First I want to apologize for no post. I have been working on a post about kid and dog safety in honor of national bite prevention week, but right now that is put on hold.
My hometown of Moore, OK was hit by a tornado yesterday. I was on my way to my parent's house yesterday afternoon to check on my childhood cat (he's 18 and not doing well, so I'm faced with a tough decision about his quality of life). Being born and raised in a town known for it's attraction to tornadoes, they really aren't something I fear too much. I was close to home when I heard on the radio that a twister touched down less than a mile from them. I ended up heading north to a friend's house, where I waited for some news. After hearing that my parents were not hit by the tornado I weighed whether it was safe to continue to their home.
All the roads directly home were closed due to destruction, so if I wanted to go home I would have to drive 45 min west and then 45 min south and 45 min east to get to their home, so I decided it was best to return to back home (on a side note in Oklahoma we measure distance in time not miles). I couldn't go east because a tornado ripped through a town on the east side on Sunday. I spent my drive home and evenning updating family who couldn't get ahold of my parents (the cell towers in town were down) and checking on my childhood friends and their family. I'm happy to report that all my friends and family survived. Some didn't have any damage, some sustain minor damages, and some lost their homes, but right now what matters most is that they are alive.
Again I am sorry this has no reference to dog training, but one thing that training has taught me is that sometimes life gets in the way. And my life got in the way. I had to make sure my loved ones are safe.
If you want to help the efforts in Oklahoma you can donate by texting:
"FOOD" to 32333 to donate $10
"RESPOND" to 50555 to give a $10 donation
"STORM" to 80888 to donate $10
These go to reputable agencies like the food pantry, CWS and the salvation army. It will charge your phone bill so be aware
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Thursday, May 9, 2013
To treat or not to treat?
I think what has irked me the most in my training career is the fact that people harp on the use of a treat reward. I hear time and time again that dogs should do what you ask without a reward.
I recently had another "trainer" gripe me out for rewarding my dog with a treat (Sadie is learning the whisper command now). I use trainer in quotes because in my opinion a trainer is someone who can adapt with the emergence of new techniques and new science, which this person has not. This is the same person who when I took my little dog to agility class with her, (now mind you my dog was about 8 months old at this time, so he was exhibiting juvenile behaviors and being a little rebellious teen) she tried to bully me into buying a pinch collar and also yanked the leash out of my hands and forced my dog into a "down" by jerking him to the ground and stepping on the leash and was going to stay there "until he gave up." Well for one I've seen the damage a pinch collar can do and I refuse to put one on my dogs ever and I will show you better options for your dog than that type of torture device. And for two if you have ever met my littlest dog or any other Schipperke then you would know how stubborn and crazy smart the breed is. He didn't "give up" like she planned instead he wiggled off the leash and then preceded to run around the rink like a maniac all while she chased him like an idiot (I may have not known much about training at this point in my life, but I knew enough to not chase the dog). Needless to say, we left that day never to return. The next few years I spent listening to other people's horror stories of interactions with her. Myself and other positive reinforcement trainers have spent long and hard hours (and years) correcting the reactive behavior that has resulted from her capital punishment mentality.
But off of that tangent now and back on the use of treats. My simple response to the statement "a dog shouldn't need treats; they should do what I want for simple praise" is do you expect to go to work and not get paid for that day? If you expect a payday, then why shouldn't your dog? They are doing hard work. Not only are they having to decipher our language, they also have to figure out what action goes with what word we are saying. Put yourself in the place of your dog.
Imagine if you met an alien race; they don't speak your language and you don't speak their language. However, they are trying to teach you the actions that go along with some of their words. The alien looks at you and says "sshrfp." You have no clue what that means or what to do. So the alien pushes you down (you land in a sitting position) while saying "sshrfp" and after you land says "srp." Does "sshrfp" mean push or sit? And what the hell does "srp" mean. Do you know? Let's try it again: you stand up and again the alien says "sshrfp" and pushes you down. This time you land a little more on your side, but still essentially sitting. And the alien says "srp" after you land. Have you figured it out yet? What does "sshrfp" mean? What does "srp" mean? Want to try it one more time? Or are you getting tired of being shoved around? Well to bad: you stand up and once again the alien says "sshrfp" and pushes you down, when you land the alien says "srp." Can you figure out what message the alien was trying to convey?
Let's try this again only with a little twist. Now the alien has a cupcake. The alien shows you the cupcake. The alien uses that cupcake to guide you (without touching you) into sitting in a chair. Then says "prp" and gives you the cupcake. The next time the alien says "brrp" and guides you into the chair with a cupcake. Once you sit the alien says "prp" and gives you the cupcake. Can you tell me what "brrp" and "prp" mean? Do we need to try it again? Well let's go ahead and try it again. You get up, the alien shows you a cupcake and says "brrp" and guides you into the chair. Once you sit, the alien says "prp" and gives you the cupcake. Have you figured out what all the words mean yet? Could you take a guess at any of them? If the alien says "brrp" would you think to sit in the chair?
This is what your dog is having to deal with. If you say "sit" and then push on their butt, then what action are you actually teaching them? Did you teach them that "sit" means put your butt on the ground or did you teach them that "sit" means I touch your butt and then it goes on the ground?
This goes along with my number one question for the treat naysayers: how do you get a dog to learn the commands? The easiest and simplest way to get a dog to do a sit and down command is by luring them into it using either a treat or toy reward. I have seen the naysayers methods first hand (see my rant): generally they force the dog into a sit or a down, but what they fail to see is that they always have to "force" the dog to do the command. I use force in quotes, because you may not see them physically push the animal into the command, but what you will see is them having to tell the dog "sit" or "down" several times and then resort to touching them (either their butt for "sit" or their shoulders for "down"). In my opinion, I shouldn't have to touch my dog for them to do the command. The research out there shows that animals learn better if they figure things out on their own.
I always tell people I won't leave you stuck using treats in my classes. I always show people how to wean their dogs off of treats, but it's usually up to them on when to wean them. I will help reinforce this by giving the dog praises when they come up to me and sit or down.
I recently had another "trainer" gripe me out for rewarding my dog with a treat (Sadie is learning the whisper command now). I use trainer in quotes because in my opinion a trainer is someone who can adapt with the emergence of new techniques and new science, which this person has not. This is the same person who when I took my little dog to agility class with her, (now mind you my dog was about 8 months old at this time, so he was exhibiting juvenile behaviors and being a little rebellious teen) she tried to bully me into buying a pinch collar and also yanked the leash out of my hands and forced my dog into a "down" by jerking him to the ground and stepping on the leash and was going to stay there "until he gave up." Well for one I've seen the damage a pinch collar can do and I refuse to put one on my dogs ever and I will show you better options for your dog than that type of torture device. And for two if you have ever met my littlest dog or any other Schipperke then you would know how stubborn and crazy smart the breed is. He didn't "give up" like she planned instead he wiggled off the leash and then preceded to run around the rink like a maniac all while she chased him like an idiot (I may have not known much about training at this point in my life, but I knew enough to not chase the dog). Needless to say, we left that day never to return. The next few years I spent listening to other people's horror stories of interactions with her. Myself and other positive reinforcement trainers have spent long and hard hours (and years) correcting the reactive behavior that has resulted from her capital punishment mentality.
But off of that tangent now and back on the use of treats. My simple response to the statement "a dog shouldn't need treats; they should do what I want for simple praise" is do you expect to go to work and not get paid for that day? If you expect a payday, then why shouldn't your dog? They are doing hard work. Not only are they having to decipher our language, they also have to figure out what action goes with what word we are saying. Put yourself in the place of your dog.
Imagine if you met an alien race; they don't speak your language and you don't speak their language. However, they are trying to teach you the actions that go along with some of their words. The alien looks at you and says "sshrfp." You have no clue what that means or what to do. So the alien pushes you down (you land in a sitting position) while saying "sshrfp" and after you land says "srp." Does "sshrfp" mean push or sit? And what the hell does "srp" mean. Do you know? Let's try it again: you stand up and again the alien says "sshrfp" and pushes you down. This time you land a little more on your side, but still essentially sitting. And the alien says "srp" after you land. Have you figured it out yet? What does "sshrfp" mean? What does "srp" mean? Want to try it one more time? Or are you getting tired of being shoved around? Well to bad: you stand up and once again the alien says "sshrfp" and pushes you down, when you land the alien says "srp." Can you figure out what message the alien was trying to convey?
Let's try this again only with a little twist. Now the alien has a cupcake. The alien shows you the cupcake. The alien uses that cupcake to guide you (without touching you) into sitting in a chair. Then says "prp" and gives you the cupcake. The next time the alien says "brrp" and guides you into the chair with a cupcake. Once you sit the alien says "prp" and gives you the cupcake. Can you tell me what "brrp" and "prp" mean? Do we need to try it again? Well let's go ahead and try it again. You get up, the alien shows you a cupcake and says "brrp" and guides you into the chair. Once you sit, the alien says "prp" and gives you the cupcake. Have you figured out what all the words mean yet? Could you take a guess at any of them? If the alien says "brrp" would you think to sit in the chair?
This is what your dog is having to deal with. If you say "sit" and then push on their butt, then what action are you actually teaching them? Did you teach them that "sit" means put your butt on the ground or did you teach them that "sit" means I touch your butt and then it goes on the ground?
This goes along with my number one question for the treat naysayers: how do you get a dog to learn the commands? The easiest and simplest way to get a dog to do a sit and down command is by luring them into it using either a treat or toy reward. I have seen the naysayers methods first hand (see my rant): generally they force the dog into a sit or a down, but what they fail to see is that they always have to "force" the dog to do the command. I use force in quotes, because you may not see them physically push the animal into the command, but what you will see is them having to tell the dog "sit" or "down" several times and then resort to touching them (either their butt for "sit" or their shoulders for "down"). In my opinion, I shouldn't have to touch my dog for them to do the command. The research out there shows that animals learn better if they figure things out on their own.
Now don't get me wrong I do believe eventually a dog should be able to do a command without the use of treats. I don't really bring out the treats unless we are working on commands my dogs may be rusty on or if they are learning behaviors. My littlest dog has his Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certification and is also a registered therapy dog through Therapy Dog International (TDI). For both of these tests he had to perform all the tasks set for him without any treats. This means he had to walk nicely, stop when I stopped, Sit/stay and down/stay, come to me, and many more tasks all without treats. He even had treats thrown at him that he had to leave alone, and again he had to do this without treats. To me the ability to have your dog do commands without the use of treats is the real proof on how obedient he/she is, but that comes after your dog learns the commands.
I always tell people I won't leave you stuck using treats in my classes. I always show people how to wean their dogs off of treats, but it's usually up to them on when to wean them. I will help reinforce this by giving the dog praises when they come up to me and sit or down.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Boredom Blues
The past year and a half, between work and school, I've been away from my home most days for at least twelve hours (if I'm lucky). No one has suffered more than my pups and boy have they let me know! The past week or so (probably going on 2 weeks now) I have come home to my pups having torn up something new. Mostly it's been trash (like my nice new box of Kleenex that I forgot to put up) or bags of treats that weren't hidden very well from my dogs' super sniffers, but sometimes they find things like my favorite lip gloss that fell out of my purse one morning. Now I know I can't blame them for this type of behavior. Blame lies solely on me for not exercising them properly. I failed my pups by not walking them like I should and by not doing training sessions like I should. I keep promising myself and them that they will get me back soon and that we can go walking, hiking, swimming and training. I keep thinking that on my only day off that we will go out and go hiking along my favorite trail, but it seems mother nature has a different plan because it is always raining on those days I plan to go.
This leads me into what seems like the number one reason people seek my help. And that is destructive behavior (chewing, digging, destroying, etc). I can't keep track of the number of times I've heard "fluffy keeps chewing my (insert random item)" or "Fido won't stop shredding the (rug, towels, paper, etc)" or even "Rover keeps digging out (or jumping over) my fence." Usually that is why people seek me out when they come into my store. They don't know why their dog is destroying everything or won't stay in their yard no matter what they try. The answer to this is very simple: They are bored and need to exert some energy.
Most people come to me and want the fix all cure for this type of behavior. And the best part of this behavior is that there is a (mostly) fix all cure! Walk your dog more! The first question I always ask in these situation is "how often do you walk your dog?" The answers vary from never to once a week, or not enough. Most of the time if you can walk your dog for about 15 min at the minimum you will start to kick boredom in the butt.
However, it seems that I am always met with resistance on this answer. I get excuse after excuse. Because of where I live the most common excuse I hear is "We live on (5,10,40,80,etc) acres and the dog has access to all of the land." People just don't get why their dog is so destructive even though they have all this land to run on. I heard the most beautiful explanation/comparison from a fellow trainer: "Imagine you live in this big, beautiful glass mansion. You have all the room you want inside the house and can go anywhere you want in it. The only stipulation is you cannot step a foot outside. So you can see what's out there, but you cannot go outside for any reason. Eventually you will get cabin fever won't you? (insert yes answer here) This is exactly what your dog is facing. He may have all that land to run on, but he's seen it all and he's done it all and he's bored with it just like you would be in the house." Walks are extremely important, not only because they give the dogs (and us) physical exercise needed, but also because they give the dogs the mental stimulation they desperately need. Walks can also help bond dogs who are just meeting each other or even don't like each other. Walking is an important aspect of being a pet parent.
Now if your dogs are like mine a simple walk will help but not completely stop the problem. When I first adopted my newest dog, Sadie, we walked at least 6 miles a day for the first 3 months. This was because she had so much pent up energy from being in a kennel that she needed to get out. We cut it down to 2 miles every other day, but the past year and a half that seems like an impossible task. You see I live in a different city than I worked at and went to school at so I had been commuting between 2 and 3 hours a day, so right now we are lucky if we get in a half mile walk a week. That means I have to find other ways to relieve their boredom while I'm away. A great tool for this has been puzzle toys.
I bought my first puzzle toy a few years ago, before they became so popular. I found a great deal on a Nina Ottosson toy on the internet and bought it for my littlest dog. I was in love after that point and when I could find a new or different one at a great deal I would snatch it up to check it out. Now we have a collection of kongs, puzzle feeders, treat balls, and anything similar to all of these.
When I was working and taking Sadie with me most days, I would feed Pyrate by giving him his kibble in a puzzle toy that day. It kept his mind working and he was a whole lot less destructive. Puzzle Toys provide mental stimulation for dogs and provide an outlet for destructive behavior. Kongs can be stuffed with whatever you want and you can put it in the freezer for teething puppies. You can find all kind of recipes for kongs here. I usually put some kibble and mix it with pumpkin or yogurt and then seal it with peanut butter and freeze it. My pups go crazy for theirs!
This leads me into what seems like the number one reason people seek my help. And that is destructive behavior (chewing, digging, destroying, etc). I can't keep track of the number of times I've heard "fluffy keeps chewing my (insert random item)" or "Fido won't stop shredding the (rug, towels, paper, etc)" or even "Rover keeps digging out (or jumping over) my fence." Usually that is why people seek me out when they come into my store. They don't know why their dog is destroying everything or won't stay in their yard no matter what they try. The answer to this is very simple: They are bored and need to exert some energy.
Most people come to me and want the fix all cure for this type of behavior. And the best part of this behavior is that there is a (mostly) fix all cure! Walk your dog more! The first question I always ask in these situation is "how often do you walk your dog?" The answers vary from never to once a week, or not enough. Most of the time if you can walk your dog for about 15 min at the minimum you will start to kick boredom in the butt.
However, it seems that I am always met with resistance on this answer. I get excuse after excuse. Because of where I live the most common excuse I hear is "We live on (5,10,40,80,etc) acres and the dog has access to all of the land." People just don't get why their dog is so destructive even though they have all this land to run on. I heard the most beautiful explanation/comparison from a fellow trainer: "Imagine you live in this big, beautiful glass mansion. You have all the room you want inside the house and can go anywhere you want in it. The only stipulation is you cannot step a foot outside. So you can see what's out there, but you cannot go outside for any reason. Eventually you will get cabin fever won't you? (insert yes answer here) This is exactly what your dog is facing. He may have all that land to run on, but he's seen it all and he's done it all and he's bored with it just like you would be in the house." Walks are extremely important, not only because they give the dogs (and us) physical exercise needed, but also because they give the dogs the mental stimulation they desperately need. Walks can also help bond dogs who are just meeting each other or even don't like each other. Walking is an important aspect of being a pet parent.
Now if your dogs are like mine a simple walk will help but not completely stop the problem. When I first adopted my newest dog, Sadie, we walked at least 6 miles a day for the first 3 months. This was because she had so much pent up energy from being in a kennel that she needed to get out. We cut it down to 2 miles every other day, but the past year and a half that seems like an impossible task. You see I live in a different city than I worked at and went to school at so I had been commuting between 2 and 3 hours a day, so right now we are lucky if we get in a half mile walk a week. That means I have to find other ways to relieve their boredom while I'm away. A great tool for this has been puzzle toys.
I bought my first puzzle toy a few years ago, before they became so popular. I found a great deal on a Nina Ottosson toy on the internet and bought it for my littlest dog. I was in love after that point and when I could find a new or different one at a great deal I would snatch it up to check it out. Now we have a collection of kongs, puzzle feeders, treat balls, and anything similar to all of these.
When I was working and taking Sadie with me most days, I would feed Pyrate by giving him his kibble in a puzzle toy that day. It kept his mind working and he was a whole lot less destructive. Puzzle Toys provide mental stimulation for dogs and provide an outlet for destructive behavior. Kongs can be stuffed with whatever you want and you can put it in the freezer for teething puppies. You can find all kind of recipes for kongs here. I usually put some kibble and mix it with pumpkin or yogurt and then seal it with peanut butter and freeze it. My pups go crazy for theirs!
These always provide hours of fun for my dogs and they help keep them distracted when I need to study or work without the pups' help. I have even discovered a toy for Pyrate's horrible separation anxiety! We found a treat ball that I could record my voice on so every time he would roll it he would get a food reward and could hear me talking to him. He would roll it just to hear my voice! There are different types and different difficulty levels, so there is usually one for every dog out there.
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