Unintended Consequences

Robert Burns once wrote:

"The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!"

In more modern English:

"The best laid schemes of Mice and Men
oft go awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!"

The picture above is Lily on the left and Teddi on the right. Lily is a Red Bone Coonhound and Teddi is a Corgi and Blue Heeler mix. Other than the two dogs involved (Teddi's parents) I'm not sure who thought this was a good idea. Blue Heelers are also known as Austrailan Cattle Dogs. They are named Blue Heelers based on their color and practice of moving reluctant cattle by nipping at their heels. Corgis are also a herding dog with lots of energy and a HUGE streak of stubborn. So what do we end up withat our house? A stubborn dog who wants to herd everyone, including Lily, by nipping at their heels. We were determined to change Teddi. We have discovered that sometimes what you do to change someone has consequences you never intended.

Teddi would bite at Lily's tail and hind legs when she tried to come in the door from their play area. These nips would at times cause Lily to yelp in pain, hobble around on three legs or turn and bark at Teddi. Well Teddi soon discovered that Lily was not going to fight back and the only real consequence of nipping was getting barked at loudly in the face. Teddi saw no reason to modify her conduct. Enter the humans with a plan to modify behaviors bred into the mind of dear Teddi. A shock collar is ordered and put on Teddi. When she nips at Lily as she tries to come into the house she will get a little buzz to let her know the behavior is unacceptable. The logic of the human is undeniable. Teddi will modify her nipping behavior and Lily will be able to enter the house undamaged. What actually happened is something completely different. Lily and Teddi come to the door and Lily goes to enter. Teddi nips her and then retreats. She has not associated the shock with the nip she has determined that the doorway is the problem. She will stand 3 feet back and look at it. Will ignore treats offered to get her to come back in. Will stand shivering until finally cold demands her to brave the threshhold. So, rather than solve a problem we have managed to create a new one.

The lesson here dear reader is simple. Dogs or people are what they are. You may do whatever you wish in an attempt to make them do something different. What you do may have no effect at all or you may discover that it has unintended consequences.