Controlled meet and greets enables us to:
*watch puppy body language
*allows each pup space to withdraw (and approach if both are in the same zone!)
*facilitate a short and sweet ‘look-see’
*lure away with high value treat and a ‘this way!’ cue to prevent getting over stimulated or overwhelmed
*keep pup engaged with their human around distractions
*respect how each pup feels so we can respond to their needs in all situations
*notice different personalities and who feels more confident approaching who
*keep all pups feeling safe on their Week 1 puppy class
Supaw-stars! 💖
Team Barney have been working with me for a few months … mostly on engagement especially on lead but this session was to test his response to the re-start of a recall cue (‘Here’) after playing recall games earlier. What we see is:
*first of all a dog who doesn’t actually wander too far on this occasion 😆
*a dog who instantly pays attention to hearing his name (we have been playing the Name Game since our first session)
*a dog who anticipates the recall / reward for recall before we actually get chance to use the recall cue! This can often happen and old habits die hard but paying attention to name is not a recall cue (more practise needed in pairing the recall cue with the behaviour of running back - which is what happens here by accident!)
*Recall cue paired with the behaviour of ‘stopping what you are doing to run back enthusiastically’
*We didn’t get the opportunity to ‘test’ the recall cue here properly but it shows a process and an excellent response to his mum’s voice!
*We were working in a low distraction environment here - interesting scent but only a few passing dogs / people which Barney managed to disengage from very quickly (we have been practising Engage/Disengage)
Great progress … not there yet. Takes time and lots of opportunity to practise new behaviours when the old (unwanted) behaviours have been well rehearsed and have a long history of reinforcement for the dog. Lots of progress on lead and lowering arousal around distractions too .. rewarding games and interaction with the human as part of the behaviour modification plan helps to build focus and motivation to engage ‘here’ rather than ‘out there’!
Great work from Barney’s mum as it takes commitment to the process of change, once our dogs have already learned those behaviours we don’t want!
Good boy Barney such a sweetheart 💜
Self Regulation
Predatory Motor Patterns
Self regulation is achievable with a positive reinforcement plan. It is always best to start to shape desired behaviours when our pups are young and then continue throughout their early development/adolescence.
Pups/adolescents need guiding to be the adult canine companion we want - it won’t happen by itself!
I often see the word “steadiness” used in relation to a dog managing its impulses before being given a cue by the handler to ‘go seek’ or ‘fetch’ or be given a general release cue. But steadiness is an overall ability to regulate emotional responses around stimuli that might predict, to the dog, opportunity to express any of the predatory motor patterns. Steadiness is being able to stop during full-on SEEK mode, or sit to flush of a bird, or stop at any point during physical expression of any of the predatory motor patterns, including being able to drop or give a held possession. Ability to self-regulate at any point is how “steadiness” should be viewed.
Here’s why….
I don’t subscribe to the Premack Principle when it comes specifically to dogs chasing animals (you get to do the thing you most want to do if you do something else you want to do less, first instead … “if you don’t eat your meat you can’t have your pudding”). This is because I do not want my dogs feeling extrinsically rewarded for chasing any animals. Ever.
Predatory behaviour is an internally motivated / instinctive behaviour so while we cannot eradicate it, we can modify it.
Predatory motor patterns were historically referred to by ethologists as Fixed Action Pattern (FAP) and latterly as Modal Action Pattern (MAP) behaviours. However, given predatory motor patterns are subject to environmental feedback (Gadbois) they are therefore also subject to emotional regulation.
This is where application of predominantly positively reinforced techniques can change behaviour. I say predominantly because part of behaviour modification often
Session 2 … starting to take our new skills outside! This lovely working lines Labrador boy is learning how to learn … with predictable outcomes! Keeping arousal levels down and frustration out of the equation is achieved with patience, understanding and having the right ‘tools’ in the tool box … aka positive reinforcement. We should always be mindful not to reinforce undesired behaviours accidentally. On session 3 we are planning to take this to a low distraction but (for this boy!) exciting environment to develop his focus and help him practise some self regulation … calm exposure to the exciting things requires us to work at a distance from triggers to start the process off. Setting our dogs up for success helps them make good choices with our guidance and help. Such a good boy he is a quick learner 💜
New Year, New Venue! Next start date 10th January for puppies and 11th January for adolescent classes! Please enquire re availability and ongoing dates 😊
This is a great video as after just a couple of assessment walks and then a couple of half-hour training sessions with me to assess what is motivating for this boy to start to develop more engagement, a suitable training plan was then demo’d to this lovely boy’s dad …. this sweet natured, fully fired up adolescent who struggled with engagement and inability to pay attention (read: typical teen!) when outdoors, including getting very excited at the sight of other dogs … we have much calmer behaviour, ability to pay attention and developing engagement. Walking back to the van after this session we stopped to take in a passing dog at a fairly close distance (close for Wilson, he calmly had a glance, disengaged and chose to look to me instead …great progress in just a few half-hour sessions, first with me then dad picked up the reins to continue the plan.
- changing the environment to less exciting areas is key to getting enough focus to begin to train alternative behaviours. Adolescents can be easily stimulated by the environment so we need to think about where we are asking our pups to learn wanted habits .. rather than setting them up to practise unwanted habits! Such a good boy 💜
What we do and don’t do with our new puppies shapes future behaviour
Why waste time pairing a new recall word with rewards 😂 a history of R+ (systematic desensitisation and differential reinforcement of alternative behaviour) means it’s really easy to apply some self regulation to a situation that was once … well a bit intense! As adolescence started so did selective hearing, bird obsession and given an opportunity full flight chase of birds 1/4 mile away on the ground. Anyway we got through that phase using reward based training. She was in the beating line age 17 months - rock solid. Birds flying up under her nose, hares up and off and deer flying past in the woods. Solid. R+ training works to desensitise to the intrinsically motivating excitement of the chase and DRA offers an alternative to satisfy that natural behaviour.
I thought I’d just try the word randomly after encouraging her to chase a pigeon I said the random word just as she was revving up and she responded as if it was well rehearsed conditioned cue. It’s not the training to recall from a ‘predatory chase’ (this is a predatory chase - it’s just under stimulus control and she has learned to self-regulate), it’s the training for the situation. Why wait until your dog is a confirmed chaser - prevention is far safer. So funny - that word - Banana! Good girl Juno 💜
My Juno age 6 months … a real live wire. Daily practise of core desired behaviours, such as loose lead walking, help our pups understand what is expected. We start with LURES then quickly move to SHAPING using Mark then Reward … a high rate of reinforcement (Mark then Reward *every single step forward* is needed to start the process). Then we can start to Mark then Reward every two … three … five … ten …. steps as our pups start to learn the concept ‘being by your leg is a good place to be’. This then simply becomes a good habit once our pups are mature. Practise makes Permanent 💜
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