Walking my dog past geese
WOW…so this really happened this morning! I have worked with my dog a lot on walking past geese - but never THIS many geese. I would not do this off leash, and I am very aware of his body language. If I saw any sign that he was about to be in chase mode, I would have redirected VERY quickly. But Dawson was amazing! Way to go buddy!
How cue overshadowing can impact dog training
Remember Violet? This is her (and Kevin) showing their brilliance! My client was having some challenges training his dog to lay down, so I asked him to show me how he was teaching her. There are so many things we can improve upon with his dog training mechanics…and you will see how my client learned to clean this up.For the sake of this post, let’s talk about cue overshadowing and how that can impact your dog’s ability to learn either a hand or verbal cue.Here, Violet begins with sitting or standing in front of Kevin, looking at him. That is the antecedent for beginning this behavior. Then Kevin shows his fist or palm, bends over while lowering his hand to the ground and saying ‘down’ all at the same time. I should note that Kevin holding the treats is probably also a cue to Violet, telling her now is the time to pay attention.There is no single, saliant cue being taught. It is all mushed together. When you teach this way, and then you try to just ask your dog to do that behavior with a verbal cue alone, it is very likely that your dog will look at you with a blank face.That was not the way your dog learned it. This is called CUE OVERSHADOWING. That is what can happen when you accidentally teach multiple cues at the same time.It is very understandable then that Violet does not understand what the word DOWN means when used by itself because it was never used by itself.By the way, I encourage you to use a word other than DOWN for this behavior because of the fact that DOWN is used in so many negative ways.How did Kevin clean up his dog training? By re-teaching his dog to lay down with clarity, using clicker training!Teaching Violet to lay down with lots of repetitions of her getting reinforcement for that behavior. And only adding back in a new word, DROP, just before she is about to do the behavior.Getting lots of practice at this step BEFORE testing her knowledge and saying DROP when she is not already about to do the behavior.Remember, you can have multi
When an adolescent dog is overly bitey and overly vocal, it may not mean that dog needs more exercise.It would mean that dog needs more practice relaxing and settling, mixed in with the other fun stuff.#dog #adolescentdog #dogtraining #positivedogtraining
Part of this dog’s past included restraint for grooming and handling. For a dog who already had anxiety issues, this only deepened his emotions and reasons to escalate to aggressive behaviors. When he had an ear infection, things became worse as he also experienced a lot of pain. He learned to snarl, lunge and even bite as his defense mechanism.
By the time I began working with him and his family, his ear infection had been cleared but his learning history still caused him to respond when a hand came near that body part.
We worked with his veterinarian, who prescribed anti-anxiety medication for him. Having the meds in his system significantly increased his threshold (the point at which he would snarl, lunge, bite) to where we could have more success with behavior medication.
Five weeks into his anti-anxiety medications, I began the process of teaching him a different – positive association – with hands around and touching his ears.
You can see how I made this fun for him. There is no pressure on him, no restraint. He had complete freedom to move away.
His loose, engaged body posture told me he enjoyed our game. And in the process, his ears were handling a bunch!
Giving him this power of choice and control, making it fun for him while always watching what his body tells us (about comfort or needing/not needing space) is key to transitioning from stress to joy not only with this but with other aspects of his life.
Oh how I love seeing this!
Practicing dog cooperative care
From growling and biting to participating in ear handling
Dog Aggression in a Crate...A Solution
This dog, Augie, has always enjoyed relaxing and napping in his crate; however, he had a scary experience when young grandkids got into the bedroom and banged on the crate before adults realized to intervene. Lesson learned about the very important management that needs to be in place when family visits. However, since then, Augie has reacted to hands on the crate door with snarling, lunging and snapping.
He is going to need a lot of rehearsals of feeling safe with hands around the crate. It is tough because it is a confined space without a means for him to escape which gives him more reason to feel threatened.
We definitely do not want to rush the process and want to be very careful to only take tiny steps as his body language indicates he is ok to go further.
In the meanwhile, we came up with this solution. Putting a pen around his gate serves several purposes. It gives him a sense of security and also serves the function of the crate door. This is actually working so well that they are going to keep using this set up at home.
Is your dog actually stubborn?
My answer: probably not. I explain.
Do you have any examples of your dog seeming to be 'stubborn'? What do you think was really behind your dog's choice to not do what you'd like to see?
#dogtraining #dogbehavior
Don't Forget This In Dog Training
Don't forget, this activity can really be helpful to include in building focus and engagement in dog training!
In dog training, it is helpful to be able to deliver treats quickly and efficiently after a market. Here is a hack to help you do that.
Beautiful dog play
Besides the fact that this is just beautiful is that THIS would not have happened before the little dog was prescribed anti anxiety medication. I have been helping Augie and his family with his anxiety that has led to some aggressive tendencies. He seems so much more relaxed now and has a much higher threshold for what would have bothered him which means there is a lot more space for behavior modification. Augie is a wonderful example of how anti anxiety medication can significantly improve quality of life and opportunity for behavior modification success. I love, love this! ❤️
This Boston Terrier dog had a really tough time showing any kind of impulse control in the presence of his toy, or anything else that triggered his grabbing, shaking and chasing natural instinctive behaviors. How did we teach him to wait until release to play with this hollee-roller toy?By teaching him that waiting causes the opportunity to play with his hollee-roller to happen!This is known as using the Premack Principle, which refers to how a high probability behavior that follows a lower probability behavior serves to reinforce the lower probability behavior. In other words, an individual is more likely to do a less desired behavior if that individual if it gets the opportunity to do something else that is more valuable and/or more likely.As a teacher, you can strengthen the behaviors you want to see in your pet by teaching your pet that doing the behaviors you want to see causes opportunities to be available that your learner REALLY wants to do.My personal example?My finishing this social media post gets me the opportunity to take my dog for a walk….and I am really wanting to spend time outdoors. I got this post written and edited in record time!What are some ways in which you have used the Premack Principle in teaching behaviors either to your pet or in strengthen your own behaviors?
So proud of this adolescent girl, my buddy, labradoodle Ebony. This was a difficult environment for many dogs and she is a dog with an adolescent brain. That makes learning and processing even harder. We are aware to do things to help her succeed. Yesterday she did great!
When you train your dog or other pet with positive reinforcement, keep in mind that ONLY your pet gets to say what is of value. And that can change at any time. It can also be breed specific. Maybe your dog values chasing things, tugging or specific food. My dog happens to love fancy lettuce. It isn’t a practical choice in many situations but here lettuce works fine for us! If you were to ask your dog or bird or cat what he values right now, what would your pet tell you?
Teaching Your Dog To Leave It
When it comes to walking your dog and loose leash walking, a very common complaint from dog owners is that their dog wants to investigate and even put in his mouth all kinds of things in the environment. Things that the owner often does not approve of.
A common skill that people want to train their dog to do is LEAVE IT, meaning leave that thing and do something else - like turning or moving away or giving attention to his handler.
However, often I see people saying LEAVE IT when their dog is already pulling to investigate that thing. If their dog is intensely interested in their focal point, their dog may not pay attention to his handler's request then the request gets repeated and repeated, and can include a leash pull.
This can create a lot of conflict for the dog who does not want to turn away from that thing.
Here are some dog training tips for teaching LEAVE IT with positive reinforcement instead.
#dogtraining #dogtrainingtip #positivedogtraining
Play pickleball? Have a dog? I do too‼️ 😊 Here is an enrichment idea for dogs who live with pickleball players…like me. 😃 #pickleball #pickleballislife #pickleballplayer #dog #dogenrichment #dogenrichmentactivities #dogenrichmenttoys #dogenrichmentideas #havefunwithyourdog #somuchpetential #dogs
Stopping A Puppy From Biting Shoelaces
Puppies like to chew and bite at things. Puppy Bruno is no exception. He thinks shoelaces that move are really cool play things. You can see how he enjoys going after them when I bent down to tie my shoe.
What did I do?
Well, I DID NOT punish him. After all, I saw it as just a difference in expectations around shoelaces. And he had not yet learned what his people would like for him to do.
So, we set out to teach him. One tiny step at a time.
Which of Maemae’s expressions do you like best?#maltipoo #maltipoos #maltipoopuppy #maltipoolove #puppy #puppylove #cutepuppy
What is capturing as an animal training strategy?Simply described, capturing teaches your dog or bird or other animal a new behavior by your catching your pet doing a behavior and then adding value to that behavior by following it with something that your pet really values, a reinforcer.Internationally respected Applied Animal Behaviorist Kathy Sdao, M.A., refers to this as SMART training meaning See, Mark, and Reinforce Training. You SEE (or capture) the wanted behavior, then you MARK the behavior (often with either a word like ‘good’ or ‘yes’, or a click), and then you follow the marker with the reinforcing consequence.This strategy can be a difficult training strategy for a behavior that is naturally infrequent because you have very little opportunity to see it happen, which weakens your pet’s ability to learn an association between the behavior and positive consequence.How To Have More Success Using Capturing In Animal TrainingThere are times in your pet’s day when it is more likely for your pet to do certain behaviors. So, begin by considering those times and being deliberate about watching for the wanted behaviors at those times. Practice SMART training.When that behavior has even more value (because of your reinforcing it a lot), THEN you can think about adding a new cue like a verbal cue.To do that, just before you know your pet is about to do the behavior, go ahead and insert a word. Then mark and reinforce the behavior…over and over again.What behaviors have you taught your pet using capturing?
So, this morning Dawson and I needed to have a talk after he discovered something in our backyard.
Consider This If You Are Having TroubleHouse Training Your Puppy: Yes, management and scheduling are very important when it comes to house training your puppy. Also very important is teaching your puppy the behavior of pottying on a particular substrate – usually grass. Remember, the world can be an exciting and fun place for your little friend. And that is awesome!However, if, as soon as your puppy is out the door, her fascination with exploring and playing causes her forget about pottying, guess what will happen? She will come in with a full bladder and empty it inside.It is really no fault of your puppy. She has not learned the importance of pottying in the grass, and she has a curious mind.Remember that you are your puppy’s teacher and she learns by consequences. When you take her out, take her to a spot (maybe one that is away from smelly shrubs) and give her a few minutes to go. If she doesn’t relieve herself, bring her in and keep her with you. Then try again in a few minutes. When she goes, THEN all the fun starts!The sniffing and playing and chasing…that happens as a result of pottying in the grass. How cool is that?! Just relieving herself causes so much good to happen! When she catches on, I bet you will see her pottying more quickly to get to the fun stuff!
