Cultural Fog & Labels. What’s in a Construct?

Day FOUR-21 Day Positive Training Kickstart Challenge

Have you ever been present when a person’s dog doesn’t do as asked & then heard someone say, “Oh, he’s stubborn!” Or, “My dog’s not very smart!” Or “He’s just trying to be dominant!” The words “stubborn,” “smart,” or “dominant” are labels. They are what is know as “constructs” that folks use to describe behavior. The problem is that behavior isn’t what a learner IS, but rather what a learner DOES. In other words, a behavior is a VERB!

Using labels randomly to describe behaviors can be counter productive as we need to take into consideration & be mindful of the fact that “stubborn” to you may look like: my dog goes about her business without doing what I’m asking. Whereas “stubborn” to someone else may look like: my dog is watching me & just staring at me without seeming to understand.

ACTION: Try to think of a label that you might use to describe your dog’s activity & then clarify the observable behaviors that explain exactly what that looks like: (example: My dog is scared: looks like “tail tucked, shaking, licking her lips”).

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