Dogs And Drives

I think that grasping the concept of "drive" is very difficult for most people, especially people who spend a lot of time on logical problem solving.

I think it is hard to accept that we can be stimulated into behaviors that have their own momentum once initiated. Like guys acting dumb around a pretty girl, then feeling embarrassed afterwards and wondering why they made such a fool of themselves. 

Similarly, we view dogs as if they are a logic problem: put in the coin, push the button, and out comes the soda pop can. We take our dogs to lessons, teach them to Sit for treats, or a boot camp that will crack down on every bad response, and our logic says that is going to solve all behavioral problems. But then we find that the dog isn't controllable in that class (so we had to stop going, and the problem still goes on in the home or in public), or the dog is still doing whatever we didn't want (but maybe in a new way) once the dog comes back from that expensive boarding program. We also think we can make dogs feel this way or that by teaching them new skills... and it just doesn't work out.

For example, you can bore a Labrador if you overtrain them doing repetitive obedience exercises that have no purpose for the dog. Eventually the dog will move like a slug, if at all. On the other hand, you can play Fetch with a Lab every day, and they will never get lose interest. The second scenario involves a drive. The first one described doesn't. Similarly, you are going to do some things repetitively and get bored. Other things, you aren't going to be able to help yourself and you will always be motivated to do them. Like a dog, you have drives, too.

There are going to be situations in life that send you along paths that you might not understand. Same thing with your dog. Sometimes a drive is being activated, and without knowledge of what that is, you will never fully find a way of dealing with it. That is going to be true for you, and that is true for your dog.