What does being ‘Force-Free’ mean, and why is it important?

Grab a cup of tea and pop your feet up folks, this is not one of my shorter posts!

So- what does it mean to be a ‘Force-Free’ behaviour professional? In short, Force-Free professionals are not going to use, recommend or condone ‘solutions’ to behaviour problems that rely on fear, coercion, physical force, undue confinement, pain, or punishment. As advances in behavioural science have been made over recent decades we have seen more and more trainers crossing over from traditional (i.e. coercive, punitive, forceful) methods of behaviour modification, to modern methods that are:

Grounded in the natural science of behaviour

Those who practice the natural science of behaviour seek to understand behavioural events by: assessing and determining the conditions that set the occasion for that behaviour; observing the resulting behaviour; and, discovering the consequences that follow that behaviour (see my blog post ‘Tracking Behaviour- why is it so important?’ for the part you play in this process!). In so doing, they are able to identify the function (or functions) of that behaviour and proceed to manipulate the antecedent (environment before the behaviour) and postcedent (environment following the behaviour) arrangements in order to effect behaviour change in a way that is targeted, specific and effective.

More empathetic

Force-Free professionals seek to understand WHY the animal is behaving as they are, and what their behaviour communicates to us about their environment, health, emotional state etc so that we can address the underlying cause of unwanted behaviour. This approach addresses the cause, not the symptom, and produces more lasting results.

More effective

If punishment is working, its function serves to decrease the frequency of behaviour. But in order for that to happen, punishment needs to occur every single time the behaviour occurs, at a sufficient intensity, and must be administered within 1-2 seconds of the behaviour occurring. If these conditions are not met, punishment is ineffective and the animal isn’t able to ‘join the dots’.

So this begs the question, who among us is realistically able to watch our cat 24/7, ready to dole out ‘just’ the right intensity of punishment, in precisely 1-2 seconds, without fail, every single time the behaviour occurs....?

(Tumbleweed....)

Given how hard it is to get punishment 'right', what we then begin to see is the result of ineffective punishment, e.g.

• the cat who engages in unwanted behaviour only when their owner isn’t around (party time on the kitchen counter after the humans go to bed!)

• the cat who only DOESN’T engage in the behaviour if the owner is holding the spray bottle- or pointing the spray bottle at the cat

• the cat who starts to engage in the behaviour even more (because they’re getting attention from their owner, yay!)

This all results in frustrated owners who don’t know what else to do. Sometimes they will even resort to more and more harsh methods to try and get the behaviour outcome they want- and things only deteriorate from there. Yikes! That doesn’t sound like energy well spent.

By contrast, Force-Free practitioners don't focus on suppressing behaviour- they seek to understand the behaviour, its function, and how that function can be met in ways that are acceptable to both cat AND owner. Then we go about devising a plan to make it as easy as possible for the cat to exhibit the behaviour their owner wants to see (reinforcing it liberally with whatever the cat loves i.e. treats, play, affection etc to increase the likelihood of that behaviour occurring again and again), whilst making it less efficient or less effective for the cat to exhibit the 'problem behaviour'. The fringe benefit is that the behaviour the cat's owner doesn't appreciate will become less and less likely to occur, as a new, more effective behaviour that gets the cat all sorts of good things starts to happen more and more!

This kind of approach is a WIN-WIN for cat and owner, producing lasting, positive results grounded in understanding, empathy, respect and kindness. Force-Free practices serve to enhance the human-cat bond.

Force-Free methods are also less risky.

Whilst punitive, coercive or forceful methods may appear to work in the short term, they carry the risk of serious negative side effects- some of which are covered below:

1. Punishment has a tendency to generalize. 

Punishment administered at a sufficient intensity to be effective at suppressing behaviour generally elicits a fear response. This fear response can generalize in unintended ways, with the cat pairing fear and pain from the aversive stimulation (punishment) with whoever or whatever was present at the time- regardless of whether that person or object contributed to the punishment or not.  

An example is: a cat who becomes terrified of their owner who accidentally dropped a large saucepan in the kitchen while the cat was nearby. The resulting sound so terrified the cat that they now respond with fear towards their owner.

Another example is: a cat who has been forcefully scruffed by their owner, causing the cat pain and fear. Now the cat is terrified of any person who tries to touch them around their neck/head and will quickly resort to defensive, potentially aggressive behaviour to fend off what they perceive as a threatening/frightening interaction.

2. Punishment suppresses behaviour.

If a cat behaves aggressively due to fear and is punished for that behaviour, their fear will likely only increase. At the same time, they may suppress outward signs of fear (i.e. threat display, growling, hissing etc- all of which serve to warn us to back away). When confronted with the same situation again coupled with the likelihood of punishment, the cat is more likely to react with heightened aggression AND fewer warning signs, making them much more dangerous.

Punishment can also suppress behaviour in ways we really didn’t intend, i.e. the cat who is punished for urinating outside their litterbox but is now so scared of being punished again (but they still need to urinate!) that they go and urinate behind the couch, or another secret place where they’re less likely to be caught. Now not only is their owner dealing with urination outside the litterbox, they also have a hard time figuring out where it’s happening so they can clean it up properly!

3. Punishment can cause harm

We all know that we are much bigger than our cats, and much stronger. When we are angry or frustrated we are in even less control of our physical responses. Physically or forcefully dominating, restraining or otherwise punishing our cats when we are angry or frustrated with them introduces the risk that we may hurt them.

Even if we’re not physically punishing our cats and instead administering punishment with a tool (i.e. the ubiquitous spray bottle), we still risk doing harm to our precious hard-earned human-cat bond, which is built on a foundation of trust and predictable positive interactions. If punishment isn’t delivered within 1-2 seconds of the behaviour occurring, EVERY SINGLE TIME the behaviour occurs, the cat isn’t able to pair their behaviour with the punishment. Instead they are left mystified as to why their owner sometimes behaves unpredictably, or can be mean, loud and scary.  This erodes trust, and the quality of the relationship.

4. Punishment can generate problematic side effects

Animals who have been trained using aversive methods show an increased risk of exhibiting seemingly unrelated (and unintended) side effects such as:

• an increase in displacement behaviours- i.e. excessive head shaking, light chasing, yawning, lip smacking, pacing etc

• self-mutilation i.e. over grooming/excessive claw ripping

• a depressive state- particularly likely if punishment is pervasive & inescapable

• urination outside of the litterbox

• an increase in destructive behaviour  i.e. scratching furniture

• redirected aggression

These unintended side effects can be stubborn, intractable and require considerable effort to attempt to resolve.

So punishment is not only: really difficult to do properly; if not done properly it's unlikely to be effective; AND might even cause worse problems to arise- which can be very difficult to resolve?

I'm sure that's not what any of us want!

BAD CAT! (sad cat???)

Another reason I am not a fan of forceful, coercive or punitive methods is because of the mind-set it creates. When we have a punishment mindset, it sets us up for an adversarial relationship between human and cat. They are behaving in ways we don’t appreciate because they are naughty, bad, spiteful, willful- they’re teaching us who’s boss etc! Thinking of our cat’s behaviour in this way makes us keen to ‘knock them down a peg’, ‘teach them a lesson’, ‘put them in their place’ etc.  

The reality is, the vast majority of ‘problem behaviour’ is either a result of undiagnosed/untreated pain or medical conditions (see my blog post: Behaviour Professional….or vet? for more information on that), unintentional reinforcement on part of the cat’s owner, or the behaviour is a perfectly natural response from the cat to an unnatural or unsuitable environmental condition. When we abandon judgement and anthropomorphic projections of emotion (side note: emotions like ‘spite’ requires human level cognition which the science simply does not support cats possessing!) and we start to look at the cat’s behaviour from a cat-centric perspective, then we have a real chance at getting to the bottom of the issue so we can resolve it. Take the following situation for example:

Punitive approach:

A cat has begun to urinate on the work clothes of their owner.  This behaviour is not appreciated (understandably!) and their owner decides that the cat is being territorial and trying to assert dominance over them.  When they next catch the cat urinating on their clothes, they yell at their cat and squirt them with a water bottle. The cat runs away and their owner feels they’ve been successful in stopping the behaviour. But the next day, the cat urinates on the work clothes again- but in secret this time!

Cat-Centric, Force-Free approach:

When we look at the same situation through a cat-centric/Force-Free lens, we assume that the cat is exhibiting this behaviour in an attempt to communicate something with us. So we look into things a bit deeper and discover that scent is actually tremendously important to cats- their own scent is comforting, reassuring and soothing. Cat’s share and co-mingle scent to create a group ‘bond’.  They don’t have the same human disgust response to urination, so it would never occur to them to wee on something to ‘get at you’ or ‘be dominant over you’. In fact in a cat's world, sharing scent is a huge compliment!  

Armed with that knowledge we start to wonder - is the cat feeling insecure and trying to strengthen their bond with their owner by co-mingling scent? Do the work clothes have any threatening/scary smells on them which the cat is trying to cover with their own reassuring scent? Or maybe that new litter their owner put in their litterbox at the same time this behaviour started isn’t actually very comfortable for them- but the work clothes are a nice, soft place to eliminate?

In the punitive example, the cat’s underlying reason for urinating on the work clothes goes undiscovered, and worse yet- the cat is punished for trying to communicate with their owner in a perfectly natural way (for the cat). This is likely to only increase fear, stress and uncertainty- and make the behaviour their owner doesn’t like MORE likely. Their relationship deteriorates as a result.

In the cat-centric example, we fix the problem quite quickly by making sure work clothes are not left out for the cat to pee on, revising the litterbox set up, and giving the cat and their owner some fun, constructive activities to do together to build and strengthen their bond in a way that is acceptable to both owner AND cat. The cat stops urinating on their owners clothes, and owner and cat enjoy an even deeper bond moving forwards.

So there you have it folks- I hope after this long read you have a better understanding of what a Force-Free approach is, and why I believe it is the kindest and most effective way to address any problem behaviour your cat may be exhibiting!

Monique van Maanen, FBST

Positive Purrenting

"Helping cats and their people to live more harmoniously together."

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For anyone that may be feeling regretful over having used forceful methods of behaviour modification in the past, first of all please know that you'll find absolutely zero judgement here! Most cat guardians who seek my help have resorted to some form or other of punishment to try to correct an unwanted behaviour, and it is no wonder. Punitive methods are culturally ubiquitous whilst the science of behaviour and its discoveries are still relatively new, so it's only natural that common wisdom hasn't caught up yet.

You were following well meaning advice and acting with the best of intentions- doing the BEST you could with the tools you had at your disposal. The past cannot be changed, but the future is yet unwritten!