Why we need to control our own emotions when working with dogs showing reactivity and aggression.
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Tea break training!
I asked for suggestions on how to improve this page. One of them was that I do a regular "tea break" training feature, where I show you how to work on something with your dog if you have a spare 5 minutes.
What kind of things would you like to see?
Sit, down, stand
Basic tricks - spin etc
Building duration...?
Let me know below.
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Seminar in Brunswick, Maine, done!
Thank you to all the wonderful attendees for their attention, engagement, questions and overall awesome spirit of learning.
Thank you to Stacey for arranging it all.
Craig and Otis, who is a 7 month old Picardy Shepherd Dog, volunteered to do some demos with us. It can be challenging to work your dog in front of others at a workshop for a variety of reasons, but they both did great.
If you are interested in hosting me next year for an international seminar, please get in touch.
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Business as usual while I'm in the US.
If you need any help with your dog, please get in touch.
Puppy socialisation with Kooikerhondje Rosie, 12 weeks.
Puppy socialisation isn't about ticking off lists with umbrellas, scooters and men with hats and beards. It's about bring your puppy into environments where they will experience all, or as many of the things they'll encounter in their lives in their own time and space.
We met someone while out on this session. They wanted to say hi to Rosie but Rosie didn't want to say hi to them. I asked them not to approach her. The response was,
"Aren't you supposed to get puppies to meet people?"
Rosie did meet that person. From 6 ft/2m away. If I meet you, I may or may not want to shake your hand. I may or may not want to talk to you. Rosie has that same right to say no.
It took her 45 minutes to come say hello to me. I didn't pressure her or try to pet her. I just gave her time and space.
If you know someone who has recently adopted a puppy, please tag them in this or share ot with them.
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What a week in the comments section after daring (someone actually used the word "audacity") to suggest that s9 called balanced training isn't balanced and we shouldn't use aversive training methods.
When can I stop using treats when training my dog...
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Positive reinforcement training for the win
#positivereinforcementdogtraining #dogtraining #balanceddogtraining #balanceschmalance
Some days and weeks it's like that...
Retired police Malinois Jet- second session.
Her new humans have worked religiously on helping her relax and settle in the house. She's making wonderful progress and they report she's chilling out when at home, rather than constantly seeking interaction with them.
In the video I put up last week, we assessed how she responds when both food and the ball are in play. The ball has been a massive part of her previous working life, used as a reinforcer for desired behaviour, but Jet has become fixated on it.
A couple of people asked why we weren't just using the ball to reinforce the behaviours we want, rather than use food. There are a number of reasons, firstly ball play is not conducive to reinforcing every behaviour. Secondly, we are trying to build a mire relaxed, yet active.and enriching life for her in retirement. She doesn't need to be on the go all the time.
As we entered the park, there were a number of people playing tennis in the court you see here. She became excited about the ball. My aim with all dogs and humans I work with is to empower them so that they know what to do without being told what to do all the time.
We are aiming for Jet to recognise that only her ball is hers, those belonging to others are not. Sure, we could build a strong recall and have to tell her to "leave it" all the time, or we can teach her to recognise the signals herself, to be more autonomous.
I worked with a great cop years ago. He was active in his police duties, enthusiastic and excellent at his job. When he retired, he had to channel that energy into something else, and at the same time, recognise and adjust to a different pace in his life. He's still young at heart, is incredibly active and engaged with life, just in a different way. We are building that sane life for Jet, it takes time, effort, intelligence, understanding and kindness. She's lucky to have the humans who adopted her.
Despite what others may suggest, dogs like Jet don't need corrections. They are
Now for how to do it correctly.
Kiera is a 7 month old border collie. She does agility with her human and sometimes at trials and classes, other dogs get a little too close for her comfort.
Here we are deliberately training relaxation. What we are looking for is softness and relaxation in her face, body, breathing, etc.
By carefully observing this, we are able to intervene in a way which truly meets her needs e.g. asking the other dog to move away or blocking their approach.
As with all skills, we practice them under easy conditions then increase the level of challenge as the skills increase. What's lovely about Kiera is that she plays well and can greet other dogs socially in lots of other scenarios, it's just agility which causes some concern.
Our actions here are crucial. Modelling relaxation, moving well, delivering reinforcement in a manner which is conducive to relaxation.
If we have welfare at the forefront of our minds, we set up and execute our training like this.
It's possible. It can be done.
If you know someone who may benefit from this video, please tag them or share it with the..
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The myth of so-called "balanced" dog training.
EDIT - I USED TO BE A SO-CALLED "BALANCED" TRAINER - I know how it works.
Contains footage of corrections.
This is from a "trainer's" socials as a good example of working with reactivity.
SO he's used corrections and rewards. All good, right? No.
Why is the dog complying? Because he screeched the air horn right in her ear. Not only would it be startling, but very likely painful too.
Between her name, "STAY" and "no", he gives over a dozen verbal prompts, cues and corrections. If this training worked at this stage, one would be enough. He has to keep repeating himself in order to keep her in check. They are too close to the other dog. If they moved further away, he could let her watch and perhaps use a food reward to reinforce either attention on him or calm behaviour.
The treat at the end lures her back into a sit. The sit is unnecessary and counterproductive. She is clearly telling him she finds it difficult to sit here, or she'd be sitting. The treat reinforces nothing. The "good girl" is irrelevant and reinforces nothing.
This may work, But it's uneducated and unethical. The dog is suffering the consequences of this man's lack of education. Effectiveness is not enough.
The function of all behaviour after the air horn is to avoid the air horn again. The dog will also make an association that approaching dogs means the air horn will sound. Will this make her feel better or worse? Not only does she have to worry about the dog, she now has to worry about the air horn. The treat means nothing to the dog here.
This is what "balanced" training looks like. It may not look exactly like this but the principles of it are always at play. Always. If it's not an airhorn, it's a prong collar, shock collar, jab to the ribs, air cut off with a noose (slip lead, grot/garotte collar) or other such nonsense. Look at the stats in the right hand side of the video, this gives indications of how many people think this is o
Playing with your dog, listening to them and having a conversation with them, not having too many rules during play, taking care of your older dog's needs.
Some video of a short play session with Logan, who is now 10 years old.
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Down stay versus teaching relaxed behaviours.
I posted a video blog about this last night, you can watch it for a fuller explanation. I wanted to show some practical examples of the two.
In the first clip, we are working through the very start of teaching Malinois Jet to relax in the house.
In the second clip, we are working with Border Collie Kiera, helping her relax in the presence of dogs.
We are looking for relaxed behaviours - soft body/muscles, soft, relaxed facial expressions, relaxation in the ears, sitting on either hip rather than in the sphinx position. Little or no movement of a relaxed tail.
We do this by being aware of our breath, out muscle tension, by smoothly delivering a reinforcer conducive to relaxation in a relaxed manner.
Then on to the two clips with my dog, Logan, who is demonstrating a down stay. Although he's prone, it's not the same exercise. He's 10 years old and has just done 20 minutes of search work (searching for small Kongs in the longer grass). He lies down for a certain period of time with me at a certain distance and is released at the end to catch the Kong. He looks settled, but attentive and focused. Getting up, chasing and catching the Kong is not conducive to relaxation.
If we have a deep understanding of how these things work, the differences and the differences in how to train them, we get better results and can better talk care of our dog's needs.
It's subtle, nuanced and can be complex at times, but worth it.
If you know someone who would be benefit from this information, please tag them.
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Some more information about the retired police Malinois and using food reinforcement.
If you haven't watched the previous two videos, please do so.
I tried to keep this as short as possible but there is some nice detail in this video
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Does your dog settle easily?
Do they pace and mooch when guests are in or whine and move around when you are trying to relax?
Teaching relaxed and settled behaviours can be easy if we know how.
1. Notice when your dog is relaxing naturally abd reinforce it with kind words, a gentle facial expression or some massage.
2. Deliberately train relaxation - seems like a contradiction but it can be done.
3. Ensure they are getting all their other needs met.
Put a comment below if you'd like to see more content about teaching your dog to truly relax and settle.
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Teaching a retired police dog to relax.
Some more from Jet. There were some interesting (and bizarre) comments on the last video of Jet from.a couple of days ago, where I was seeing how motivated by food she was, why we want to build a variety of reinforcers, and the various things those reinforcers can be used for.
Massage, gentle petting, calm delivery of food - these are all conducive to more relaxed behaviours.
Movement, throwing/chasing a ball, tug - these are all conducive to faster behaviours like recall.
The value of "praise" is often both over estimated and underestimated and I often see praise being used where the handler thinks it's reinforcing but it's actually the threat of aversives which is being used to drive behaviour (more on this later).
Another weird comment was that along the lines of "pet dog owners and pet dog trainers (me) have no business working with these types (insert usual stereotype) of dogs." This one actually made me laugh.
Jet is finding settling in the presence of people difficult. Most probably because she's never had to do it, or never been taught. People mean something else to her (training, work etc) and very often police dogs are kept in crates in police vehicles and kennelled when not working. Exclusion is then the cue for sleep and rest, so she is learning that, in retirement, she is allowed to rest in the presence of people. We are teaching her.
This looks like a down stay. It's not. It's a relaxation protocol. How we teach it is the difference.
At the end of this session, Jet lay on her side, gave a big, relaxed exhalation, then went to sleep. Much success.
Behaviour is behaviour. Stereotypes about "but sHE's a MaLinOIs!" and has to be treated/trained in some 🐃💩 way are nonsense. Yes, we are aware of her genetics and working history. She was a working police dog with a proven track record. When cops retire (like many people), there are huge adjustments to be made (I should know). We can do it with the
Dog-dog play.
Kylo, 8 months(black dog) and Ollie 14 months (black and white) are best buds. They love getting together and having a good old rumble. As they play, arousal increases. As arousal increases, they find it hard to hear and respond to cues from their humans.
What did we do
1. Long lines - allows us to physically intervene when we need to and interrupt play
2. Verbal cues before physical interruption - they'll learn to respond or be interrupted
3. Plenty alternatives- focus game, chilling, sniffing (these happen when we interrupt play and practice the focus game)
4. Introducing the tug toy - they now chase the toy rather than constant wrestling
This os very rough. First session, a bit like spinning plates. Harnesses are a must because we need to physically interrupt at times and don't want pressure on the neck.
I recommend shirt bouts of play before interruption - around 15 seconds at this point. No more. As they get more skilled, they'll play at a level where they can stop play themselves, and/or listen to cues.
I'll be covering more on arousal in this week's podcast episode of Everything Dog Training! You can find it where you listen to your podcasts.
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But my dog isn't motivated by food...
Malinois Jet is a recently retired General Purpose Police Dog who has just come to her new family. She is having difficulty settling in the house and is very fixated on the ball, as it has been used extensively in her previous training.
This was the first time we tested to see if she could leave the ball and take food. We experimented with different conditions to see which ones she would take the piece of hotdog under. We got our foot in the door, which is all we need, just a start.
Different reinforcers can be used for different behaviour. If we are teaching relaxation, foot, calm tactile/petting, and other calming reinforcers are generally (generally!) good choices. If we want faster behaviours, like an enthusiastic recall, play, using a ball and tug toy might be better.
Building a variety of reinforcers, which can be intermingled readily, leads to more training options.
I'll be talking a little on how reinforcement affects arousal levels in my my next podcast episode - Everything Dog Training! If you've listened already, please let me know.
#dogs #dogtraining #malinois
