and we can set into motion an acceptable behavior instead. Then we can reinforce the heck out of the acceptable behavior. Guess which behavior you’ll see more of?
In my next column I’ll work through a specific example of using the ABC analysis in solving a pet behavior issue.
Ryan Courtade Works With Passion
Ryan and I met a number of months back through mutual friends, and I knew when he spoke of the work he does that he would be a topic for a future blog post.
I have always truly admired people who follow their heart’s passion in life. Ryan is one of those special people.
It was while serving in the military, he told me, that he realized he wanted to do something in life to foster the success of young people. “I saw a lot of men and women come in who weren’t given a fair chance in life. They had a chip on their shoulder with a need to prove themselves,” he recalled. “I want to make sure everyone has a fair chance in life, not just to go to college but to gain life skills also.”
Fast forward to 2010.
It was May of that year when Ryan got word the tax exempt status he had been working so hard to achieve, finally came through. It was official – there became the Northern Kentucky Youth Foundation and at its helm – Ryan as its volunteer executive director.
The Foundation’s focus is on bringing people (volunteers, parents, teachers, students and organizations) in Northern 
Kentucky together to work collaboratively to help young people grow to their full potential. Its goal is to provide positive changes and policies that impact youth and create a better community, learning environment and future.
A youth council consists of 13 students in grades 7 through 11 from Boone, Kenton and Campbell Counties. They meet monthly to discuss issues in their schools and how they can take leadership. Over time, Ryan told me, the council members will create chapters within their own schools to affect positive change.
A new project.
Much of Ryan’s time lately has been on an anti-bullying campaign in schools that will be launched this fall. “We spend so much time focusing on the bully or the victim,” he said. “This campaign will be about empowering those who are watching the bully. As a culture we need to change. If someone is getting picked on, we want people to stand up and not tolerate it.”
The campaign will include a video with discussion guides, a television PSA, a website resource for parents and teachers.
Note To Barnaby About Training With Positive Reinforcement
NOTE: I have a new pet behavior blog located at http://www.SoMuchPETential.com/blog. Thanks!
Dear Barnaby, I appreciate that you want to be my helper in training Chester to wave. But please remember, training with positive reinforcement means only rewarding the CORRECT behavior.
(by the way, Barnaby is my Timneh African Grey)
It’s ‘Good little Things’ Thursday
I’m starting Good Little Things Thursday as a reminder to us all to think about life’s little simple pleasures. They are all around us, we just have to be conscious about noticing and appreciating them.
Here are some ‘Good little Things’ that I am appreciating today:
Last night I shared a night of tons of laughter with my good friend Laura over dinner. Come to think of it, yesterday I also shared time laughing with another friend and received such nice notes from other dear friends. I got such nice comments from my Facebook friends. I appreciate those things so much.
Yesterday I noticed my dwarf cherry tree in its first full season of blooms. What a pretty sight!
Today I learned Graeter’s has a new flavor – cake batter fudge brownie. It doesn’t get much better.
So, what ‘Good little Things’ are you thankful for? It’d be great if you’d like to share them here or post them on the Good Things Going Around Facebook page.
Emilie Buchwald Is The Voice For Those Without One
NOTE: I have a new pet behavior blog located at http://www.SoMuchPETential.com/blog. Thanks!
It is a beautiful heart that can see into the eyes of children their potential for caring and love, and into the souls of animals who have no voice to speak of their needs. Love, safety, nourishment, and play ~ life’s precious gifts that can so often be taken for granted are not always available to everyone. And especially not to some, whose only wrongdoing was being born.
But, what if young, impressionable minds were taught responsibility for those without human language? What if those who are less fortunate are given opportunities? They are given a voice.
Emilie Buchwald is that voice.
And I love her language.
A friend introduced me to his mother-in-law a few weeks back. He had a hunch she and I would have something in common. He was right.
Emilie is the author of two award-winning children’s novels. A poet and a fiction writer, she has taught literature, poetry, and writing for children. She has a Master of Arts in English and a Ph.D. in English Literature, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Minnesota. Emilie is the publisher emeritus and co-founder of Milkweed Editions, the editor or co-editor of 200 books that have won more than 200 awards and distinctions, with a million books in print when she retired in 2003. She has received the McKnight Artist of the Year Award, the Kay Sexton Award for service to Minnesota’s literary community, and, in 2008, the National Book Critic’s Circle Lifetime Achievement Award.
(No, her credentials are not what we have in common although I find writing very fulfilling and have always thought it would be fun to write children’s books ~ but the credentials do make it a little intimidating to be writing about her. )
Actually, it is what Emilie has chosen to pursue with her ‘free time’ now that she is officially ‘retired’ that connects us. In 2006, after a long and accomplished career, she began a new journey. She founded The Gryphon Press to create high-quality children’s picture books whose ultimate purpose is to educate kids about important animal issues and the human-animal connection. (It wasn’t mentioned in her bio but Emilie also happens to be a passionate advocate for those who don’t speak human.)
Her publishing company, The Gryphon Press, is named for the mythical bird that represents fair play and justice. It has sold over 400,000 books to date ~ each one compellingly written and movingly illustrated to engage kids in learning about the responsibilities of dog ownership, pet adoption and overpopulation, getting rid of puppy mills, therapy and service dogs, the intelligence of dogs, dog parks, issues of abuse, and more. Most books have won national awards.
“I love the process of putting an artist and an author together, seeing a book take shape and putting it through production but I wouldn’t have gotten back into this if it wasn’t for an important reason,” she told me. “I was reading blogs and stories about how difficult it is to educate about animals and I just thought, ‘I know how to publish books. I can publish books for kids about this and talk in terms they can understand.’ This is a wonderful way to change things.”
Yes, Emilie, it is!
Take for example, Buddy Unchained, the story of a happily rehomed mixed-breed dog who shares his sad memories of life before being rescued. The book sends a powerful message that caring humans can and do help, and includes resource information for adult readers.
Or Always Blue for Chicu, the daunting story of a smuggled parrot’s neglect and suffering who is ultimately rescued and reunited with his soul mate. The book makes the clear point that a bird 
is a wild animal and formidable pet that can live a very long life and will require significant attention.
Or Are You Ready For Me?, a book (written by Emilie’s daughter, Claire) that helps parents answer the common question ~ “Please, can we get a dog?”. In this story, a dog and puppy at and adoption center ask two children how they will be treated.
Schools and other educational institutions are using The Gryphon Press books and creating lesson plans around them.
“It’s very satisfying to me,” said Emilie. “I’ve had instances where teachers have cried because they haven’t had a way of teaching these kinds of lessons before. I get letters all the time and see kids using our books.”
The only frustration? “Not being able to do more,” Emilie told me.
To that, I’ve got to say…Emilie, you have done A LOT.
And “THANK YOU!”
