#16 - Can't decide? Displace!

We've all seen and experienced displacement behavior... but what
does that mean? Displacement behavior is most likely to be
exhibited when you (or your dog) are faced with tough choices...
conflicting sources of motivation. Should I stay or should I go? If
it's an easy decision... maybe staying is super amazing and going
is very sad, no problem! But if both decisions are fairly
equivalent (on either a good or bad scale), then we feel tension.
Displacement behaviors show up right in that spot. Scratching your
head, chewing your nails... or scratching, sniffing, or personal
grooming if you are a dog. These are all behaviors that serve a
normal function in one context, but make no sense at all in others.
When we see a normal behavior like that out of context, we are
often looking at a displacement behavior. Noticing displacement
behavior in your training sessions? Then we should look for sources
of conflicting motivation and/or social tension. Addressing the
source will go a LOT farther than addressing the displacement
behavior directly.