Calming Canines

18/03/2025

"Positive reinforcement didn't work with my dog!"

If I had a pound for every time I have heard this. However, when I ask the guardian how positive reinforcement was used it was obvious it was inadvertently misapplied. Positive reinforcement means to add a pleasant consequence to increase the frequency of a desired behaviour. So if you are trying to reinforce a desired behaviour but the dog isn't responding to you, it is not positive reinforcement that has failed but your reward system and choice of environment.

So why may this occur? There are a variety of reasons such as:

❎ Incorrect environment
❎ Poor generalisation or lack of it
❎ Reward value is too low or wrong type
❎ Fear, stress or anxiety
❎ Too close to a trigger or distracting stimuli
❎ Poor timing
❎ Confusion or frustration
❎ Lack of consistent marker
❎ Inconsistent tone of voice, cue words & body language
❎ Use of aversive methods and/or scolding
❎ Lack of outlets for natural behaviours
❎ Insufficient practice in the home
❎ Phasing out rewards too soon
❎Unreasonable expectations

Positive reinforcement never fails but our application of it can, so it is crucial to ensure that we reflect on the reasons why our dog is not responding rather than simply assuming positive reinforcement is ineffective. - Holly Leake ©️

Please feel free to share but do not copy and paste my writing or screenshot my graphic. Thank you.

17/03/2025

IF YOU WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR TRAINING, TAKE IT OUT OF THE HOUSE!

Dogs are much more contextual learners than we are.

WHAT they learn is very much tied up with WHERE they learn it.

Don't worry if you forget... plenty of experts do too!

❌ The study done on dogs that suggested cooperative care procedures didn't work.

Why was this a poor conclusion?

They trained the dogs to participate in care procedures only in one place! No wonder it didn't then work at the vet.

❌ The very large number of (very sad) studies on dogs about chasing recently that suggest shock collars work with chasing items being manipulated by a person.

Why was this poor science?

Well if you don't think a dog can tell the difference between an animal and a moving tug toy on a rope, and you don't realise that what dogs learn in one context needs support in helping them generalise to others, you're going to get a BIG surprise when what you THINK you taught completely fails you in a field full of sheep.

❌ Trainers doing everything in the kitchen or the living room.

Err, hello folks - that'd be me!

🤣

Okay, well ONE thing! Not everything.

My dog Lidy wears a harness and a muzzle when we leave for a walk. There's a number of crafty cats around our house recently that mean it's simply unsafe for her to leap out of the door into our fenced yard because one day, one of the cats we surprise who have hopped that fence is going to struggle to get over it.

I put Lidy's harness & muzzle on by presenting them to her. Those are her start buttons. I show her the harness, she comes and sticks her head in it, then stands side on so I can fasten it. So much better than being headbutted. Once it's on, I say, "You're good!" and she moves away.

Next up is her muzzle. I show her the muzzle and she comes and sticks her nose in. Much better than having to chase her round the kitchen. Once it's on, I say, "You're good!" and she moves away.

If she doesn't want to do those things, she won't. But the reward of going out is big enough to incentivise her. Our routines make it predictable. It's just our habit. I don't think she even thinks about it anymore.

Her harness and muzzle come off at various points. If we're in a secure field, I take both off. Usually, if we're safe from hidden cats, I remove her muzzle. She's pretty used to having her harness put back on wherever we go. Once the muzzle is off, however, it generally stays off.

Last week, there was a little off-lead chihuahua running about loose on one of our walks. I'd seen him, but Lidy had not. I didn't want to risk any kind of incident with said chihuahua, so I presented Lidy's muzzle.

It was like she'd never seen it before.

There was hesitation, but not of the 'I don't want it on' variety.

She came up to me and sat down, her nose inches away from the muzzle.

In a kind of 'what we doing?' way. In a kind of 'this feels weird!' way. In a 'what do we do again?' kind of a way.

Like the kind of weird you might feel if you ate cottage pie for breakfast, or someone asked you to brush your teeth in the supermarket.

The kind of weird you feel when you get into a different car to drive and you can't find the indicators or you're in new shoes and suddenly it feels weird to walk. I mean I moved to my spring coat last week and I'm still trying to put things in a non-existent pocket that belongs to my winter coat!

It's so easy to forget that WHAT dogs learn is *so* tied up with WHERE they learn it that doing that behaviour anywhere else can feel very wrong. This is very true the more habitual that behaviour becomes. And dogs are exceptional at habit formation.

We all know that what puppies learn in puppy class absolutely has to be practised copiously out of puppy class.

We know that if we want dogs to learn to walk on lead properly, we can't train it in the house and hope it'll work on the street.

I'm a hugely lazy trainer, generally doing as little as I can get away with. We stick to things that make our lives easier, like a good recall, interactions on walks, loose-lead walking and vet care. We practise stuff like NOT lunging at cats and moving past cats and NOT staring at baby lambs that are about to get bouncy.

Most of that training happens in different situations, mainly because I'm too lazy to drill her.

But also because I know drilling in place doesn't work.

I could do a hundred thousand repetitions of recalls in the home, get a hundred thousand recalls just perfectly. But if the training happens there, the more it happens there, the less likely my dog is to be able to do it anywhere else. Habit will form a straitjacket for that behaviour and cuff it to the place we do it.

If I'm doing the biggest ratio of our training in the kitchen, then that learning will become more and more attached to the kitchen. And the more I do it, the more habitual it will become that we ONLY do it there.

Just like her muzzle behaviours have become.

Now that's fine with behaviours that occur only ever occur in one location. But if I want reliable behaviours elsewhere, I've got to take that behaviour out on the road and make sure my dog is happy to do it anywhere.

It's so easy for humans to forget just how contextual dogs are with their learning.

We are much, much less contextual.

I think that's one reason why it's so easy to forget that what dogs learn can be really tied up with where they learn it.

So if you want a strong recall, strong loose lead, strong cooperative care behaviours, a strong 'Let's go!'... get it out of the kitchen!

17/03/2025

Sharing is caring – unless you’re a dog.

The concept of sharing things is something human parents spend a lot of time and effort teaching toddlers as it’s a skill which is essential for our society to work. I also see a lot of guardians who try to instil the same concept in their dogs and get frustrated when they don’t appear to understand. Our dogs are not human toddlers though and they need a totally different skill set to thrive in both the canine and human world. We expect them to share our love and attention, their toys, sleeping spots, the back of the car, the best seat on the sofa, and even their treats and meals. We actively encourage sharing, viewing it as a positive trait that our dogs need to learn, even if it doesn’t come naturally to them. We assume they should share, celebrate when they do, and sometimes even feel frustrated when they don’t.

Sharing doesn't always come naturally to humans either so why do we insist that our dogs are somehow wrong for wanting to keep their stuff for themselves, viewing them as selfish or greedy when they don’t share their treats with others? I’d be less than happy if I was suddenly expected to share all my own chocolate with someone I’d just met!

Some dogs do share well, particularly with dogs they have a strong and trusting relationship with, but this is not the norm. Fairness isn’t a concept that dogs really understand; they aren’t guided by morals as we are, they are guided by survival and what is the best way to access the things they deem valuable in that moment with minimal conflict. What our dogs finds valuable isn't always what we expect it to be though, sometimes it might be a sock or mouldy crust and for dogs, possession really IS nine tenths of the law! If they’re playing with it, it’s theirs. If they’re sat on it, it’s theirs. If they’re chewing it, it’s theirs. Removing items from a dog (stealing, from their point of view) is a quick way to create a dog who feels the need to guard the things they value. Teaching a dog to swap their item for a high value treat or toy or teaching a solid drop cue can prevent guarding from escalating but remembering that dog’s aren’t really designed to share and that once a dog has something it belongs to them is important in order to manage our own expectations of our dogs when it comes to sharing.

09/03/2025

Wren had surgery a few weeks ago and has now got the go-ahead for short walks. She has to wear her pretty pink doughnut even when out as the second it cones off she starts at her wounds.

Whilst she's wearing this, I've been careful to slowly reintroduce her to her friends and we give new dogs a very wide berth.

This is because, for quite a few dogs, she could be quite scary. Her whole shape has changed and her body language is much harder for other dogs to read. Too fast an approach, even towards dogs she knows, could easily provoke a reaction from the other dog.

Giving the other dogs time to process what they can see and smell meant that her friends know who she is and aren't fazed by her. The new dogs we have met that have been a bit concerned by her large, pink head have been given enough space so that they aren't worried and a few who showed curiosity have been allowed to investigate in their own time (assuming Wren was also comfortable).

Whilst it isn't that common for dogs to have to wear something that changes their shape, it does happen. It's easy to assume that because we understand that it's just a dog wearing something, that our dogs will too, but that isn't always the case. Even a dog they are used to can cause consternation if they suddenly appear wearing a coat when they've never seen them in one.

06/03/2025

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲?

For us humans, our name is who we are, it individualises us, identifies us, and is a fundamental part of our own identity.
To our dogs, their name is none of those things. Their name is a word we use to gain their attention and for many people it's a multi functional word. It's used for recall, in general conversation, and also to tell their dogs off or warn them to stop what they're about to do.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗲?!

If we want our dogs to respond to their names we need to reinforce that response, not punish it by using it in negative contexts. Dogs can understand the tone we use, whether it's anger or excitement, so if you repeatedly chastise your dog using their name, don't be surprised if they then become reluctant to respond to it.

Personally, I still often give my dogs a little treat if they respond to their name when we're out and about. There should be very few times that you ever 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 to use your dog's name in a negative context, so if you're finding that you do, it may be time to examine what it is that your dog doesn't understand about what you 𝘥𝘰 want them to do.

04/03/2025

Toy breeds often tend to feel intimidated by the world around them, which is not surprising when we consider how huge (and often how scary) everything must seem from their perspective.

Fear triggers the fight or flight response due to sympathetic nervous system activation, the dog doesn't choose that - it's survival.

If a dog cannot escape a scary situation, they mobilise.

For small dogs, mobilisation often relies on barking.

This is where we see a yapping dog simply asking for their space to be respected, yet all too often, this is mislabelled as small dog syndrome.

07/02/2025

30/11/2024

Why are we so keen to punish dogs? Why is that so often our default position when it comes to teaching dogs? Why is our instinct often to correct the one thing the dog is doing 'wrong' and leave all the stuff they're doing right unacknowledged?

I shared a post recently of two dogs who get overwhelmed when unknown dogs get too close and shout at them as a result. The whole point of the post was that, sometimes, we can push through less than ideal behaviours to reach a learning point on the other side.

But what did some people pick up on? That the dogs had displayed 'bad' behaviour which should have been 'corrected'. Never mind all the good stuff which was happening alongside the 'bad' behaviour. Never mind the ability to disengage or the ablility to stand calmly in proximity to a strange dog. Never mind that they were focusing on their human instead of focusing on the other dog. Never mind the fact they were both calm(er) than they had been previously. None of that was deemed deserving of reinforcement but their minor infraction of putting paws on their human, or barking, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 deserving of correction.

Change takes time. It's a process, not an event. If we wait for perfection and reward nothing less then we'll be waiting a long, long time for any meaningful change. We need to see the bigger picture and work on what's most important first. We need to not sweat the small stuff*, especially if there's some desirable 'big stuff' going on at the same time. But most of all we need to let go of our human conditioning that we need to correct every little thing our dog does 'wrong' regardless of what they're doing right.

*which doesn't mean to say we ignore it. With thoughtful reinforcement delivery, movement etc we can often address low level problem behaviours while keeping our focus on the bigger picture

22/11/2024

When I was first diagnosed with ME and realised I was unlikely to ever get back the life I used to have, my first thoughts were "How will my dogs manage and how will I manage my dogs? What if I can't look after them properly?"

As it turns out, I needn't have worried as they've settled into their new life with a different version of me very well. I've made adjustments, such as getting a mobility scooter so they can still have long, enriching walks and the training I do is no longer as physical for me but is still mentally stimulating for them.

They are still happy and have all their needs met.

If you have a chronic illness and have dogs, it is easy to worry that you're not doing enough to ensure their happiness. Your dogs don't NEED to go visiting new places every day, do full on training sessions every night or have play dates constantly, regardless of what social media may want you to believe.

Yes, sadly some people will find that their dogs need more than they can give, but that is no different to the people that end up with the wrong breed for their lifestyle and not your fault for having a chronic illness.

People with chronic illnesses can and do give great homes and lives to dogs!!

Picture shows a sable and white sheltie sitting on grass and looking up at the camera.

19/11/2024

Wanting a behaviour from our dogs to stop is common. Sadly, there are so many 'trainers' who appear on television or have massive social media followings who will advocate using devices and methods that 'will stop it fast'. Let's be honest, as humans we are often results driven, so I can see why these would appeal to people who don't know why these things should not be recommended and used. The reality is that they can make the situation so much worse.

Suppressing a behaviour doesn't mean that the reasons that behaviour happened aren't still there, just that the dog can't do what they feel they need to in that situation. That can lead to increased frustration, stress, fear - depending on what the driver for that behaviour is. Think of it like a pressure cooker, adding more and more pressure, with no way to reduce that pressure. Eventually there comes a point where the pressure is just too much and boom.

If a behaviour is something we can't live with, there are things we can do without suppressing that behaviour. Manage the situation so that the dog is not in a position to practice that behaviour - for example baby gates to stop them jumping up at arriving guests or finding quiet areas to walk if your dog is uncomfortable with other dogs close up. If there is something you would prefer them to do in that situation keep using the management and then, using kind and ethical methods, teach them what you would like them to do instead. If the behaviour is not something that we can simply train an alternative for - a dog who reacts to other dogs around for example - find a behaviour consultant who uses modern and kind methods to help the dog no longer feel the need to use that behaviour.

Behaviour suppression is never the answer.

Here are links to a couple of blog posts that explore the topic a little further:

https://www.goodguardianship.com/post/the-first-question-to-ask-wtf-what-s-the-function
https://www.goodguardianship.com/post/why-we-should-look-beyond-stopping-behaviour

19/11/2024

Kite has a new friend! Kite has been reactive to this adolescent entire male rottweiler in the past but with slowly and carefully allowing Kite to move closer when he was ready, along with desensitisation and counter conditioning, he is beginning to gain confidence.

He is still skittish around him, but yesterday he had a surreptitious bum sniff and today he chose to approach him, albeit carefully!

Kite's fear of other dogs is mostly genetic, exacerbated by other dogs rushing him and ignoring his polite requests for space. He will never be the kind of dog who wants to run and play with dogs outside his family group but I'm fine with that, it's who he is.

My main aim for Kite is that he is comfortable enough in the general proximity of dogs he comes across relatively frequently that he doesn't feel the need to act defensively. If he goes beyond that it's a bonus. Having realistic expectations of what the outcome of training may be is important for your own sanity. If I were expecting a dog like Kite to be able to cope in a large group of unknown dogs who were running around playing, I'd be setting myself up for a lot of frustration and disappointment.

Dealing with reactivity doesn't need corrections!

03/02/2024

Social support.

Today I took Ash to a new place. He struggles with new places. We went there last week and he managed less than 5 minutes before wanting to go back to the van where he feels safe. Today he had an hour and a half walking, sniffing and investigating.

What magic did I perform in order to cause such a massive improvement? He was with my other dogs. That's it. Last week I met a friend with her dog and Ash wouldn't have coped with a new place as well as a new dog so he popped out for a wee walk on his own before I walked the others. This week we were alone so he came with his family.

Don't underestimate the value of social support. When we're out walking, Ash rarely interacts with other dogs, including those he knows well and those he lives with. This doesn't mean that those dogs aren't a necessary part of his life and an important factor for his emotional well-being.

I've spent a long time slowly building a small circle of friends for him and even though he hardly acknowledges their existence now he's comfortable with them, he will gravitate towards them for the confidence and sense of safety they provide for him.