The Humane Hierarchy was developed as a set of guideposts to help lead animal behavior professionals through a systematic approach when dealing with behavioral issues. As the name suggests, it lays out the options for training, starting with the most humane approach and ending with the least humane one.
These approaches are as follows, from most to least humane:
- Nutritional and Physical Wellness
- Antecedent Arrangements
- Positive Reinforcement
- Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behaviors
- Negative Reinforcement, Negative Punishment, and Extinction
- Positive Punishment
When we say something like “least humane” what we mean is that the approach is generally more likely to leave behind certain “residues”, such as emotional, behavioral, or physical damage. Sure, you could jump straight into a training plan centered on positive punishment, but there’s a good chance that your animal might suffer some lasting impacts from that type of training.
Conversely, “most humane” is generally supposed to avoid the pitfalls presented by the less humane approaches—although, your animal might occasionally disagree if they’re highly averse to veterinary exams. For the scope of this article, and in my opinion, you can generally think of more humane as also being more preferable. I’d rather get the desired changes in behavior by doing a few environmental tweaks rather than any types of punishment.
Keep in mind that many behavioral plans will be a blended combination of these approaches—with emphasis shifting between what combination of tactics needs to be employed in any given scenario.
Nutritional and Physical Wellness
Notice that the top of the humane hierarchy technically isn’t even “training” or “behavior modification”—but starting from this point whenever you’re examining your animal’s emotion or behavioral life makes a world of difference. Your pet’s nutritional and physical wellness is really where everything starts. It’s of paramount importance for their quality of life.
So whenever you notice a change in your animal’s behavior, start by investigating whether or not anything is lacking in their diet or exercise routine. Lots of behavioral issues can be helped by giving your animal an adequate amount of physical and mental exercise, and by feeding them a nutritionally sound diet.
Consider issues of house soiling: your animal’s problem urination may be caused or exacerbated by urinary tract imbalances caused by a deficient diet. Before you start rubbing their noses in any pee spots, get a urinalysis done for them.
Antecedent Arrangements
Next up on the humane hierarchy are antecedent arrangements. Antecedents are anything that comes before a certain behavior. They help to determine how that behavior will play out in the environment. Check The ABC’s of Behavior Modification for more details. Arranging those antecedents is exactly what it sounds like. Think of it as either finessing or manipulating your animal’s environment (both internal and external) to nudge their behavioral tendencies in a certain direction. Manipulations should be as non-aversive as possible.
As with any behavioral plan, these antecedents are highly individualized and must be considered on an animal-to-animal basis. But consider scenarios where a problem behavior might be mitigated by tossing up a couple of baby gates, or adjusting the timing of walks. Sometimes simple tweaks in environmental conditions are what make behavioral plans work.
Positive Reinforcement
If you don’t know what Positive Reinforcement means by now, check out Understanding Reinforcement and Punishment. But basically, we want to encourage desirable behaviors.
Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behaviors
Differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors basically just means that you try to replace problem behaviors with desirable ones. Does your dog always jump on you to get your attention? Well, they can’t do that if they’re lying down to get your attention instead!
This approach is beneficial because your animal can still let out some energy by channeling it from something undesirable into something that is. Rather than just getting scolded or ignored for doing something, they get to practice and put their focus towards more enriching behaviors that garner them praise and reinforcement.
Negative Reinforcement, Negative Punishment, and Extinction
Again, here’s Understanding Reinforcement and Punishment if you need it. Only resort to these options if all the other ones aren’t cutting it.
Positive Punishment
Maybe just try not to do it, ok?
Tell ya what, just Contact Me and I’ll try to help you come up with something else instead.
