The sphere of influence is a term I use when discussing classical conditioning. Classical conditioning as we know pairs a neutral stimulus with a conditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus takes on meaning for the animal.
The most popular example is using a clicker followed by a presentation of food, so that the animal comes to know that "click" means food. However dogs see the world very different than us, and aspects of their reality are difficult to comprehend as we can never see the world quite as they do.
One thing that is widely proven through science is that dogs discriminate far closer than we do when forming associations. For example a dog that is not socialized to Black men may display fear if approached by one, even if the dog has been well socialized to White men, Asian men, Indian men, etc. A dog may also fail to respond to reward training if he has been conditioned that the reward will only be present if your bait bag is on your belt.
Enter the sphere of influence. When classically conditioning it's critical to be mindful of all the things your influencing. This counts for both positive conditioning but is very important to be aware of if a dog is being trained with punishment (P+).
When we want a dog to feel good about something - we pair it with food or other pleasurable items. However we must be sure we are pairing the right object in the dogs mind.
If I want to cure dog aggression, I am going to give lots of treats whenever other dogs are present - so my aggressive dog replaces the bad feelings about other dogs, with good feelings. I want to counter condition him that dogs = treats and good things with the end mental result to be dogs = good things (and thus not to be attacked).
However the sphere of influence may instead teach him that me wearing my sweater = good things, or my shoes = good things or walking in the neighbourhood = good things and not other dogs. I cannot be sure which condition the dog is focusing on, if at all. In order to get the dog to focus in on other dogs, I need to insure I change the surroundings and conditions to many different situations, while keeping the one constant I want to focus on the same - in this case other dogs.
If I ignored this principle, My dog would likely have good feelings about a number of different things, however I could never be sure how strong that feeling would be, nor to which circumstance it would be directly associated to.
This is specially concerning if punishment is involved. Consider this example:
"The father of the family is very frustrated with the family dog who is always peeing in the house. The fathers ritual when he comes home is to take the keys out of the door, find the dog and slap him for the pee he discovers each day when coming home. The dog is becoming more and more fearful each time the father comes home. One day the mother comes home around the same time the father usually does, and removes the keys from the door and comes inside. The dog attacks and bites the mother putting her in hospital. The dog is euthanized due to his 'unpredictable' attack on someone who never harmed him."
What really happened here? Because the dog was being punished with a regular set of criteria - he was conditioned to a number of factors, and any number of those may have pushed him over the edge. So the dog learned that
a) a certain time of day predicts punishment
b) sound of keys jingling coming out of door predict punishment
c) the father's presence predicts punishment
However it only required condition a and condition b to be present in order to get the reaction from the dog. The mother was an unfortunate victim of the classical conditioning sphere of influence that was taking place each time the dog was punished. The punishment became too much and finally caused the dog to lash out in a preemptive strike towards what he believed would be a punishment based on classical criteria.
Take another example - a dog gets hit by a car. Just before hitting the dog the car honks it's horn. This dog could be scared of cars, a horn sound, the specific area in which the accident happened, or even the weather at the time of the incident from now on. All these items were simultaneously conditioned from this one incident (conditioning happens much faster with a fear emotion).
So in summary - be very mindful of this sphere of influence in both the positive and negative (punishment) applications
Positive - change the other criteria for reward in each situation keeping one constant to focus on the exact object you want to pair.
Punishment - be aware that any dog that has been punished in the past may have associated the impending punishment with any number of critera including your sex, clothing, sounds or location. Just because we know the dog may be in a safe place far away from the punisher - he doesn't make this same safe association that a human would.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Proud to Be Canadian - Congrats to Richmond, BC
From CTVBC.CA :
B.C. city passes Canada's first puppy sale ban
"The public will now get a chance to weigh in on the decision to ban retail puppy sales in suburban Vancouver, after three readings of the new bylaw were passed unanimously Tuesday night.
City councillors in Richmond, B.C., spent hours hearing from the public and debating the decision. The move, A Canadian first, is intended to curb the purchase of animals from puppy mills and stop people from impulsively buying animals.
Coun. Evelina Halsey-Brandt said a fourth reading, which finalizes the motion into law, will happen within the month. Pet store owners will then have until April 2011 to sell or remove all their puppies.
"People are going to learn that animals have the right to decency to have their health looked after," she told ctvbc.ca. "Now other cities will do the same thing."
Animal rights activists are trumpeting the council's decision, saying pet store puppies aren't awarded the same freedoms as dogs raised by reputable breeders.
"These pets that we're talking about that are shipped to pet stores they don't start out as pets, they're simply livestock," Rae Goodrich of the B.C. SPCA told council.
Marcie Moriarty, general manager of cruelty investigations for the B.C. SPCA, says the new bylaw is the first step in shutting down Canadian puppy mills.
"Any simple business model states that if you take away some of the demand, like these dogs, you'll have an impact on the production," she told ctvbc.ca."
This is great news and hopefully the rest of Canada will follow suit. Puppies belong in loving homes socializing with their mother and litter mates until going home with a family and more socialization can continue. Puppies do NOT belong in clear glass boxes in Pet Stores.
I would submit that many dogs are surrendered to shelters because they were victims of an impulse buyer. Many people are also aware of the poor conditions the puppies live in being stuck in a box all day and feel the need to 'rescue' the dog - an admirable reason, but sadly promotes the problem with the continued sales.
I believe greatly in personal freedoms, but I believe that the government must step in to regulate the care and condition of not only dogs but all animals. Those animals have no choice in how they are treated, and we must ensure that we as a society agree on how they should be treated and people not conforming to those rules held accountable.
There is plenty of money to be made in selling pet products without the need to sell animals. Sadly there are more than enough dogs in shelters that need homes. I always get sad when I see a new litter of puppies up at the SPCA shelter because that means X number of more older dogs that now won't get homes.
I know everyone loves a cute puppy, but please consider an older dog or adult dog if your considering adding a dog to your family. Puppies are a LOT of work, and while any new dog comes with responsibilities - an older dog can usually fit right into a new home without the need for housebreaking, bite training, puppy classes and all the critical socialization that must be done for a new puppy.
I applaud Richmond in taking this step (like most of Europe has already done by the way) in moving Canada into being a leader in companion animal care.
B.C. city passes Canada's first puppy sale ban
"The public will now get a chance to weigh in on the decision to ban retail puppy sales in suburban Vancouver, after three readings of the new bylaw were passed unanimously Tuesday night.
City councillors in Richmond, B.C., spent hours hearing from the public and debating the decision. The move, A Canadian first, is intended to curb the purchase of animals from puppy mills and stop people from impulsively buying animals.
Coun. Evelina Halsey-Brandt said a fourth reading, which finalizes the motion into law, will happen within the month. Pet store owners will then have until April 2011 to sell or remove all their puppies.
"People are going to learn that animals have the right to decency to have their health looked after," she told ctvbc.ca. "Now other cities will do the same thing."
Animal rights activists are trumpeting the council's decision, saying pet store puppies aren't awarded the same freedoms as dogs raised by reputable breeders.
"These pets that we're talking about that are shipped to pet stores they don't start out as pets, they're simply livestock," Rae Goodrich of the B.C. SPCA told council.
Marcie Moriarty, general manager of cruelty investigations for the B.C. SPCA, says the new bylaw is the first step in shutting down Canadian puppy mills.
"Any simple business model states that if you take away some of the demand, like these dogs, you'll have an impact on the production," she told ctvbc.ca."
This is great news and hopefully the rest of Canada will follow suit. Puppies belong in loving homes socializing with their mother and litter mates until going home with a family and more socialization can continue. Puppies do NOT belong in clear glass boxes in Pet Stores.
I would submit that many dogs are surrendered to shelters because they were victims of an impulse buyer. Many people are also aware of the poor conditions the puppies live in being stuck in a box all day and feel the need to 'rescue' the dog - an admirable reason, but sadly promotes the problem with the continued sales.
I believe greatly in personal freedoms, but I believe that the government must step in to regulate the care and condition of not only dogs but all animals. Those animals have no choice in how they are treated, and we must ensure that we as a society agree on how they should be treated and people not conforming to those rules held accountable.
There is plenty of money to be made in selling pet products without the need to sell animals. Sadly there are more than enough dogs in shelters that need homes. I always get sad when I see a new litter of puppies up at the SPCA shelter because that means X number of more older dogs that now won't get homes.
I know everyone loves a cute puppy, but please consider an older dog or adult dog if your considering adding a dog to your family. Puppies are a LOT of work, and while any new dog comes with responsibilities - an older dog can usually fit right into a new home without the need for housebreaking, bite training, puppy classes and all the critical socialization that must be done for a new puppy.
I applaud Richmond in taking this step (like most of Europe has already done by the way) in moving Canada into being a leader in companion animal care.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Is the world coming to an end?
Very strange things afoot in the dog training world. Cesar Millan is coming out with a new book titled "Cesar's Rules" and it seems that the father of positive dog training, Ian Dunbar, is featured in a chapter of it. It seems the book is a compilation of both Cesar and other dog trainers speaking about their methods.
While I believe Cesar has really set dog training back - its very encouraging to think he might be examining his methods, or at the very least using his fame to promote other trainers and methods.
No matter what you think of him, Cesar Millan has huge power because millions of people see him and adore him. Sadly many people take his word as gospel and that affects the lives of a great many dogs all around the world.
If he were to use his fame to promote reward training that would be a treat for trainers and dogs alike.
Here's the link of what Dr Dunbar said regarding working with Cesar:
http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/my-contribution-cesar-millans-new-book
Here is the video promo featuring Ian Dunbar and Cesar together
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z6XR3qJ_qY&feature=youtube_gdata
While I believe Cesar has really set dog training back - its very encouraging to think he might be examining his methods, or at the very least using his fame to promote other trainers and methods.
No matter what you think of him, Cesar Millan has huge power because millions of people see him and adore him. Sadly many people take his word as gospel and that affects the lives of a great many dogs all around the world.
If he were to use his fame to promote reward training that would be a treat for trainers and dogs alike.
Here's the link of what Dr Dunbar said regarding working with Cesar:
http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/my-contribution-cesar-millans-new-book
Here is the video promo featuring Ian Dunbar and Cesar together
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z6XR3qJ_qY&feature=youtube_gdata
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Shock Collars
Shock collars are a big subject in the world of dog training. People who are opposed to them are vehemently (and usually angrily) against them. Those that promote them are very defensive of their stance.
I'm writing this post because I recently saw a Halifax training site, that is very heavily promoted, making use of what they refer to as "E-collars". E-Collars stand for electronic collar, which is a nicer way of saying 'shock' collar.
On this site they had 2-3 videos showing how great E-collars work - and I was really curious to see this. I was curious to see how a site was going to get customers when they are going to post videos of dogs being shocked. Upon watching them though I discovered the real ugly truth about this training method - they actually DON'T want you to see it up front!
One video showed a trainer and dog (a Shepard mix) doing an obedience routine with many sits, downs, lots of eye contact, and various obedience work being done on an agility style pause table. This dog was already trained and thus wasn't shocked once during the video. The premise of the video was to see how great E-collar training can make your dog - but without actually showing the method itself.
The second video showed how great E-collars are for curing aggression. This video showed an out of control dog, lunging and snarling in one clip - then faded to the same dog behaving perfectly and walking calming. Again - no shocks, no method shown, just final product.
The third video showed an 8 year old girl or so 'training' a rottie. Once again it was deceiving because the girl never actually 'trained' the dog - he was clearly trained very well. The little girl proceeded to walk around with the dog at perfect heel position, and give a number of commands. The shock collar was on the dog, and the trainer was filming. I'll mention the importance of this later.
Some people might ask, well I only want a trained dog, I am only interested in the final product, why should I care how a professional gets to the finished product? I don't need to watch my mechanic work on my car, I just want it to work when I pick it up.
Well dog training is very different - cars aren't alive, dogs are. The method used to train your dog is going to have a total effect on his personality, relationship with you and others, and may or may not cause other problems. This same training company says their training methods are 'based in science' however science is quite clear that punishment should be a last resort for training - and must be used extremely carefully to avoid lasting behavioral damage.
Stephen Lindsay in his excellent book "Handbook of applied dog behavior and training vol 1" lists 20 different concerns that you must be aware of when using punishment training. A whole chapter in this very long (420pg) book is devoted to the science of punishment in training and various experiments done on animals throughout the ages on punishment training. He lists well over 40 scientific papers in his review.
His conclusion in this matter: "Punishment should be used only after other positive training options have been carefully considered or exhausted."
Furthermore - the Veterinary Behavior Society of America states: "The AVSAB's position is that punishment is not appropriate as a first-line or early-use treatment for behavior problems. Modification should focus on reinforcing desirable behaviors, removing reinforcement for inappropriate behaviors, and addressing the emotional state and environmental conditions driving undesirable behavior."
The Canadian Veterinary Society states: "Recent years have seen a shift towards reward-based methods, such as clicker training and the use of food, toys and praise as motivators. Animal behaviourists conclude that training techniques that employ punishment rather than rewards-based methods do not improve dog obedience and actually increase problematic dog behaviours.Confrontational methods of training such as the use of physical force, rolling dogs, growling, or staring dogs down may increase the likelihood of aggressive responses in dogs. The use of shock collars is associated with short-term and long-term negative consequences including fear and anxiety.
I go into more detail on why punishment isn't effective on my site - but the biggest problem I see with punishment is a very general one. Dog training is generally done BY the owner - with guidance and direction from the trainer. This means that most training being done on the dog isn't by a professional, but rather the owner.
When I run obedience classes I give homework to my classes - without practice there is no way a group of dogs can learn any behavior reliably in an hour. We discuss success and failure through the 6 week class and work on improvement. I want pet owners who feel like they can communicate and train their dog without always needing a professional trainer.
As with any new skill, people make mistakes. Some people are more skilled and catch on - others take more time and make more errors. When I do clicker training I see people clicking at the wrong time, forgetting to click, giving food at the wrong time, not phasing out food in time - you name it. I have older people that may take extra explanation, and children that are overly eager and excited. We coach and work through the errors and issues to improve everyone's skill.
With clicker and food training - this isn't a big deal. Worse case scenario is the dog takes longer to train and maybe gets a lot of extra food that maybe he didn't really need. A wrong click or a wrong food delivery won't hurt anyone. People also get frustrated and sometimes want to give up but we talk through it.
With punishment however - errors can cause serious psychological damage and aggression. This is specially true if the owner is getting frustrated. This is also not a method that every dog will respond to. I normally see shock collar demonstrations on Shepards and other large, tough breeds - I have yet to see an E-collar on a pug or king charles spaniel. Every dog however likes reinforcement - and it doesn't have to be food - it can be play, toys, freedom, whatever.
So the bottom line here is if you make mistakes using positive reinforcement methods - you might not have a well trained dog until you sharpen your skills - if you make mistakes using punishment, you might have a highly aggressive dog, or one that shuts down and lives a miserable life of fear and frustration. Or worse case, you don't notice anything is wrong with the dog until he bites your neighbours kid.
Remember the little girl from the video? Well one issue with punishment is the behavior falls apart if the conditions during punishment are no longer present. For example if the trainer is the only person shocking the dog, he may not listen to the little girl unless the trainer is present. In the video the trainer is there filming - so the dog obeys the girl because conditions for punishment in place.
There is no reason to need to resort to punishment unless positive methods have failed, and this will very rarely happen. I would also argue that no matter how well behaved a punishment trained dog is - I would never trust one around my children or loved ones. Punishment can build a ticking time bomb of aggression. People and animals alike who are consistently subjected to punishment will only take so much before they explode. Why even take that risk?
I'm writing this post because I recently saw a Halifax training site, that is very heavily promoted, making use of what they refer to as "E-collars". E-Collars stand for electronic collar, which is a nicer way of saying 'shock' collar.
On this site they had 2-3 videos showing how great E-collars work - and I was really curious to see this. I was curious to see how a site was going to get customers when they are going to post videos of dogs being shocked. Upon watching them though I discovered the real ugly truth about this training method - they actually DON'T want you to see it up front!
One video showed a trainer and dog (a Shepard mix) doing an obedience routine with many sits, downs, lots of eye contact, and various obedience work being done on an agility style pause table. This dog was already trained and thus wasn't shocked once during the video. The premise of the video was to see how great E-collar training can make your dog - but without actually showing the method itself.
The second video showed how great E-collars are for curing aggression. This video showed an out of control dog, lunging and snarling in one clip - then faded to the same dog behaving perfectly and walking calming. Again - no shocks, no method shown, just final product.
The third video showed an 8 year old girl or so 'training' a rottie. Once again it was deceiving because the girl never actually 'trained' the dog - he was clearly trained very well. The little girl proceeded to walk around with the dog at perfect heel position, and give a number of commands. The shock collar was on the dog, and the trainer was filming. I'll mention the importance of this later.
Some people might ask, well I only want a trained dog, I am only interested in the final product, why should I care how a professional gets to the finished product? I don't need to watch my mechanic work on my car, I just want it to work when I pick it up.
Well dog training is very different - cars aren't alive, dogs are. The method used to train your dog is going to have a total effect on his personality, relationship with you and others, and may or may not cause other problems. This same training company says their training methods are 'based in science' however science is quite clear that punishment should be a last resort for training - and must be used extremely carefully to avoid lasting behavioral damage.
Stephen Lindsay in his excellent book "Handbook of applied dog behavior and training vol 1" lists 20 different concerns that you must be aware of when using punishment training. A whole chapter in this very long (420pg) book is devoted to the science of punishment in training and various experiments done on animals throughout the ages on punishment training. He lists well over 40 scientific papers in his review.
His conclusion in this matter: "Punishment should be used only after other positive training options have been carefully considered or exhausted."
Furthermore - the Veterinary Behavior Society of America states: "The AVSAB's position is that punishment is not appropriate as a first-line or early-use treatment for behavior problems. Modification should focus on reinforcing desirable behaviors, removing reinforcement for inappropriate behaviors, and addressing the emotional state and environmental conditions driving undesirable behavior."
The Canadian Veterinary Society states: "Recent years have seen a shift towards reward-based methods, such as clicker training and the use of food, toys and praise as motivators. Animal behaviourists conclude that training techniques that employ punishment rather than rewards-based methods do not improve dog obedience and actually increase problematic dog behaviours.Confrontational methods of training such as the use of physical force, rolling dogs, growling, or staring dogs down may increase the likelihood of aggressive responses in dogs. The use of shock collars is associated with short-term and long-term negative consequences including fear and anxiety.
I go into more detail on why punishment isn't effective on my site - but the biggest problem I see with punishment is a very general one. Dog training is generally done BY the owner - with guidance and direction from the trainer. This means that most training being done on the dog isn't by a professional, but rather the owner.
When I run obedience classes I give homework to my classes - without practice there is no way a group of dogs can learn any behavior reliably in an hour. We discuss success and failure through the 6 week class and work on improvement. I want pet owners who feel like they can communicate and train their dog without always needing a professional trainer.
As with any new skill, people make mistakes. Some people are more skilled and catch on - others take more time and make more errors. When I do clicker training I see people clicking at the wrong time, forgetting to click, giving food at the wrong time, not phasing out food in time - you name it. I have older people that may take extra explanation, and children that are overly eager and excited. We coach and work through the errors and issues to improve everyone's skill.
With clicker and food training - this isn't a big deal. Worse case scenario is the dog takes longer to train and maybe gets a lot of extra food that maybe he didn't really need. A wrong click or a wrong food delivery won't hurt anyone. People also get frustrated and sometimes want to give up but we talk through it.
With punishment however - errors can cause serious psychological damage and aggression. This is specially true if the owner is getting frustrated. This is also not a method that every dog will respond to. I normally see shock collar demonstrations on Shepards and other large, tough breeds - I have yet to see an E-collar on a pug or king charles spaniel. Every dog however likes reinforcement - and it doesn't have to be food - it can be play, toys, freedom, whatever.
So the bottom line here is if you make mistakes using positive reinforcement methods - you might not have a well trained dog until you sharpen your skills - if you make mistakes using punishment, you might have a highly aggressive dog, or one that shuts down and lives a miserable life of fear and frustration. Or worse case, you don't notice anything is wrong with the dog until he bites your neighbours kid.
Remember the little girl from the video? Well one issue with punishment is the behavior falls apart if the conditions during punishment are no longer present. For example if the trainer is the only person shocking the dog, he may not listen to the little girl unless the trainer is present. In the video the trainer is there filming - so the dog obeys the girl because conditions for punishment in place.
There is no reason to need to resort to punishment unless positive methods have failed, and this will very rarely happen. I would also argue that no matter how well behaved a punishment trained dog is - I would never trust one around my children or loved ones. Punishment can build a ticking time bomb of aggression. People and animals alike who are consistently subjected to punishment will only take so much before they explode. Why even take that risk?
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Find me somebody to love....
Arguably the behavior that seems to drive most people into a frenzy at the dog park (other than a serious fight) is dogs mounting. The most curious thing about this is listening to the aftermath of owners discussing the reasons why this is happening. I'd say the number one thing I hear most is "he/she is being dominant".
I'm going to try not to go into detail about dominance in this post and save that for another time since I want to specifically just discuss mounting - but I'll argue that dominance is usually the number one reason given for mounting.
Go ahead and try to Google 'mounting in dogs' and see what you get. The very first article I see talks about dogs being like wolves, alpha's, and dogs mounting for dominance. Guess that explains why google isn't a good dog trainer and you need to take great care when looking for practical information on the Internet!
I find this topic really interesting because despite the obvious answer to why this behavior occurs, no one seems to want to accept it. So whats mounting then? It's sex. Pure and simple. Rather, its "play" sex. Let me explain
Dogs and all animals come loaded with certain behavior patterns pre-programmed into them. These are referred to as fixed action patterns "FAP's". One good example is a mother dog that bites the umbilical cord of a new born puppy, or puppies that lick the face of their mother to make her regurgitate food. The dogs were never trained to do these things, they are born with the knowledge to help them survive. Usually these fixed patterns have to do with fighting, fleeing, reproducing and eating. When dogs play and get aroused, these patterns come out - dogs will play fight, play chase and yes, play mount.
Ever see a human male get "aroused" and try to "mount" everything he sees in the night club?
Mounting can be a sign of a dog who is unsure or unsocialized. Usually this is because when presented with an unfamiliar situation - the dog gets easily aroused and the FAP's start to show up. While two previous dog friends might have established good rapport to do some play chasing and wrestling - unfamiliar dogs may not engage in that right away, so the mounting FAP shows up instead.
One thing that makes dogs different from wolves is their sexual behavior. In wolves only the 'breeding pair' or what was referred to as alpha male and female would mate. The chief reason for this was to control population to ensure they didn't reproduce more than the food source could handle - however dogs are different.
Dogs don't form packs the way wolves do - dogs in the "wild" form loose social groups that are normally close to human settlements and they live off scraps of food and garbage dumps. Dogs are scavengers and don't hunt big game, so they have no need of packs. As such their sexual behavior is quite promiscuous and will mate with anyone, anywhere. Wolf males are only able to reproduce seasonally, while male dogs are able to reproduce at anytime.
Another difference is the testosterone levels of dogs. An adolescent dog's testosterone levels actually rise above the levels of an adult dog and level off later - so mounting can be much more prevalent during this time.
Another pretty good argument for mounting being sex play is that mounting is greatly reduced after neutering. Mounting may not stop if a dog is neutered later in life and has been play mounting for a while. He's likely to continue the behavior simply because it's been rewarding (Fun) to do in the past.
So what about females? Well one FAP of courtship is to flirt - and one way a female flirts is to quickly mount the male and run off. I'd also argue that mounting in females much more rare than in males.
So what about certain TV personalities arguments that mounting is dominance? Well normally we see mounting behavior follow this pattern -
1) Dog A mounts or starts to mount Dog B
2) Dog B runs away, snaps, growls snarls and dog A gets off
3) Dog A might try again right away or in a few minutes
What should be the reaction if one were trying to establish dominance? Dog A should attack dog B for daring to fight back. However this is very rarely the case and likely has very little to do with his mounting being rejected but rather a response to the aggression of Dog B.
Dominance hierarchies do exist between wolves in captivity in relation to items, however it's normally based on strength - hence when the alpha wolf in captivity is weak or hurt - someone else takes over. It's very common however to see very physically inferior dogs try to mount physically superior dogs, even after being snapped at or growled at as described above.
So when it comes to mounting - the simplest explanation is the correct one. Dogs just get excited and mount sometimes. It's up to us to teach them that mounting isn't an appropriate behavior and to teach them what is. One way to prevent it is to remove your dog from play when he mounts (negative punishment) or to simply tell him to "Sit" if he's well trained.
So remember, if your dog decides to mount you, he's not showing dominance or trying to take over the house - he just really likes you :)
I'm going to try not to go into detail about dominance in this post and save that for another time since I want to specifically just discuss mounting - but I'll argue that dominance is usually the number one reason given for mounting.
Go ahead and try to Google 'mounting in dogs' and see what you get. The very first article I see talks about dogs being like wolves, alpha's, and dogs mounting for dominance. Guess that explains why google isn't a good dog trainer and you need to take great care when looking for practical information on the Internet!
I find this topic really interesting because despite the obvious answer to why this behavior occurs, no one seems to want to accept it. So whats mounting then? It's sex. Pure and simple. Rather, its "play" sex. Let me explain
Dogs and all animals come loaded with certain behavior patterns pre-programmed into them. These are referred to as fixed action patterns "FAP's". One good example is a mother dog that bites the umbilical cord of a new born puppy, or puppies that lick the face of their mother to make her regurgitate food. The dogs were never trained to do these things, they are born with the knowledge to help them survive. Usually these fixed patterns have to do with fighting, fleeing, reproducing and eating. When dogs play and get aroused, these patterns come out - dogs will play fight, play chase and yes, play mount.
Ever see a human male get "aroused" and try to "mount" everything he sees in the night club?
Mounting can be a sign of a dog who is unsure or unsocialized. Usually this is because when presented with an unfamiliar situation - the dog gets easily aroused and the FAP's start to show up. While two previous dog friends might have established good rapport to do some play chasing and wrestling - unfamiliar dogs may not engage in that right away, so the mounting FAP shows up instead.
One thing that makes dogs different from wolves is their sexual behavior. In wolves only the 'breeding pair' or what was referred to as alpha male and female would mate. The chief reason for this was to control population to ensure they didn't reproduce more than the food source could handle - however dogs are different.
Dogs don't form packs the way wolves do - dogs in the "wild" form loose social groups that are normally close to human settlements and they live off scraps of food and garbage dumps. Dogs are scavengers and don't hunt big game, so they have no need of packs. As such their sexual behavior is quite promiscuous and will mate with anyone, anywhere. Wolf males are only able to reproduce seasonally, while male dogs are able to reproduce at anytime.
Another difference is the testosterone levels of dogs. An adolescent dog's testosterone levels actually rise above the levels of an adult dog and level off later - so mounting can be much more prevalent during this time.
Another pretty good argument for mounting being sex play is that mounting is greatly reduced after neutering. Mounting may not stop if a dog is neutered later in life and has been play mounting for a while. He's likely to continue the behavior simply because it's been rewarding (Fun) to do in the past.
So what about females? Well one FAP of courtship is to flirt - and one way a female flirts is to quickly mount the male and run off. I'd also argue that mounting in females much more rare than in males.
So what about certain TV personalities arguments that mounting is dominance? Well normally we see mounting behavior follow this pattern -
1) Dog A mounts or starts to mount Dog B
2) Dog B runs away, snaps, growls snarls and dog A gets off
3) Dog A might try again right away or in a few minutes
What should be the reaction if one were trying to establish dominance? Dog A should attack dog B for daring to fight back. However this is very rarely the case and likely has very little to do with his mounting being rejected but rather a response to the aggression of Dog B.
Dominance hierarchies do exist between wolves in captivity in relation to items, however it's normally based on strength - hence when the alpha wolf in captivity is weak or hurt - someone else takes over. It's very common however to see very physically inferior dogs try to mount physically superior dogs, even after being snapped at or growled at as described above.
So when it comes to mounting - the simplest explanation is the correct one. Dogs just get excited and mount sometimes. It's up to us to teach them that mounting isn't an appropriate behavior and to teach them what is. One way to prevent it is to remove your dog from play when he mounts (negative punishment) or to simply tell him to "Sit" if he's well trained.
So remember, if your dog decides to mount you, he's not showing dominance or trying to take over the house - he just really likes you :)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The Right Dog for you
I had a request from a friend to write about choosing the right breed of dog so I'll do my best to address the subject. I believe first and foremost however that you need to decide if ANY dog is right for you. Dogs require a lot of time commitment, monetary commitment and mental commitment.
You need to take a good look at your lifestyle and work life and decide if you can give a dog what he wants the most - companionship. Lets clear one myth up - dogs don't want a big backyard. They do however want a big backyard in which to play with their owner or as a second choice, another dog(s).
If you are working 12 hour shifts or long work days - unless your prepared to pay / find someone to care for your dog when your not around - you need to really consider if getting a dog is the right decision for you and the future dog.
Now if you've sure you want a dog, lets talk about breed selection. To understand what makes a "breed" and why there are so many, lets talk a little bit about genetics.
Dogs developed into specific breeds by human intervention. That is, humans picked certain traits they wanted within a dog and bred for that purpose. One famous example of this is a Russian Scientist by the name of Dmitry Belyaev who bred generations of foxes for the sole trait of domestication. As each litter of foxes was produced, only the most tame and human friendly foxes were bred. Over several generations (this experiment has been going on since the 60's) the foxes become more domesticated so that the foxes started to seek out human companionship from birth. However many traits also 'came along for the ride'. So in seeking to breed a certain trait - many others will also appear. For example, there were marked differences in the coat color and hair shape of the 'tame' foxes - as well as internal biological differences such as 2 estrus (heat) cycles per year instead of 1 which is normal for foxes. (This difference appears in dogs vs wolves as well)
So what does this tell us? While dogs do develop based on their experiences throughout their life (specially as puppies but that's another post), certain breeds come pre-loaded with built in desires and abilities that have been bred into them, sometimes intentionally, sometimes not.
So what breed is right for you? Well there are many questions you need to ask yourself in order to figure that out. Here's a good list to start:
1) What size dog do you want? Big dogs require more space and more food and generally have more health problems and shorter life spans. Small dogs can be more vocal and are more easily subjected to injury in a fight or attack.
2)How often will you be around other dogs? If you want to go to the dog park everyday or you live in the city, pick a breed that is known to be very friendly with both people, children and other dogs. People in rural areas don't need to be as concerned with this.
3) How often do you want your dog off leash? Hounds, specially bassets, bloodhounds and beagles tend to follow their nose. Without some really solid recall work you might lose your dog if they are off leash.
4) How much time do you want to spend grooming and dealing with dog hair? Some breeds like poodles are hypoallergenic and don't have hair to deal with. Dogs like an afghan hound or English sheepdog require a lot of coat maintenance.
5) How experienced are you with dogs? I don't recommend powerful breeds to be in the hands of first time owners or anyone who isn't prepared to put a lot of time into training their dog. Rotties, Pit bulls and German Shepards are best left to experienced handlers. Please let me be clear - I love these breeds but in the hands of inexperienced owners, an aggressive Rottie will be a greater risk than an aggressive Pomeranian.
The last thing I want to mention is the most important of all - Energy level. It's critical that you pick a dog that has equal to, or less energy than you. If you want a dog for agility or to take swimming on a regular basis - great - there's plenty of dogs out there for that. If you want to just lay on the couch and walk them a few times a day, there's dogs out there for that too.
Several years ago Dr Stanley Coren wrote a book called "The intelligence of dogs". He asked professional obedience judges to rank the most intelligent dogs, and border collies ranked number one. Immediately people went out and started getting border collies. So what happened? Well border collies need high energy and exercise and lots of mental stimulation that many people were not prepared to handle. As such, most trainers will tell you that border collies rank close to the top for behavioral problems, which are mostly rooted in boredom.
So in summary - dogs ARE a product of their environment and treatment, however genetics predisposes them to a number of factors that owners should be educated about. Beware that not all the dogs of the same breed are created equal! The best way to judge how a dog will behave is to look at the parents (something you can't do in a pet store). Over-breeding has caused some stock (genetic line) to move away from their well know traits. The most concerning trait to look for is energy and to ensure your up to meeting the dogs mental and physical needs, and also if they can meet yours.
The number one reason dogs end up in shelters is behavioral issues - and behavioral issues normally develop from stress and the dogs needs not being met. Pet ownership should be for life - please do your homework, for both your sakes.
ps - if you want help with choosing the right dog for you, send me an email.
You need to take a good look at your lifestyle and work life and decide if you can give a dog what he wants the most - companionship. Lets clear one myth up - dogs don't want a big backyard. They do however want a big backyard in which to play with their owner or as a second choice, another dog(s).
If you are working 12 hour shifts or long work days - unless your prepared to pay / find someone to care for your dog when your not around - you need to really consider if getting a dog is the right decision for you and the future dog.
Now if you've sure you want a dog, lets talk about breed selection. To understand what makes a "breed" and why there are so many, lets talk a little bit about genetics.
Dogs developed into specific breeds by human intervention. That is, humans picked certain traits they wanted within a dog and bred for that purpose. One famous example of this is a Russian Scientist by the name of Dmitry Belyaev who bred generations of foxes for the sole trait of domestication. As each litter of foxes was produced, only the most tame and human friendly foxes were bred. Over several generations (this experiment has been going on since the 60's) the foxes become more domesticated so that the foxes started to seek out human companionship from birth. However many traits also 'came along for the ride'. So in seeking to breed a certain trait - many others will also appear. For example, there were marked differences in the coat color and hair shape of the 'tame' foxes - as well as internal biological differences such as 2 estrus (heat) cycles per year instead of 1 which is normal for foxes. (This difference appears in dogs vs wolves as well)
So what does this tell us? While dogs do develop based on their experiences throughout their life (specially as puppies but that's another post), certain breeds come pre-loaded with built in desires and abilities that have been bred into them, sometimes intentionally, sometimes not.
So what breed is right for you? Well there are many questions you need to ask yourself in order to figure that out. Here's a good list to start:
1) What size dog do you want? Big dogs require more space and more food and generally have more health problems and shorter life spans. Small dogs can be more vocal and are more easily subjected to injury in a fight or attack.
2)How often will you be around other dogs? If you want to go to the dog park everyday or you live in the city, pick a breed that is known to be very friendly with both people, children and other dogs. People in rural areas don't need to be as concerned with this.
3) How often do you want your dog off leash? Hounds, specially bassets, bloodhounds and beagles tend to follow their nose. Without some really solid recall work you might lose your dog if they are off leash.
4) How much time do you want to spend grooming and dealing with dog hair? Some breeds like poodles are hypoallergenic and don't have hair to deal with. Dogs like an afghan hound or English sheepdog require a lot of coat maintenance.
5) How experienced are you with dogs? I don't recommend powerful breeds to be in the hands of first time owners or anyone who isn't prepared to put a lot of time into training their dog. Rotties, Pit bulls and German Shepards are best left to experienced handlers. Please let me be clear - I love these breeds but in the hands of inexperienced owners, an aggressive Rottie will be a greater risk than an aggressive Pomeranian.
The last thing I want to mention is the most important of all - Energy level. It's critical that you pick a dog that has equal to, or less energy than you. If you want a dog for agility or to take swimming on a regular basis - great - there's plenty of dogs out there for that. If you want to just lay on the couch and walk them a few times a day, there's dogs out there for that too.
Several years ago Dr Stanley Coren wrote a book called "The intelligence of dogs". He asked professional obedience judges to rank the most intelligent dogs, and border collies ranked number one. Immediately people went out and started getting border collies. So what happened? Well border collies need high energy and exercise and lots of mental stimulation that many people were not prepared to handle. As such, most trainers will tell you that border collies rank close to the top for behavioral problems, which are mostly rooted in boredom.
So in summary - dogs ARE a product of their environment and treatment, however genetics predisposes them to a number of factors that owners should be educated about. Beware that not all the dogs of the same breed are created equal! The best way to judge how a dog will behave is to look at the parents (something you can't do in a pet store). Over-breeding has caused some stock (genetic line) to move away from their well know traits. The most concerning trait to look for is energy and to ensure your up to meeting the dogs mental and physical needs, and also if they can meet yours.
The number one reason dogs end up in shelters is behavioral issues - and behavioral issues normally develop from stress and the dogs needs not being met. Pet ownership should be for life - please do your homework, for both your sakes.
ps - if you want help with choosing the right dog for you, send me an email.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Take it slow - the power of classical conditioning
Ever hear people say how much their dog "hates" to be groomed, have its nails clipped, or wear a muzzle? I hear this all the time. It's quite rare to hear anyone say "boy does my dog love the hair dryer and nail clippers, that just makes his day". However, this statement can be the norm instead of the exception with some work.
Enter classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is similar to the idea of clicker training but with some very marked differences. In clicker training (or operant conditioning) the clicker indicates to the dog that reward (food) is coming upon hearing the sound. You then use the clicker when the dog is performing a behavior in order to teach the dog a behavior is wanted and will be rewarded. This behavior then increases and can be put on cue.
However using Classical conditioning in this sense we pair food/reward with some "thing" in order to build a positive association with the "thing" in the dogs mind. He isn't required to perform a behavior and there is not a defined relationship with the "thing" and with rewards as there is with the clicker and rewards (one click = one treat). The "thing" could be a muzzle, gentle leader, nail clipper, brush, or hair dryer.
The general idea is to replace a neutral or negative feeling in the dogs mind in relation to the 'thing' by pairing it with something pleasurable like food. (If the dog already has a negative opinion of the "thing" in his mind we call this counter-conditioning). This is not necessarily a conscious thought in which the dog learns that nail clippers = treats, but rather to give the dog a general 'good' feeling of the items presence. This also must be done very slowly with slight increases in duration and ferocity each time. I'll lay out a standard hierarchy of how to do this at the end of the post.
The majority of owners however (and certain TV personalities) use whats known as flooding. Rather than pair the item, say a hair dryer, with food and slow gradual increases in duration/ferocity, they simply lay into the dog by drying him all over without any build up or pairing with positive associations like food. Normally this is done by restraining the dog, possibly also with a muzzle, to ensure he accepts whats being done to him. While this accomplishes the task of actually drying the dog, there is huge psychological damage. While repeated use of this will likely show less signs of the initial panic, your relationship with your dog will be damaged and trust will be greatly reduced. He will also never really 'like' whats being done.
However by using classical conditioning and slow desensitization we can get dogs to actually accept things willingly and without restraint. Its also important to note that the earlier you do these the easier it will be. My puppy classes spend some time focusing on this important and overlooked topic. Here's a hierarchy of classical conditioning and desensitization you can do with your dog to get him to enjoy nail clippers :
1) Put the nail clippers behind your back, show them to your dog, then treat and put the clippers behind your back. Repeat this 10 or so times.
2) Continue the above but this time increase the duration for the visibility of the clippers. Continue to treat whenever they are shown.
3) Change locations in your house or go outside and continue the above. Also change where your treats are coming from (ie if you are wearing a sack, change sides, or change pockets). Its important to teach the dog that the clippers mean treats, and not location or where your hand is going.
4) Touch the clippers to the dogs front paw and remove then treat. Continue this several times. Do not actually clip or put the clipper over the nail, just touch it to the paw. Gradually increase the duration of the clipper touching the paw. You may want to get your dog into a 'down' position for this exercise. Do this exercise for EACH for your dogs 4 paws. Do several paw touches with just your hands and without treating but with praise. This teaches the dog that paw touching = good, but touching with clippers = awesome!
5) Put the clippers in the cutting position over the nail, remove and treat. Continue this several times. Do not actually clip the nail. Increase the duration and do reps with each nail and each paw.
6) Put the clippers in the cutting position and slowly cut one nail. Treat the dog then remove the clippers. Continue this on each nail. The relationship for this should be each cut = one treat.
The key to this program is that if at any point your dog does not appear comfortable or shows a negative reaction - go back to the previous step and do more reps. Your dog should show you a clear message of satisfaction during the procedure and upon the appearance of the clippers. The dog should look like he's expecting a reward when seeing the clippers. We refer to this as a conditioned emotional response. If your dog hasn't learned that clippers = good times, you need to go back a step.
As you do this more and more, just like clicker training, you reduce the amount of rewards. Do NOT progress with this too quickly, it must be a gradual reduction. For example go to 2 nail clippings per one treat, then 3 clippings per one treat, etc.
Think of an employee getting a pay cut. You might accept a 1% cut each year and still stay in your job, but if suddenly the pay cheque went down 75% one pay, you'd be gone!
Slowly move this towards one big reward after all nails have been clipped, and you will have a dog that is excited at the prospect of nail clipping, rather than running in fear.
My dog use to be fearful of the hair dryer, now when she's wet she waits in the living room FOR the hair dryer and will actually demand (paw, stare) that I dry her with it. It's now HER idea! This is real training and I'm more than happy to follow her direction!
For an excellent video example of how this works, please visit the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wakterNyUg
This shows Jean Donaldson, an excellent trainer and author - doing this same process for a gentle leader on her dog buffy.
Enter classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is similar to the idea of clicker training but with some very marked differences. In clicker training (or operant conditioning) the clicker indicates to the dog that reward (food) is coming upon hearing the sound. You then use the clicker when the dog is performing a behavior in order to teach the dog a behavior is wanted and will be rewarded. This behavior then increases and can be put on cue.
However using Classical conditioning in this sense we pair food/reward with some "thing" in order to build a positive association with the "thing" in the dogs mind. He isn't required to perform a behavior and there is not a defined relationship with the "thing" and with rewards as there is with the clicker and rewards (one click = one treat). The "thing" could be a muzzle, gentle leader, nail clipper, brush, or hair dryer.
The general idea is to replace a neutral or negative feeling in the dogs mind in relation to the 'thing' by pairing it with something pleasurable like food. (If the dog already has a negative opinion of the "thing" in his mind we call this counter-conditioning). This is not necessarily a conscious thought in which the dog learns that nail clippers = treats, but rather to give the dog a general 'good' feeling of the items presence. This also must be done very slowly with slight increases in duration and ferocity each time. I'll lay out a standard hierarchy of how to do this at the end of the post.
The majority of owners however (and certain TV personalities) use whats known as flooding. Rather than pair the item, say a hair dryer, with food and slow gradual increases in duration/ferocity, they simply lay into the dog by drying him all over without any build up or pairing with positive associations like food. Normally this is done by restraining the dog, possibly also with a muzzle, to ensure he accepts whats being done to him. While this accomplishes the task of actually drying the dog, there is huge psychological damage. While repeated use of this will likely show less signs of the initial panic, your relationship with your dog will be damaged and trust will be greatly reduced. He will also never really 'like' whats being done.
However by using classical conditioning and slow desensitization we can get dogs to actually accept things willingly and without restraint. Its also important to note that the earlier you do these the easier it will be. My puppy classes spend some time focusing on this important and overlooked topic. Here's a hierarchy of classical conditioning and desensitization you can do with your dog to get him to enjoy nail clippers :
1) Put the nail clippers behind your back, show them to your dog, then treat and put the clippers behind your back. Repeat this 10 or so times.
2) Continue the above but this time increase the duration for the visibility of the clippers. Continue to treat whenever they are shown.
3) Change locations in your house or go outside and continue the above. Also change where your treats are coming from (ie if you are wearing a sack, change sides, or change pockets). Its important to teach the dog that the clippers mean treats, and not location or where your hand is going.
4) Touch the clippers to the dogs front paw and remove then treat. Continue this several times. Do not actually clip or put the clipper over the nail, just touch it to the paw. Gradually increase the duration of the clipper touching the paw. You may want to get your dog into a 'down' position for this exercise. Do this exercise for EACH for your dogs 4 paws. Do several paw touches with just your hands and without treating but with praise. This teaches the dog that paw touching = good, but touching with clippers = awesome!
5) Put the clippers in the cutting position over the nail, remove and treat. Continue this several times. Do not actually clip the nail. Increase the duration and do reps with each nail and each paw.
6) Put the clippers in the cutting position and slowly cut one nail. Treat the dog then remove the clippers. Continue this on each nail. The relationship for this should be each cut = one treat.
The key to this program is that if at any point your dog does not appear comfortable or shows a negative reaction - go back to the previous step and do more reps. Your dog should show you a clear message of satisfaction during the procedure and upon the appearance of the clippers. The dog should look like he's expecting a reward when seeing the clippers. We refer to this as a conditioned emotional response. If your dog hasn't learned that clippers = good times, you need to go back a step.
As you do this more and more, just like clicker training, you reduce the amount of rewards. Do NOT progress with this too quickly, it must be a gradual reduction. For example go to 2 nail clippings per one treat, then 3 clippings per one treat, etc.
Think of an employee getting a pay cut. You might accept a 1% cut each year and still stay in your job, but if suddenly the pay cheque went down 75% one pay, you'd be gone!
Slowly move this towards one big reward after all nails have been clipped, and you will have a dog that is excited at the prospect of nail clipping, rather than running in fear.
My dog use to be fearful of the hair dryer, now when she's wet she waits in the living room FOR the hair dryer and will actually demand (paw, stare) that I dry her with it. It's now HER idea! This is real training and I'm more than happy to follow her direction!
For an excellent video example of how this works, please visit the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wakterNyUg
This shows Jean Donaldson, an excellent trainer and author - doing this same process for a gentle leader on her dog buffy.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Living for the Moment
As Humans we sure have a lot going on in our lives. Work, Friends, Family all consume our time and thoughts. We are always looking in the past thinking about what could have been in our lives, analyzing past conversations or maybe just thinking about a movie we saw last night. We also worry about the future and how to pay our bills, if our job is always going to be there, or for the health of ourselves and family.
So how do Dogs view the passage of time and do they ponder the past and future? I never admit to knowing what a dog is thinking, sadly we will never know for sure. But we do know certain laws of learning when it concerns animals and dogs.
Dogs will continue to do what has worked for them in the past. If your dog is scared of strangers and growling at them makes them retreat - your dog will continue to growl. He's knows that in the past, growling worked. He doesn't ponder the morality of growling or how humans view this, but simply that it worked in the past to get rid of a scary person. Likewise if sitting down always gets treats and praise, he's likely to do a lot of sitting around you, specially if the same conditions for being rewarded exist again. You dog will remember that before he got a treat, your hand went into that cookie jar! One of the keys to obedience is teaching dogs that they will be rewarded in many different locations, with a variety of preemptive cues (IE, cookies don't ALWAYS come out of a jar or a certain pocket). This is also how we get a dog to perform without treats! We need him to want to gamble that he never knows for sure when he might get a reward. How many of you play the lottery and haven't won yet? Still playing?
However when it comes to teaching and rewarding behavior - dogs live very much in the moment. The most common example of how humans get this wrong is the classic housebreaking example. Man comes home after work to find that Fido has pooped all over the brand new rug and the owner proceeds to tell Fido what a 'bad dog' he is. The owner then brags that his dog must have known what the punishment was for because he 'looked guilty' soon as he pointed out the poop on the rug.
What really happened here was the Dog got worried once the Owners disposition turned sour upon seeing the poop. Perhaps that dog has seen that look and behavior just prior to something bad happening for the dog (another cue like the cookie jar). He has no idea that the physical action of pooping is what is upsetting the owner.
This example of course deals with a behavior that has happened hours in the past, but what about behaviors only seconds apart? Take this example:
Two dogs pass each other on leash. One dog lunges at the other in an aggressive motion before being pulled away by the owner. The quiet dog's owner hurries him away from the lunger while the aggressing dog's owner apologizes and hurries her dog past.
Once separated, the owner proceeds to verbally punish the dog saying what a bad dog he is for lunging at that poor dog. I've seen owners hold their dogs face and give them a lecture or a stern "NO" after such an incident.
This much like our housebreaking example - also doesn't work. Once the encounter is over, the dog has moved on and is thinking about the current moment, while the human owner is still lamenting on the incident. Any reference to that incident for the dog, is now gone. Punishing (or rewarding) for the behavior of lunging will have no effect. Sadly I see this same incident time and time again in parks and on walks.
One of the reason a clicker is so effective is because it signals to the dog at the EXACT moment a behavior is happening. With something as simple as a sit, if you click the dog too early in the sit, you'll teach your dog that 'sit' means to hover his butt over the ground. The reason clicker training was invented was because it was sometimes impossible to reward the animal the moment the behavior was happening if the animal wasn't in reach. Clicker training started with dolphins. By the time mr dolphin swam over to get its fishy reward from the trainer, it didn't know that it was getting the fish because of that 10 foot jump it just performed. A sound like a whistle or a clicker bridged that time gap.
So while dogs may not ponder the past and future as we do, they certainly remember how things worked out for them before, and apply that in the future. The good news is we can use this knowledge in teaching and training. So keep rewarding those behaviors that you DO like, and you'll see a lot more of them!
So how do Dogs view the passage of time and do they ponder the past and future? I never admit to knowing what a dog is thinking, sadly we will never know for sure. But we do know certain laws of learning when it concerns animals and dogs.
Dogs will continue to do what has worked for them in the past. If your dog is scared of strangers and growling at them makes them retreat - your dog will continue to growl. He's knows that in the past, growling worked. He doesn't ponder the morality of growling or how humans view this, but simply that it worked in the past to get rid of a scary person. Likewise if sitting down always gets treats and praise, he's likely to do a lot of sitting around you, specially if the same conditions for being rewarded exist again. You dog will remember that before he got a treat, your hand went into that cookie jar! One of the keys to obedience is teaching dogs that they will be rewarded in many different locations, with a variety of preemptive cues (IE, cookies don't ALWAYS come out of a jar or a certain pocket). This is also how we get a dog to perform without treats! We need him to want to gamble that he never knows for sure when he might get a reward. How many of you play the lottery and haven't won yet? Still playing?
However when it comes to teaching and rewarding behavior - dogs live very much in the moment. The most common example of how humans get this wrong is the classic housebreaking example. Man comes home after work to find that Fido has pooped all over the brand new rug and the owner proceeds to tell Fido what a 'bad dog' he is. The owner then brags that his dog must have known what the punishment was for because he 'looked guilty' soon as he pointed out the poop on the rug.
What really happened here was the Dog got worried once the Owners disposition turned sour upon seeing the poop. Perhaps that dog has seen that look and behavior just prior to something bad happening for the dog (another cue like the cookie jar). He has no idea that the physical action of pooping is what is upsetting the owner.
This example of course deals with a behavior that has happened hours in the past, but what about behaviors only seconds apart? Take this example:
Two dogs pass each other on leash. One dog lunges at the other in an aggressive motion before being pulled away by the owner. The quiet dog's owner hurries him away from the lunger while the aggressing dog's owner apologizes and hurries her dog past.
Once separated, the owner proceeds to verbally punish the dog saying what a bad dog he is for lunging at that poor dog. I've seen owners hold their dogs face and give them a lecture or a stern "NO" after such an incident.
This much like our housebreaking example - also doesn't work. Once the encounter is over, the dog has moved on and is thinking about the current moment, while the human owner is still lamenting on the incident. Any reference to that incident for the dog, is now gone. Punishing (or rewarding) for the behavior of lunging will have no effect. Sadly I see this same incident time and time again in parks and on walks.
One of the reason a clicker is so effective is because it signals to the dog at the EXACT moment a behavior is happening. With something as simple as a sit, if you click the dog too early in the sit, you'll teach your dog that 'sit' means to hover his butt over the ground. The reason clicker training was invented was because it was sometimes impossible to reward the animal the moment the behavior was happening if the animal wasn't in reach. Clicker training started with dolphins. By the time mr dolphin swam over to get its fishy reward from the trainer, it didn't know that it was getting the fish because of that 10 foot jump it just performed. A sound like a whistle or a clicker bridged that time gap.
So while dogs may not ponder the past and future as we do, they certainly remember how things worked out for them before, and apply that in the future. The good news is we can use this knowledge in teaching and training. So keep rewarding those behaviors that you DO like, and you'll see a lot more of them!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Welcome to Golden Rule Training
Thanks for coming to visit my blog and hopefully my website (www.goldenruletraining.ca)
My name is Tristan and I train dogs in the Halifax area, providing group classes and individual consultations. I'd like to use this blog to discuss recent happenings in the doggie world and also training issues with my personal views on things.
Dog training sadly is one of those fields where you can get 5 different answers on the same subject from 5 different trainers. Imagine taking your car to a mechanic and having one tell you to change the oil, one telling you that you don't need oil, and one telling you to fill it with beer instead. People sure wouldn't stand for that, however that's a regular occurrence in the dog training world. One of the biggest reason for this I believe is there is no set standardization for dog trainers. While many people are trying to do this through sites like www.apdt.com and www.ccdpt.org, the most popular dog trainers on TV have no such certifications or training. Dog training seems to fall on different ends of a straight line, with positive trainers (those who use clickers, food lures) on one end, and dominance force based training on the other end where all methods focus on being the 'alpha' of the group or 'knocking the dog down a peg'. There are many trainers that fall in between, such as those that will use food for rewards, but also force if faced with non-compliance to commands.
I personally fall very high towards to the positive end of that line. I use clickers in my training but not as religiously as some use clickers, I use food lures and reward training and I don't jerk leashes or inflict pain. I'm against shock collars and invisible fences, since training can accomplish those goals without shocks and pain. If you'd like to learn more about my resume please visit my site. I believe there are two important things a person must do to be a good trainer. 1) Read as much as possible by respected authors. I have a large library from trainers like Ian Dunbar and Jean Donaldson. 2) Practical experience - volunteering at shelters and just working with dogs and specially your own dog is the best way to hone your 'chops' of training.
Thats it for the first post - if you'd like me to discuss a certain topic send me an email. In the next post I'll discuss a bit about learning theory and exactly how animals learn.
My name is Tristan and I train dogs in the Halifax area, providing group classes and individual consultations. I'd like to use this blog to discuss recent happenings in the doggie world and also training issues with my personal views on things.
Dog training sadly is one of those fields where you can get 5 different answers on the same subject from 5 different trainers. Imagine taking your car to a mechanic and having one tell you to change the oil, one telling you that you don't need oil, and one telling you to fill it with beer instead. People sure wouldn't stand for that, however that's a regular occurrence in the dog training world. One of the biggest reason for this I believe is there is no set standardization for dog trainers. While many people are trying to do this through sites like www.apdt.com and www.ccdpt.org, the most popular dog trainers on TV have no such certifications or training. Dog training seems to fall on different ends of a straight line, with positive trainers (those who use clickers, food lures) on one end, and dominance force based training on the other end where all methods focus on being the 'alpha' of the group or 'knocking the dog down a peg'. There are many trainers that fall in between, such as those that will use food for rewards, but also force if faced with non-compliance to commands.
I personally fall very high towards to the positive end of that line. I use clickers in my training but not as religiously as some use clickers, I use food lures and reward training and I don't jerk leashes or inflict pain. I'm against shock collars and invisible fences, since training can accomplish those goals without shocks and pain. If you'd like to learn more about my resume please visit my site. I believe there are two important things a person must do to be a good trainer. 1) Read as much as possible by respected authors. I have a large library from trainers like Ian Dunbar and Jean Donaldson. 2) Practical experience - volunteering at shelters and just working with dogs and specially your own dog is the best way to hone your 'chops' of training.
Thats it for the first post - if you'd like me to discuss a certain topic send me an email. In the next post I'll discuss a bit about learning theory and exactly how animals learn.
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