A long, long time ago, when I was working at a zoological park, there was an incident that occurred once in a while. A gibbon (one of the smaller apes) would, out of the blue, start screaming and racing back and forth in his large cage. He was fed a healthy diet and kept clean. One might think his every need was met.

When I reflect on this now, I think how good it is that the world of science has brought us all to a much healthier level of understanding concerning the concept of empowerment. One premise of empowerment is to be able to exercise personal control over especially significant environmental events such as meal times or an invitation for interaction. Additionally, an animals’ ability to thrive in captivity (and in our homes) is greatly improved when they’ve been empowered to initiate activity.

It’s interesting that the word “thrive” is used in conjunction with empowerment. There’s more to living than just eating, sleeping and watching the world go by. Thriving is flourishing and prospering. I think of it as a vibrant, interactive life filled with enrichment activities.

Of course, the little ape’s behavior was not “out of the blue”. There was probably something that occurred in his environment that finally set him off. He expressed this in the form of vocalizing and running. Perhaps something was not immediately at hand that he normally would have had access to or he needed some more ways to express his behavioral needs. It’s hard to say.

Fortunately, today’s zoos (including the one I worked at that became a leader in this area) have come a long way in creating environmentally and behaviorally interesting enclosures. Many are, in fact ,using the most current knowledge of the science of behavior modification in order to keep the animals safe, healthy and free from stress.

Of course, the memory of the gibbon brings to mind our dog/person relationship. How lucky we are to have these wonderful animals with which we share our lives. The sky’s the limit on the creative interactions we can explore.

Here’s an example: If my dog Stuart thinks it’s time to eat breakfast and I’m not quite ready, he will institute a whole repertoire of what I call, “Let’s see what will work to get mom to the kitchen.” He’ll sometimes whine at me when I’m still not quite awake. If that doesn’t work, he might race up and down the hallway and jump at the foot of the bed to annoy our senior dog, Beretta, who is sleeping under the covers. Beretta will then bark furiously at Stuart. That works.

Occasionally Stuart will drag part of the newspaper to me and, holding it in his mouth, stand and look at me. If I don’t ask him to hand it over, he may start to shred it. This is a behavior he’s learned will make me stop what I’m doing and attend to him. He always seems to get the sports section that my husband hasn’t yet read.

To some folks, Stuart may seem like a naughty dog, but I see him using these scenarios as a way to initiate activity. Why would I crush his creative and frankly funny (to me) behaviors? It’s fun to have a dog who feels he can communicate and be understood. He’s an empowered dog.

Sandra Kruczek is a certified professional dog trainer at Total Teamwork Training, LLC, with more than 25 years of experience. She can be reached at totalteamworktrainging.com.