framing the dog
Let’s play a game.
Think of an animal.
It has hair/fur, four legs, and a tail.
What if I told you that the animal is cunning?
.
.
Are you thinking of a fox?
When asked to think of any old animal, our unique imaginations will conjure a critter that gives insight into who we are and what we’re thinking of at present.
When asked to think of a cunning animal, many of us will think of a fox, giving insight into society’s habit of stereotyping animals.
Let’s play another game.
What comes to mind when you see the word:
shares
🤔
It makes me think of the stock market, numbers on those big TV screens, the charging bull, the Wolf of Wall Street, profit, stocks, investments, brokers…
What about the word:
share
🤔
‘Share’ makes me think of food, friends, community. Kids taking turns playing with a toy, cupcakes, sandwiches…
On paper ‘shares’ and ‘share’ are just about the same word. But in our minds they are two distinct concepts.
Yet all that changed was one humble letter.
different words, different frames
These two games demonstrate the power of framing, where a word is not just a word; it is a long list of associations - related words, images, knowledge or impressions - frames that are mental structures that shape the way we see the world. [1]
Both ‘shares’ and ‘share’ express the concept of dividing portions of a whole among two or more parties. But with time, they have developed their own distinct frames.
Like an accordion file, each word now expands to an array of related ideas.
‘Shares’ evokes a finance frame related to concepts of competition and profit. ‘Share’ evokes a reciprocity frame related to concepts of generosity and distribution. And food.
Activating frames - be they about division of resources or the trustworthiness of vulpines - reinforces the associated beliefs we hold about them.
When it comes to dogs, we’re all carrying around dusty old accordion files that we’ve inherited from society, but have never actually paused to inspect.
We’ve unknowingly and unintentionally bought into outdated ideas from bygone eras that are no longer fit to represent our lives with dogs.
When we talk about dogs with inherited terms, referring to ourselves as ‘owners’ putting dogs through ‘obedience’ school so they can learn ‘commands’, we subconsciously shape how we see them. Each of those terms has its own accordion file of meaning, and they aren’t necessarily helpful.
Below is a list of commonly used dog terms and proposed reframes. As you read each one, pause to think about what words you associate with each term.
Use the plus sign buttons (+) below to reveal related words for each term.
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Command = militant, authoritarian, compulsory
Cue = prompting, actors and action, stimulus and response
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Owner = possession, property, objects
Guardian = carer, responsibility, guardian angel
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Difficult = defiant, hard work, bad (value statement/judgement)
Complicated canine = complexity, lots going on, intersecting factors, neither good nor bad (neutral statement)
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Obedience = rules, compliance, obey or defy
Training = discipline, learning, preparation for a goal, not yet accomplished - training to get there
This activation happens covertly - that is, without our conscious awareness of it.
A 2011 study presented a report on crime to participants, asking them to propose solutions to the problem. All of the participants were presented with the same report, with the same data and findings, except half the reports described crime as ‘a wild beast preying on the city’ and the other half as ‘a virus infecting the city’. [2]
Participants primed to conceptualise crime using the beast metaphor proposed solutions like capturing criminals and using heavier punishments, while those primed with the frame of crime as a virus proposed finding the root cause and treating the problem with preventative social measures like education. [2]
When asked why they had proposed the solutions they had, participants did not refer to the frames, or metaphors, or language, but the statistics. Framing had worked its subconscious magic on the participants, who without their knowledge or choice proposed solutions that matched the way the problem had been framed for them.
frames reinforce beliefs, beliefs inform thoughts, thoughts drive action
How are we describing the challenges we encounter with our dogs?
If they do something we don’t like, are they an obnoxious scheming scoundrel lacking discipline?
Or are they are a sensitive being with flaws, doing their best but lacking the skills or supports to do any different?
Are we choosing words that inspire supportive, sustainable solutions or are we subconsciously priming ourselves to think of stereotyped, ineffective ones?
My relationship with Mango began to improve when our behaviour vet helped me reframe Mango’s ‘attacks’ (bouts of barking, jumping, chomping, nipping, growling directed at me) into ‘meltdowns’.
Where ‘attack’ evoked a frame of danger, intent to harm, victim-vs-perpetrator, ‘meltdown’ connoted an involuntary lapse in composure, a stress-induced panic, an actual puddle.
Simply changing the word I used to describe what Mango was doing allowed me to change how I responded.
When she ‘attacked’ I responded by protecting myself, scared that her ultimate goal was to hurt me.
When I understood these incidents as ‘meltdowns’ I could see that she was desperately expressing fear, and her ultimate goal was to get both of us to safety from what she perceived as a threat in the environment.
I could then respond to her ‘meltdowns’ by reducing the fear (creating distance, changing environment, etc) and helping her out of fight or flight by encouraging alternative, self-soothing behaviours (in Mango’s example, venting her fear onto a nearby stick or piece of bark instead of me).
change the frame, change the picture
We all want better lives for ourselves and our dogs. Changing the way we frame them through the words we use is a small but powerful way to achieve it.
renovating old terms
To renovate an old frame we can co-opt the old words that evoke it and supplant a new frame on top of the existing word.
Modern usage of the word ‘queer’ is a great example of renovating a frame.
Originally used to evoke a derogatory, prejudiced frame, ‘queer’ has been co-opted by the LGBTQI+ community and is now more likely to evoke a celebratory, inclusive frame, thanks to continually using the old word in a new, purposeful context.
Renovating frames is a slow process, and there will be parts of society who refuse to get on board with the new frame. For example, the word ‘queer’ will still evoke the old, derogatory frame for some people.
creating new frames
An alternative to renovating old words with new frames, is to use new words. We can do this by introducing existing words into a new context or by creating a new word entirely.
In the 1990s, autistic sociologist Judy Singer started using the words ‘neurodiverse’ and ‘neurodivergent’ in place of old terms like ‘disorder’ that evoke frames of deficit. Replacing the language used was a way to introduce a new, strength-based frame.
In the dog world, ‘reactivity’ has only come into use as a behaviour term relatively recently (circa mid-2000s) to imply an over-active nervous system response to something in the environment (noise reactivity, dog reactivity, etc). It’s a great example of a new term encapsulating a new frame. Introducing ‘cue’ into the context of dog training creates a new frame, superseding ‘command’.
small change, big gains
Paying attention to the words we use and choosing words that evoke empowering and inspiring frames is a simple change. That’s not to say it is easy - it requires us to create purposeful, consistent new ways of talking - but it is simple nonetheless.
Frames are constantly influencing our lives, whether we like it or not. Indeed, whether we even know it or not.
Why not choose the ones that serve us and our dogs?
[1] Lakoff, G. (2004). Don't Think of an Elephant! Know your values and frame the debate. The essential guide for progressives. White River Junction, Chelsea Green Publishing: Vermont, USA.
[2] Thibodeau PH, Boroditsky L (2011) Metaphors We Think With: The Role of Metaphor in Reasoning. PLOS ONE 6(2): e16782.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0016782