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.
No comments:
Post a Comment