Paws for thought
How surfaces affect dog behaviour
It took me a while to realise that there was a common thread running through training two different dogs I am currently working with. And this involved the very nature of the ground they stand on. It then got me thinking about the different textures and temperatures of the ground. Literally, how surfaces affect dog behaviour.
Two dogs, two opposite behaviours
Let’s call them Dog A and B! Dog A enjoys a back garden in their family home. He will happily chase a ball there and sniff around the borders and plant beds, or generally hang out with his humans. Doing all the things a dog might normally do. But he will never toilet there, only on a proper walk further away from the house. He will toilet on the pavement or the grass in the park, he’s not fussy there. But never in their back garden. You can imagine this presents an issue for his humans.
As it does for Dog B, who has the exact opposite behaviour: he will only toilet in his back garden. Never, ever on a walk, no matter how long the walk is, and whatever the terrain. No matter how much he interacts with nature on the walk. As soon as everyone returns from the walk, he will go straight out in the back garden and do his business. So what’s going on here?
Can surfaces really affect dog behaviour?
In both of these cases, I think it does. Because in both cases, the surface of the back garden was the same, and we eliminated other potential causal variables as far as we could. Both gardens had artificial grass. My theory is that they have learned an association with the very surface of those areas, rather than the area itself. The result is two completely opposite behaviours, but that share this one commonality.
I’m not going to debate the pros and cons of artificial grass here. (Though I will say if you are considering it as an option, your dog will thank you for sticking with the real thing.) But my point would be the same for some dogs who have a ‘neurosis’ about hard flooring. To illustrate my point about surfaces, let’s first briefly consider the importance of a dog’s point of contact with the world: their paws.
Dog paw anatomy
We will leave aside the mysterious dew claw and carpal pads which are higher up the limb, and for which no-one for sure knows their original purpose. Apart from being sticky-outy things that are prone to injury! Then we have the claws (for digging and gripping) and of course the main pads, known as digital pads. These pads are made of extra thick skin, because they are subject to a huge amount of load-bearing and wear-and-tear. Despite this, they are extremely sensitive. Apart from allowing the dog to regulate their body temperature (that and their mouths alone), they transmit signals about the surface the dog is standing on. Far more so than our human feet.
So a dog’s pads are an important door through which the world is explored and learned. Dogs can build cognitive associations very quickly based on touch and feel. We tend to focus on their aural and visual triggers – seeing and hearing things that cause a reaction in a dog’s behaviour. The touch aspect is often over-looked. It’s why I often address touch sensitivity when tackling a dog’s behaviour problem that may seem completely unrelated. In essence, dogs can form very powerful associations with the type of ground they stand on.
So what was going on with dog A and B?
Dog A was adopted as an adult so we don’t know about their early toilet training. But it appears they may never have come into contact with plastic grass before. To a dog, this surface is much closer to carpets and rugs than to real grass. It does not smell or feel like grass, but smells and feels of artificial fibres or maybe cleaning products, much like our carpets and rugs. Clearly this dog thought going to the loo in the garden was akin to doing it in the house. So they would only perform their rituals out in the park.
Dog B was raised correctly as a puppy – to toilet outside. They were praised when they did this. I think this dog made a strong association with the feel of the ground, not the context of ‘being outside’. When their paws felt the plastic grass, and they went to the loo, they were praised. Boom, there it is. Quite logical when you think about it.
Both dogs were thinking in a logical way, and trying to do the right behaviour. But it goes to show, this can sometimes have undesired or odd results!
The difference that surface can make
The implications for training other things are significant. When we think about distractions for our dogs, we always think of sight and sound. But the surface you are training or interacting on will also have an effect. Some more so in others. But if a dog is fine with doing a Sit in the living room but not in the kitchen, sometimes it can be because they have a different association with what their paws are telling them. And if you are outside, is the ground hot or cold, rough or smooth? And so on.
A surface won’t cause a behaviour (“the pavement makes him reactive”!) but it can seal the early learning of a behaviour by locking in an association. So surfaces do indeed affect behaviour and mood. Maybe we wouldn’t be so different either if we didn’t wear shoes!