Causal Catastrophe
- cambridgedogs
- Apr 10
- 3 min read
(or don't let worrying too much about 'future dog' stop you from enjoying 'present dog' right now!)
As dog trainers we encourage you to think about building up habits and behaviour that will be helpful over your dog's life. Being consistent with your pup and thinking about the long term consequences, for example of letting them jump up, or allowing them onto the sofa, or chase the cat. Practise makes perfect, and if we let our dogs do these activities and get enjoyment from them, it will be that much harder a habit to break if we realise later on that it's not so much for for us, or other people, or our cat!
Consistency, setting firm but fair boundaries and sticking to them, and installing good habits are vital. Deciding at what points we need our dogs to show self-controlled behaviour (waiting to jump out of the car, waiting to have paws dried when coming into the house, or being given permission to jump on the sofa) and then rigorously teaching these 'pause points' to our dogs makes our lives and theirs, so much easier.
But - like all advice written on the internet, or in a book - this is generic advice. And sometimes in our quest to do everything to create a future 'perfect dog' we can risk missing the joy of the (seemingly imperfect) moments in between.
Coined by Adam Gopnik, 'causal catastrophe' is used to describe our fixation on endpoints as the value of everything. The examples he uses are in raising children. We judge everything they do or that we do with them, by the value it provides towards making them a future 'good' adult. We discount the value that experience may have in the present moment - good or bad. If we have rigidly set rules about meals, leisure time or bedtime, do we miss spontaneous moments that breaks all the rules but which build connection, comfort, bonding and enjoyment that are far more valuable in the long run? Do we fail to fully appreciate a harm or benefit that an activity provides in that present moment?
For example, we want our child to sleep consistently in their own bed. So when the child falls asleep on us, if it doesn't fit 'the plan' - if we are worried that it will make our child too dependent and clingy in the long run, we feel obliged to transfer them back to their own bed and break a moment of connection, rest, comfort and bonding that may be valued by both. Or the alternative problem; if we are following a plan that promotes unlimited contact and attachment with your child, yet you desperately needs a break, some 'alone-time' but feel guilty because you've been told it will cause abandonment issues which will disturb the child for life!
These examples are relevant when we consider dogs. When I first started fostering dogs for a rescue, we were encouraged to support the dog sleeping in a separate room as we did not know what the preference of the ultimate adopter would be. But when presented with a distressed and crying puppy that would not be soothed except by physical contact, I slept that first night with him on my chest! Over a week he gradually moved to the foot of the bed, then a crate next to the bed. By the end of the fortnight he was sleeping in a crate at a distance from the bed calmly. We adapt for the needs of that pup (and of the humans needing their sleep!). Thankfully the majority of pups I have fostered have settled very well in the kitchen.
Consistency is important in helping our dogs feel safe, and making our expectations of their behaviour clear. But so is enjoying the present moment with the dog in front of you, and judging that moment by its value right now, rather than what it implies for 'future dog'.
To take Stoppard's quote (changing child to puppy)*:
"The purpose of a puppy is to be a puppy".
You may be thinking of your future obedience or agility champion, you may even be raising a puppy destined for service or police work.
"But meanwhile there is a real puppy in front of you. Don't blink and miss it."
For more about this idea see Oliver Burkeman's "Four Thousand Weeks" or
* The first quote is either attributed to Gopnik or Tom Stoppard, I believe an adaptation of Gopnik's words by Stoppard. The second is borrowed and adapted from Tim Hartford in his review of Burkeman's book : https://timharford.com/2021/08/resist-the-temptation-to-overachieve-on-holiday/
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