12/11/2022
Using drive CORRECTLY in training
First, what is “drive” …
It is an internal source of energy (biologically innate) that is activated by some external catalyst (e.g. food, play, s*x, danger, etc.)
(s/o to Nino, I adapted my definition from his; he describes drive as “energy produced from an external source”)
Now when it comes to drive, a good trainer must always consider two things:
(1) Do I want to train in high drive or low drive?
and …
(2) On stimulus control, do I want the dog performing in high drive or low drive?
These two things are related, but not the same. The first addresses the optimal approach to achieve a training objective. The second considers what will make the dog most successful in the final picture.
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In this video (temporarily unavailable), I’m training Marcel, a Lagotto out of Barbieri’s kennel, to help improve on his role as a therapeutic service animal for a premier NYC dental office. (His initial training was done by Jackie)
When I was luring Marcel to climb up and settle into position on top of the patient chair, I was working him in high drive (this guy has a fantastic food drive)
Why?
Well, the patient’s chair is relatively high, the plastic covering makes it slippery, and he has to navigate a person’s legs and still settle down despite all of those challenging factors. To effectively and efficiently overcome all of that, I want the dog high on dopamine.
So … I make it a game.
Marcel jumps up, then jumps down? Great. No down required. He leaks a little? Cool. He chases the lure too fast and slips off? Boom, reward. And as for the rewards, I make them fast and unpredictable, sometimes giving a few kibble, sometimes a whole handful. I cheer him on through the process as I feed him and my whole body is very active and upbeat.
This, of course, made him HIGH. He wanted to jump off and restart the game. His downs were fidgety. He was panting heavily and wagging his tail in long sweeping motions, filled with excitement. But he was not afraid nor intimidated by any of the truly challenging factors involved with his service task.
But very quickly … within the same session … I started to change the tune a bit. I didn’t wait long after he was LOVING this game to change gears and start working in low drive.
My rewards became extremely communistic. One kibble at a time, each time. My tone and body language chilled out. I started to make it boring. I would then start applying a low level ecollar stim (level 1 on a Martin System Chameleon) before every repetition.
Why?
Because for Marcel to be successful in the final picture — in position while multiple dentists are working on a nervous patient with loud noises, scary tools, bright lights and overall shifting conditions — he needs to be extremely STABLE and CHILL.
With communistic rewards, I start conditioning the emotional state I want him in during performance, which is that of very low drive. Just like in tracking … I don’t want a high ju**ie that is flying around. I want calm focus.
As we progress in training and begin fading food, the ecollar will be a clear must-key that overrules any competing reinforcers. It will serve as both a negative reinforcer to start the behavior as well as a correction for when he breaks. In this way, we maintain strong reliability in the task WITHOUT demotivating the dog.
Ultimately, you must always have an idea of what you want your final picture to look like when creating a training plan. And you must also observe the dog and the situation to know when to implement adjustments to your plan.
