The Box of Acceptable Behaviors

If you wander anywhere near one of my obedience classes, you eventually hear me talk about the Box of Acceptable Behaviors. I realize this sounds like something out of a Harry Potter book (“suddenly Hermione reached into the Box of Acceptable Behaviors…”), but it’s actually a technique to help your dog learn in a positive way.

The Box of Acceptable Behaviors contains all the behaviors the dog is allowed to do in a certain circumstance. If you require your dog to perform specific behaviors that are beyond his reach (whether due to age or distractions), then you are setting him up to fail. Instead, broaden the list of acceptable behaviors so he can learn and be successful (and get praised!!).

For example: I am at a puppy meeting with my very young puppy or my very dog distracted older pup. If I try to make the puppy maintain a sit/stay in that circumstance, we are guaranteed to fail. I have given him a very small box of acceptable behaviors – in fact, there is only one thing he can do that is correct. And now I have set the puppy up to do nothing but fail. This means that I have to correct the puppy over and over, with no hope of success. All the puppy experiences are corrections and that’s not fun for the dog or me. The puppy doesn’t learn anything because he never achieves the task I set for him. All he really learns is that working with me means lots of collar corrections.

Instead, I will give the pup a larger box of acceptable behaviors. In order to be successful (and get praised!!) the puppy can sit, stand or lay down as long as the leash is loose and he has four on the floor. No lunging or jumping, loose leash, sit-stand-or-lay down. Now he has more opportunities to present me with the correct behavior and be successful (and get praised!!)

In general, the younger the puppy, or the more distracted the puppy, the larger the box of acceptable behaviors (let’s just give it an acronym, shall we? The BOAB. Prounced Bo-Ab. It shall be so.) Circumstances also dictate the size of the box. The BOAB might be smaller at home or in a familiar location, but would need to be enlarged at a new location or in the presence of distractions. You will find that the size of the box waxes and wanes, but as the puppy grows and matures, the box gets smaller and smaller until finally, as a guide dog, it is a very small box indeed.

I highly recommend you build a BOAB for your pup. When you put your pup on leash, know what his acceptable behaviors are. Give your pup a box that is just the right size to challenge him, but ultimately allow him to be successful.

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