Two months ago, I began volunteering at a large shelter in outer-suburban Melbourne that houses cats, dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits and farm animals. These are some thoughts from the experience to date, with questions at the end.
Constructional Affection is a procedure developed by Sean Will and Chase Owens. It's defined as "the use of affection as a reinforcer to establish desired interactions between you and your best friend.
"Constructional refers to the production of a specified goal or behavior using current strengths and skills (Goldiamond, 1974). Affection refers to petting, gentle scratching, and other similar physical contact."
The shelter houses around 200 dogs, arranged in "pods" of 20 kennels each according to size and other criteria. As a new volunteer, I'm allocated the smaller dogs. In my pod, there are usually a few empty kennels and one or two dogs deemed "staff only", making around 16 dogs requiring attention in total. If there’s another volunteer, we interact with up to eight dogs each per shift.
My goals with each dog (assuming she’s not showing fear or aggression) are:
1. To find out if she wants to interact
2. To see if she wants to receive affection via the Affection Guidelines (AG)
3. To take her or him outside to eliminate and walk
4. To offer Constructional Affection (CA) during the walk
5. To offer CA on our return to the kennel
It's very difficult to collect data. Due to shelter rules, I can’t film myself with the dogs. I’m not comfortable with writing notes and took voice memos that weren’t subsequently helpful.Therefore, none of the following is rigorous.
Interact?
We’re expected to interact with (walk) all the dogs so – unlike Sean and Maasa’s procedure – I can’t offer each dog the choice to approach me before entering their kennel.
Once inside, I go to the far end and wait for the dog to approach. There are almost as many styles of “approach” (or avoidance) as there are individual dogs. Most jump up on my legs and/or bark.
Affection Guidelines?
From here on, it’s not clear whether each dog desires affection. What follows is a series of anecdotes.
My first-ever dog, Murray, was a yellow Lab who seemed happy and excited so I commenced the procedure. But Murray was unable to keep four paws on the ground; he had only three! He responded to CA immediately, keeping three paws on the floor and then “melting” into a wiggly “down” on the ground.
Another dog I met that day was a terrier. He accepted affection briefly then paced back and forth before standing close enough to suggest desire for “more”. When this behaviour sequence happens several times, I stop the CA procedure and go outside with the dog. (It does not meet the "excited, barky, jumpy" criteria in the first place and I need further education on this.)
Sometimes, what looks like “excitement” is not excitement but the need to eliminate, outside.
Some dogs have extraordinary appetites for affection! One day, I encountered three such dogs – Rita, an elderly Chihuahua/Papillon with threadbare fur and a heavy limp, F, a Shi-tzu with numerous knots in her fur and dried discharge under her eyes and Delilah, a miniature poodle who sported a pink “bling” collar and a polka-dot bowtie.
These dogs were excited and jumpy but quickly responded to my offered affection and once we commenced, showed no sign of wanting the CA to stop.
Delilah the poodle lapped up the affection and I loved giving it! When people came in the pod (causing many dogs to bark), she broke away but returned for attention, affection, praise and scritches on the rump.
It was hot outside but I took her for a short walk. She looked around, sniffed things and pottied … and came close, curling her body round my legs and accepting affection. She rolled on her back for many minutes, allowing me to use two hands to pet her lovely, tight curls.
The Shi-tzu was in quarantine and couldn’t be walked. But likewise, she lapped up the CA. I was supposed to finish my shift – but couldn’t. She seemed to want nothing more than to be touched and given affection. It was moving to think I could give such simple gifts – and in return, be overwhelmed by this dog’s sweet vulnerability.
One dog stood close to me but didn't accept long strokes along his body. Instead, he enjoyed short pats on the back of his neck.
I found dogs that accepted Constructional Affection during the walk were those that had already learned it, to some degree, in their kennel.
But on our return to their kennels, some dogs that hadn’t accepted CA before or on the walk, did sometimes accept it. They were, of course, calmer.
Unfortunately, I can't concentrate my efforts on any one dog for longer periods. If the weather is suitable, each dog spends around 15-20 minutes on the walking track. There are extra duties at the end of the day so there’s never enough time to walk them all and offer CA to all.
One day, another new volunteer’s carer observed me and asked questions. I offered to send her some CAAWT resources to help her client. Her client is on the autism spectrum. I will also send her resources on dog body language.
In summary, my experiences with applying the Affection Guidelines have been encouraging. I’ve been able to apply CA for many minutes with completely naïve dogs.
Questions
How could I improve?
Who benefits?
When a dog seems comfortable with CA, and this is my only goal, should I do the Eileen Anderson Consent Test?
When petting a sitting or lying dog, would it be better to use my hands to stroke alternately or both together? (I do both.)
"Exercise/change of scenery/eliminating/sniffing helps dogs accept Constructional Affection”. Discuss.
Should I spend more time with one or two dogs rather than a short time with several? What would be the best use of my time and produce the best welfare outcomes?
Should the shelter be informed about CA being done with its dogs?
What research could be done to test any correlation between applying CA and future prospects for adoption?
What data could I collect? What would help others?
Constructional Affection website
I'm indebted to Sean Will and Maasa Nishimuta for their guidance and support.
Constructional Affection was created by Sean Will and Chase Owens while members of The Organization for Reinforcement Contingencies with Animals, which is advised by Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz. Constructional Affection was the logical outcome of following a constructional approach to creating the ideal relationship between pets and their caretakers.
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