I've described earlier my dog's diet. I'll not go into that again, but their behavior, that's another story.
Everyone knows of Pavlov. You know, the guy who rang bells to make dogs drool? It's called Operant Conditioning, and it's an unbelievably effective method of training. Link a behavior with food, or some other high-value object or activity, and you can get any animal (including humans) to do just about anything that is physically possible. There's a great book out on the subject. It's by Karen Pryor; the title is "Don't Shoot the Dog." - it's not really a dog-training book, per se, it's a whatever you want to train, including yourself book.
We usually feed our dogs at night. The regular schedule has us watching television for a while to "unwind", and then we hit the hot tub. The way my husband has the television and stereo system set up, you have to turn off 3 different devices to get the whole thing shut off. The satellite reciever, the TV itself (which makes the traditional soft "pop" sound when it's turned off) and the stereo system reciever. That particular device makes a distinct "click" when the power is killed. This sound has come to mean "dinnertime" to the dogs.
Oh, the power of a remote control. When the sound from the TV goes off, the dogs perk their ears. However, we change channels often enough that this is not necesarily a cause for real excitement. If that is followed by the TV "Pop" and the reciever "click", we have instant mayhem in the living room. The dogs jump up, look around, dance in a circle, and make a beeline for the back door, where we take them to eat their dinner. Every time. It doesn't matter if we have food in our hands or not, they've been completely conditioned to respond to "reciever click means food."
People are much the same way. We get so used to doing things one way, or in a certain order, that it's often nearly impossible to change. Take, for instance, nail biting. Often described as a "vice" or "bad habit", I'm of the opinion it's an addiction. It has all the classic symptoms of addiction. I know, I'm a nail biter. To look at my hands, you wouldn't know it. My fingernails are beautiful. Long, manicured, and nice looking - and not artificial, either. The last time I chewed off a fingernail simply to chew off a fingernail was when I was 15. And 13 years later, I still identify myself as a nail-biter. Like an AA meeting...everyone there is an Alcoholic, no matter how long ago their last drink was.
Nail biting, smoking, drinking, I equate them as equal addictions. While smoking has the obvious added stimulus of nicotine, I doubt it's much more powerful an addiction than the pleasure a nail biter gets from chewing that fingernail down. Nail biting feels *good*, it satisfies an itch you can't scratch. Fingernails taste GREAT, and the chewing motion is extremely comforting. I have no doubt there's a release of endorphins associated with the action. Every day, I have to re-break my habit. *13 years* and I still have as powerful an urge to chew on my fingernails as I did the day I decided to quit doing it. If I get a hangnail, or a small blemish in the edge of a nail, I have to get to a clipper or nail file (nail file is much better - makes a smoother repair) and remove it *immediately* or it gets chewed off. Nail polish and all.
Like the dog-hears-stereo syndrome in my house, I was conditioned at an early age to really enjoy my nail biting. It's an unbelievably powerful stimulus.
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