Ada is Jolene's new puppy, and while she's learning lots of the basics you would expect, she's also learning a lot about how to feel confident enough to offer behavior and try new things. This is an example of a moment in their free shaping sessions. Jolene has no specific goal to start with, just lets Ada offer behaviors and begins to shape what she captures into something fun.
Its always good to be polite!
Has your dog ever learned a skill at home, but won't do it reliably when out and about? This is a common complaint we hear and there are many factors that are at play that create this problem. One of them is that the behavior hasn't been proofed as much as it needs to be. Some dogs are better at generalizing than others, but so often our human brains are not thinking about these cues in the way our animals might be.
This video shows just how specific many dogs can be with their learning. Teddy (dog on the left) learned to lay down with two cues. One is the verbal cue of “down”, one is the visual cue of Jolene pointing her left finger towards the ground. She initially trained this way on purpose to show this learning factor. When she points with her right finger and cues “down,” Teddy does not respond. This is because the “picture” of what the prompt looks like, based on how he initially learned it, had changed. It seems really subtle to us humans because we know what we're asking for, but for the animal, it's different enough for them to hesitate or assume it's not the same request. If subtle things like this can throw them off, imagine asking for a sit in a more distracting environment when the dog has only truly mastered the skill at home. Proofing means working at the learner's pace and learning it in different environments and contexts. It is a must to set them up for success!
Ghost 123
Ghost is a 9 ½ year old mini Australian shepherd that struggles with walks. She pulls, she weaves back and forth in front of her people, and she barks at other people/dogs. Ghost’s family reached out to Emily because they wanted to be able to enjoy walks with her without feeling frustrated or stressed. While there are many ways to address these concerns, one example is to play training games that condition the dog to focus on their person, but also make learning fun!
In this video, Ghost’s mom is playing a game called 123. This is an example of a pattern game originally developed by trainer Leslie McDevitt that conditions a dog to focus on their person while in motion, which is a bit more difficult compared to being stationary and getting the dog to focus on the human at the other end of the leash. Once the dog and handler are comfortable with the game, this becomes a tool in the handler’s toolbox that can be used in the presence of multiple distractions/triggers.
Great job Team Ghost!
Ginger is a 1 year old pit bull mix whose person came to us to work on leash manners. Her dad said that she pulls on leash like crazy and weaves back and forth so much that he’s constantly concerned he’s going to fall! We have been doing a lot of work on conditioning focus while out in the world as well as shaping a loose leash rather than a tight, tense leash. Here’s Ginger and her dad playing a focusing game in their neighborhood during our most recent session. They make a great team!
Gryffin is an 11 month-old Standard Poodle who Jolene began working with over the summer. Being a pup who ran head-first into adolescence (an important but sometimes difficult developmental window-not unlike it is in humans), he struggled to regulate his big feelings of excitement or frustration, which resulted in lots of jumping, pulling and mouthing. This isn’t uncommon to see at this stage of life with many dogs, as their brains take significantly longer to return to baseline from excitement or stress during this chunk of life. He was lucky to have found an awesome guardian to help him learn, who has been patient and understanding with him on his journey and who has been an enthusiastic learner herself. He has come leaps and bounds so far, learning many things, including how to take deep breaths when cued in order to help provide biofeedback to his brain to help him relax (watch his cute nose in the video!). We’re so proud of him and his human!
Teesa and Teddy are Tibetan Terriers who have been enrolled into our day training program and have been working with Jolene. They're focusing on calm and relaxation, as well as greeting guests politely at the door. These two cuties have been doing wonderfully and while training multiple dogs simultaneously can be a challenge, have graduated to being able to work along side one another.
The dog has spirit, we'll give them that!
Jolene and Emily were able to set up a unique training scenario recently. Jolene’s client Nicole (with her pup Gilbert) and Emily’s clients Jesus and Shenn (with their pup Lilo) live in the same apartment building. Both Gilbert and Lilo are reactive dogs, meaning they pull, bark, whine, and basically make a spectacle of themselves when they see a trigger. Triggers differ depending on the dog, but they can include novel people, novel dogs, cars, wildlife, etc. It just so happens that Gilbert is a massive trigger for Lilo and Lilo is a massive trigger for Gilbert!
We love to work with “real life” triggers whenever possible, so scheduling a session where both of them can work together was a no brainer! Lilo (the black lab mix) is playing a game called “superbowls,” which conditions her to focus on her human, lowers stress, and increases confidence around triggers. Gilbert (the miniature schnauzer) is playing the same game at a distance that both dogs can handle.
Towards the end of the video, Emily asks Shenn to “u-turn” Lilo, which is a cue that tells Lilo to disengage and increase distance from a trigger so that she can emotionally decompress. This is an example of a tool in Shenn and Jesus’ toolbox that can help prevent Lilo from blowing up at triggers.
Great job Team Gilbert and Team Lilo!!!!
Happy Halloween! Stay safe out there tonight!
We have clients all over the country who we have been working with virtually with amazing success. In fact, we find that not only is it just as effective, but the animal learns to connect with their humans and listen more clearly to them because our presence is not a distraction or a stressor. This means more effective help, since our presence can alter the animal's response in a way that doesn't match regular everyday circumstances we are trying to work with them in.
In this video we have Simone (black tabby) and Sammy (orange and white), two cats whose people have invested in a virtual training package to improve their relationship. Sammy and Simone cannot currently be in the same room as one another because Sammy will attack Simone whenever he has the opportunity. We are working on teaching both of them healthy coping skills for managing their stress as well as exercises to change their emotional associations with one another. Instead of being the predictors of something stressful/scary, we are making them the predictors of something good!
Virtual sessions allow more flexibility for the client’s schedule, help the animal work in an environment that is more true-to-life, and only require the internet and a phone, laptop, or tablet. Because it's the safer option during the pandemic, cheaper than in-person, and also has a great deal of benefits on its own, we are very enthusiastic and confident about offering services virtually and we want our clients to understand that choosing this type of training would not be detrimental to their progress.
To learn more about virtual training, please visit: https://www.homewardboundbehavior.com/virtual-consultations
For one of our presentations, we played the "Alien Game" with a volunteer from the audience. The premise of the game is that Jolene is an alien that has come to earth and wants to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She knows the names of objects, but needs guidance on how the sandwich is made. We ask the audience how many steps they think it takes to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, then have a volunteer guide Jolene through the process. The number of steps is almost always more than what the audience predicts! The point of the exercise is to show that sometimes learning needs to be broken down into baby steps so that the learner can understand what is being taught. Since animals don't speak English, this concept absolutely applies to them! A BIG thank you to our volunteer, who was a very good sport!
Here's a quick clip of Jolene speaking at the Great Iowa Pet Expo on Saturday! Great job Jolene! 👏 👏👏
Remember to help your buddy out when they get into the Halloween decorations!
Emily here. I'm pretty stinking proud of this one. This is Jones and his human in an enclosure with their sheep. Jones has been struggling with chasing the sheep, so we've been working on teaching alternative behaviors while in their presence.
A foundational cue that we teach pretty much everyone is something called a flight cue. The animal disengages from stimuli and increases distance. By interrupting visual engagement and increasing distance from stimuli that may be triggering, the animal emotionally decompresses and is able to make better social decisions. The flight cue literally becomes a healthy coping mechanism that the animal can choose to engage in instead of lunging, blowing up, etc.
BIG congrats to "Team Jones" on all their hard work!!!
If you are interested in what we can do for your dogs, cats, or birds, please visit www.homewardboundbehavior.com.
Come see us at the Great Lakes Pet Expo tomorrow!
Every year we have the joy of being able to make so many new furry and feathered friends while getting to do what we love. We wanted to share some of the adorable faces we have had the pleasure of getting to know. From our families to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!
#thankful #thanksgivingday #grateful #forcefreetraining #happythanksgiving2022
Pepper makes the most out of his treats by having a blast playing with them first. We just think this is the cutest!
