Not all unwanted behavioral habits in dogs require training solutions; sometimes, managing the dog's environment is the best way to stop bad behavior. -Pat Miller
When addressing a behavioral problem, many people often assume that training is the only way to correct it. While training can certainly help, sometimes the solution also lies in management or a combination of both.
Management is when you modify a dog's environment in order to prevent or discourage undesirable behavior. There is short-term management and long-term management and which one you choose depends on the type of behavior you are dealing with. The easiest example of management is when you get a new puppy and you "puppy-proof" your house. This usually means adding baby gates and picking up items you don't want chewed up or peed on. Even though it seems like you are just protecting your stuff from damage, what you are actually doing is limiting the ability for your puppy to rehearse undesirable behaviors. This type of management is usually a short-term solution until you can train your puppy to behave appropriately.
Long-term management is used when a behavior either can't be corrected through training or when management of the situation is easier than training. The importance of this type of management is based on what is ultimately at stake in the situation. For a dog that has discovered counter-surfing, it is incredibly challenging to find something that is more rewarding than the ham sandwich he found that one time that you could use to retrain him. The reward for counter-surfing was so high that he is likely going to keep trying it no matter how many times it results in no reward. Using long-term management in this situation would be introducing a baby gate that prevents him from going into the kitchen unattended. The management of this situation is much easier than trying to train him not to counter-surf.
There are other situations where long-term management is the only solution because the issue cannot be retrained. An example of this would be a dog that is aggressive towards strangers or children. This type of behavior cannot be trained out of a dog to the degree that they become 100% trustworthy. For the safety of everyone, especially children, an aggressive dog requires intense management for the rest of its life, even if it appears to no longer behave aggressively.
Management is most commonly used in conjunction with training. It is a way of preventing the dog from rehearsing the incorrect behavior while they practice the correct behavior. This is where my favorite training phrase comes into play.
Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.
Management is a tool to set your dog up for success without any direct action from you. You can make it impossible for your dog to steal food from the kitchen counter if you have a gate that blocks him from the kitchen entirely. You can make jumping on guests hard if you put a leash on his collar and stand on it to prevent him from being able to jump up. You can prevent a dog fight from happening in your house if you isolate a food-aggressive dog at dinnertime. All of these examples are situations where your dog has no choice but to do the right thing because the right thing is the only option being presented to him. Remember, it takes five correct responses to a situation to undo one bad response. Managing the situation effectively can prevent a bad response and help speed up your training.
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