I have to admit I'm a fan of the cognitive/behavioral perspective. It's so "now." But, like so many things, does it really work, or does it just kinda work, sometimes?
Ever notice that most treatment options for anything are kind of a crapshoot? Even the treatment cure-all of the twentieth century (antibiotics) doesn't always work, and is losing effectiveness. Does everything work without qualifiers, or does everything work "all the time, except for when it doesn't"?
There is a huge body of research and dedicated professional users of behavioral psychology. A rat will push a lever if you give it treats, according to Skinner- sometimes. Anyway, the lever pushing frequency will increase. Is that really practical if it were a treatment solution, or is that just the best we can do? We use antidepressants, for example, because they "work," but only in 50% of people, or 50% of the time.
How long should it take to potty train a dog? I have a four month old puppy named Zorro. I have had him for two or three-ish months. This morning I woke up to his barking, because he pooped the floor. This is really a step sideways because he didn't use to poop the floor, only pee; now he doesn't pee the floor, only poop.
I am a student of psychology. I have taken my behavioral psychology classes. I know basic classic conditioning, operant conditioning, shaping, and whatnot. I know how to use aversive conditions, reward systems, controlled scheduling, random scheduling and other types of enforcement. I made mental flowcharts and read everything I could get my hands on to potty train this dog, and still, he poops. And pees. Everywhere.
You might say the problem is constancy. I'm not using the same technique long enough- I'm just confusing him. Wrong. I thought of that. I have made few if any major changes, with small alterations over the course of two months. I am at my wit's end. He always goes outside when I take him, but sometimes he just goes inside. This ratio of inside to outside is not changing. It's been around 1:3 for the past two months.
Behavioral training sort-of works. It also sort-of doesn't; which, if you think about it, in terms of disproving any theory, means it doesnt. Dammit.
