This post could be sub-titled “No, a tired dog is not always a good dog,” or alternatively, “Why We Choose Pasta with Cream Sauce Over Vegetable Soup on a Difficult Day.” Okay, maybe it’s just me that makes poor decisions about lunch when I’m exhausted, but this research suggests that I, along my dogs, are not alone.
A study by Miller et. al. followed up on earlier work about the effect of self-control on risk taking and decision making. (“Too dog tired to avoid danger: Self-control depletion in canines increases behavioral approach toward an aggressive threat.” Psych Bull Rev 2012 19:535-540.) Here’s the background to this study: Multiple studies on humans have found that we appear to have a limited amount of self-control (A shock to us all, no doubt). It is as though we have a bank account of energy devoted to self-control and once it is depleted, we are unable to spend any more. For example, people told to control their impulse to eat fresh cookies (versus radishes) gave up faster on attempting to solve a difficult puzzle. Subjects who were asked to spend some of their “self control savings” were more likely to take risks and put themselves in dangerous situations more than those who had not “used up” some of their self-control energy.
This tendency is not just limited to a particular type of task. Rather, it is “domain general,” meaning self control on one task effects behavior in a variety of other types of tasks. Thus, as in the example above, the energy exerted to not eat cookies affects the energy available to solve a puzzle, even though one task is related to food and another to problem solving.
Neither is this tendency limited to people. Miller et. al. found in 2010 that dogs asked to control physical movements also gave up sooner when later asked to solve a puzzle task than dogs who had not. For this study, they asked if dogs were more likely, as are humans, to take more risks after a session of “self-control depletion.”
I’ll quickly summarize the methods and results here, and then add a discussion about what I think are the practical implications. Ten dogs were asked to either maintain a sit/stay while an “electronic hamster” buzzed around the room, or to be caged with no need for self-control. Each dog was its own control, meaning that each dog experienced both conditions, an excellent decision here given the small sample size and the question being asked. Which condition happened first was randomly balanced to eliminate order effects. After a 10 minute period of either being on a Sit/Stay or in a crate, the dogs were escorted out of the room briefly, while a highly reactive dog was put into a cage at the back of the room. The subject dog was brought back in and the researchers scored how close the subject dogs got to an unfamiliar dog barking and growling at the subject dogs. (The authors managed safety well, by putting a pen around the crate in which the barking and growling dog was kept, but I’ll comment about the effect on the “stimulus” dog in a minute.)
As expected, the data show a significant difference in time spent close to the aggressive dog depending on the dog’s experience just before. After the dogs maintained a Sit/Stay, (if they broke their owner returned to the room and had them Sit/Stay again), they spent more time close to the threatening dog than when they had been left in a crate for the same amount of time. The conclusion is that, like people, dogs take more risks and have less impulse control if they have depleted their stores of self control. This is the kind of result that confirms my experience and world view: that dogs, like people, have a limited amount of energy to spend on self control at any given time. I’ve seen what I think are the consequences of this over and over with my client load: Dogs, for example, who were “angels” all day long at the picnic and then finally bit someone after 5 hours of not stealing hot dogs off the table at the park. I suspect it also has a profound effect of dogs on leashes, because even though the leash is a constraint, the dog still has to exert a lot of self control to not explore the environment as he or she chooses.
However, (and there is always a “however” in science!), there is one aspect of the methodology that might make the results a bit less clear than one would hope. In the “Sit/Stay” condition, a mechanical toy was released that buzzed around the room, thus forcing the dogs to exert a great deal of self-control to maintain their stays. All good. But in the “Crated” condition, the mechanical toy did not move around the room. The authors stated that their pilot studies found that if the toy was turned on, it caused some of the crated dogs to “whine, circle and paw.” I’m unclear as to why this would be a problem: surely dogs allowed to whine, circle or paw would be dogs NOT using energy on self control. As is, one could argue that the study was comparing levels of arousal as much as energy exerted on self control. I’ll email the authors about this and let you know what I find.) [Note added after Dr. Miller herself responded in the comment section: You are best off reading her comments yourself, which I found extremely interesting, but after reading her response I am more comfortable with the conditions as designed in the experiment. Bottom line is that in one condition dogs had to exhibit a great deal of self control, and in the other condition, they did not. That was the basis of the study, and I found her explanation compelling. Again, read the comments for an extremely interesting discussion about all this if you are especially interested in the topic.]
What do you think? I’d love to hear your thought not just about the study and the two conditions, but whether its conclusions fit your experience. Although I question some aspects of the methodology, my experience suggests to me that “self-control depletion” is an important factor in behavior. That is true as much for our dogs as it is for us: Haven’t you found yourself, as a dog owner or trainer, making poor choices after depleting your bank account of self control? We tend to think of it as just “being tired,” but I think recognizing that “tired” has many nuances might be extremely helpful. In addition, “tired” can mean so many things: Well exercised dogs are very often better behaved dogs, but dogs over tired either physically or emotionally are not, right? I look forward to your thoughts and experiences, and I’ll be thinking all weekend about how this perspective might affect the individuals at both ends of the leash. (I should also mention, briefly, that I wish the study could have been done without subjecting the stimulus dog to being confined in a crate while clearly uncomfortable around other dogs. But I do understand their desire to create a realistic context of “risk” for the dogs, I just wish it could have been a different one.)
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: Argh! This is a tough time for people who like to be outdoors. The temperature isn’t too bad (was about 12 when I got up, not too bad for this time of year, and it’s been over freezing during the day for much of the week), but it is extremely difficult to walk anywhere. Either it is ice suitable for a skating rink, or snow that was half-melted by rain and then re-frozen into a hard, frosting-like surface that is hell on your feet and exhausting to walk in. Willie and I both have a serious case of cabin fever, so I am going back to seeing if he can learn words as nouns instead of objects in the evening hours. Tootsie is happy to cuddle on the couch, and the sheep and the cats seem to be doing just fine.
The good news is that there is a lot to look forward to. Not too long from now students from the Small Ruminant Club at the UW Vet School are coming out to learn how to do ultrasound pregnancy checks on sheep. My flock “volunteered,” they just don’t know it yet. We’ve done this several years in a row, and after the work in the barn we come into the farmhouse for chili, salad, bread and pie, and have a great time sharing our love of animals and interest in their health. Then I leave on the 28th for San Diego for the Interdisciplinary Forum on Applied Animal Behavior, where I will glory in flowers and greenery, 2 days of intellectual stimulation and, if things go as usual, laughing so hard my ribs begin to hurt. And this Sunday we’re going to see West Side Story, so cabin fever is beginning to be relieved.
More good news is that, after endless days of clouds, rain, and sleet, the sun has come out and it is such a lovely thing to see. It felt like a dear friend coming home that I had missed. Here’s one of the ewes, Solo, highlighted by the morning sun when I went out to check on the flock earlier today. I always feel a bit sorry for her, she came with 2 others from another farm and after they left was clearly the “odd girl out” in the flock. But gradually she is being assimilated, and I hope she feels more at home here. I’m curious to see how her lambs are (due April lst, there’s another thing to look forward to!)
Leonard Cecil says
Hello!
Very interesting. I have a study, also from Miller et al, also from 2010 that links depletion of glucose in the brain to dwindling self-control. The study was carried out in dogs apparently due to ethical considerations, because the question actually had to do with self-control in human children. Be that as it may, the did measurements of glucose levels in the brain before the testing and then when self-control was no longer possible and found that the levels were markedly lower, given glucose though, the dogs could exhibit it again.
I’ve also heard reports of some Swiss and German trainers who advise clients of dogs with self-control deficiencies, to give their dogs grape-suger tablets readily available in health food stores here. There was some concern about the safety of grape-glucose though. I have no idea about that.
In any case, I have such a dog, a 5 year old Flat-Coated Retriever and we spent about 7 months working on self-control, at the time using Look At Me and what also turned out to be BAT for frustrated dogs before I’d heard of BAT. When we were about 80% through the training and she was able to do very well if I was able to start our game early enough – meaning at a great enough distance to the other dog, we went on vacation to western France. We had 4 dog-dog encounters in less than 5 minutes. She did really well with the first three, being able to stay with me until released. But she totally “lost it” with the fourth. Then I stumbled on this study right after and it was a light bulb moment, looking back at many similar situations.
And interestingly enough my client now are pretty well split between fear related issues and frustration issues or those that could develop into frustration with suppressive methods. It’s just in these later cases, where we have to be careful with the balance between self-control exercises and romp-time. I wonder if there has been any studies on that. Regenerative time needed between such working sessions….. I’m also wondering how long the change from carbohydrates to glucose needs in the blood, so that the brain is supplied again and if there is some correlation.
Amy says
I wonder if the depleted bank of self control is why my dog got kicked out of daycare. Towards the end she had two incidents which led to her dismissal. According to the daycare, the first incident took place when she was attempting to avoid the other dogs by placing herself behind the worker, and snapped at a dog that would not leave her alone. During the second incident, a dog approached while my dog was being petted by the worker, and my dog again snapped at the second dog.
She had lasted at daycare going three times a week for about two years, and I think after the two years in additional age, she no longer had enough energy to maintain control around the other dogs after being stimulated all day. Perhaps if I had realized this earlier, I could have cut daycare down to one or two days to allow her more rest, but now of course she is no longer welcome.
Ravana says
I know I’m more likely to bite when I’ve had to behave myself all day.
Monique Feyrecilde says
Yes to all of the above 🙂
I make riskier decisions when I’m exhausted and I observe this over and over in dogs. Mental fatigue is an important factor in how much self-control we have, at least based on my casual observations.
I think most people can relate to the puppy who is tired but not yet asleep, wandering around stealing items, being mouthy, playing too rough or chewing the leg of the dining room table.
Helping these guys learn to rest when they are tired rather than remaining active but operating well below target functionality is a good idea, IMHE. Pet owners who come to puppy class can almost all relate to a tired child making bad choices, but it had never occurred to them their tired puppy could be similar. Great opportunity for educating families about how to avoid some consistently frustrating behaviors.
Chris Willis says
Yes! I learned this the hard way. Early in my life with my rescued JRT, Rockett, I took her to a doggy daycare so I could return to the office. I fully expected her to be worn out and sleep off the rest of the afternoon, like she would have at home. When we arrived in her crate, she engaged in a barking frenzy with a small Pom who she had never interacted with prior. I handed the crate to the owner and told her to be extra careful since Rockett had started exhibiting some dog/dog aggression with small dogs. The owner brushed that off, since she “knew” Rockett, and there had never been a prior issue. She set the crate on the floor with all the other dogs frenzied around the door, and proceeded to open the crate. It was like watching a horror movie in slow motion as Rockett bolted out of the crate and laid into the Pom. In the end, I accepted responsiblity and paid the vet bill – although the whole thing was handled badly on the part of the facility owner, we were all very fortunate that the Pom was left with only punctures and bruised ribs. It all could have ended much worse.
When I told the trainer, he likened it to shaking up a bottle of soda and popping open the lid. Work Rockett hard all afternoon, plunk her in a crate, shake her up, then watch her explode.
I am now aware of her tipping point. Like a small child, she has a fine line between “exercise” and “overstimulation.”
Frances says
I am very aware of my own tipping point (I once made the mistake of going on holiday with a very kind, very traditional, very elderly, very evangelical Christian friends … when I was none of these things. I won’t go into too many details as to how I coped, but it involved in part finding places each day where I could be alone and shout very rude things very loudly!). I live alone and we lead a fairly calm, regular life – my dogs love having visitors here, or visiting family and friends, but I always watch them towards the end of the day, ready for the fractious toddler moment…
I am particularly interested in the brain glucose research. There is evidence (anecdotal?) that dogs on a poor diet with low quality protein are more liable to be fearful and aggressive – possibly because of lower serotonin levels. And I recall recent research that dogs did better at physical activities if they had been fed not too long before. But all of the research was, I think, based upon dogs fed commercial kibble. It would be very interesting to know if a raw/home made diet, with higher levels of meat and fat, avoided the glucose spikes that come from feeding carbohydrates and has any effect on behaviour as a result.
When it comes to the design of the experiment, I’d also be interested to know if, and at what age, the dogs involved had been neutered. I suspect we still have a great deal to learn about the effect of early neutering on behaviour!
Susan Mann says
You need to come visit NC at this time of year- it is 55 right now, expected high of 61, although we’re in for a few cold nights, and had some heavy frost the last 2 nights.
I do think that self control is tiring and finite, in spite of the limitations of the study. Perhaps this even at least partially explains the bite threshold model, and I would think it is entirely consistent with it.
One observation with regard to self control and crating, and that is that at least some dogs who get very excited by (whatever) while crated and do things like scream, tear bedding, bite the wire, etc often (at least sometimes?) exhibit better crate manners when the door is left open. Obviously this needs to be worked on, but I’ve wondered if leaving the dog with no expectation of appropriate behavior also leaves the dog stressed, and I suspect that screaming tearing bedding, etc is also mentally exhausting and depletes energy that affects the ability to use self control.
So I guess the best thing to do is to teach the dog self control so that he develops “muscle” in self control, increasing his ability to use it, while also working, where appropriate, to change the association (using DSCC) so that less is needed. Which is, I suppose, why so many trainers use zen, its yer choice, or other self control games early on 🙂
Susan Mann, Brodie and Arie (+5!)
Susan says
I had never thought of this before in just this way, and I need to think it through a little more with regard to our dog-activity-of-choice, obedience competition. I have a very active young Australian Shepherd, and I waffle back and forth between whether crating him at a show and getting him out just before his turn in the ring, or keeping him out and sitting with me and trying to keep him calm, works better. According to this research, the crating should have a better result–that is, that he will not have to expend his self control by sitting quietly by my side if he is left in a crate. This did in fact prove true at our last trial, where he was crated and subsequently earned first place–but there were other variables, such as quieter environment at this particular trial.
Michelle says
I’ve seen the “tired dogs are NOT always good dogs” thing first hand. Last summer we took our dog and went on vacation with a couple friends and their dogs. It was just a couple days that we were together but between constant “go go go” and sleeping being off since it was in a different place (along with its being hot), by the end of the second day the dogs were starting to get much more snarky with each other. Toward the end of the second day, one dog went after another and my dog got in between them to stop the fight. They both backed off and my dog, who usually splits dogs away from each other and then goes on her way, went after the dog who started it.
No one was hurt and it was all noise and not a real attack, but I’m positive it was due to the dogs being worn out and tired. (The dogs were all then separated and taken back to their separate cabins for a good afternoon’s rest…they were much happier after a couple hours of sleep).
Chris Carney says
Both my goldens (7 yr + 1.5 yr) get revved up after they’ve been through a training session and have had to restrain themselves, lots of bouncing around afterwards, grabbing leashes, wanting to wrestle. Play, and the fatigue after play, doesn’t seem to affect them (maybe because they haven’t really had to exert a lot of self-control when they’re running around off-leash) but I’ve seen both of them pace about after a stressful event such as going to the vet (where they’ve had to be good and really would rather run out the front door) and be unable to relax for a bit. Personally, I’ve done some really stupid things after being so bored (and having to rein in my feelings) that I would do anything to relieve that boredom, the most notable of which was climbing into a small private plane and knowingly flying into a storm. Happily, I’m still here! Personally, if I’m feeling broke, and am not able to buy the little fun things I want to, I tend to eat more so I’m actually still spending money, just not on something I’ve told myself I couldn’t! This study seems to speak to the concept of “willpower”, demonstrating that there’s a finite amount, so that people who advise others just to use it are asking too much (although they’ll probably find out some supergene lets some people have more willpower than others, just as they lately have found that a gene that drains anxiety fast or slow is very important in individual test performances and ways of seeing the world, a finding that was just published in the NYTimes a few days ago and which I’m sure I’m explaining too simplistically).
Kyra says
We do JRT rescue and foster anywhere from a couple to four or five Jacks at a time. Since we are well aware of the piranha-like nature of multiple terriers and the high buzz factor, we stress high amounts of exercise both in foster care and to adopters. But (never start a sentence with ‘but’!) I have noticed that some of the (usually younger) dogs really start to fray in the early afternoon, and I have started an enforced 2 hour nap time as of last year. The younger or more easily excited dogs are individually crated with a big chewie, and the calmer and/or older dogs happily seek out a dog bed to snooze on. Until I started doing this (the idea for which I got from a Trish King seminar), some of the more buzzy dogs would definitely start launching into fights by that time of day.
I have also noticed a similar peak in frustration & easy loss of control in the late afternoons. Much more so in cold weather – once the temp heats up, the dogs are very relaxed and there are very few altercations even when things get really exciting (the FedEx guy, for instance, being a source of very high arousal) . Just like lizards. 🙂
Rose C says
I’m not an expert on animal behavior (or on anything, at that) but I feel that this study did not tell me much whether it was ‘self-control depletion’ that directly led to the behavioral approach that the subject dogs showed towards the agressive threat. In my opinion, the difficult thing about studying behavior is that it is not truly quantifiable. Results can vary depending on what behavior the subjects are displaying at that very moment of the study and how the individuals observing them may ‘interpret’ the displayed behavior. There are so many factors and variables that can affect both.
The study results mentioned that the dogs that exerted more self-control in the previous setting stayed longer in closer proximity to the aggressive dog. But there are many other factors that might have contibuted to that. One, the subject dog is too tired or energy-depleted (just as the study conclusion suggested). Two, it may also depend on any of the subject dog’s individual predisposition (some dogs may be perpetually curious about anything or some are not really easily threatend by a barking dog). Three, the barking agressive dog is crated and in a pen (some subject dogs may see that as non-threatening since the ‘opponent’ is obviously contained). These are only a few reasons why I believe that ‘self-control depletion’ from the previous setting MAY or MAY NOT be directly related to the way the dogs behaved when around the barking aggressive dog. Or at least, with the method that was used for the study.
Having said that, I do agree and believe that having depleted energy (either physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual) can predispose an animal to “riskier and more impulsive decision making”. There is a threshold that anyone and anything can hold up to. Beyond that threshold, an animal’s decision-making becomes impared (or for inanimate objects, beyond its threshold, the object simply collapses or breaks down). I agree with the ones who suggested that there should be ‘rest periods’ between activities or incidences when a dog experiences plenty of physical or mental stimulation/challenges. Rejuvenate their energy to be able to practice self-control. And for us, as Trisha had commented, train and practice with our dogs to increase their ability to focus, learning discipline and self control.
Beth with the Corgis says
This is why I am so very much not a fan of the traditional hour-long training class for dogs.
Don’t get me wrong, the idea of training classes is fine. But an hour? Both of mine visibly wilt well before then. If a class is carefully designed so the dog gets quite a lot of actual breaks, it’s fine.
But in too many classes, “break” is meant to be the dog sitting quietly by your side, which is DEFINITELY NOT A BREAK. (sorry to “shout” but too many trainers who no better think that asking your dog to pay attention to you but not perform any other commands is somehow meant to relax the dog).
We quit agility because an hour is just too long and it got to the point that Jack would start acting up (mostly by searching for edibles) right from the beginning since he knew what was in store.
I know the hour long format is practical for the humans, but truly it is not for the dogs. Unless they get a nice game of frisbee or an off-leash wander and sniff every fifteen minutes or so.
Daniel says
Taking my Lab puppy to the dog park was a challenge when adolescence kicked in. He was really bad about jumping on other dogs and pinning them, humping etc. He is very much like the status seeking betas you describe in your Dog-Dog Aggression seminar (dvd). I have called him Passive-Aggressive because he is very status seeking but will back down immediately from another dog,adopt a submissive posture, then try it again.. In an effort to train him out of it, we would go home on his second time after being talked to about going home if he didn’t stay “off”. It took months but worked wonders, I did notice that he has a threshold of time that he can maintain the good behavior. Usually about 40 minutes. The more tired he gets, the more likely his behavior would deteriorate. With tongue hanging and a blank look in his eyes he would start jumping on dogs who he would not have jumped on prior. Like bigger,stronger and much more aggressive dogs that in the early part of the 40 minutes he would correctly read and avoid.
In my mind I likened it to being in a long distance foot race, as the race goes on my mind would be less and less able to take in my surroundings and only able to focus on the goal. Everything else would become a blur.
Learning my dogs threshold in lengths of time and exhaustion greatly helped my dogs success rate in maintaining control and having a happy experience and ending.
Meredith says
I think the control condition is interesting and tricky to design well. I agree with you that if a dog in the crate was whining and digging it would have been successfully ‘not using up the self-control bank account’ (and thus a good control). My concern, though, would be that some dogs (mine, for example) have spent time learning not to make noise and destroy their crate. When my dog was young we used short crate sessions and positive reinforcement to establish the crate as a place to be quiet and calm; in addition to simply being comfortable in his crate, I’m pretty sure my dog believes he’s supposed to be quiet and calm in his crate. If the toy was that stimulating for other dogs, my dog sitting quietly in his crate might actually have been ‘depleting the self-control bank account’ (making that a bad control condition for him). For this study all I want from the control is to place the dog in whatever situation requires them to spend zero energy trying to ‘do the right thing.’ Sitting in a crate in a calm room seems like a decent control for dogs who are accustomed to being crated. As an alternate control, I wonder if it would be effective to simply let the dogs explore the room on their own for a few minutes –no stimulus, allowed to sniff whatever they want. As another alternative control, I wonder if it would be a good to let them actually chase and play with the toy. That is, after all, the antithesis of just sitting there watching it. General arousal level could become a confounder, and I guess it could be pretty hard to get a dog to just watch the toy after getting to chase it. What do you think?
I really like the self-control bank account analogy. I think I will use it next time I explain to a parent why it’s not okay for their young child to climb on my dog and touch his face. My dog is so calm about kids that when I tell the parents that it’s not a safe practice they tend to look at me like I’m crazy. He shouldn’t have to put up with being poked in the eye just because he’s a good sport, and someday it might be one eye-poke too many. I think the bank account analogy could be a good way to explain that even the sweetest, most permissive dogs can get worn down too.
diane says
Beth with Corgis–I SO agree–my dogs have always gotten very bratty by the end of class–it’s simply too long to be able to focus and behave. One of mine would start jumping and mouthing me quite intently every time. And the more classes we took, the more he would get belligerent toward the end of the hour, doing everything he could to tell me he had had enough.
Barb Stanek says
Love this post. I agree with the self-control depletion concept. I too am disappointed that the mechanical toy did not move around the room when the dogs were crated. I look forward to hearing what you find out.
I also agree with observations about some dogs becoming depleted in self-control under predictable conditions. I see it in my own dogs. I can almost set a clock with my 2 year old. And at 2 years old, maybe developing a longer period of self-control is part of his job.
Thanks for the post.
Laura says
Speaking for myself, I absolutely agree with the idea that dogs lose it after being tired. I’ve seen it first hand as well. I don’t take my dog to conventions which have lots of dogs anymore unless they’re in my home city because the entire week is just too exhausting for me and the dogs. I saw two dogs burst into a snarling, barking fit after a long day of guide-work. all that triggered them was simply moving passed each other in the hallway. Once, I was attempting to find a building where I had an appointment. It was hot outside, 90 degrees and Torpedo was rapidly losing focus in his guide-work, weaving from side to side, not being as attentive to people or obsticals and his pace had dramaticly slowed. Luckily, we found the building, but it was becoming dangerous and I knew I had to get him out of that situation as soon as possible. What did he do when we got him inside? Well after a long, long stint at the water bowl, he fell asleep and napped through my entire hour-long meeting. He was much better after he had slept even though the temperature hadn’t dropped.
I used to be of the opinion that my guide dog belonged in harness all day, even when he wasn’t actively guiding me. I thought, if I had to work, so did they. Now, and for as long as I’ve had Seamus, I take his harness off when I’m at my desk. He is currently snoozing on my foot and when he is awake, he happily chews a huge bone I have for him. I believe this makes him less tired and better able to help me when I need to go somewhere. I’ve seen what a dog who’s been in harness all day is like. They’re punchy and they need to relax.
One final thought. I’ve noticed that I lose just as much control over my reactions to my dogs if I’m tired. If it’s been a long day at work or if I’ve had to do something mentally or physically dificult, I can get angry much quicker than if we had just been out relaxing. Often times, i need a break and so the dog and I will just take a seat and relax for a minute before moving on. It’s why I don’t often take my dog out to dinner or a movie after work. I need time away from him and he needs time to just be a dog because he’s been “On” all day.
Katy says
I’m kind of surprised that this study got published, since to me they obviously have two variables and no way of teasing the effects of each apart. A better control would have been, as you suggested, to have the toy moving for both the treatment and control.
As for tiredness leading to increased risk, yes, I have seen this. I took my two dogs to dog camp once upon a time and my girl was so overstimulated that she refused to nap for the first several days (reminded me of an over-tired toddler convinced she will miss good things if she slept). There was one dog there that did not do well with other dogs, and my girl had already learned that dog’s boundaries, but she pushed it that fourth day and got herself involved in a dog fight. To this day I am not sure why that dog-aggressive dog was off-leash at that time, but luckily the fight was mostly noise and threats so no injuries were taken. After that, Claire and I both took naps for the rest of camp and therefore took no unreasonable risks.
minkee says
A forum friend of mine has informed me that Miller’s research has been ‘debunked’ already! I will paste what she said as she is far cleverer than me:
“Not dog related exactly, but the human psychology studies that suggest that willpower or self-control is a limited resource have since been debunked. There was some interesting research that linked this depletion to glucose levels, but this has since been shown to have a strong placebo effect. I can supply links to papers for you later should you wish. In fact, latest research and meta studies suggest that people who believe that self-control is a limited resource are the ones who act as though it’s a limited resource. More of a self-fulfilling prophesy!
That said, the build up of stress leading to a tipping point is valid, and likely controlled by a different mechanism. I have little doubt that small stresses will built up until they become overwhelming (we experience it all the time when a bad day seems to get worse and worse, until the proverbial straw that broke the camels back comes along) – we just might need to look for a different underlying causation than the willpower depletion model, since that was a model built on flawed methodology.”
“http://www.epjournal.net/wp-content/upl … 244259.pdf
If you’re short of time or feeling depleted then skip to the conclusion, it gives a good summary and names to look for further research.”
I don’t know if it’s okay to link this here, but for those interested, here is the source: http://positively.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=16370
The ‘build up of stress’ mentioned above is in relation to my point – which was that we (all credit to Emmabeth of above forum for bringing this one to my attention!) often relate stress to a glass of water – the dog being the glass and the stress being the water. Each interaction or activity that causes stress causes the glass to fill up bit by bit, and without having the time to relax and deplete, eventually the glass will overflow – which is the point where nothing can be learned and reactions are out of proportion and so on. This seems related to the original point – the ‘limited resource’ being the capacity of the glass!
minkee says
Oops: here is the proper link for above: http://www.epjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/ep08244259.pdf
Angel says
I definitely see this but don’t think I attributed it to a decrease in self control, rather due to multiple frustrations building on one another or to being tired. But the self control explanation makes a lot of sense.
When out on a walk, Bear will be great for most of the walk – fairly loose leash, interest in saying hello to other dogs but able to walk away if he can’t say hello, excitement at people on bikes etc., a little craziness if he sees a squirrel. But towards the end of the walk, any one of those things can set him off into a frenzy, barking, jumping at the end of his leash, jumping up at me, running in circles around me, and generally being crazy. None of it is aggession. I always thought of is a each little frustration (not being able to go see each dog, chase a squirrel, say hello to people, run where he wants to) building and building upon one another until he reached his frustration limit. But the self control depletion makes sense. He exhibits a lot of self control until he just has no more in him to give.
Also, he doesn’t particularly like to ride in cars. The noise and the bumps make him nervous. He is markedly much worse after an activity, like if we’ve gone to the dog park or to training class. The ride to the event is also much smoother than the ride home. On the ride home, he pants more, tries to climb in my lap at the slightest noise, and is more reactive to every noise and bump. The self control depletion can apply here too. It takes a lot of self control to interact with other dogs at the dog park and certainly in training class, where it’s all self control for almost an hour straight.
Interesting stuff. I look forward to reading more comments and thinking about how else this may affect my dog and the dogs I work with.
Lisa W says
I’m trying to sort out the difference in depletion of self-control if a dog has been practicing a lot of self-control or when a dog has had a lot of stimulus/exercise. One of our dogs seems to have the same response to both. She gets more anxious and has little what we call “puppy fits.” She would do this when we brought her home from “camp,” (a day with my niece running around in the yard, going on a wog [part walk/part run], and generally having too much fun). She would have a fit in the car on the way home and be hard to settle that night. But training class had the same result; she would have a fit in the car and then at home would be extra wound up. Due to her lack of socialization (really lack of anything before we got her) and her personality, we are always wondering how much is too much. Still wondering after three years 😉
Am I missing something? Or is it that practicing self-control over a period of time and being over-tired from too much stimulus/exercise produce the same result in terms of taking more risks? I see the two as very different.
Annie Riecken says
This concept was expressed to me as “reaching the end of his good nature” and I know it well. Socializing my reactive dog is a fine balance between exposing him to new things and exposing him to too many new things at once. This research confirms my experiences. I’ll be re-posting this to my blog.
Carey says
Yup! Absolutely concur! My clientele is 80% (trying not to label ..hate labeling..) Over-Reacting – to -Simple – Stimuli types. I use a variety of techniques but stay primarily pretttty close to classical DSCC. Over the years, I have found — anecdotally — that the dogs seem to have apx. 20 minutes worth of ‘work’ in them, which may or may not include their warm-up time. I have advised my clients when they are practicing on their own, not only should they be mindful of ‘distance threshold’ but ‘time threshold’. and to “get outtta Dodge” before the dogs ‘slip’ . So I’m glad to hear about some studies that support that!! Also very interested to hear about the glucose; James O’Heare discusses a carb hit when working with aggression – which I follow with some dogs. Thanks for the great topic, love to follow this.
Shelly V says
I recall attending a webinar presented by one of the research staff of the 2010 study. They were studying glucose levels as well, suggesting that the brains absorption of glucose during self control tasks are what cause the sudden “munchies” seen immediately after focused and maintained behaviors.
As to the question about the dogs in the crate, this is likely a manner of training. I know many people who don’t work on crate games beyond getting their dog to go inside. Once the dog is in the crate, it becomes a “do what you will as long as you don’t try to get out” place. On the flip side, many, many people work on extended down stays, sit stays, and self control tasks while “loose” as a part of training for various reasons. It may be basic manners skills or because the dog needs to be able to contain themselves outside the show or agility ring. In the end, I truly believe the context sensitivity of the dog’s training is the primary reason for the difference seen.
001mum says
I believe everyone, animal or human has a tipping point and it can change depending on numerous factors. Perhaps being too,too tired reduces the ability to focus and make wise choices. My new pup is by far the most calm pup ever. Possible multiple factors involved in becoming ‘snappy” or of short attention span would include amount of sleep/rest, depth of sleep, lack of tolerance or what I call the “brain itch”, self-calming ability, anxiety, personality,triggers,diet and genetics.
For my pup: I assisted him in relaxation. from 7 weeks old we would gently stroke him head to tail, slow curving soft touch that included his ears,paws,belly and along the sides of his body. Curving “c” ‘s behind the ears seemed particularly welcomed. At 4 months he is amazing in self control (waiting at the door to be leashed, sitting prior to eating,hesitating before running after a thrown toy *when asked to “wait” and trying oh so hard to leave our 15 year old cat alone and not tackle him as if he was a stuffie ! We are very impressed, and the cat is too,for sure. Baby steps in learning,(sometimes with a big step back) are easier and less stressful for this pup. It’s simple for us to train 10 minutes 3-5x a day so neither of us get short-tempered, bored or “brain-itched”. I have also learned that my timing can be off because I am tired, irritated,headachy or distracted and that is very much reflected in my dog’s ability to focus and learn. Sometimes it’s just better to go and lay on the couch! 🙂 We did that tonight after his first fabulous off leash play (thankfully only one dog there that i had met with previous pups/with a super owner) it was darn cold out,but we still had some sunshine .
We have daylight until almost 1745hrs and having about a minute longer a day/each day is super sweet! I called pup 6 times and he came 6 times!, even with the other dog there. too nice 🙂
CJ says
While my dog went through puppyhood & adolescence, I spent loads of time working on her impulse control (lots of Look-At-That and learning how to do a relaxed down). Now that she’s almost 4, I think of it more in terms of her frustration tolerance -what can I reasonably expect her to resist or tolerate before it’s not fair to her? The first time I read about the concept of trigger stacking in BAT, it felt like a massive light bulb going off (now I turn her away from the barky dog if we’ve already managed to not lunge after the squirrels that are taunting to be chased on our walk -the dog, not me, ha). And just tonight, the over-tired visiting puppy got mouthy as soon as he was past his normal chill-out time, so we wised up and he went back home to bed.
@Beth with the corgis – I agree! In the puppy classes I volunteer at, we always warn clients that 45 mins is the most they can expect, so we usually end classes by teaching tricks, interspersed with play breaks. It seems to be way less pressure if your pup doesn’t figure out roll-over, vs feeling like your puppy must do a sit stay right away (since really, it’s all just tricks). In agility class where I’m the student, I’m working on stopping before the fun ends & giving my Aussie the choice to take off and sniff around the barn if she seems to be struggling.
Jeff says
Well, of course this makes sense!
We see this at the end of any training activity, when we’re asking ourselves if our dogs have enough to for “one more time through the agility course/try at nose work/whatever.”
It’s why my dog, who’s always a little skittish with other dogs, always has a tougher time at the end of a very long romp in the woods. I tend to not let him greet other dogs on the way out of the woods, particularly if they are just arriving.
Hmmm. Well, I think perhaps I’m expanding your idea of “self-control bank” to “mental focus bank” or some such idea. It would be interesting to see the experiment run with tired dogs to see the impact on self control. On the other hand, the problem there would be a dog who’s too tired to need self control.
There’s some relationship between exhaustion(blood glucose levels?)/arousal/mental focus bank.
Holly C Miller, PhD says
Hi all,
I don’t often jump into these conversations when not invited, but a friend forwarded me this conversation thread and I couldn’t help but reply to some of your concerns. Especially since I was likely to get an email soon anyway… First, there was a concern about the hamster condition. Let me give you some further background. The point was to increase the difficulty of the self-control task by including a distraction during the self-control condition. These dogs were so well trained that some would “fall asleep” while sitting and staying. In this case, we were concerned that sitting and staying was no longer difficult or requiring self-control. So we felt obligated to up the level of difficulty. However, since some dogs found it frustrating to see the toy when caged, and displayed frustration reactions, we chose to inactivate it during this condition. Frustration is a well research behavioral phenomenon that is associated with changes in brain function and behavioral responding. Thus, eliciting frustration in an uncontrolled way would have been a serious confound, more so than inactivating the toy. If you are not convinced, I encourage you to think of our findings with a more global perspective. What we observed is that dogs approach behavior differed as a function of an initial activity. Sitting relaxed inside of a cage promoted less approach behavior than sitting still when there were distractions.
Patricia, you also mentioned concern over the welfare of the dogs. I do have to admit that the subject dogs experienced stress in this experiment, and I felt some guilt over that. However, I don’t believe that the aggressive dog experienced negative stress. She found the experience quite rewarding and would literally run into the cage as soon as we invited her into the experimental room. She would come out of the cage wagging her tail and jumping around from an adrenaline rush. For this reason, I only feel guilty for letting her practice her bad behavior so frequently.
Another responded stated, “the human psychology studies that suggest that willpower or self-control is a limited resource have since been debunked.”
I would argue that the nature of self-regulatory depletion is under debate, and that the cause of cognitive fatigue is not entirely understood. It has been observed, for instance, that contemplating personal values can offset the negative effects of depletion. Similarly, manipulating beliefs by convincing people that their willpower is unlimited can make them “immune” to depletion. The latter of which implies that depletion is a consequence of beliefs and not a physiological phenomenon. Muraven and Slessareva (2003) further demonstrated that offering performance incentives can modulate depletion. Vohs, Baumeister and Schmeichel (2012) have recently replicated these findings; however, in their research, they also observed that beliefs and motivation could only offset moderate depletion. These behavioral manipulations have a pronounced effect when participants complete 1-2 initial tasks requiring executive control, but when 3-4 tasks are administered, such manipulations have no, or conversely a negative, effect. It thus suggests that depletion is more than a motivational phenomenon.
Convergent evidence that depletion is not solely due to motivational changes can be found in my research with dogs. An initial act of behavioral inhibition impairs subsequent search accuracy by dogs despite that accurate searches are rewarded with food and subjects are food deprived at the time of testing (Miller, 2010).
This responder also argued that glucose is not being depleted. My response will begin by noting that the effect of glucose on executive control has been extensively investigated in nonhuman animals within the domain of working memory (for reviews see Gold et al., 1986; Messier, 2004). When rats navigate a maze, for example, they are required to remember the arms they have visited in order to avoid revisiting the same arm twice, and this information needs to be updated as the rat progresses through the maze. Researchers have observed that navigating through a four-arm maze results in a large decrease of glucose (32%) specifically in hippocampal extracellular fluid (ECF) which is the structure believed to be responsible for spatial working memory, whereas a smaller decrease (11.6%) is observed when rats navigate a simpler three-arm maze (McNay et al., 2000). A glucose injection is able to attenuate the depletion of glucose in hippocampal ECF, evidencing that increasing systemic blood glucose levels is sufficient for the brain to recruit glucose for depleted structures (McNay et al., 2000). It is worth noting, though, that systemic changes in blood glucose are not necessary for memory enhancement by glucose: the intraseptal administration of glucose positively affects performance (McNay et al., 2006).
Having said that, a recent series of experiments by Molden et al. (2012) observed that depleted participants are able to replenish their executive control by rinsing their mouths with a sugar solution for 5 s following a depleting task. Such a mouth rinse has no effect on blood glucose levels, but can increase participant’s persistence on a handgrip task and accuracy on a Stroop task more than an aspartame placebo (when tested immediately after tasting). Similar observations have been made in the domain of exercise physiology, as the taste of glucose and maltodextrin (a flavor-less carbohydrate) enhance performance on a 1 hr cycle time trial relative to the taste of an aspartame placebo, despite the fact that physical energy is not augmented (Chambers et al., 2009). This result cannot be explained in terms of a placebo effect, since participants cannot distinguish glucose from aspartame by taste. Molden et al. (2012) and Chambers et al. (2009) thus argue that these effects occur because the taste of glucose increases cortical responding in motivational reward pathways, thus increasing response motivation (Molden et al., 2012; Chambers et al., 2009). However, this hypothesis cannot explain why the consumption of 10 g of glucose does not enhance the working memory of participants who are tested 5 min later, whereas 25 g does (Parsons and Gold, 1992). It could be that larger doses of glucose exert longer lasting influence because the glucose continues to be detected by nutrient sensing neurons in the digestive system that are also sensitive to glucose (Levin et al., 2004). This detection may continue the motivational cortical activation.
Though changes in motivation may be sufficient for enhancing executive control, Kristina Pattison and I have conducted research recently that suggests that glucose induced motivational changes may not be necessary for replenishment and that a peripheral neurophysiological mechanism may be responsible. More specifically, fructose, like glucose, is replenishing. This finding is important because fructose is a monosaccharide whose metabolism differs greatly from that of glucose (Tappy and Le, 2010), as it does not directly provide energy for cellular processes, nor is it actively transported across the blood brain barrier. Moreover, despite that the taste of fructose can condition taste preferences in rats through the activation of dopamine receptors (Malkusz et al., 2012), the post-ingestive events alone cannot and do not (Sclafani and Ackroff, 1994). Thus, whereas dopamine antagonists block taste conditioning by fructose, they do not have any effect post consumption since intragastric fructose does not elicit activation of dopamine receptors along motivational reward pathways in the brain during digestion. Convergent evidence suggesting that systemic fructose in humans is not reinforcing can be found when cortical activation is measured by fMRI. Intravenous fructose inhibits, rather than increases, cortical activation relative to the infusion of glucose and saline (Purnell et al., 2011). Moreover, when infused with fructose, participants often report feeling “cold” whereas when infused with glucose they report feeling “warm” and having a “sweet taste” in their mouth. Thus, the fact that fructose replenishes implies that enhancing activity in motivational reward pathways following initial consumption is not the integral component responsible for the positive effects.
I probably raised more questions than I answered. Regardless, I tried my best.
Holly C Miller, PhD.
Frances says
Very interesting – self control depletion or stress overload? In terms of the resulting behaviour, and the response to it (rest, play, general de-stressing) it probably does not make a great deal of difference, of course. But either way, building up the self control “muscle” to manage minor frustrations and other events without getting hugely stressed must be good for us and for our dogs.
Slightly OT, but has anyone come across research into how constant, ongoing stress eventually leads to greater reactivity in humans/dogs? It’s something I’ve always associated with getting older – the “finding something to worry about” syndrome. Once I juggled deadlines, high value contracts, 14 hour days, intercontinental flights – now I hit a similar stress level trying to find a plumber to fix the second loo!
Sam says
You must be reading my blog Patricia! (https://pawsitivelytraining.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/a-good-dog/)
This is an interesting study, though it’s a shame the crated dogs didn’t have that mechanical toy buzzing about, as I do believe that would have made the study more “fair”. However, it’s still interesting for me as a dog owner, who’s dog showed a *lack* of self control in class and was then told by a behaviourist that if/when he & I return to classed I must ensure that we at least play 15 minutes of fetch before class, if not go for a full-scale walk.
I do find, that if I walk either of my dogs too early on in the day, they will become rather “bratty” that evening, whereas if they are walked later on in the day that doesn’t happen.
Kay Levine says
I strongly recommend you check with Gail Fisher, who owns and operates Gail Fisher’s All Dogs Gym and Inn in Manchester, NH. Her newsletter has featured an article, which was given to me when I was contemplating kenneling my dogs there for her “stay and play” option. The article explained why the gym’s daycare policy is to alternate okay periods with rest periods. They have found a significant reduction in aggression and what I will call pre-aggression snarkiness by giving dogs rest periods instead of having one long free-for-all in daycare.
Gail’s daycare program was one of just two specifically mentioned in a Bark Magazine article about daycare, I believe in the past year. Sadly, I am now down to one dog (hemangiosarcoma) but when we travel together, our trip starts with a 5-hour drive to Manchester so our neurotic Aussie has a really safe place to stay.
Eric Filler says
This is very interesting research and is timed perfectly with my thoughts on a reactive dog I have been training with for quite sometime. I observe that this dog, a Briard, does appear to have a time limit on how long he can go before he reacts to a stimulus. This dog will react to anything, cars, birds, people, dogs even a bag blowing in the wind. We have trained a wonderful LAT and we have reduced distance considerably for all the triggers. However I have observed that the dog will react to a stimulus that is at the same distance and same intensity IF the time of the trigger being in view goes on too long, (and I do not see that there are any trigger stacking problems going on to account for this). I have been looking at tackling this as an overly active amygdala pathway or hyper arousal as you mentioned in one of your seminars. This article will however now give me more to think about with this dog and dogs to come!! Thank you!
Trisha says
Ah, surely I’m in heaven! This is why I write this blog… to engage in intellectual stimulation with so many interesting people all around the world. Thank you all for your thoughtful comments so far, and special thanks to Dr. Miller for taking the time to add to our discussion. Holly (we’re all on a first name basis here, I hope you don’t mind), I’ve read your comments carefully and have to say that your argument about the validity of the two conditions is compelling. The conditions compare sitting quietly in a crate with forcing one’s self to sit quietly when one would rather not, thus Condition 1 = little self control, Condition 2 = A large measure of self control. I’m convinced. On reflection, letting the toy run while the dogs were crated would cause arousal to be more of a confounding factor than as designed… so thanks for helping me step back and think about it some more. I’m going to add a note in the post, aware as I am that most people don’t read the comments.
Another note about this research and all research in general that I think is extremely important. Holly mentioned that there is a difference between research conclusions being ‘debunked’ and the same conclusions being ‘under debate.’ I would have brought this up myself this morning, because it is crucial when analyzing research results. Minkee, I’m truly grateful for you bringing up that there was controversy about the issue of ‘self control depletion,’ it’s not my field and so the controversy was news to me, thanks for informing me of it. At the same time, this is how most science works. Researcher A comes up with a conclusion, researchers B & C look at the issue and question the conclusions, researcher A and D look at the issue again in more depth or from another perspective. Rinse and repeat, over a period of decades if the issue is complicated. Another example of this congoing process is discussions between M. Udell and B. Hare over whether domestication has resulted in dogs inherently understanding a pointing gesture. Hare’s initial research said yes, Udell research suggested not, Hare now argues Udell’s statistical analysis was flawed, and on it goes… The process of science is basically an intellectual soap opera with as many twists and turns as General Hospital. (And occasionally the same amount of drama–EO Wilson and Richard Dawkins got into an argument about sociobiology that can only be described as, uh, intense.)
Lastly, thank you Holly for addressing the issue of the stimulus dog. I’m glad to hear that she seemed to enjoy the experiment and credit you for your angst about allowing her to repeat a problematic behavior. Let’s keep this discussion going, thanks for everyone who has contributed so far.
liz says
I would think that how “risk” is defined has to greatly depend on the receiver. (Thrill-seeking humans and their canine counterparts come to mind- like my dog who will jump up on the ledge of a substantial cliff with the utmost confidence and comfort. In my observation of his behavior, he either sees no associated risk with the height or “knows” his ability and his surroundings enough to feel secure. Meanwhile, I stand feet away holding the end of his leash asking for “off” while trying not to look down…)
Additionally, familiarity and/or novelty may influence what we perceive to be risky.
If, as I understand, one stimulus dog was used for the duration of the study, then perhaps “risk” fluctuates.
So different subject dogs could either be intrigued by a new dog, the stimulus dog, regardless of threat display or self-control tasks, or eventually, upon the second test w/ the same stimulus dog say, “hey, there’s that dog again, nothing happened before…” regardless of order and self-control and instead dependent on comfort level.
What influences comfort level or how one defines risk? Temperament, past experience, …?
I love that people are asking why we sometimes perform at decreased rates and make less successful choices. Awesome.
em says
Wow, what a great discussion!
Whatever the precise mechanism, I have seen self-control fatigue/frustration tipping point up close and personal many, many times. Of my current dogs, Otis in particular exhibits this behavior very reliably. I see it much less in Sandy, and I have a theory as to why.
Otis is a generally low-energy, laid-back dog, but he has a long attention span and doesn’t especially like taking direction- he seems to prefer situations where he already knows what to do or can be allowed to handle it his own way. If I have to block or countermand him, or if he needs to expend effort to restrain himself from something he knows he shouldn’t do, he builds anxiety and frustration quite quickly. Being so generally low-key and well behaved, this kind of frustration and anxiety is quite unusual for him- he lacks practice in coping with frustration, and he will appear obviously fatigued by situations in which he needs to control his impulses. I find Otis has about an hour of “work” in him. He will be patient and tolerant and a good sport in frustrating situations (like the vet, or a holiday houseful of toddlers) for about that long, but then he starts to get obviously edgy, then eventually bullish and headstrong (a little slower to respond if I ask him for a behavior, a little less careful not to hipcheck the four year old out of his way- and in extreme cases barking or jumping). I’ve learned to recognize the signs and pull him out when he first starts to look tired or testy. On days when I know we’ll have guests or be busy together all day, I cut his exercise BACK (20-30 min instead of 60-90) to give him a little extra fuel in the tank later on, and I find that really helps.
Sandy really doesn’t seem to react the same way. I doubt she’s immune to this tendency but she has a personality in many ways opposite to Otis’. Her natural energy and work drive are much, much higher. When it comes to energy banked against fatigue, she has very deep pockets. Otis has about an hour of ‘work’ in him, Sandy can go all day. She’ll sleep like the dead once she crashes, but she won’t get testy or overtired seeming like he will. Sandy also seems much less frustrated by the sorts of situations that bother Otis.
She has a short attention span- she gets excited easily and thus has a lot of practice tolerating a mild level of frustration/exercising self control- Otis doesn’t seem to have to try not to jump up when greeting us, (he’d be one of those test dogs falling asleep in his stays), Sandy does (she doesn’t do it, but she does this little herky-jerky wiggling dance where her front paws come off the ground about half an inch -it’s like we can SEE the mental leash she’s putting on herself not jump up.).
But on the other hand, once Sandy is blocked from a desired action, she seems to put it completely out of her mind. Where Otis will gaze longingly in the direction he really wanted to walk, she’ll snap her full attention to the path I’ve chosen with obvious enthusiasm and no hesitation. She loves following directions, and does not seem at all uncomfortable simply following our lead without question in an unfamiliar situation.
So on balance, I think she shows less frustration fatigue because she 1) has more energy to begin with, 2) has more practice calming and soothing herself after mild frustration, 3) is less inclined to be frustrated by following directions in highly stimulating environments, and 4) is less likely to dwell on frustration for any length of time.
Beth with the Corgis says
@CJ; my dog loves to use his nose, and the place where we did agility had a puppy class right before ours, and puppies lose treats no matter how careful the handler. Add to that a barn environment, and my dog had to exercise “no sniff” self control for way to long and he finally just quit on me.
I personally wanted to use letting him wander and sniff as a reward. Let’s just say my trainer did not see it the same way I did. I like her very much but when I tried things your way, my dog started showing clear stress signals and this is a dog who has a very high threshold in most circumstances; he rarely stresses.
So we’ve taken a break and I’ll see where that leads. Personally what I would love is a class where I can go in the ring, do my exercises, then go to a separate safe enclosed area and let him wander, or toss a frisbee. But alas such a facility does not exist in my area.
But I definitely see that self-control reaches a threshold and then can’t be managed any more.
Margaret McLaughlin says
Just came back from a nosework class with my 2 flat-coats, &, after reading this, am wondering if the reason they can maintain their incredible focus while searching is that they are crated in the car unless they are working–no self-control required. It’s designed so that the working dog will not be destracted, but this may be a fringe benefit.
I know that my own self-control is worn out by the time I get off work–I’m quite likely to turn in front of someone in traffic and/or yell at my dogs when they’re bouncing off me. I work in healthcare, which demands enormous amounts of self-control EVERY day–losing it can cost both job & licence. Maybe there’s a reason so many healthcare workers (me Included) are overwight…..
Mireille says
Now I understand my dog ;-). Shadow bites, occasionally. Other dogs and my leg. It is what he does when he crosses the self control limit. Example; last week we went running. Just as we left the house, the enemy from down the street passed (dog reactive dog, dunno why but mine hate him and the feeling is mutual). Add that to the excitement of goung for a run after a long day alone at home… A frantic bouncing sibe at the end of the leash. Tried to calm him down a bit and off we went, setting new speeds records with cold muscles.. Then a field with rabbitshe is not allowed to chase. Then in the dark we meet two guys, no lights, three strange dogs. One eldery beagle approaches, Shadow sniffs and bites his ear. After that, stands quietly looking at the poor screaming dog. Normally he likes meeting other dogs, is really quite dog savvy, but… There are times when things go wrong, three incidents so far, all coupled to stress beforehand (puppy getting between them after they just chased a rabbit (andnot catch it..) while scootering, I really was upset about that one, guy with four adult sheperds and one pup, adults were leashed, pup running loose. Curious thing, the guy came to get his pup, the four adults stood quietly sniffing with my two while the pup was very upset ? ; third one was long walk, first snow, young dog jumping on Shad just after two meetings with snarling dogs). First off all; our lesson is that we have to prevent these things from happening. We (husband and me) have to read him more carefully. But I was so flabbergasted the first time it happened because shad likes meeting other dogs. They were the same dgs that managed to make several fearful rehab dogs comfortabel enough to start playing. I guess the leahs is a ver frustratimg factor for him and as it mounts, he reaches a threshhold and lashes out. The incident where he bit my leg was in a class with six dogs, where the three males were not really comfortabel with each other and when one of the dogs reacted to him for a third or fourth time, he ‘snapped’. I quit class afterwards. Now i go to place where the dogs have plenty of space and sniffing time
@beth; you would like this one. Every class starts with the dogs moving one by one from car to different corners of field. We all have to bring a big bag of ‘rubble’, put it on the ground with some treat hidden there and the dogs get to explore that, then move slowely more near each other, start doing exercises etc. It’s very low key, to be frank sometimes I even find it a bt boring almost,but the dogs stay calm in the presence of strangers which was my key training goal at the time 😉
Sorry about the long ramblim post, just onemore thing; my main question, is the threshold trainable???
Mireille says
Just one small,addition; Shadow also snaps at Spot right at the start when we go scootering. Spot just jumps out of the way and keeps running. My guess is that he is used to it, but that the strange dogs that Shadow meets just not see it coming. There is no real damage done to the other dogs (one small puncture in the beagles ear) but they all seemed so surprised that it happened…
Emily Douglas says
I’d say the only thing more interesting than the study is this incredibly nuanced analysis. Looking forward to hearing what the authors’ response to your follow-up is. And thank you for noting the less-than-ideal situation that the stimulus dog was put in.
I’ve found myself in many different situations just out in public or in training classes when it seemed like owners were demanding an excessive amount of impulse control from their dogs at unnecessary times simply because they could. Glad to see some actual evidence to offer as a reason for avoiding that.
I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on whether or not you might see similar results with instances in which dogs are just over-exercised (i.e. treadmill running, forcing them to walk/run long distances with heavy packs) and then expected to maintain good decision making capacity such as respecting other dogs’ space, etc.
Veronica says
What an interesting study. It has a lot of interesting implications for pets, performance dogs and working dogs. I bet it wouldn’t be that hard to check the Rally and Obedience rings scores and see if the dogs overall performing later (after being crated/leashed for a long period of time in a show environment), do worse. Though you’d also have to allow a bit for the judge’s fatigue too! Some competitions are set up so the dogs go in the morning and then again in the afternoon. In events like that I’ve noticed my own dog’s scores have been slightly worse in the afternoon – and I also personally feel pretty tires out. Thank you for the food for thought and thanks also to Dr. Miller for the additional insights.
Kat says
I love it when science demonstrates things that I instinctively know/do. At our first ever group class with my highly reactive half GSD/half corgi bitch she did unbelievably well. The only reaction she had was when someone coughed loudly behind her. She turned her head, gave two short sharp barks, and returned to walking with me. Our instructor gave me the option of staying for the rest of the class or taking Finna home. Since she had just succeeded beyond my wildest expectations I opted not to push our luck and instead took her home. Released into the yard she flew at the fence and tried to start a fence fight with the neighbor dogs, a very laid back pair of labs who declined her invitation. I knew if I’d stayed for the rest of class I’d be asking too much as her behavior once at home demonstrated.
My other dog, Ranger, is a registered therapy dog and tail waggin’ tutor at the local library. He’s often asked to be there for two hours at a stretch listening to kids read. He’s fine for the first hour but for the second one I make sure he gets breaks between kids and reward him with frequent treats. If he would doze during the stories it would be better but his interpretation of his job is that he needs to engage with each kid and their book so two hours is a lot of mental focus especially when each kid is different and he needs to assess what kind of interaction is best for them. Some kids he basically lays there like a lump with his eyes open, others he’ll paw or put his head in their lap, some he watches warily bracing himself for the possible inappropriate behavior. My job is to support him as best I can but he is a better judge of what the child needs from him than I am so I have to take my cues from him. Making sure he gets the breaks he needs, a chance to do something else, and frequent treats makes it possible for him to do two hours.
I’d never thought of it in terms of self-control depletion I just know how long my dogs can go and what I need to do to help them be their best. I love having a better idea what I’m seeing and why they need the breaks they do.
Kerry M. says
I think with puppy raising, what we primarily teach is one big impulse control exercise. Poor possible glucose-deprived pup. I take my pup to my training classes and last week for the first time, asked her to do a bed-stay rather than a kennel-stay during the boring bits. She did great for the first class, ok for the 2nd class,, but I really lost her by hour 3. Nice to know that science is on the issue.
Holly, thanks for joining in. It’s great to hear from you and get your perspective.
Susan says
When my fox terrier was a year old, I needed a kennel for him to go to during the day because I broke my pelvis and could not walk him. The one I took him to had large groups of dogs playing all together for several hours, then nap, then more play. They eventually gave me a written notice that my dog was at risk because he could not refrain from biting other dogs’ tails, and those dogs were not happy about that. Normally he plays well withe every dog, and is very gentle with people. I met with a behavior specialist and she recommended another kennel, which is much smaller, with shorter periods of play and more matching of dogs who would be allowed to play together. It made a world of difference, and he loves going there occasionally now, and is well behaved.
After reading this post, I suspect the problem with the first place was that he depleted his self control – he loves other dogs and can’t wait to greet every one of them, is delighted to go to the kennel, etc. So, by the end of the day at the first place, where he had so many dogs to play with for so many hours, he would have no self control, and he would also arrive home totally exhausted. Now, he doesn’t have to control himself for as long, being a more controlled environment.
Ellen Pepin says
I adopted a poorly socialized Shepherd/Terrier mix who could not be with other dogs without a fight. We worked very hard to try and make up for lost time. I finally got her to the point where I could take her to the dog park. The first time, she lasted 5 minutes before looking for a fight, so I took her home. I worked to gradually increase the amount of time she could interact safely. The most I ever got was about 20 minutes. After that, she seemed to be over stimulated like a small child with ADHD, and would go after other dogs. Her limit had been reached, and it was time to go home.
I found the first comment by Leonard Cecil to be very interesting. He commented on a study that had to do with glucose depletion in the brain. I hope that there would be more study of this area, especially as it relates to children as well as dogs. Having taught for nearly 30 years, I can recall many instances of misbehavior toward the end of play periods and class time, even when there was good behavior at the beginning.
em says
A quick thought on exercise: though I have observed many instances in which physical fatigue seems to exacerbate Otis’ mental/emotional fatigue- making it wise to reduce his physical exercise on mentally taxing days, I have also successfully used physical exercise to manage his impulsive behavior. When he was young and more energetic, we would arrive early at the park to give Otis an hour of off-leash walking BEFORE allowing him to play with the other dogs. In this instance, it was because allowing him to go from zero to sixty (rest to high stimulation) wound him up too much- he’d lose control and jump on people (playfully, but it was no joke to deal with a flying giant).
Walking him first was not all that physically taxing – it wasn’t tiring him appreciably, but it was allowing him to release his boredom and frustration through free movement and moderate stimulation- in retrospect I don’t think that the benefit we saw was as much a product of TIRING him as it was CALMING him by allowing his mind and body to relax and become comfortable in his surroundings before confronting a fun but socially challenging series of interactions.
When using exercise to moderate troubling behavior, I suspect that there is a big difference between the results that are gained by exercise depending on whether the owner is hitting the “sweet spot” by finding exercise that offers mental and physical release without being overtaxing, overstimulating, or requiring too much self-control.
Frances says
I have been thinking very much the same thing, em. I took my two for a long walk yesterday (4 miles is a very long walk for us!). It was the perfect combination of a bit of impulse control (waiting for bicycles to go by), socialising (meeting a few friendly people and dogs), walking, hunting for rabbits in the hedges, paddling in the stream, running zoomies in the field, and ending with a slowish walk back along the cycle path. We got home tired, and blissfully relaxed. The day before the same path was so overcrowded with walkers, cyclists and dogs that we gave up and went elsewhere – it was just too stressful for all of us. When it comes to exercise in our household, quantity is good for our waistlines, but it is the quality that is good for our souls!
Trisha says
I love em’s “sweet spot” phrase, it perfectly sums up the line between happily tired and relaxed, versus over tired and easily upset. It seems to me the primary factors here, worth all of us understanding in both our dogs and our selves, are TYPE of effort and INTENSITY of effort. One can be well exercised, or exhausted, by physical exercise (think glowing after a perfect walk versus crawling into the house in exhaustion), by problem solving exercise (fun, stimulating meeting with colleagues versus being mentally fried by difficult computer problems for hours on end) or by the effort to exert self control (15 min of sitting mediation versus all day with a group of people who make you want to rip your hair from your head but require smiles and nods of the head, no matter what they say.)
I find categorizing exertion as 1) physical, 2) problem-solving or 3) self-control to be helpful, especially when underpinned by looking at the level of effort required, or em’s “sweet spot.” Mixing and matching a little of each, as so well described in some of the comments, seems the perfect blending of stimulation and relaxation, challenge and respite. Which, of course, varies between individuals, no matter what the species.
Thank you all so far for this conversation, it has helped me jell my own thoughts on the issue, and makes my own moments of computer frustration well worth it.
liz says
Slightly off topic, but I found an article because of this thought-provoking self-control post that looks at decision-making in humans: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=warm-weather-makes-it-hard-think-straight&page=3
Titled “Winter Wakes Up Your Mind–and Warm Weather Makes It Harder To Think Straight,” by Adrian Ward at Scientific American, it suggests that even a slight temperature increase beyond the usual norm can negatively impact decision-making. (In short, cooling down is supposed to take more energy than heating up and well, that’s less energy available for decisions!) I wouldn’t be surprised to see dogs’ decisions effected by the heat, too.
It may be hard to count the blessings during these cold cabin fever months, but this could be another reason to. (And I’m relieved that there may be an actual basis for why I spend most of the summer in a fog…)
JJ says
A problem with the website?
Note: When I used to click the “Trisha’ blog” link at the top of the page, I would get directed to a main blog page. Now when I do it, I get directed to this detail page:
https://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/self-control-depletion-dogs
Is this a bug or a new deliberate “feature”??? I thought you would like to know about this in case it is a bug.
Beth with the Corgis says
JJ, I do see that; I come straight to this post and no longer get the main blog page.
Vicki in Michigan says
I find the most salient aspect of self-control, for myself, is not stopping myself from doing things, but making myself do things. I have a definite global limit on that. If I have made myself do something really nasty (take someone to the airport on crowded highways in iffy weather), I have a much harder time making myself do the next nasty thing (compose a proposal for my volunteer group that I know will be contentious). Only time will help with recovery from this sort of depletion, not food. I think of this as self-control, but it seems very different from what was studied, so maybe this is my misunderstanding or mislabeling.
It’s very interesting to read about people’s experiences with self-control depletion and their different dogs in different situations. I’m glad to have read everyone’s comments.
One last thought — a leashed walk is not necessarily strictly an exercise in self-control and tolerance of being stopped from doing what one wishes. When I walk my dog, the walk is about him, not about me. It’s true, he’s limited to the length of his flexi-lead (with me staying on the sidewalk), but he gets to walk where he wants to within that limit, and gets to sniff as long as he wants (which is his primary desire when on walks, as far as I can tell — infinite sniffing). It’s not perfect freedom, but it’s not trotting at my side while I pick the pace, either. What he wants to do is check out every item that is 2″ higher than the prevailing ground height, and check it out for as long as he likes (which can be a very long time, to this human, who carries a novel so she can entertain herself while he sniffs).
Rose C says
JJ, looks like a new feature. I tried to check it out today through the mainwebsite, then to Trisha’s blog, and I ended up on a page where I found myself staring at Trisha’s red striped socks, LOL!
Beck says
Maybe it wasn’t risk-seeking behavior but rather a higher level of confidence in the security of crates, since they had just been reminded that when they wanted to get out to get the hamster, they couldn’t. Now in the presence of a dog who wants to get them, they’re willing to spend more time near the other dog’s crate, “being the hamster”. Reminds me of sled dog puppies who learn faster when they watch their mother pull a sled.
Nan Arthur says
Any chance of getting link to the study you sited?
They also did one a few years back on “Super Exercise Mice,” that was pretty much the same results. The more the purpose bred mice exercised, the less cognitive they were. The good news was when they withheld the exercise for a couple of weeks; the mice could then do the same cognitive maze as regular mice.
thanks,
Nan Arthur, CDBC, CPDT-KSA, KPACTP & Faculty for Karen Pryor Academy
Trisha says
Nan, here’s the link: http://www.shamanandscientist.com/images/Dogs/DogTired.pdf
Alexa Capra says
To sit and stay on command in presence of something that might be perceived as a danger, is stressful. The reaction could also be associated with an increase in the stress level, rather than to “self-control”. To sit and saty on command is “self” control or just control? To me, self-control should be the associated with an inner motivation. The dog should be allowed to choose, to sit or to move. What’s the “self” part of sitting, in this case?
Ben H. - Hunde Netzwerk says
Fascinating research! This article provides valuable insights for this dog and future cases. Thank you!