K-949: Training for Humans with Dogs

03/25/2025

03/20/2025

Watching.👀
Sometimes waiting for hours on end ⚠️
Scanning, fixating and then 💥back to their favourite spot again to wait and wait👀.
Window reactivity is a highly problematic behaviour.
It can add more "fuel" to anxiousness and if you have a reactive dog (leash reactive, fear reactive, over excited etc), it can negatively impact the work you are putting in elsewhere.
Some people view this behaviour as fun, a game for their dog, its "entertaining" for them....unfortunately it is a "game" that can have far reaching consequences into other areas of their life.
There is a video in the comments about how to help this as it can be a slippery slope indeed.
This dog training graphic (and over 130 more) available from https://www.abcdogsnz.com/product-page/barking-through-windows-abc-dogs-nz-dog-training-handouts

03/20/2025

Happy birthday to the late BF Skinner!

Burrhus Frederic Skinner, born on today's date in 1904, and passing away at the age of 84 on August 18th, 1990, was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.

His biggest influences were:

Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
Ernst Mach
Jacques Loeb
Edward Thorndike
William James
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Henry David Thoreau
Maxie Clarence Maultsby Jr.

Skinner considered free will an illusion, and human action to be dependent upon consequences of previous actions. If the consequences are bad, there is a high chance the action will not be repeated; if the consequences are good, the probability of the action being repeated becomes stronger. Skinner called this the principle of reinforcement.

To strengthen behavior, Skinner used operant conditioning, and he considered the rate of response to be the most effective measure of response strength. To study operant conditioning, he invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the 'Skinner Box', and to measure rate he invented the cumulative recorder. Using these tools, he and C. B. Ferster produced his most influential experimental work, which appeared in their book "Schedules of Reinforcement" (1957).

Skinner developed behavior analysis, the philosophy of that science he called radical behaviorism, and founded a school of experimental research psychology—the experimental analysis of behavior. He imagined the application of his ideas to the design of a human community in his utopian novel, "Walden Two", and his analysis of human behavior culminated in his work, "Verbal Behavior."

Skinner was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.

Contemporary academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism, along with John B. Watson and Ivan Pavlov. A June 2002 survey listed Skinner as the most influential psychologist of the 20th century.

Among his most influential books were "Behavior of Organisms" (1938), "Verbal Behavior" (1957) and "Science and Human Behavior" (1953). Skinner was succeeded by his wife Eve, and daughters Julie Vargas and Deborah Buzan.

For further information, see The B.F.Skinner Foundation at http://www.bfskinner.org; or the Association for Behavior Analysis International at https://www.abainternational.org

03/19/2025

WHEN TRAINING WON’T WORK

There is a common misconception that reactivity, anxiety or fear related behaviour can be “fixed” through training alone.

Barking, lunging, reactivity, aggression, constant hypervigilance - as though danger is waiting behind every corner, hiding or cowering away at the slightest trigger or sometimes shutting down completely are all signs of a nervous system that’s in overdrive and is unregulated.

This behaviour is not a training issue - it’s not bad behaviour, disobedience, stubbornness or some other type of negative label, - it’s a nervous system issue.

Although dogs and people have remarkably similar social and emotional brains, this doesn’t mean that dogs are able to think like we do, or have the words or means to process what is causing their stress or trauma.

When stress is not released, it remains stuck, keeping the nervous system in overdrive or in survival mode.

When a dog or a person is stuck in this state, the brain isn’t able to learn new things or learn to behave in a different way.

This is why trying to “train away” anxiety, fear or reactive type behaviour does not work. We first have to work on the nervous system.

Here are some links related to this subject that provide more information on how to help dogs that are struggling -

How to identify and remove triggers that keep a dog stuck in a cycle of stress and anxiety - Annie Phenix
https://phenix-dogs-canine-behavior-experts-llc.kit.com/7-steps

Creating a healing environment - podcast by Dr Laura Donaldson
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dr-laura-donaldson-compliance-is-not-cooperation/id1708279785?i=1000693042973

Trauma Informed Dog Training – Book by Sally Gutteridge
https://www.amazon.com/Trauma-Informed-Dog-Training-Professionals/dp/B0DS4T1W8M

What does it mean to be Trauma Informed - Dr Laura Donaldson
https://www.icbdogs.com/product-page/laura-donaldson-what-does-it-mean-to-be-trauma-informed

Ace Free Work – helps the nervous system relax, reset and rebalance
https://www.allpetseducationandtraining.com.au/ace-free-work.html

03/10/2025

I STILL NEEDED MY MOM

THE CONSEQUENCES OF TAKING PUPS TOO YOUNG

The early life experiences of a puppy are so important and have a significant influence on how that pup develops - emotionally, mentally, socially and physically.

There are still many so-called “breeders” that allow pups to be taken away at 6 weeks.

Uninformed people just accept this without question and are often unprepared for the consequences.

Just because a puppy may no longer physically depend on mom for food doesn’t mean they are ready to cope emotionally, without the security of their family unit, in a strange new home.

A 6-week-old puppy is still very reliant on mom and their littermates to learn appropriate play behaviour, impulse control, frustration tolerance, bite inhibition, self-confidence and develop the social skills that will help them grow into well-adjusted adults.

Although 8 weeks is the bare minimum that a reputable breeder will allow their pups to leave, some will keep their puppies until 10 or 12 weeks of age, but also make sure that proper, age-appropriate socialisation and habituation is provided.

Habituation is getting a puppy used to different things in an environment in a positive way, at the right developmental time. This could look like introducing different objects, noises, sounds, smells, different textures, places etc, so the puppy learns that these things are not something to be afraid of.

However, we don’t live an in ideal world and having to care for or rescue pups much younger than 8 weeks is often unavoidable due to different circumstances.

In these cases, we need to do what we can and hope for the best.

This post is not about this kind of situation, it’s about spreading knowledge, creating awareness, understanding and encouraging people not to support unethical, irresponsible breeders that allow their pups to leave too early, with no regard for their wellbeing or development.

03/10/2025

Premack Principle, also known as Grandma's Law, states that an animal is more likely to perform a low probability behavior if it's in order to access a high probability behavior.

This is the same as Grandma saying, "You can have your dessert, but first you have to eat your broccoli, " or "You can go ot to play, but only after you clean your room."

An example might be teaching a dog to sit or wait at the door (for a dog, this is a low probably, or less desired, behavior to perform) in order to gain access to going outside (high probability, or the dog's more desired, behavior).

It's very useful for teaching a dog to recall back to you rather than take off chasing prey. Once the dog can be recalled on a long line away from chase, then you allow the dog access to chase. And this doesn't mean to just let your dog w***y nilly chase after prey; the dog should still be on a long line until they learn that coming back to you is the appropriate behavior for them to perform in order for you to release them on the long line (or eventually even off the long line) to chase... you don't need to use real prey at first - a flirt pole, remote control car covered in fur, a toy squirrel on fishing line being dragged across the yard by a helper, etc.; all of these can serve as controllable variables while teaching the recall using Premack.)

As the dog realizes that the fastest way they can get to do the behavior they'd like (chase), is to recall back to you first, with practice they will learn that it pays off to perform the low probability behavior because it is the gateway to having access to the highly desired behavior.

This meme is a great example of when the Premack Principle does not work - the high probability behavior must be worth it for the animal to want to first perform the less enthusiastic behavior.

This meme always makes me laugh.

03/10/2025

You can't lie about time to a dog who eats on a regular schedule.

03/02/2025

...And maybe a muzzle for meetings with USA allies?

03/02/2025

~ BODY LANGUAGE QUIZ! ~

Fact: neither of these dogs is "mad." This is play. How can we tell?

Describe the body language you see of both dogs. What are the eyes, ears, postures, etc. doing? Remember not to interpret what's happening; simply list as many body language observations as you can see.

03/02/2025

There are better ways! Teach your dog to LOVE nail trims. This video by the late Dr. Sophia Yin on how to teach a dog to not only tolerate but enjoy nail trims is a classic, and worth saving:
https://youtu.be/q5ZkF4N0Vp0?si=nezV2jcDaLUi3gZZ

03/01/2025

"In previous studies, blinking in dogs has been linked to appeasement signals, indicating non-aggressive intentions and a desire for social harmony.

"The study published in Royal Societ Open Science provides strong evidence that blinking plays a role in dog communication, its exact meaning remains unclear. Since heart rates did not fluctuate significantly, the behavior is unlikely to be linked to stress or excitement.

"However, previous research has associated frequent blinking with frustration in furry friends. This suggests that context plays a key role—just as humans blink more when tired or stressed, dogs may use blinking for different emotional expressions depending on the situation."

Read on:

Is your dog trying to send you a message with their blinks? Scientists have discovered a fascinating hidden signal in canine behavior that could change the way we communicate with our furry friends.