My Positive Dog

11/20/2024

I just wanted to let you know my thoughts as a trainer on how the breed/s of your dog does absolutely matter, including sometimes your choices as a 'family' dog. I'm not coming from a anti breed of any kind of dog (I love them all), but more from the stance of people saying that 'The breed doesn't matter, it's how they are raised that counts'. Well yes, to a point.... but if you fail to take a dogs breed specific traits into account you can sometimes run into problems.
Breed matters in training because breeds were originally developed for specific purposes, and these purposes influence each breed's temperament, physical traits, and mental inclinations. When training, it's essential to consider a dog’s breed to better understand what motivates them, what they find challenging, and what behaviors they may be predisposed to. Here's a breakdown of why certain breeds are more challenging to train than others:
1. Genetic Predispositions and Instincts
• Working Dogs (like Border Collies, German Shepherds, and Rottweilers) were bred for tasks like herding or guarding, which require intelligence, focus, and responsiveness to humans. These dogs are often easier to train because they have been bred for problem-solving and working alongside humans.
• Hounds (like Beagles and Bloodhounds), however, were bred to follow scents and hunt independently. This has instilled them with a high prey drive and a strong focus on scents, which can make them less interested in tasks that don't engage these instincts.
• Terriers (like Jack Russells) were bred for hunting small animals, which makes them tenacious and highly driven by movement. They may be less likely to respond to commands that go against their instinct to chase or dig.
2. Motivation and Reinforcers
• Each breed has unique motivators. Retrievers, for instance, love fetching and tend to be food-motivated, which makes reward-based training effective. But some breeds, like Basenjis, may have a more independent nature, and their motivation might not align as strongly with treats or toys.
• Understanding the right motivators for each breed helps in selecting training methods that work with the dog’s natural interests rather than against them.
3. Sensitivity and Reactivity
• Breeds vary in how they respond to environmental stimuli. Herding breeds, for example, tend to be highly sensitive to movement, which can make them excellent at tasks that require focus but also more prone to reactiveness or overstimulation.
• Some breeds, such as the Chihuahua, can be more reactive and anxious due to their small size and vulnerability, which can make training more challenging if they are not first made to feel safe and confident.
4. Intelligence and Independence
• Intelligence doesn't always correlate with ease of training. Breeds like Poodles and Border Collies are highly intelligent and tend to enjoy learning, but they also require mental stimulation and may become frustrated if training isn't engaging.
• Conversely, independent breeds like Huskies and Shiba Inus are very intelligent but may not see the point of training. They often need extra motivation or creative training approaches to keep them engaged.
5. Social Behavior and Bonding
• Some breeds, like Labradors and Golden Retrievers, were bred to work closely with humans and have a strong desire to please, making them highly trainable.
• Other breeds, such as Afghan Hounds, are more independent and less people-focused, which can make them seem aloof during training.
Understanding a dog's breed traits allows trainers to anticipate potential challenges and craft training plans that respect the dog’s instincts and needs. Rather than seeing certain breeds as harder to train, they’re simply different to train—requiring methods that align with their inherited traits. This approach ensures that training remains positive, productive, and enjoyable for both the dog and the trainer.

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11/06/2024

For all my training peeps, Chris is back and doing various Agility classes.

UPDATE, ONLY ONE SPOT LEFT! Looking for something to do inside with your doggie this winter? come on out and try agility! Spots are limited so book now..please feel free to email, call or DM.

11/05/2024

This lovely young man needs a perfect home….

11/01/2024

10/09/2024

Well this does NOT describe my dogs. lol.

09/29/2024

So, it has come to my attention that many positive-based trainers are being ridiculed for attempting to reduce the stress some dogs experience in a class setting by crating them and possibly covering their crates with a blanket or some such thing to reduce barking during classes. It has been implied that when we do this, we are being too soft and our methods are ineffective, as opposed to using an aversive method 'guaranteed' to 'interrupt' that barking dogs behaviour like using a 'Pet Corrector Spray'. But surely the trainer should first assess why that dog is barking?. there are so many possible reasons, top of the list is excitement, followed closely by stress. So here are my thoughts on why a Pet Corrector spray should NOT be used in a class setting (quite apart from the fact you are not 'teaching' a behaviour not to occur and what if you don't happen to have a spray can on you?)
Using an aversive method like a 'Pet Corrector Spray' in a class setting with multiple dogs close together is problematic for several reasons:

Stress and Anxiety: The spray emits a loud, hissing sound, which can startle not only the targeted dog but also the others in the vicinity. This unexpected noise may increase stress, fear, or anxiety in the dogs, especially in a group setting where the environment is already stimulating.

Generalization of Fear: Dogs may start associating the aversive sound with the surrounding environment, people, or other dogs, rather than with their behavior. This can lead to fear of certain locations or even reactivity toward other dogs in the class.

Undermining Positive Learning: In a training class, the goal is to encourage desired behaviors using positive reinforcement. Introducing an aversive like a spray creates a negative experience, which can reduce trust between the dog and the handler. The dog's focus may shift from learning to avoidance or fear-based reactions, compromising effective training.

Negative Impact on Socialization: In a class with multiple dogs, socialization and creating positive associations with other dogs are crucial. The sudden use of an aversive spray can disrupt these positive experiences, leading to potential aggression, insecurity, or mistrust among the dogs.

Potential for Escalating Behavioral Issues: Some dogs may react defensively to aversive methods, potentially increasing aggression, avoidance, or other unwanted behaviors, making it harder to train them effectively.

A positive reinforcement approach, where dogs are rewarded for appropriate behavior, fosters a calm, learning-friendly environment where each dog can thrive and progress.
About the only time I would advise carrying a 'Pet Corrector' spray would be if I were walking my dogs anywhere (whether on, or off leash) and an unleashed dog ran at any of mine aggressively, then and only then would I use one to hopefully interrupt a potential attack.

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09/26/2024

The reason I talk to my clients about the emotions of their dogs so often, is that taking a dog's emotional welfare into account during training is crucial for several reasons:

Builds Trust and Strengthens the Bond: When training respects a dog's emotions, it fosters a sense of safety and trust between the dog and the trainer (or owner). A dog that feels secure is more likely to engage positively in the training process, leading to a stronger, more cooperative relationship.

Enhances Learning: Dogs learn best when they are relaxed and in a positive emotional state. Stress or fear can hinder a dog's ability to focus and absorb new information. By ensuring the dog feels comfortable and supported, training becomes more effective and enjoyable.

Prevents Behavioral Issues: Ignoring a dog’s emotional welfare can lead to anxiety, fear, or aggression, as the dog might feel threatened or confused. By addressing their emotional needs, you reduce the risk of such negative behaviors developing, leading to a happier, more balanced dog.

Supports Long-Term Success: Training that considers a dog’s emotions promotes positive associations with learning and behavior modification. This not only helps the dog retain what they've learned but also encourages a lifelong positive attitude towards training and interaction with humans.

Ethical Responsibility: Dogs are sentient beings with emotions, and it's our ethical duty to ensure their well-being. Training methods that respect their emotional welfare align with humane, compassionate care, which should be the standard in any interaction with animals.

By prioritizing emotional welfare, training becomes a holistic process that not only teaches desired behaviors but also nurtures a dog’s overall well-being.

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09/15/2024

Love it! About time someone told these pooches how we really feel…. lol.

09/14/2024

Do you need some extra help? Maybe just to brush up on the skills you already have? Perhaps your dog needs "fine tuning", better "sit", better "down", better "recall"...contact us now..

09/12/2024

I often say to my clients, that one thing trainers can’t do…. Is train out instincts.

WHEN CLICKER TRAINING FAILED

In yesterday’s post, I detailed the work of Keller and Marian Breland who not only discovered "shaping" and bridging stimulus, but also invented clicker training.

Keller and Marian Breland trained animal acts featured in movies, circuses, museums, fairs, zoos and amusement parks across the nation, and also trained many of the trainers that worked in these facilities as well.

By 1951, the Brelands had trained thousands of animals from dozens of species, and in an article for American Psychologist, they said they thought rewards-based clicker training might work on any animal to train just about anything.

And then something happened.

They noticed that clicker training was, in certain circumstances, beginning to fail in ways that they could no longer overlook.

In a 1961 paper entitled, ‘The Misbehavior of Organisms,’ Keller and Marian Breland described their first experience with the failure of reward-based operant conditioning.

It seems that when working with pigs, chickens and raccoons, the animals would often learn a trick, but then begin to drift away from the learned behavior and towards more instinctive, unreinforced, foraging actions.

What was going on?

Put simply, instinct was raising its inconvenient head.

Though Skinner and his disciples had always maintained that performance was driven by external rewards or punishments, here was clear evidence that there was an internal code that could not always be ignored.

The Brelands wrote:

“These egregious failures came as a rather considerable shock to us, for there was nothing in our background in behaviorism to prepare us for such gross inabilities to predict and control the behavior of animals with which we had been working for years.... [T]he diagnosis of theory failure does not depend on subtle statistical interpretations or on semantic legerdemain - the animal simply does not do what he has been conditioned to do.”

The Brelands did not overstate the problem, nor did they quantify it. They simply stated a fact: instinct existed, and sometimes it bubbled up and over-rode trained behaviors.

Clearly, every species had different instincts, and just as clearly, a great deal of animal training could be done without ever triggering overpowering instinct. Still, the Brelands noted,

“After 14 years of continuous conditioning and observation of thousands of animals, it is our reluctant conclusion that the behavior of any species cannot be adequately understood, predicted, or controlled without knowledge of its instinctive patterns, evolutionary history, and ecological niche.”

What does this have to do with dogs?

Quite a lot.

You see a small but vocal group of clicker trainers believe everything a dog does is learned by external rewards, and internal drives are nothing but "old school" fiction.

While the Brelands argued that a species could not be adequately controlled without “knowledge of its instinctive patterns, evolutionary history, and ecological niche," the most extreme militants in the world of clicker training now seek to minimize and disavow the very nature and history of dogs.

Dog packs? There are no such things, we are told.

Dominance? It does not exist in feral dogs or in wolves, and never mind the experts who disagree.

Prey drive? Not too much said about that!

Of course, instinctive behaviors and drives do not disappear simply because they are inconvenient.

As Keller and Marian Breland put it,

“[A]lthough it was easy to banish the Instinctivists from the science during the Behavioristic Revolution, it was not possible to banish instinct so easily.”

Of course, one must be careful to qualify the role of instinct.

Yes, dogs have instincts, but the history of dog breeding has largely been about reducing instinctive drives. As a consequence, most breeds have instinctive drives that are sufficiently attenuated that they are not much of an impediment to basic rewards-based training.

That said, not all dog breeds are alike. Not every dog is a blank slate, as the owner of any herding dog or game-bred terrier will tell you. Prey drive does not disappear because you want it to. Many problematic behaviors in dogs -- especially behaviors in hard-wired working dogs that are being raised as pets -- are self-reinforcing behaviors that express themselves without any external reinforcement at all.

Clicker training, the Brelands remind us, cannot solve everything.

Is rewards-based training the most important tool in any trainer’s box of tricks and methods?

Absolutely. There is not much debate there.

But the Brelands remind us that dogs do not come to the trainer as a tabula rasa, nor should we think of all dog breeds as being more or less the same, or that all responses are equally conditionable to all stimuli.

Dogs and other animals, it turns out, are a bit more complicated that white rats, and the real world is not a laboratory.

In the wild and on the farm, animals have managed to learn, all by themselves, since the Dawn of Time and long before clickers came on the scene.

How did they do that? Does the real world have as much to teach us as the lab? Keller and Marian Breland thought it did.

09/10/2024

Do you really take into account your dogs emotional responses?....

09/10/2024

Absolutely!