“Don’t Worry, He’s Friendly!”

Imagine a dog and her owner taking a walk, minding their own business. Suddenly, an off leash dog is headed straight for them. If they can even see the dog’s owner, requests to have the owner recall the advancing dog are often met with that most awful of phrases, “Don’t worry, he’s friendly.” Sometimes, the owner does try to recall the dog, often without success, and almost certainly with no thought whatsoever that the leashed dog may not be.

Interestingly, confrontations such as this often play out in jurisdictions where leashes are mandatory. Yet, owners of off leash dogs still sometimes chastise their law-abiding counterparts as if accepting the unwanted advances of their out of control dogs should be acceptable. (It’s not.) Fearful dogs and reactive dogs have enough challenges without others adding to their problems in areas where they should be protected by the leash law.

I’m going out on a limb here to say that anyone who cannot confidently bet $50 that their dog will come when called away from another dog, has no business allowing that dog to have off leash freedom. Recently, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, a man in his 80’s was knocked down by two exuberant Boxers while walking on the beach. These dogs already have a reputation for being out of control, but even if they were first offenders, no matter. Massachusetts is a “strict liability” state, so even if the dogs were legally off leash, the owner is still responsible for their actions. If the owner is found, he or she will undoubtedly be responsible for the man’s medical bill.

There are many great resources to help teach a solid recall. Check out the “bacon recall” on YouTube. Also, see Leslie Nelson’s “Really Reliable Recall” and Pamela Dennison’s “Whistle Recall.”

Even if you are in an off leash designated area, you have an obligation not to allow your dog to interact with dogs that reject his overtures. Not all dogs like one another, or appreciate each other’s play styles. No one likes a playground bully. If your dog is that “over the top” sort, best to find a couple of compatible dogs that do like him and set up playdates of a less public nature. Conversely, if your dog is shy, or always growling or snapping at dogs that approach, then the dog park or day care may not be the right venue for exercise.

If you are the owner of a fearful or reactive dog, and are observing local laws, yet still being approached by the dogs of scofflaws, do report this to your local Animal Control Officer. If you can safely do so, film or take pictures of the offenders. Carry a repellent product, such as Spray Shield, in the event that the oncoming dog is not listening to its owner, or is unaccompanied by a human. Your dog deserves not to have his or her personal space invaded without your consent.

No Stimulus Goes Unconditioned: Thinking out of the NILIF box

Source: No Stimulus Goes Unconditioned: Thinking out of the NILIF box

Bernie’s revolution needs an innovative strategy: YOU and the power of TWO

Source: Bernie’s revolution needs an innovative strategy: YOU and the power of TWO

Five Steps to Success as a Dog Trainer

So, you’ve decided you want to be a dog trainer.  There is much to learn, but if I had to give anyone some advice about how to set yourself up for success at the art and science of training, here are five down and dirty quick tips:

1. Get a quality education.  There’s no substitute for knowing the science upon which animal training is based.  That means a college or community college level Psychology 101 course, or an online course in animal learning is a good start. One of the best is given by Dr. Susan Friedman, and is called Living and Learning With Animals.  Trainers need to thoroughly understand what drives behavior, and how to use those principles to modify it. They cannot rely on pop psychology, intuition, energy, or quackery.  Some of my picks for schools that offer quality education are: The Academy for Dog Trainers, Dognostics Career College, Karen Pryor Academy, and Peaceable Paws.

2. Get all breed animal handling experience.  You must pay your dues.  Volunteer for an animal shelter, or apprentice with someone in the profession.  Work at a dog day care or kennel.  You aren’t a trainer yet, even if you earn a diploma or credential, if you’ve only trained your own dogs, even if they did well in sports, work, or competition.  All dogs learn by association and by consequences, and while breed differences don’t mean that you have to use methods that aren’t in line with your ethical standards, there are some breed tendencies that it’s helpful to know about.

3. Join a professional association that is aligned with your ethical core values as a trainer.  The organization can be a great source of continuing education, insurance coverage, trade discounts, camaraderie with and support from like-minded trainers, an an advocacy ally and marketing partner.  As an example, my professional affiliation is with The Pet Professional Guild.

4. Always strive for technical excellence.  World class animal trainer, Bob Bailey, is credited with saying that training is simple, but not easy.  So, if an animal fails a task, a good trainer ALWAYS looks to their own competency, or lack thereof, before  blaming the dog or searching in the proverbial desert for some potion, diet, or new and improved pop science protocol.  When things go awry, try to assess whether your own fundamentals are sound.  Did you motivate the dog with something the dog views as a worthy reinforcement?  Did you set criteria well, and not overface the learner?   Do you have a written training plan and are you documenting progress?  Was your rate of reinforcement high enough?  Did you set the dog up for success? Is training FUN???

5. Always err on the side of professionalism.  It’s poor form to give veterinary, nutrition, or grooming advice unless you have a credential.  If someone calls to ask about puppy class, much as you want to, don’t contradict a vet’s advice about waiting, Instead, you could simply say that your training center follows AVSAB guidelines and provide the client with information they can ask their vet about without undermining the advice they were given.  Overstepping professional bounds is dangerous.  Integrity can earn you referrals from vets who learn they can trust you, but your business can suffer if vets feel you are not respecting their professional boundaries.  

Why do –CER’s make us feel so badly?

Why do –CER’s make us feel so badly?.

What is a +CER and Why do I care?

A terrific simple explanation of a very useful concept.

Kim Pike's Positive Paws

Sometimes the dog training lingo can be a little overwhelming. As in many fields, the professionals seem to have their own language that is not easily or readily understood by the public at large. Dog trainers are no different. To make it worse, we use acronyms to avoid spelling out those long words. I am as guilty as any other dog training professional of writing OC in place of Operant Conditioning or CC&D for Counter Conditioning and Desensitization.

An acronym that has been coming up a lot recently is +CER. To a pet dog owner, that could mean anything from “Add Correct Energy Reaction” to “Increase Carrots, Eggs and Radishes”.

So what exactly IS a +CER?

A CER is a conditioned emotional response. It is a learned, emotional reaction. It is a subset of classical conditioning because the subject makes a reflexive association with the trigger. There is no behavior…

View original post 715 more words

Husbandry Success

Back in August, I posted A Dog Training Epiphany, highlighting a success story from one of the members of the Reactive Dogs Facebook Group.  Today, another member posted a joyful success, which she also agreed to share with the readers of my blog:

“This is very much related to desensitizing our reactive dogs to their triggers because it shows that any traumatic experience, even one repeated multiple times and leading to serious defensive displays from the dog, *can* be turned into their favorite game. The underlying fears disappear and with them the accompanying aggressive behaviors.

I wonder how many people here can’t trim their dogs’ nails without some drama. My dog wouldn’t let us touch her paws, let alone trim the nails. It was before I learned anything about desensitizing so I took her to several vets where she was muzzled and held down by several people for the procedure. Of course that made things worse, she would not walk back into those clinics voluntarily so I kept going to new vets (and yes, she’s absolutely terrified of vet visits now – working on reversing that). She became much more cautious with me which broke my heart because except for the paws, I could handle her without issues.

I’m so glad wheels started spinning in my head at some point that there has to be a better way. And what do you know, there is! A wonderful, gentle, and skilled groomer that had met Zoe on a few occasions trimmed her nails twice in a much happier atmosphere than the few times at the vet. And a slow process of desensitization at home followed. Touching her paws and rewarding that with delicious food. Showing her the trimmer and tossing her beloved tennis ball. Touching the paws *with* the trimmer and following that with a game of tug. All in a silly, goofy, playful way to make it a fun game. Watching her comfort level every second of the way. Eventually, I celebrated cutting one nail at a time. Then two. I was thrilled when she let me take care of one full paw for a game of fetch. Then two paws. Eventually, we got to the point where I could trim all the nails at once as she was looking forward to the tennis ball crazy that followed. Slowly, the tennis ball anticipation eased up and she was ok with me trimming the nails even if nothing super fun happened at the end. She was tolerating it very nicely and we’ve been trimming the nails once a week. But today she totally shocked me by showing the same kind of joy at the sight of the nail trimmer that is usually reserved for her toys! That, I did not expect.

I picked up the nail trimmer, she saw it and got a nice big grin on her face… came up to me, sniffed the trimmer and trotted over to the window where I usually trim her nails and looked back at me, all ready and happy. “Come on, mom, hurry up, I love this game!” I swear when it was over, she looked disappointed that she only has four paws.

In case anyone still had any doubt that a negative experience CAN be turned into an extremely positive one. It can. The process took a year and it was very much worth the trouble. I know I could do it faster now. The things you learn…”

Anyone who has a dog that hates nail clipping can understand how nice it would if the dog didn’t have to be so scared.  Even if you don’t ever want to trim your dog’s nails yourself, you can do some nail clip husbandry training to help your dog cope better at the grooming salon or vet clinic, using the same technique that worked so well for the person who shared her story above.  Using similar training, you can teach a dog to enjoy teeth brushing, too.  Or, with this technique, you can teach your dog to accept wearing a muzzle or head halter.

© Rasulov | Dreamstime.com – Brushing Teeth Dog Photo

Sometimes, when you are new to the desensitization and counter-conditioning technique used to get a dog to be OK with something he was previously frightened of, it’s hard to see when you are getting that change in emotional response to the trigger stimulus, i.e. the nail clipper, toothbrush, muzzle, etc.  Eileen, from Eileenanddogs, shows how to tell when the dog is developing a positive conditioned emotional response.

Getting a dog to accept husbandry procedures can be accomplished at any age, as the although the best time to start is when puppies are very young.  More and more, trainers are including husbandry and handling exercises during puppy kindergarten, as we do at Paws for Praise (resistance to body handling is associated with a higher risk for aggression).  As savvy consumers, owners should ask for husbandry training, and veterinarians who want to spend less time struggling to get these procedures done should refer to force free trainers who incorporate husbandry training and body handling in their curriculum.

This is Zoe, the dog who now likes nail trims, and the tennis ball that made all the difference!

A Dog Training Epiphany

I moderate several Facebook groups, in addition to my business page for Paws for Praise, one of which is dedicated to reactive dogs and the use of desensitization, counter-condtioning, and positive reinforcement to effect lasting changes in behavior for such dogs.  The object is to keep the dog feeling safe, gradually convince the dog that the things that used to scare him are actually pretty cool (trainers call that a “positive conditioned emotional response), and add some obedience or impulse control behaviors once the dog is feeling better about the trigger stimuli.

Interestingly, despite a very long history of success of these humane, and well researched, methods, there are trainers who espouse other methods, some of which are not so pleasant from the dog’s perspective.  Sometimes, it’s hard for students of such trainers to switch gears and try something like the CARE protocol.

Every once in a while, though, someone jumps ship and crosses over to a new way of training – I like to call it an epiphany. This is just one of their stories, which was posted this morning, and which I’m proud to have received permission to share in its entirety.  From Reactive Dogs Facebook group member, Nichola Luna:

 

  (Old woman/young woman optical illusion)

 

“This post is going to sound like an Oscar acceptance speech and it kind of is because I feel like I have won something very special – a change of perspective. So before I start crying I want to say thank you to all of you for sharing your experiences and being supportive, thank you for being tolerant of my noob questions / comments, thank you to Anne Springer for running this group and most of all thank you to whoever it was who posted ‘DON’T BE STINGY WITH YOUR TREATS’.

What I’m going to say is going to sound so stupid and obvious to those of you who already understand but please remember this next time you meet / read a post from someone who says R+ only won’t work. As someone who has been brought up on old school ‘yank and crank’, being told R+ only can work is rather like seeing the picture of the old woman and being told that it is a picture of a young lady. Once you have one perspective, it is really, really, REALLY hard to see the other. For me, treats were always seen as a reward for obedience but now I understand that actually they are there to make my dog happy. It sounds so stupid yet it has completely transformed me and my dog which I will tell you all about as soon as I have finished glorying in my ‘penny drop’ moment.

Basically I have been working on faith here up until now. My dogs are livestock guardian dogs and some people will tell you that they can’t be trained to be obedient. My old girl was trained ‘old school’ and is a very good girl and I understand why – she has been conditioned to avoid an aversive (leash check) by responding to a verbal cue. Of course she was encouraged with rewards of games/praise/treats but I didn’t see how you could remove the aversive and still get obedience as this type of training is prone to extinction anyway as soon as you reduce the aversive even. You have to re condition periodically. If you just have rewards then the dog is simply choosing whether it wants the reward you are offering or the reward it has found for itself. This is why old school trainers say ‘bribery’ can’t work alone. There is nothing weighing in the trainers favour, the dog has 100% chance of reward whether it is obedient or not. And they are absolutely right ( if you only reward your dog for obedience, it’s too little too late. )Conclusion: these R+ only people, are clearly a bunch of mad hippies, who only own golden retrievers that love liver cake more than anything else in the world, which is why it works for them and not on real dogs like mine…

I decided to give it a try anyway. I never liked the puzzled / upset look I got from my dog when she got it ‘wrong’ and hit the end of the lead, even though I tried to make up for it with games and praise and treats. I also suspect the unnatural, sudden turns may have attributed to the wear and tear on her cruciate ligaments. So I decided that my new one was going to be an experiment in R+ only and to be perfectly honest, it’s been slow going. I thought mainly because I’m human and didn’t train often enough because I was tired from work or busy or whatever. There has been more than one occasion when I have thought ‘I can see why people stick to old school methods – it’s much quicker/more effective’. Now I realise that this was because I was being stingy with my treats! I was doing R+ only, but old school style. I still had old school mentality to treats; that they were there for shaping, luring and rewarding for obedience.

Luckily someone posted the advice ‘don’t be stingy with your treats’ and along with the other comments I had read, stuff about ‘look at me’, clicker training and picking up on when others treat their dogs, I decided to change tack and feed for everything good, no matter how small or inadvertent, with a cue word attached. ‘Well duh!’ I can hear you all say it and now it seems so obvious but mentally, it was a total paradigm shift for me to reward behaviour rather than obedience. Feed my dog just to make her happy? Yes. Without her having actually ‘obeyed’ anything necessarily? Yes. Weird… …but OK I’m getting desperate now, let’s try it. Result? Exponential explosion in desired behaviours, better recalls than I ever had from ‘yank and crank’ training methods, beautiful lead walking and me repeatedly smacking myself upside the head for being a doofus for so long, and all in a matter of weeks.

These however, have been my ‘jack pot’ instances this week that made me really want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me to understand how to train my dog and see the young lady instead of the old crone.

First was when she spotted a horse in the next field, previously this would have sent her into a frenzy. Instead she stood calmly looking at it, looked at me, looked back at the horse and before I could open my mouth she turned around and started trotting back to me to collect her ‘prize’ for seeing a big four legs. A previous trigger, is now acting as a cue to recall.

Off lead, (my bad as we had seen ‘The’ cows and said hi and bye to them so assumed it was OK to let her off to chase the bunnies up the far end it’s a huge field, the cows were long out of sight by this point), was just thinking she was getting a bit wired and was time to put her back on the lead when she stopped dead, facing into the field. I came over the rise to see there was a new, second herd of cows in the field and my dog was twice as close to them than to me. Anyone with a reactive dog will know this is nightmare scenario #1. She was tense, my first attempt to call her came out a strangled squeak and was probably blown away in the wind. She started to walk / stalk towards the cows. I was having visions of stampedes, broken legs and a shot dog. I called ‘wait’ and she stopped, still staring at the cows. I called her to me, and blow me if she didn’t instantly turn her back on the cows and come galloping back to me! I fed her sooo many treats. My hands were shaking so much I could hardly get her lead back on. I just sat in the wet grass and gave her a chest rub and more treats.

Before then, I don’t think I believed, in my heart of hearts, that I could actually, genuinely, really, truly, CC a response without aversive measures. In that awful, heart stopping moment, my spoilt little ‘R+ only’ brat, proved to me that I can.”

 

 

Five Things You Can do to Bite-Proof Your Puppy

1. Start early!  Puppies have a window for socialization that closes and you can’t re-open it easily once it does.  The best time to take a puppy to a positive training class is when they are less than 16 weeks of age.  Sadly, many people wait because they think they cannot attend class until pup has had all his shots.  But, many veterinarians now believe that it is just as important to protect a puppy’s mental and behavioral health as his physical health.  Puppies should have at least one set of vaccines at least 7 days prior to their first class, be parasite free, and kept up to date with age-appropriate vaccines during classes. 

If you are considering a purebred dog from a breeder, be sure to do your homework – does the breeder do any socialization exercises while the pups are still with their mom?  They should! Puppies can be exposed to different people, surfaces, sounds, wobble boards, mazes, crates and chew toys, etc. while still at the breeder’s home.  While we advocate rescue, we understand that some people will want a purebred from a breeder – however, it is critical, if you go that route to find a reputable breeder. 

If your particular breed has a breed standard that says “aloof” or “reserved” for example, be aware that you may need to pay particular attention to careful, early, and ongoing socialization. 

2. Meet and greet!  Meet and greet some more!!!  Puppies should meet and greet lots and lots of people in the first weeks. That means people of different gender than the owner, and people of all sizes, especially babies and children of all ages and elders.  If your pup is shy, all the more reason to get to puppy class with an experienced positive trainer.  Make all interactions with people comfortable for your puppy.  A small tidbit or lick of cheese offered by you just after someone starts petting the pup will go a long way to keeping his mouth occupied, telling him that petting is GOOD, and telling him that people predict good things happening for him.  You can print out a Socialization Checklist and take it with you.

3. Socialize carefully.  Puppies need lots of “padding” with other puppies and safe older dogs.  They do not need to be “told off” or learn bullying play styles, either by example of older dogs or through fear.  That’s why puppy socials or puppy classes are ideal for first experiences with off leash contact with other dogs.  

It’s not enough that your pup plays with the other dogs in your home, or with one or two neighbor dogs.  They need to learn that many different kinds of dogs are out there in the world, but that most are friendly.  If a friend suggests letting your pup meet their dog, the question to ask is, “Does your dog play nicely with UNFAMILIAR dogs and PUPPIES?”  Introductions should be made with leashes dragging (you’ll have to be a careful “wrangler” so that no one gets tangled).

Be sure that all play takes place in a very securely fenced environment so you can remove collars and harnesses once you are sure the dogs are friendly.  The area should also be small enough for you to intervene if you need to quickly step in to remove a dog, or give a gentle time out to pups that get overly-aroused.  

Normal play means both dogs are having fun, no one looks stressed, and there is plenty of “give and take” with lots of curved body language and meta-signals, such as “play bows” and exaggerated pouncing.  There may or may not be wrestling, growling, play-biting, etc.  If you are not sure your pup is having fun, do a “consent test” – gently remove the “offending” pup and see if the underdog pup goes to seek him out again.  If so, they are probably OK.  If not, time to find another play mate for a little while, or even permanently.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that the offending dog is awful (after all, it may be YOUR pup that is overly aroused at times), it may just mean that the dogs’ play styles are not compatible at this stage.

4. Make sure your puppy gets husbandry training so that he/she will be more comfortable when you must give puppy a pill or clip nails, or he/she must go to the veterinarian or groomer. Acclimating puppies to being handled all over is important, as is getting them used to having their collar grabbed or to being hugged (children tend to hug dogs, and most dogs don’t naturally like being hugged, so it’s important that we teach them!).  For those of you who want to more thoroughly understand the process that good trainers use to do this, the ASPCA has an article about “Desensitization and Counterconditioning” on their virtual behaviorist section.

5. Use force free training!!! Evidence is mounting that if you train with aggressive methods your dog may be more aggressive.  Many who are new to training think that all trainers do the same things.  Training, however, is an unregulated industry and knowing how to find the right trainer isn’t always easy.  The first place to look to find a force free trainer in your area is the international organization for force free pet professionals – Pet Professional Guild.  
If you have no trainer nearby, Puppy Start Right is a great book that can help you with puppy’s early education.

The Love/Hate Relationship of Social Media and Rescue

The Love/Hate Relationship of Social Media and Rescue.