Saturday 20 October 2012

Off Leash etiquettes (or why not as many people are as wrong as we think)

I've been thinking about this for a while now; I've read a few other blogs as well and comments on our local Off Leash Dog Park facebook pages.   Beyond the opinions that I formerly held, something I've noticed is that most of the time it's about what the dogs are doing to each other, and why whatever the other owner did was wrong.

As a Professional Dog Walker and Dog Training Instructor I know something about both people and dogs.  As an instructor I know that if I can't reach the people, then I won't be reaching the dog, and they might not get what they need.  As a walker, if I can't get through to the dogs that I walk and tell them what I want them to do then my life will be a lot harder.

So the problem is this as far as I can see.   Everyone is probably right, and everyone is probably wrong.   How does that work?   Everyone has their own ideas about what is acceptable for their dog, and other dogs and the interactions that dogs have.  Wherever they got these opinions doesn't really matter, they have the ideas in their head.  One thing that happens a lot in Off Leash areas is that dogs get into things that might be a little to much for them, and their people react.

It's in the reactions that we express our emotions and our ideas about what is appropriate.  I've seen to many professional walkers screaming at people in the park instead of just walking away.   I've seen regular people screaming at other people too, instead of walking away.   Everything you feel goes straight down the end of the leash and the dogs feel it too (even if they aren't on a leash).  

Let me give a (rather outrageous) example.   Little Fluffy the Chihuahua has Brutus the Bull Mastiff on the ground and by the neck.   Fluffy is in full shake mode, and Brutus is still, and looking more than terrified.   Everyone laughs, then Brutus turns on Fluffy... then everyone thinks that Brutus is an evil dog and shouldn't be in the park.  As I said, rather outrageous, but similar things happen with all sizes of dogs.   Now, Fluffy's parent is outraged, Brutus' parent is shocked and terrified; words are exchanged and near fist fights nearly break out.   "Fluffy was attacking him!  Brutus was just defending himself!"  "Brutus is a brute and should be expelled from the park!"  etc.  This isn't the first time that Fluffy has attacked someone like this, but it's the first time Brutus has reacted like this.   I'm assuming in this scenario Brutus had a really good bite inhibition with Fluffy and Fluffy was fine except for a bruised ego, and hopefully a better respect at not being a bully.

Who's right?  Both people; they both think that their dog was doing the right thing.  Who's wrong?  Both of them; they don't see the things that their dogs could have been different; or perhaps more importantly, what they could have done to keep their dog from getting into that situation in the first place.  Fluffy has had problems in the past like this but it's never really been noticed?  That isn't Fluffy's problem, it's a perception and handler problem.   Brutus protects himself when someone is being a jerk?  Then maybe his parent should have asked Fluffy's parent to get off.  Maybe they did, and they were met with a laugh.

How do we deal with this?   If someone isn't willing to act for their dog to keep their dog safe, do we have a right to touch their dog?   If it was a person, we'd say no; technically that could be considered assault.  But if you're dog is in trouble, or about to be, then gently pulling them, or another dog out of the situation might be warranted.   There comes risk in this and I would be very cautious.  In the middle of a tense situation, you risk your hand (or fingers) by pulling dogs apart at the head or collar.   A loud sudden noise might stop the activity long enough to get one or more dogs out of the situation with some other method.  Pulling them apart always risks the redirection of aggression ("I can't bite the dog in front of me, but I'm still mad, so... sorry, you're here, he isn't! [CHOMP]").  Not the dogs fault, but it's something we have to be wary of.

So is there any way to correct this difference in etiquette perception?  I would say no, not really.  Everyone has different ideas on how their dog should act.  With my group dogs, I don't mind if they hump one another (they've "worked it out" - literally and with careful supervision) but I don't generally let them hump other dogs; even if the other dogs owners say they don't mind.  I watch for the reactions of people and how they're looking at their dogs (if they're looking!); it's easier to tell frowns and scowls from smiles (which could be happy or nervous or polite indignation).  I watch the dogs and their reactions.  A tucked tail on a chased dog generally means someone isn't having as much fun as they might look like they're having. 

Everything about dogs is complex.  Everything about people is complex.  Mix them together and things get even more complex.   You know your dog (I hope); you know their reactions.  Hopefully the other people know their dog as well.   You have ideas, they have ideas.   Maybe they're the same as yours, maybe not.  Ask; Question; Query; find out what they think; what is acceptable and what isn't.  In order to make sure our dogs are behaving well, we have to learn how to be calm, understanding and listen to other people.  If that doesn't work and you feel that you are not being heard, walk away.   Sooner or later, people have a tendency of realizing that maybe their dog isn't acting appropriately for the other dogs; but leaving them thinking that people are just jerks in your dog park won't do anyone any good.

Sunday 23 September 2012

How to prevent Shelter dogs...

To sum it up; puppy needs training!

Now, to be a bit more specific.   A lot of this is taken from information and sensible ideas I've heard in Seminars from Ian Dunbar, Sue Alsbi, Grisha Stewart, Sohpia Yin and others.

Why are puppies or dogs taken to rescues, shelters or left abandoned?  The simplest answer might be that the dog was to smart for the people who had them.   Probably an oversimplification, but to put it another way; they weren't taught what to do right.

Let's go through a scenario.  Puppy comes home.  It's cute, everyone has (one hopes) good intentions!  Duties are assigned and things get done the first week or two, then things get a bit hectic and puppy duties maybe get a bit lax.   Puppy starts getting bored, and chews things that he shouldn't be chewing.... Puppy gets put outside, or in the basement or in a crate even when people are around.  Puppy gets bored more, wants company, starts barking.   Outside, and the neighbours complain, so puppy goes into the basement.  In the basement, puppy has no socialization; someone goes down one day and puppy bites them either in play, or defense (you've just invaded his safe zone and are trying to do something he doesn't like).  Guess where the puppy ends up now; if it's lucky and the bite wasn't bad or on a child, to the pound, or worse.

How do we counter this then?

Give the puppy it's places (short and long term confinement areas) and things it can chew on (lots of stuffed kongs, bones toys, etc) right from day one.  Don't start after puppy starts chewing on something else, like furniture, shoes... you, etc.   Keep the puppy on a schedule that it will follow (as much as possible) for most of it's future life.  One of the dangers in my opinion of "Christmas" puppies is that people will tend to play with the puppy over the holiday and then all of a sudden, when everyone goes to school or work after a week, the puppy is left all alone!   Good recipe for separation anxiety problems or just general havoc.

The whole idea is to do this right from the start to prevent shelter dogs in the first place.  Education of people who are getting dogs should be the primary skill vets, trainers, breeders (of any sort be they for CKC/AKC etc, "backyard" or accidental) should insist people at least read a good puppy book.  Any of the professionals mentioned above have good books that would help.

What else can be done?

Socialization, socialization, socialization.   Most puppies are supper social when they are very young, but they don't stay that way.   I don't know how many times I've heard the phrase "My dog is socialized, it knows the family, and plays with the neighbour dog every day!"   Imagine yourself in a world were all you saw was your family, and the family pig.  Someone dressed in strange clothing comes along riding an elephant.   Tell me honestly what you'd think about this...

Puppies have to be socialized to as many people as possible (Ian Dunbar suggests at least 200 by the time they're 12 to 16 weeks old!).   Depending on when you go to puppy class (1st, 2nd or 3rd set or shots) you might be able to catch the window, or miss it entirely with the puppy for other puppies.  Let's be honest though; the dog is more likely to see other people than it is other dogs.  Socialization is hard to accomplish after 18 weeks of age.  At this time, puppies aren't receptive to new things and it takes longer for them to trust; but if they've had lots of socialization before that, they look at new people and go "OH!  That looks a bit like the other long haired, hat wearing, cane wielding person I saw before... They might be friendly, lets go find out!".  So, imagine what kind of attitude a puppy that has only seen the 3 neighbours, some family members all of the same age suddenly sees some stranger carrying a huge box, dressed in funny cloths with a hat and some strange contraption in his hand as well comes and knocks on the door!!! 

Babies play strange but why don't we think of puppies doing the same thing?  They just do it way earlier than human babies (remember the 5-9 year multiplier for dog age - by the time a puppy is 16 weeks (about 2 years in people time) it's in about the same age range [ed. I know it's closer to a year in babies, but the principle idea is the same]

2 primary things need to be done.  1) Provide the puppy with a home and environment where it can learn to do what is right so eventually it can be left out, or in a larger environment to feel safe in when you're not there.   2) Socialize the heck out of the puppy.  Concerning more with humans, then with other dogs.  There isn't a lot of reason why most puppies by the time they reach 6 months of age, baring a medical condition, shouldn't be capable of approaching any human nicely and quietly accepting (or even relishing) a nice pet on the head, or respecting people that don't want to do that for the puppy. 

I try my best to stay positive with people that bring their puppies to class after they are 18 weeks of age, but I wish I had a time machine to tell them to come when their puppy is much younger.  I wish vets would tell people that they could get a discount on services if they took their puppy to positive training classes (if I was a vet, I'd rather have puppies that could be handled with little fuss than one I had to get 3 or 4 assistants to hold down just so I could take blood).  I wish everyone who ever thought, or has had or is going to have a litter thinks to themselves, how can I make this puppies life happier? 

How do we prevent shelter and rescue dogs?   Do what's right for the puppy.

Sunday 9 September 2012

Mental Exercise

Throughout my time as a trainer and walker I've told people about mental exercise for their pups and dogs.   Why is mental exercise important?  Why is it important for us?   So we don't loose some of our abilities.  Granted, whenever we ask a dog to do something we're also asking for some degree of mental activity on their part because they don't speak human (although they understand it far better than we give them credit for - they even understand it better than we understand each other!).

Mental exercise in a dog can be anything from running random tricks or obedience drills to running full blown agility courses or even tracking, herding or other activities like that.  I always tell people that the reason border collie owners in the city take their dogs to the park 3 times a day for an hour at a time is to tire them out; the same amount of time giving the same dog mental exercise would tire them out too.

Treat games are a good way to tire a dog out -- numerous fancy treat dispensing toys can be used for this.  They can range from a pop bottle with a hole big enough for kibble to fall out in the neck filled with kibble, to fancy 40-60 dollar wooden puzzles (don't ask me how I know that some cost that much!).  The idea is that the dog has to work for it's food - which most of them love to do, once they realize what they're supposed to do.

Digging games, such as putting a toy in a pile of cloths/towels/rags and telling (esp. good for terrier) the dog to go get there toy after they've seen you bury it; once the dog gets good at it, you can keep them out of the room and then tell them to find the toy in one of numerous piles. 

Fetch/find games work the same way.  You could hide in a closet and tell the dog to come find you by just saying their name once while they're occupied somewhere else or with someone else.  

Lots of different games can be had, if you think about it.  If the dog is digging in the backyard, you could give them one place ONLY where they can dig, or find something for them to burn off that energy elsewhere.  Be creative, think like a dog; wag, and be happy!

Saturday 25 August 2012

My Puppy is a Freak! (and other myths about puppy hood)

Why does my puppy nips and bite?
Why does my puppy jump up all over me?

Do you have a Puppy?  This answers the questions above rather succinctly.  Something people don't realize about puppies is that they're little attention hounds.  If they get attention for something, they do it more.  Any interaction with a puppy is a chance for a training exercise.   Puppy runs up with a toy, most people don't bat an eye; same puppy goes and grabs a sock or shoe and all heck breaks loose.  So what does that puppy learn?   Playing with your toys, gets me attention, so, I'll do that!  After all, now your chasing me around the house and talking to me, so that's good and fun!

We need to stop trying to think about what we don't want the puppy to do (of course there will be management needs you will have to deal with, but this isn't teaching the puppy not to do things, it's not giving them access while they learn the right things to do).   Teach the puppy what is good (chewing on Kongs and other toys; food enrichment games - Buster cubes and other things that dispense treats; interactive training that turns behaviours into a habit, not just a trick - Oh, you have food!?  I'll work then!).  So what about our puppy myths?

Nipping - All puppies need to nip; I ask a lot of questions when someone tells me their puppy doesn't nip.   Puppies need to learn self control and that teeth on human skin is a bad thing (humans are wimpy fleshy creatures, they can't handle the teeth!).  In order to do that, they have to actually be allowed to make some contact with human flesh.   A good breeder will have taught puppies that human skin is frail and all their fun ends if they make contact with skin (if you've never been nipped by a puppy, it's like little needles).   If the breeder didn't do it, then I want to know what they people have done to keep the puppy from nipping - the last thing I want to hear is something like "we give them a smack on the nose."   If you want to create a dog that is a dangerous biter, never let it make contact with human skin; if you want a dog that may put it's mouth on humans, but never bare down any weight, teach it to nip properly.

Jumping Up - Puppies jump not because they want to dominate you and take over the world; they want attention.   Just ignore the puppy (Mom did this with the puppy as well a LOT more than she had to reprimand them).  Mom easily jumped out of the area if she found the puppies to annoying.  Problem solved: Puppies wanted to play, Mom didn't.  So, puppy jumps, ignore puppy until they do something nicer (sitting, play bow, down etc) and reward THAT.   Better yet, just teach the puppy something that gets lots of attention instead of Jumping (automatic sit when they come to a person, for example).



Saturday 18 August 2012

Positive What and Negative Who???

One way to think about training is to figure out for yourself what kind of person you want to be to others; human, canine, porpoise or lion.  The principles of learning theory generally hold across species, it's the reaction that might be different.

Lets say we want to bully a human around (likely Positive Punishment).   The reaction might be to leave, cry in a bundle on the ground, or to call the Principle/boss or get a divorce.   A dog, depending on it's temperament might fight back, or it might cower in submission trying to end the unpleasantness.  A porpoise will simply swim away.  A lion might just eat you.

Nagging can work with a person (Negative Reinforcement), but it rarely works with any other species.  You can't nag a dog into sitting "Sit... Sit... Sit... SIT... SIT!!  SIT!!!!"  If you've gotten to that point, go back to basics and teach the dog to sit (see the second post :) )

Removing something a person wants can be useful, if they understand what it's being removed for (Negative Punishment).   Stopping and telling someone that did something wrong 3 years ago and now you don't want to be with them anymore is somewhat pointless... even more so is not telling them why at all.  One example that might work on a child is they do something wrong (screaming and yelling at you) then immediately taking the XBox/PS3 etc and putting it out of reach; assuming the child cared about it at that moment.  A jumping up puppy can often be taught not to jump by simply turning and ignoring it; a dog that has been reinforced for jumping up though, may continue to do this for a long time with this technique before it figures out what's going on.

If I gave you a cookie (or piece of chocolate) every time you read over one of these posts (and you liked cookies or chocolate, or wine) then you would likely come back and read more... or maybe even the same post over and over (Positive reinforcement).  Reward a dog for sitting ever time it comes running up, and it is more likely to happen.   Give a porpoise a piece of fish ever time it jumps through a hoop, more likely to happen.  This is again, contingent on if it's something the animal actually likes at the moment!.   A porpoise coming up to you might just want a stroke, and so might that dog.

So, completely confusing?   Negative == removing something; Positive == adding something.   Reinforcement == makes the behaviour increase in likelihood; Punishment == decreases the likelihood of the behaviour.  Still likely clear as mud. 

Positive Reinforcement.  Probably the easiest one to figure out.  Get a reward for doing something, you want to do something more often (getting paid at the end of the week is deferred, so it doesn't work the same way though, sometimes even makes the thing happen less!).  Get a hug for taking out the trash (assuming you like hugs!), you might feel better about taking the garbage out.   Ask a dog to sit and he gets something he likes in return - increases his likelihood of sitting.

Negative Punishment.  Somewhat easy to think about; when you were a child, and you acted up and something you were playing with got taken away, you realize it's a bad thing to act up; your fun stops.  Similar to a puppy jumping up, or nipping to get attention.  If the attention immediately evaporates, then the game is over, fun ends.  If I bark my head off while meals are being prepared, my person leaves, and I don't get food... hmmm  Slightly tricker to figure out, but the pup gets the pattern quickly if you're timing is spot on.

Negative Reinforcement.   Trickier to explain.  Say the pup doesn't like pressure on its rear end.  You put pressure on it's rear, and it moves it's butt to the ground to get away from the pressure, and the pressure stops!  Voila, the puppy sits, but who did all the work?  You.  If you did all the work, how fast is the puppy really going to learn?  Slowly.  Negative reinforcement isn't always just applying something annoying unfortunately; a lot of people use things that hurt or are at best uncomfortable to manipulate animals.   If it's something you wouldn't use on you, your child or other loved one, don't use it on a dog or other animal.

Positive Punishment.  Adding something to prevent the things you don't  want.  The classic example of this in old dog training was yanking a chain until the dog sat.  Everything it did wrong it got a yank, until it eventually sat.   Not a lot of fun, and the dog has to figure out what  not to do!  Not the ideal learning condition; think about learning the alphabet this way.

Why did praise (sometimes Positive Reinforcement) work so well in the old days?  Because it was one small piece of a larger puzzle.  Mostly methods that espouse "praise based" training rely on Positive Punishment/Negative Reinforcement, followed by praise.  So dogs likely assumed that if they did what they got praise for, then the bad stuff wouldn't happen.  Unfortunately, this can still be seen on TV, even though the techniques are 50 years out of date and probably only came into favour after the World Wars.

Refer to Ian Dunbar for his history on rediscovering lost books from the 1800's that described the basic concepts of Positive Reinforcement and Negative Punishment together in animals before the scientists coined the terms with Pavlov et al.




Saturday 11 August 2012

Training Basics and why your dog is NOT stubborn!

One of the most common things I hear whether I teach a class or over hear people in the park is (with exasperation) "They do it so well at home!" Well, that's partially because that's where they've been taught.

Dogs don't generalize well. What does that mean? If you teach them something in one place, doesn't mean they're going to understand it in a new place (with some dogs, this can mean from the Living room to the kitchen!). It also means that just because they know how to do it in one spot, if new distractions are added, they might get confused and be slow to respond. So what do you do?

Train them in lots of different places, with lots of differing distractions. The more you "proof" them like this, the more likely they are to start understand when you flap your arms around in a certain way or make a funny noise (like "Sit!") it means do that thing.

Numerous repetitions are required for a dog to understand what you want, and in different locations with different distractions. So if you teach your dog to come only in the house, expect when it runs out of the house and you yell "Come!!!!" in a frantic and possibly angry voice that you pooch will look back and go Wow... I'm not going back there until you calm down!. You want to practice a lot with the things you want your dog to be strong in. Think of it the same way a professional athlete does things. Dancing through tires and using blocking dummies is not the same as playing in a scrimmage of football. Always thing to yourself when the pooch is learning something "How can I make you successful?"

Why do you want to make them successful? So they'll learn. Learning theory is scientific. If anyone tells you that a dog needs to be bullied, dominated or otherwise manipulated with force to do something or to react in a certain way, walk away, and find a better way to teach them. Dogs learn quickly when they are shown what the RIGHT thing to do is, instead of constantly being punished for doing the wrong THINGS. Yes, one or two right things, and a potentially infinite number of wrong things.

If you want to reward your dog for doing the right thing, instead of rewarding him for NOT doing an endless list of bad things, then follow "positive principles". The same principles will work on people too -- The Big Bang Theory had an episode that featured this type of training.

So, basics: Repeat repeat repeat! Add distractions so the dog is continually successful, reward for success; increase the level of difficulty. If they aren't successful, ask yourself: What Can I Do, to Help you Be Successful?

Monday 6 August 2012

About me, and Why I do what I do.

This is the first of what I hope are many (and I also hope at least weekly!) thoughts, ideas and training tips related to the world of Dog Training (and Instructing) and Dog Walking, both as a professional and as an avid dog lover.

I have 4 dogs at home at the moment.  Fezzik, who is the oldest of the bunch and started my wife, Laura, and I on the path to Positive Scientific based training.  He is now roughly 13 years old, and a curmudgeon at heart.  He's an American Eskimo x Corgi (best guess) and we got him when he was about 2 years old.

Sóley is our little "lady".  She, along with the other 3, are Icelandic Sheepdogs (and no, "they must [not] be huge!"  At 26ish pounds, Sóley is a little bundle of love and affection, unless one of the other 2 get in her hair the wrong way, then she'll the queen of the house and isn't afraid to back it up.  Sóley is a CKC Champion and has trained in a lot of sports like Agility, Frisbee and loves doing tricks... when she isn't asking for tummy rubs.

Tindra, also a CKC Champion in Conformation, is Sóley's first daughter.  She is a bundle of energy herself, around 23 pounds.  She practices agility, Rally-O and enjoys a good game of fetch (or chase her friends as they run after the ball too).

Tinni is a good boy, with lots of potential and came to us when he could not longer stay at his home in Iceland.  He is a work in progress and continues to work on his focus and excitability.

I've been a Dog walker since 2004, in the fall (if you remember that Fall) and I currently run Sundog Pet Services.  Since that time I've helped people raise their puppies from 8 weeks all the way to now.  I've taken on dogs as walking clients that had issues with noise and vehicles and using positive reinforcement turned them into dogs that didn't care if a big scary bus or dog-eating-garbage truck passed by.

In the Spring of 2006, I started working at Puppy People as an assistant training [instructor].  In 2008, I started instructing classes.  In my time as an instructor, I have had taught everything from Puppy socialization classes, to Advanced obedience classes and Tricks classes.  I currently instruct at both Puppy People, and All About Dogs, as well as doing my own private training with Puppies and Adult dogs (really though, to be honest, it's more about teaching people!).

I'm a strong advocate of Positive based training for two reasons: 1) It works, faster, and quicker and the dogs understand better in the long run and are more willing to work; 2) It's scientifically based.   I have a B.Sc in Biology, and although at the time I didn't take many animal behaviour courses, I understand the usefulness of the Scientific Method.   The current fade (on TV) is for Dominance - Bullying - and use of force on dogs.  This has been proven time and again to be at best a way to get a dog or animal to do something for you, but more often than not, to either shut down, or even turn an animal against you!.   Muzzle hits, check (choke) chains, prong collars and hanging dogs until they nearly loose consciousness is not a way to build a trusting relationship and it is not way to teach a dog to learn.  Don't believe me, try it on your significant other [person]...

My goal with this blog, is to inform, educate where I can, and to try to bring a little levity into the dog obedience world along with a strong foundation of Positive based training.  Feel free to comment and share.