Step-by-Step Dog Training

01/06/2023

Jen, can you do a post on trigger stacking in the human on dog walks? My fiancé said.

Here we go.

River is our special girl, you'd say she was "reactive" to other dogs and cars. She's big (doberman x GSD), very strong and her reactivity, especially with cars, is very engrained. She would get herself very injured if she was able to break free and Adam carries that risk on his shoulders with every walk. Whilst we walk her quiet places to make it as easy on us as possible in managing her, cars are unfortunately everywhere and we do come across them now and then.

River has rest days. That isn't just to ease her own stress levels, but Adam's too. The responsibility he has in keeping River safe and under threshold is huge. All of us with reactive dogs know that responsibility. We can get just as trigger stacked on walks as the dogs can. He had a nightmare walk with River the other day where he slowly got sandwiched between dogs and cars. The quiet place suddenly became busy and he was literally stuck in the middle. He identified the effects of this trigger stacking of stress is similar in dogs as people.

*His heart rate rose
*His breathing became quicker and more erratic
*He became hot and unpredictable in his movements
*His "thinking brain" to work out how to get out the situation struggled to stay dominant over the emotional brain
*He didn't leave the situation and immediately calm down. Those stress effects lingered for the rest of the walk.

With Adam in stress escalation we know for sure River was too. Dogs feel our stress, smell our stress, and this has a knock on effect to their emotional experience too. With our human world, trigger stacking may not just be what we experience in the moment either. We could be already trigger stacked before we even left the house. We could be carrying an argument with a friend, an unpaid bill, an upcoming hospital appointment and a headache. This could mean just a relatively minor situation to handle with your reactive dog could become a huge deal. Any frustration you feel at being "at the end of your tether" could be transferred to the dog, maybe even through our responses to their difficulties in the moment.

It's normal to get frustrated and that intense emotional experience can lead you to temporarily forget how to constructively handle the situation. Maybe you automatically hold the lead tighter and more forceful than you usually would. Maybe your voice is lower and more authoritarian than supportive. Maybe you forget the cue word for emergencies and resort back to old behaviours to manage these situations. These are all possibilities given our human experience.

It's ok to check yourself before going out with your "reactive" dog. Have you got the emotional space to deal with what might lay ahead of you? If not, perhaps organise a rest day indoors or in the garden. Calming but enriching activities for your dog, and perhaps some constructive self care for you too 🐾💜

11/02/2023

Love this info graphic! 👌

🛑 NO! FIDO! STOP! 🛑

Do you find yourself trying so hard to stop your dog from doing XYZ, and well it's not working as well as you had hoped?

Behavior changes more quickly and reliably, while having lasting results, when you find ways to say "yes" more than you say "no".

✅ Dog training is hugely successful when you find way to teach your dog alternate behaviors to replace the bad ones instead of trying over and over to stop or punish the bad behavior.
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EXAMPLES

1️⃣ If you have a dog jumps on guests instead of punishing the dog for jumping a better solution is to train your dog to do a behavior instead of jumping. So, training Fido to lie on a mat when the doorbell rings and guests enter would eliminate his need or ability to jump on the entering guests.

2️⃣ If you have a dog that pulls on the leash instead of jerking the leash and trying to stop the pulling, give treats and rewards when Fluffy walks nicely next to you.

Train her that walking on a loose leash next to you yields treats, and then sniffs to the grass to follow then she'll look forward to walks and learn that walking on a loose leash brings on good things. She'll choose that behavior every time the more she's trained to understand this.

3️⃣ If you have a dog that barks out of the window instead of punishing him for barking, teach him to settle on a mat away from the window and/or that when he sees things outside good things happen and there is no need to bark frantically.

⁉️ Are you finding ways to tell your dog yes instead of no? If not, you should start.

Here is a great poster designed by Dog Latin Dog Training and Behavior Consulting, illustrated by Doggie Drawings by Lili Chin.

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Stacy Greer, CPDT-KA
Copyright© 2023

12/01/2023

Great way to unpack the use of counter conditioning and desentisation here. Love it.
https://www.serenitycanine.com/post/2016/09/13/why-distracting-with-treats-isnt-working-for-your-reactive-dog

If you've tried distracting your dog with treats when he sees another dog (or bike, car, jogger, etc.), and he completely ignores the treat and you, here's why. STRESS When an animal (including humans) reaches a certain level of stress, an important change takes place in the brain, which starts the....

20/12/2022

❤ this advice.. solid!!

02/11/2022

😂 bit of gold for the morning 😝

The bottom line here is to be on top of your competency. Your female dog notices! 😂

Edited to add a link to the study.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S037663572200170X

10/09/2022

Hi everyone
As part of an assignment for my Applied e-Learning course, I'm working on designing a blended (online plus online classes) course aimed at dog owners. Often there is so much to try and teach someone during a practical session that people get overwhelmed. My thoughts are to break learning into two parts - theory which can be learnt online and is self-paced, and then practical, where coaching in real life occurs and cements the e-learning of the theory.

I would love some feedback on the basic brainstorms I've put together so far.

Some questions to help get you started..
- What is a must know for a dog owner interested in dog training?
- How long would you like to spend learning theory (ie via online learning)?
- What do you want to learn about as a dog owner?
- Anything else?

Thank you!!! xx

08/09/2022

Love this advice!!

For the first few months we gave puppy Violet a pass - she was allowed to meet people and dogs however she wanted, just so we could give her positive exposure to a wide variety.

Once she hit four months, we're asking that she not jump up on people anymore. (she's uh... a tiny tank)

So we're having her new friends ask her for a sit, and encouraging her to keep her nose low (which keeps her from jumping) by tossing treats at their feet!



[image description: we see legs from the waist down, with a pile of dog biscuits at the feet. a German shepherd dog is sitting politely nearby. The text reads: "Does your dog jump up when greeting people? Drop treats at those people's feet! Your pup will look down at the treats and not practice the jumping behavior!"]

27/08/2022

We ask our dogs to learn to leave behind their primitive instincts and fit into our human world.

Walk how we want, when we want, where we want. Be polite when strangers come into our homes. Toilet when and where we allow. Eat only what we permit. Play when it suits us. Only fulfil their social needs as far as our schedules have room for... The list could go on forever.

The very least we owe to them, is to guide them with kindness ❤️🐾

16/08/2022

https://www.clickertraining.com/dont-socialize-the-dog

That title is a typo, right? A professional dog trainer would never advocate against socialization, would she? Well, maybe!

01/08/2022

29/07/2022

Oooh well put 🥰❤❤

"It works" is not a good enough reason to use tools, pain, fear or coercion to change behaviour.

Obedience doesn't impress me.

Empathy impresses me.

Someone who chooses to truly see their dog, understanding their behaviour as communication and making the necessary adjustments their dog needs to feel better.

Behaviour isn't a problem to be solved. It's not a bug to be squashed as quickly as possible. It is a message.

Behaviour is your dog communicating their needs.

Listening impresses me.

13/06/2022

Well said!!! Real talk indeed. 😇❣️

"But how will he know what he did was wrong?" Dogs are A-Moral. Which means they have no concept of right or wrong. They only understand successful vs unsuccessful , safe vs. unsafe. When your dog does something "wrong" it means he decided that action was going to be successful for him. If you simply make desirable, or correct, behaviors successful and safe for him he won't perform behaviors are that are unsuccessful. So when we punish, we are doing so as an act of retaliation, not an act of love. An act of love would be to set our dogs up to succeed, condition them to respond to cues in a desirable manner, and never find ourselves in the position to "need" to punish. Love, in any form, should not cause pain.

The relationship between brain damage and punishment is well documented in multiple species. When the brain experiences fear, anxiety or stress (particularly in consistent doses) it becomes less pliable over time, this means the brain is not able to form new neural pathways. Neural pathways are responsible for learning, learning is characterized as the brain's ability to form a new neural pathway to retain information. In cases of compulsion, or punishment, we are literally hindering our dog's ability to learn what he should be doing instead.

Dr. Jesus Rosales-Ruiz (a professor of behavior analysis and learning in dogs, humans, and other species) once beautifully declared that "the worst time to correct a problem is after it has already happened." And he is correct, if we simply make desirable behaviors successful and safe for our dogs, they by default can not be performing undesirable behaviors.

Learning shouldn't hurt.

03/06/2022

13/05/2022

"..dog training is a commitment and despite the misinformation from the media showing a dog being “cured” of all bad behaviors in the span of an hour-long TV show, long-term behavior change requires a consistent investment on the human’s part."

🙌🙏.. yup do the mahi, get the reward 😊

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/202205/is-bad-dog-really-bad-dog

A blend of science, psychology, and patience go a long way in dog training.

12/05/2022

I've been working with this sweet pile of floof, aka Willow, who I was lucky to meet when she was just a pup.

Willow and her young owner are learning to manage her leash reactivity. We've been using counterconditioning to change Willow's emotional response, coupled with desensitisation to help Willow cope when faced with her triggers in a variety of different situations.

Slow and steady wins this "race" 😇🐶

22/04/2022

Wise words indeed 👏

❓What treats to use, and when to use them…❓

It’s a question we get asked a lot from owners, and the simple answer is “whatever treats work for your dog” but it is that simple…? Basically YES, however, there needs to be a range of treats that have different values to your dog….

🔹 Firstly, some people will tell you not to use treats as you are bribing the dog – utter rubbish, no-one works for nothing, and we all like to get something for doing a ‘good job’. Why is your dog different? If they get a lovely treat for doing something you like, they will do that behaviour/ action over and over again to try and get the treat again.

🔹 Secondly, when to use them… Whenever your dog is doing something that you like, but you also need to control the amount of treats your dog gets, so we can maintain the ‘value’. So, for example, if your dog does something really easily, don’t give a food treat every time, but definitely praise them verbally. If your dog does something on the third time (for example) of asking, give them three treats. This helps the dog to understand that there MAY be something nice to eat if they do something you like. If you treat for everything, every time, then you ‘devalue’ the treat very quickly…

🔹 Thirdly, the type of treat should reflect the task in hand… If you are asking for a ‘sit’, don’t give a T-Bone steak; give a basic biscuit. If you are asking for a strong recall, use the steak!! Even people get paid more for overtime etc… In the same way, give your dog more when doing more difficult tasks.

Treats are a great way to introduce new ‘cues’ or behaviours from your dog, but we also need to phase them out over time, to ensure that the treats stay valuable and we don’t have chubby dogs!!! Treats don’t have to be food, they can be toys, praise etc. but most importantly, they have to be something your dog REALLY wants!!! 🥩😋

Treats should become an item that the dog MAY get for doing a good job. It’s like playing the lottery; you play on the off chance that you may win; you don’t always win, but you still play!! (You also celebrate winning £10 even if you spend that, per week, playing!!!)

Please let us know if you would like some help with how to use treats in the right way…

10/04/2022

Weekend naps

02/04/2022

Bestselling author Niki French urges dog owners to put down the lead and poo bags and instead replace the walks with alternative activities to keep your pooch as healthy as possible

07/03/2022

23/02/2022

https://www.facebook.com/154274892089902/posts/1126459814871400/

Cry It Out – Why What We Learned from Children Applies to Puppies.

There has since at least 1913, been a school of thought that suggests allowing tiny babies to ‘cry it out’, ie, cry until they give up crying, with the parent no longer responding to cries for attention, comfort or contact, is beneficial or indeed, necessary in raising children.

Somewhere along the line this also became the advice applied to puppies, with the warnings that if you did respond to a pups cries for attention, you would as with the child oriented version of this advice, create a needy individual who was insecure and lacking in confidence.

We now know the opposite is true, unfortunately from a dog perspective very few studies are done on dogs, simply because there isn’t the money in it to do them.

So we are left to extrapolate from studies done on children, but that’s actually ok, because a dogs brain is very comparable to the brain of a child under 2 years of age. They have similar needs for comfort, warmth, food, physical contact, social support. They have similar difficulties in communicating orally, in lacking impulse control and lacking fine motor skills.

So here’s the grim truth.

Young mammals left to ‘cry it out’ do not ‘self soothe’. In fact what they learn (Bowlby J. 1960’s) is that after going through a cycle of protestation, then despair, they reach a third phase of detachment – in effect they give up trying to get a response, get comfort or contact and become apathetic. Their distress is still present, they simply have learned it will not be alleviated as a result of their behaviour, they have shut down.

Whilst the theory ran that if you provide attention constantly so that the young mammal in question does not need to cry, or you respond promptly to their cries, they will cry more, seek attention more… in fact the opposite is true.

A study in 1986 demonstrated that the more the mother holds and carries her baby, the less that baby will cry and fuss. Other studies (cross cultural but still human, not dog) showed that those parents who responded quicker to crying babies also have babies who cry far less often!

Going back to puppies – we have taken them from their mothers, their litter mates and their familiar environment.

If we compare our domestic dog to feral and wild dog populations we see that our domestic puppies experience this separation from their primary care giver and litter mates at (on average) between 6 and 12 weeks of age.
Their wild/feral counter parts are in the constant company of litter mates and the near constant company of their parent until weaning. Beyond weaning, they are still in the constant company of littermates, parent and other relatives unless they choose to be alone, which is unlikely to happen before adolescence and the hormonal changes that are related to adolescence.

It is true that domestic dogs and wild or feral canids are not the same, but the difference is that domestic dogs actively want to be with humans rather than with other canids.

That being so, they are in no way equipped to be isolated and alone, any more than the feral or wild dogs would be.

So what are the risks of subjecting a puppy to isolation from a social group or new primary caregiver,and ignoring cries for company, comfort or contact?

* The increased cortisol levels can actually damage or kill off neurons and the neuronal interconnections – this can affect how well your dog copes with stress, anxiety and fear in future, predisposing them to be more reactive and fearful.

*Stress hormones go up faster than they come back down – so that stressful experience is affecting the dog for much longer than you might think. Possibly days.

*Repeatedly putting stress hormones up will inhibit learning, affect sleep, affect bonding and attachment.

*Repeated stressful experiences that the subject cannot escape from leads to PTSD in humans – we have no evidence to suggest that this does not also happen in dogs. Given the similarities between the human and canine brain, it is reasonable to assume dogs can also experience something similar to PTSD.

The short version of all this is – there is no benefit to leaving a dog to cry it out, separation anxiety is normal for puppies, they need to be with someone most of the time!

Separation anxiety as an abnormal behavioural issue comes about as a result of an insecure dog, who has not been taught how to cope by themselves, not as a result of creating a secure, confident dog who is given what they need as a puppy.

©Emma Judson

25/12/2021

Yup, check what stressors you've been adding into the mix so you are better able to prevent trigger stacking and possible defense behaviors

Great pic. Look after your pups over this period x

07/12/2021

😂 a bit of lighter entertainment today

We are here to help you choose your next breed. There are many people in this world who are obsessed with dogs and will not adopt any other pet than a doggo. And I fully understand. However even those people don’t know about all the breeds of dogs and the characteristics each one possesses. So [.....

06/12/2021

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/fellow-creatures/201912/ten-tips-integrate-dog-training-everyday-life

Some pretty good tips in here! Check them out 🙂

Dogs are always learning, so here are ten tips for a better-behaved dog.

06/12/2021

https://www.fearfreehappyhomes.com/dog-power-walks/

Pack walks are popular with people but not necessarily with dogs. Here's why this activity may not be right for your pooch.

29/11/2021

https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2021/04/13-common-dog-training-mistakes-and-how.html?m=1

The common mistakes many people make when training their dog.