Dog training tip o' the day: Good advice on good training takes a while to take effect.

Dog training tip o' the day: Good advice on good training takes a while to take effect. Don't dismiss a method or methodology after failure to prompt change in the short term. 

It takes time for behaviour to change, especially when first the behaviour of the handler needs to change to create change in the dog. I know from personal experience that it's easy to grow discouraged and possibly suspect that the advice received is incorrect for your personal set of circumstances. However, before deciding to move on from a strategy, make sure to give it a fair try first.

I remember years ago when still very much a novice trainer and Cohen still a young dog that I was having trouble with reduction in the quality of attention and leash behaviour immediately after rewarding Cohen for good behaviour. I turned to some acquaintances to help troubleshoot the issue and one of the pieces of advice offered was to offer a series of rewards in quick succession at random intervals to encourage sustained attention. I tried it for a week or two, didn't see much improvement and shelved working on it for a while after growing discouraged and demotivated. Now, well, I have great sustained attention, and I owe it largely to that advice. It just took a while for the picture to become clear. If anyone would ask me for advice on the issue the words I would offer would mirror those that I received years ago with the added caveat of "don't give up!".

The memory of demotivation and "well maybe it's just not going to work for us" is still clear in my mind. For those of you who ever feel similarly, time and consistency are often the two missing ingredients to creating change. Keep at it, and try not to be discouraged.

#dttotd

Dog training tip o' the day: Train smarter, not harder.

Dog training tip o' the day: Train smarter, not harder.

The best dog trainers in the world are able to get phenominal performances out of their dogs. Their dedication to their craft is commendable and awe-inspiring. Perhaps surprisingly, they do not spend all day training their dogs.

Great trainers' training sessions are often no longer than five minutes.

Great trainers normally enter their training sessions a plan as to how they will work to improve a selection of behaviours.

Great trainers do not drill behaviours repeatedly, ad nauseam.

Great trainers keep written and/or visual records of their work to track progress and help better prepare subsequent training sessions.

Great trainers ensure that their dogs have a solid understanding of foundation behaviours before moving on to something advanced.

Great trainers do not reward substandard behaviours because if they do, behaviours will remain substandard.

Great trainers know when to end a session and to ignore the allure of "just one more...".

Great training is as much art as it is science, and very few people are able to reach the upper echelons in a given sport. We may never get there. However, we can learn from those who have. We can take these lessons and apply them to our own training and move just a little closer to becoming great ourselves.

OMG. Meditation!

We shot some footage for a commercial at the start of September and it was just released this week. Pretty neat!

Training the eye close (in reality, just a blink) was a challenge. It was nice to have a project to work towards in the weeks leading up to the shoot. It was also stressful as I would try a few different things only to find our progress unsatisfactory.

Good dog! Yay meditation!

Ode To A Blown Coat, a poem

Ode To A Blown Coat

This is a poem about dogs who blow coat.
(Poodle owners, this is where you can gloat).
If you’re lucky it’s twice,
Or if you’re not, then it’s thrice
Per annum when all dog fur floats.

It creeps up on you slowly at first,
And it moves from bad then to worse.
You move room to room,
With your vacuum and broom,
But the roaming fur can’t be reversed.

In corners, fur tumbleweeds hide.
And the dander, it flies into your eyes!
Clothes are carefully chosen
To match the fur interwoven
Into all that you keep stored inside.

Dogs' coats soon look modestly bare,
Matching the slight disrepair
Of your home and your floors
Of your couches and doors,
And ev’rything still covered in hair.

“Why do you do it?” they cry!
“Endure the stress and the sty?”
...Our dogs are our hearts
And we don't wish to part.
The fur is a gift to remember them by. 

-----

I'm getting devoured in fur right now, so I decided to write a poem to memorialize this trying time of year. This is a little reminder that I am a dog trainer, not a poet. But, hey, fun! 

Dog training tip o' the day: "How long should I use treats for reinforcement?"

Dog training tip o' the day: "How long should I use treats for reinforcement?"

This is a question that gets asked a lot when training dogs. Obviously you don't want to ever have to be reliant on treats whenever you need to ask your dog to do something. Many a trainer has weighed in on how best to ensure your dog's behaviour be reliable regardless of whether you have a pocketful of chicken or not. I feel like there's another question underneath the first, which is,

"How long should I be reinforcing to my dog?"

People use treats for dog training because they are a primary reinforcer, that is, they are intrinsically valuable to a dog. They all need to eat, and most enjoy eating a great deal. But food is not the only reinforcer available to you -- there's play, praise, access to the environment and more. I almost always start training with food due to its intrinsic strength, but if food was the only reinforcer available in a trainer's arsenal then the trainer would find themselves very limited indeed.

The way I look at training is that you use a high degree of reinforcement to lay the groundwork for behaviours, ideally so much so that they become ingrained in a dog's behaviour patterns. For instance, when I ask Cohen to sit she complies almost instantly, and almost subconsciously -- we have done so many drills that compliance is almost guaranteed. Once that initial groundwork is laid then I'm granted more variety in the way which I choose to approach reinforcement, but I will Always. Reinforce. My Dog.

There is a constant mathematical formula running in my head evaluating where my dog is being reinforced and by how much. (Remember, behaviour that is reinforced is more likely to be repeated.) Is going after that scrap of garbage more rewarding than listening to me? What about running after that squirrel? What about that small child smeared with ice cream? The jogger? The puppy? These mental calculations may sound like a lot of work, but they're easier than they seem, especially with practice. Then I choose the appropriate type of reward for the situation.

This is where training and having a good relationship with your dog really shines. Training is the ultimate bonding experience. It teaches both you and your dog to communicate with one another and strengthens that special relationship that exists between a person and their four-legged best friend.

As you spend more quality time with your dog you become intrinsically rewarding to them. Your dog will look to you for guidance and feedback because that is the pattern you've created over the months and years of hard work. If your pup is anything like Cohen, she will enjoy spending time with you and earning your attention because listening to you is both entertaining and fun. And if your pup is not like mine yet you can certainly create this type of relationship if you're dedicated to building it.

This to me is the true payoff for training. All that time spent running drills for off-leash recalls and heeling eventually pay off by teaching both you and your dog how to listen to each other, and more importantly enjoy doing so. My presence is rewarding to my dog just the same way her presence is rewarding to me.

So, let's again look at the question, "How long should I be reinforcing for my dog?" By now I'm sure it's obvious what my answer is. You should plan to always be reinforcing to your dog.

When you first get your unruly puppy it might be tough to win out over all the distractions of the world without waving a piece of tripe in front of your dog's nose. You'll find yourself frustrated and wondering if you'll have to rely on these methods forever. But through being consistent and building up a relationship with your dog (ideally one free of intimidation and physical punishment) you'll find that less and less you'll have to struggle to keep your dog's attention. It's a beautiful day when you realize that your dog is voluntarily giving you her attention because she wants to and enjoys doing so. Building this reaction is a lifelong process and is probably the most worthwhile pursuit in building a relationship with your dog.

Of course, everyone enjoys the occasionally cookie too.

Dog training tip o' the day: Punishment will shut down behaviour but it may not address the underlying cause.

Dog training tip o' the day: Punishment will shut down behaviour but it may not address the underlying cause. 

Imagine you have a pot of water on the stove. The heat is turned on beneath it and gradually the water begins to boil. Then the water begins to boil over. "No problem," you say, "I'll solve the problem of the overflowing water by putting a lid on the pot!" The lid solves the immediate problem of water spilling out of the pot. However the heat underneath is still on and the water continues to boil. You just can't see it. Eventually the water boils over again, more strongly this time. The lid rattles, hot water pours out and you have a mess on your hands from a problem that you thought you'd previously fixed. Turns out you only masked your problem temporarily.

Now, to apply this to dogs, imagine you're walking your pup down the street and she sees another dog approaching. She barks, growls and lunges. You're displeased with this behaviour and don't want it to happen again (so embarrassing!) so you punish your dog by jerking the leash and telling her to knock it off to stop the behaviour. This may get her to snap out of her threat display, but it doesn't address the underlying issue. It doesn't turn the heat off under the pot, it just puts a lid on it. Your dog is likely still anxious (and may in fact be more anxious now since the leash correction and reprimand was pretty unpleasant too). That anxiety is the heat below the pot which is causing the explosive behaviour.