Dog Nerds Behavior : Intuitive Communications

06/26/2024

06/21/2024

Feedback Friday!!!

More often than not, dropping punishment, domination, over-cueing, and rigid criteria creates fast and resilient changes.

Usually it's no fault of the human's. They have sought out professional support, checked the person out, gotten recommendations and referrals and they are still instructed to use fear, intimidation, force, pain or pressure as a modality of learning, even when, and especially if, it doesn't work!!!

The number of clients who have reported that they have been instructed to double down on punishment and increase the intensity or duration of consequences is just down righty scary.

Fortunately many owners are becoming educated. Learning more about their dog's needs. Trusting themselves more. Advocating for their dogs and in growing numbers, are not as willing to follow advice that doesn't feel good or seem right.

Thank goodness!!!

Please continue to advocate for your dog if ANYONE tells you do something that doesn't seem right or feel good.

Dog's are smart.

You don't need to use fear or pain to teach.

Using tools specifically engineered to create discomfort is always a replacement for skill.

If you are regularly repeating a consequence, cue, or reward and are not able to notice both an improvement at affecting outcomes in the moment and week over week improvement in the behavior itself, THE DOG IS NOT THE SLOW LEARNER.

As Shay Kelly says "Dog trainers should be more like gardeners; gardeners don't blame the plants for not growing."

Our dog's are a reflection of the learning we have equipped them with and the behaviors they have practiced.

If the approach to learning you are using is optimized and you are not noticing improvements in both areas, change the approach because it's somehow flawed.

It's a like a choose-your-own-adventure for your dog.

Observing feedback, making adjustments, leaving strategies behind which reveal themselves to be ineffective and prioritizing optimal learning conditions for the dog are often a requirement to create resilient learning.

Be flexible.
Find wins.
Enjoy your relationship.

It's always a good time for me to help your dog.

06/19/2024

Shared from the amazing feed of Fuzzy Kids

06/17/2024

My indirect reward strategy 🤣🙃🤣

06/15/2024

Feedback Friday!!!!
Brought to you this week by:
Saturday!

Preparing to be approached by random off-leash dogs in just about any outdoor location is imperative in the area I live.

So many people use a "don't worry their friendly" instead of a proofed recall or a leash which I find remarkably dangerous.

This case is a perfect example of how a commitment to learning, training, being aware of the environments you are putting your dog in and the potential risks which exists in them, may just save a life and absolutely saves huge stress, medical bills, traumatic imprints, legal issues and behavioral regression just to name a few.

This dog most definitely has a history of dog reactivity.

He is capable, intelligent, powerful, athletic, a sweetheart of a personality with a high capacity for intensity.

Not to mention, looks like a bully breed.

On behalf of the off-leash approaching dog and the humans that love them I would like to offer deep bows of gratitude and appreciation for this owner's commitment to their dog's, comfort, safety and learning.

The person you are and the choices you have made in navigating the relationship with your dog has been an awe inspiring experience for me to witness.

There is very little doubt in my mind had the games not been as well rehearsed, the training not developed at a pace that was optimized for learning and emotional conditioning prior encountering this event and had this human chosen to rely on time and hope alone to change sophisticated behavior sets, I would have a received a VERY different message.

Thank you so much to this owner and to every owner who loves and lives with dogs who struggle to emotionally regulate and commit to a process of learning which shows the dog a different way to feel and react to triggers and potentially triggering experiences.

You all are my heroes.

My inspiration.

My team.

It's always a good time for me to help your dog!

06/14/2024

This post had a lot of fruitful comments and discussion so I thought I would address some of them.

There were several valuable comments which pointed out how dogs jumping up can pose a safety risk and under certain conditions may not be appropriate as a result.

I full heartedly agree.

I do however, feel they are on the right track.

That's different than saying that jumping up is a great final behavior for fearful dogs.

It's also different than saying dogs who jump up on anyone for any reason are on the right track.

The context I'm describing is when fearful dogs jump up on their owners because they are trying to regulate with them.

There are so many other ways dogs can respond in an attempt to regulate these emotional sets; many of which do not include the owner in any way shape or form and consequently often require considerably more time and resource to create resilient changes in.

If the dog is already looking to their human for direction, they are choosing the appropriate party to seek support from.

Many dogs who are fearful do not have the relationship with their human understood as a resource to regulate emotionally when they are struggling.

Those who already do, often have a much easier time learning how to choose other alternative behaviors which inform more safety to regulate through.

Choosing to suppress this behavior with consequences in the name of safety presupposes a breakdown of management and learning. Very often this is one of the classic examples of setting a dog up to perform a known unwanted behavior in order to punish them for doing it rather than setting them up to be able to make choices which are rewardable.

It's also important to notice that it would be a gross oversimplification of animal learning to predict that most fearful dogs jumping up on their owners for social support and who are rewarded by that experience, are also being reinforced for jumping up on people in general.

If only comfort generalized as quickly as fear does in the canine brain...

People who expressed that they find it irritating when their dog jumps up despite it not being a safety risk also deserve to have a fulfilling bond with their dogs and have their needs met as well as meeting their dog's needs.

Fortunately, dogs have literally evolved over tens of thousands of years to be able to do precisely that with you; so don't worry.

If you choose to, you can (most likely in very little time) teach them alternative ways to feel comforted by your social support and relationship while choosing other behaviors which you find endearing and your dog loves to produce.

So while it's very important to notice when there's a form function issue and jumping may become a safety concern; it's also important to notice that if your dog is already looking to you for support by jumping up, you are often a lot closer to being able to motivate and rehearse an approximation of that behavior which doesn't have the same impact on safety.

What do your think??

06/09/2024

Shared from the epic feed of The Secret Dog Walker 🤭😂🤭

06/07/2024

Beautifully stated by the amazing Crazelpup Dog Training- by Jodie Forbes

"Another reminder to dog owners, and apparently dog ‘trainers’ too, that if an unknown dog is on lead it is not okay to allow yours to approach them. Ever.
If your dog does approach an on-lead dog and a scrap occurs, yours was the one out of control.
Reactive dog owners have it hard enough without people letting their dogs run over and interfere, it causes so much unnecessary stress to them and their dog.
Please use your common sense, compassion and abide by dog owner etiquette by recalling your dog or keeping them on lead around others if they’re unable to recall.
🎤👋"

Not all heroes wear capes

06/05/2024

I learned a lot from this dog.
He touched the lives of so many.
The brightest stars burn out the fastest.
Rest in divine bliss sweet boy; your work here is complete.

06/04/2024

We are nothing but our capacity to love and create.
Rest in divine bliss sweet Dipper.
Your work here is complete.

Jon Stewart bids a tearful goodbye to Dipper, his best boy and Daily Show OG. to The Daily Show:https://www.youtube.co...

05/31/2024

FEEDBACK FRIDAY!!!!!

One of the most rewarding components of helping dogs who struggle to navigate common human conditions is supporting their owner's in opening up the world with their dogs safely.

A critical step to realizing the most fulfilling bond with your dog is investing the time in teaching the skills and understandings which allow them to experience enriching events, locations, and for some like this case, just to go on a walk around the neighborhood without having a panic attack.

Part of the process is using management to prevent the rehearsal of the unwanted behaviors; but that's only part of it.

Meeting their needs, creating cues for safety, predictability, trust and agency and then providing the learning for the dog to be able to access those emotional dispositions while practicing these new skills around their triggers is the another part.

When combined appropriately and with skill, dogs can learn.

It's not a quick fix but it's a resilient one. One that won't require life-time support, ongoing verbal cues, use of questionable tools and perhaps best of all, it allows our dogs to learn how to regulate under conditions they struggle in.

05/26/2024

So often the outcomes of our learning rely on our ability to make a very complex and dynamic evaluation in each moment to optimize our dog's learning.

As professionals we have the benefit of LOTS and LOTS of practice, learning, coaching, mentorship etc.

And even still, the refining process to improve never ends.

I'm always getting better and feel like I still have a long ways to go/have a lot to learn.

Rather than placing the ownership of making accurate reads which support our dog in any given circumstances exclusively on ourselves; we can inform the accuracy of our understanding by teaching them about two-way communications.

All behavior evolves to affect and impact outcomes and meet needs.

By introducing a model of mutual participation in the learning process and shifting away from exclusively providing cue's and rewarding behaviors and behavior chains, our dog's learning is optimized.

We no longer need to exclusively shoulder the burden of reading our dog's feelings through our observations alone.

We can provide them with a start button cue.

This is a behavior we may pick from those which they already enjoy doing and can show them that in certain contexts, that behavior impacts and controls the outcomes of some of the events around them.

Cooperative care is one of my favorite models for this type of learning.

Not only is it essential for 100% of dogs to be able to comfortably navigate veterinary care but there are very few conditions in our dog's lives where they are exposed to triggers which we have a nearly infinite amount of control over in a context they are likely to feel comfortable in.

When our dog's learn that they can impact and control outcomes (including the choice to end the experience all together) with behaviors we value and consider adaptive, those behaviors usually become heavily reinforced.

What's perhaps even more remarkable is that when show our dogs that ending the interaction and/or pausing it are both rewardable choices that they have 100% agency in, their motivation and cooperation in participating usually increases.

We can transfer this learning if we choose into reactivity desensitization and counter conditioning training as well and achieve a similar level of precision and improved pace of outcomes then when compared with standard desensitization that more relies more heavily on our ability to manipulate and manage the environment/experience to optimize learning conditions for a dog especially when near or approaching threshold.

There are many nuances to learn and getting professional support is always a good idea when you are looking to create safe and competent learning conditions around triggers.

With a small amount of effort in learning this style of interaction, you may be able to understand your dog's needs more accurately while also improving the convenience and safety of your care.

05/24/2024

FEEDBACK FRIDAY!!!!

More tails ;-) from a recovering human and dog reactive dog.

Consistency, relationship value, disengagement, LOTS of focus on meeting needs in no-stress environments, LOTS of LAT style work.

This team is a true privilege to support!

05/22/2024

Thank you so much Nevada County!!!!

I'm grateful to report that the event has once again reached capacity and tickets are no longer available.

If you have interest in this event and missed the opportunity to register for any reason, please drop a comment below.

With enough interest I will offer a second session later in the month of June.

05/20/2024

I often accuse one of my boys of starting Djembe rehearsal too early 😂🪘🪘😂

05/19/2024

Everything important about life I have ever needed to know I have learned from dogs.

05/15/2024

Chances are if you've lived in Nevada County long enough and have dogs, protecting them from rattlesnakes is important to you.

But what are the best ways to do this?

What approaches are most effective?

How much effort does it require?

Are there any risks involved in this type of training?

If you find yourself curious about any of these questions then the next community seminar series might be for you.

During the one hour event we will be answering all of the above questions and more.

This is a community education event that carries with it the intention of informing dog owners to make the best decision for themselves.

The event doesn't lead up to any 'special offer', I don't have a new class I'm trying to create enrolment for.

I'm a graduate student studying clinical animal behavior and am interested in sharing knowledge from the recent data collected over the past 10-15 years on the topic while gaining some mandatory clock hours for the teaching component my the program.

The event is free but space is limited.

We have reached capacity the past two years I have held it and this year's event is almost at capacity already.

Follow the link in the comment to register.

05/12/2024

💙💙💙

05/11/2024

A critical component of understanding how and why learning approaches which rely heavily on operant conditioning alone will fail to appear effective is understanding where your dog's reinforcement is coming from.

Under some conditions, areas of the brain which seek rewards and increase behaviors that result in rewardable experiences are active and act as the primary mechanism of learning.

In many instances of unwanted behaviors however, our dogs are being rewarded through a different area of the brain in part responsible for the sympathetic nervous system's response and is influenced heavily by the habits developed around those contexts.

In that way introducing consequences of any kind is not likely to impact the future choices for a dog being reinforced in this way.

Recognizing the difference and learning precisely how to shift contextualized learning to decrease stress and risk, and promote cooperation and safety is one of the outcomes a qualified behaviorist can reliably help you produce in your relationship with your dog.

05/10/2024

Perhaps the most important and least talked about portion of any training plan designed to create long term results that are resilient against future changes is the process of generalization.

It's one of the characteristics of learning that most dogs understand over a long period of time while it's something primates utilize initially as a way of understanding the world around us.

The process includes repeating rehearsed learning in various contexts. That could include changes to location, changes to time of day, weather conditions, what you are wearing, if you are travelling quickly or slowly, alone or in a group, around cars, in open fields etc.

But if you really want behavior to be something your dog can readily produce in all the environments they are charged to navigate, practicing, repeating, going slow, adjusting your expectations to the conditions and disposition of your dog is an all important part of the process.

And as you can see from the text, building everything on the foundation of relationship value pays dividends in multiple areas. We never worked on maintaining a boundary in the front yard where this dog had a history of fleeing from. The focus of our training was something else entirely. But the idea that the most valuable experiences in your dog's life are a product of the relationship you share is a powerful concept which informs cooperation, safety and freedom in multiple contexts.

This team is a sincere pleasure to work with as they DO THE WORK, practice, ask questions, adjust and stay consistent; truly a privilege.

05/08/2024

THISSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

05/07/2024

I run into a lot of people who need support in navigating the fallout of using suppression and punishment with the intention initially of providing the best learning they can for their dog.

It can be a difficult connection to make as so often, precisely as the data predicts, the highest number of unwanted outcomes do not come in the moment.

The results can reinforce the human's belief that the approach to learning they are using is not only effective but clear and appropriate.

Many times it’s only in the distant future that the fallout of punishment is observed. Maybe it's during the especially sensitive period most dogs go through between 8-15 months, maybe it's not until they are two years old; it really depends on the frequency and intensity the punishment is applied combined with the dog's experience of those consequences.

In an effort to help people align themselves with the person who is going to be able to support them in a way they are capable and available to receive, a critical first step is taking personal inventory of the way you collect and value information.

Understanding where and how information is being sourced and brought into the recommended treatment plan and aligning with someone who has similar values in those areas is an important step in knowing who is the best fit for you and your dog.