Canine Sports Productions: Bear and the Bed

Bear and the Bed
Janet Lewis

Although all conditioned reinforcers are initially meaningless to the dog, if paired often enough with a primary reinforcer, they can be used to reinforce the same kinds of behaviors the primary ones do. Conditioned reinforcers can be negative or positive. Order Smart Trainers: Brilliant Dogs by Janet Lewis.

One night several years ago, I was sitting on my bed watching television. Bear was lying on the bed beside me, Coe and Mikey were lying beside it, and Lark was under it. I soon became fascinated by what Bear was doing. Dominant to the end, she had assumed the role of queen of the hill, and whenever Kate tried to walk by the bed, moving between one napping place under the laundry room sink and the other, the bathtub (Border Collies are very weird), Bear would leap from the bed and drive little Kate back to the laundry room.

I decided, as leader of the pack, to put an end to Bear's harassment and waited for Kate's next appearance. As soon as her nose appeared around the corner of the door, Bear tensed to jump. I caught her just as she launched herself and pulled her back onto the bed. "No!" I said sternly. "Leave her alone." Bear growled - AT ME! So I shook my finger at her, and she growled again. I could not permit this challenge, so I took Bear by the collar and forced her over on her back (a position of submission). Lark, always the diplomat, left the room. But Coe and Mikey, sensing what promised to be a new version of Saturday night fights, raced over to the bed and began barking hysterically. Just when I had Bear upside down, Kate sensed her opportunity and leapt onto the bed and attacked Bear. There I was, sitting on the bed holding one dog down and pushing another away. Two other dogs were bouncing and barking on the floor. Then the bed broke!

Bear and I and the bed hit the floor together. Afterward, I noticed a strange phenomenon. Not only was Bear much more respectful of my authority, she approached the bed with great care. To this day, if I am in the bedroom and Bear is misbehaving, all I need do is to point to the bed and say, "Do you want to get up here with me?" and Bear abandons her aggression. I don't need to correct her—the bed, my serendipitous conditioned reinforcer, does just fine.