Click and Treat, But Why?

I use clicker training with the majority of my clients, or at least with their dogs- people look at me funny when I start clicking and giving out M&M’s. I love clicker training, there’s no hiding it so I won’t even try. It fits perfectly in my force-free philosophy and makes training fun and fast for everyone. There are a few exceptions to this- homes with multiple small children can mean the parents have to be extra careful and put more work into hiding the fun little noisemaker and folks who have slower reaction time due to age, physical handicap, or disease. In those cases, we tend to use a verbal reward marker, like “YES!” Let me take a step back and explain all about the clicker. The clicker utilizes the principles of classical conditioning, which is based on the work of Ivan Pavlov. Like so many scientific discoveries, Pavlov stumbled upon Classical Conditioning (CC) by accident. The Russian physiologist was studying canine salivation rates in response to meals back in the 1890’s when he realized that the dogs began to salivate when he (the person feeding them) would enter the room. He put together that some things are innate for animals- drooling is something that a dog naturally does when food is around, so that response does not need to be trained. We call these responses Unconditioned Responses (UR) and they are generally paired with an Unconditioned Stimulus (US). US are things that trigger an innate response; food makes hungry dogs drool because their body begins producing saliva to aid in chewing and digestion- dogs don’t need to learn to do that. What Pavlov accidentally did was to pair the UR with something new, something without meaning- a Neutral Stimulus (NS). Next, the can opener that he used to open the canned dog food was paired with the food enough times that the dogs began to have the same response to the can opener as the actual food. He took this farther and tried pairing the salivation with another NS- a bell. He wound up with dogs who would drool at the sound of a bell ringing. That is exactly what we do with the clicker- it starts out as this noisemaker that means nothing, but quickly becomes an indication that the dog will get a treat for doing what we want- a reward marker. Do you know why clicker training became so popular with marine and other large mammals? Because it allowed people to train and work with them without punishment. There a few problems with using coercive techniques with animals who weigh tons more than people- the people can get hurt and if uninterested, the whale simply swims away or the elephant stomps on the human who keeps hurting him. Clicker training is used with dogs, horses, chickens, and a world of animals in zoos. It allows us to work with them safely and build a healthy, strong relationship with the animal and a tool to effectively communicate.

You have questions, I know. I have the answers:

Do I always need a clicker?
Of course not, you also don’t need a pouch full of jerky, either. These are only needed for initially training a behavior or cue. Once fluent in the words we teach, you will begin to fade out the use of treats and the clicker. We then use real life rewards- toys, free play, tug, belly rubs- whatever the dog loves.

My dog doesn’t need more food, he’s already overweight.
That's fine. You can use part of your dog’s daily food as rewards during training most of the time and if you need to use more tasty treats, you can simply cut back on their regular food. Also, you won’t always need treats, over time your dog will do what you ask for petting, praise, toys, tug, fetch- whatever he likes. Lastly, we use really, really small pieces of treat in training- my rule of thumb is that the treat should be no bigger than a pea.

Does this really work?
Yes. Do you go to the door when you hear the doorbell? Do you answer your phone when it rings? Those are both examples of things that were at one point in your life, neutral stimuli but were given a new meaning; that’s all we are doing with clicker training. If you need further proof of how it works in people, check out this article on TAGTeach, which is essentially clicker training used in people, especially for young athletes to perfect form and to help those with certain developmental challenges.


https://clickertraining.com/node/402

Whispering Dogs

There's talk of dog whisperers and horse whisperers and ghost whisperers- wait, that last one I'm not so sure about. Anyway, people can call themselves whatever they want, but it's actually more important to hear a dog whisper than whisper to a dog. How does one listen to a dog? It actually has much more to do with observing than listening, though your ears will come in handy.Dogs are always communicating with us and we are often too ignorant to realize it because they communicate mostly in tiny signals. It's not entirely our fault that we are ignorant to these tiny things; they are tiny and fleeting and generally below our eye level. The thing is, we owe it to our dogs to try a bit harder. This guy summed it up nicely:

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”

—Josh Billings 

It's usually those little things that tell us what our dog is feeling and thinking. By understanding these little things, we can actually be better people for our dogs. Imagine, knowing the instant your dog is bothered by the toddler grabbing his tail (ok that one is pretty obvious), by the heavy-handed petting by crazy aunt Myrtle, or that the new puppy is just too much for your 13 year old dog to have patience for. When we see and understand these things, we can get our dog out of situations before anything bad happens and we can be much more successful with training and behavior modification. If you can't tell when your dog is going over threshold when working with a scary stimulus, how can you be sure you are doing behavior modification correctly? If you can't see that your pup is getting more and more agitated in class, how can you expect them to focus on you or learn anything?

I'll put this in more human terms to demonstrate the escalation of behaviors. In a way, dogs have three basic levels of talking to us- whispering, talking, and yelling. 

Whispering is the first signal they are uneasy about something and they will try to whisper until they feel they are not being heard. Whispers are little body language signals which a dog exhibits to express their discomfort. A lot of whispers are actually displacement behaviors and calming behaviors, which are used by dogs in an attempt to diffuse stressful situations and communicate that they are not a threat to that scary stimulus. 

If their whispering is ignored, dogs will try talking, which are signals that are a little more obvious (at least to the dog). Dogs will usually still offer displacement and calming signals at this point, but will probably offer more stress reactions to let you know that they want out of the situation. 

When those two are ignored and the dog feels under severe stress or pressure, they start yelling. As people, we tend to wait until our dog is yelling to do anything. Dogs will no longer offer displacement or calming behaviors at this point, because they see it as pointless- they have been trying those for so long and they have been ignored so they need to protect themselves at this point. The yelling is actually what we people are great at seeing, but by then your dog is at or way over threshold and might as well be having a panic attack. 

This is where people who use shock collars make their money- a dog who is way over threshold cannot be lured back with treat or toy and can't be called back with commands, just as you would not be talked out of a panic attack by someone saying "oh, it's ok, just calm down- have a cookie." That's not how the brain works. By the time a dog is that upset, they are in fight or flight mode and digestion is the last thing (literally) on their mind. Then, someone comes in with a coercive method like a physical correction. Aside from removing the dog from the situation, something like this will unfortunately be the only way to get their attention in that situation, because pain or discomfort is the only thing that will register with the part of their brain that has taken over. The problem with this method lies in the fallout- a dog is unsure of kids on bicycles, then one day one gets way too close and the next thing that pup knows, she is getting yanked around by the neck or shocked. Why on earth would she ever begin to like kids or bicycles?! That only reinforces her beliefs that kids and bicycles are dangerous. A much better method is to first know when a dog is showing little signs of stress and help them cope at that level, then gradually add in higher level stressors as long as they stay under threshold. Ideally, this is done under the instruction of a professional trainer or behaviorist. Here are a few examples of each:

Whispering: lip lick, short stare, slight head turn, scratching frequently or out of context (like in the middle of play), sniffing the ground out of context (in the middle of play or when meeting someone), leaning away, looking away, low tail, yawning, moving slowly

Talking: hyper-vigilant (looking around quickly), excessive yawning, panting when it's not hot, freezing in position, moving away, "whale eye" (looking so far in one direction that you see the whites of the dog's eyes), sudden loss of appetite, tucked tail, curved spine, dilated pupils, shaking/trembling, shaking off (this is a displacement behavior that we see frequently in play)

Yelling: lip lift, closed mouth, showing teeth snarling, growling, barking, lunging, biting 

Look back over those signals. There are a lot of them, and that's just the ones we humans can easily perceive. Dogs will always use these signals before they do something like biting. The only times they don't are when they are consistently ignored or punished for whispering or talking; then they go to just yelling all the time. This is how we get dogs who seem to bit out of nowhere, or dogs who "seem fine" and then "suddenly bite". Short of a chemical imbalance, it is quite rare for a dog to go from "fine" to biting. 

Usually, a dog who is just not reacting visibly is what most people see as "fine". A small dog who is very still and looking away from a big, scary dog is just "fine", right? Wrong. They are uneasy and trying to say so as politely as possible. If you don't give them some distance from that big scary dog, they will start talking louder and yelling. 

I hope this gives you some insight into your dog and can help you to be a better dog owner. Don't you want to be the best possible person for a face like this?

Resources and recommended reading on this topic. 

I have included so many resources on this one because I believe that understanding your dog is the most important part of owning a dog (short of feeding and medical care, that is).

Interview w/Pam Dennison on reactivity

http://www.dogcastradio.com/flashplayer.php?episode=155On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals, Turid RugaasCalming Signals: What Your Dog Tells You – DVD – Turid RugaasThe Other End of the Leash – Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs, Patricia B. McConnell, Ph.D.Stress in Dogs, Martina Scholz and Clarissa von ReinhardtThe Language of Dogs – Understanding Canine Body Language and Other Signals- DVD’s – Sarah Kalnajs

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The Nitty Gritty of Clean Training, Part 2: Reinforcement Schedules

As someone who uses reward based training, I hear this one all the time: "but if I train with treats, my dog will only ever listen when I have treats!"
That could be true- if you never change your reinforcement schedule and never fade out food treats. If you work with a trainer who understands reinforcement schedules and how to use them to fade out food treats and fine tune behavior, this is never a problem.

I will fight my natural tendency to give way more information than is necessary in this post, but this is one of those topics that gets a bit tricky so I use extra words to explain and re-explain myself. I apologize in advance for all the repetition.

A reinforcement schedule is a rule or pre-set program that determines how and when a response will be rewarded. Different stages of learning use different reinforcement schedules- when learning a new behavior we reward differently than when strengthening or proofing a known behavior. We also use different reinforcement schedules for different reasons in training, depending on the behavior we are encouraging or discouraging.

Look at you, learning about training! 

Easy, painless, and you are still awake. 

Let's dive in to the good stuff! 

When I being training a new behavior or cue with a dog, we will begin with a Continuous Reinforcement Schedule, which abbreviated as CRF. In this type of reinforcement, the dog gets a reward every time they offer the desired behavior. We use this when teaching new behaviors because we want the dog to learn that the new behavior is a really great thing to do- it always gets attention and a treat! If your dog gets a treat, pat on the head, and an enthusiastic "good boy!" every time he sits; he's going to try sitting more often. This comes in handy when we build behaviors on top of each other, because they always have a strong base behavior to fall back on if there is a regression in training. Regression can happen because training suddenly stops for a period of time or because of a change in environment/stimuli. When using a CRF, it is important to only use it until the dog understands the behavior, then switch to a less predictable schedule (this is also when we begin to give different rewards based on the quality of response, but that's covered below in Differential Reinforcement Schedules).

Partial Reinforcement Schedules (PRF) reward the desired response only after certain responses, either after a set ratio (number of responses) or interval (period of time). We can use these schedules to fine tune behavior once the basics are understood.
Within this schedule, there are five different types of reinforcement:

1. Fixed Ratio: The dog gets a reward after a predetermined number of responses. For example, you can train your dog to "count" using this method by rewarding after say, three barks and labeling it "count to three". This could be done with any number, of course! 
2. Variable Ratio: The dog gets rewarded after a different number of responses, but the average of them getting the reward is determined by you. If you want an average of three responses, you would reward for: 1, 4, 2, 3, 2. The average of these responses is 3. This is what I use to start fading out treats in training the 'heel'. At first, the dog is rewarded every step for staying in the 'heel' position. As the get better with staying in position in anticipation of treats, the treats are given after one step, two steps, four steps, three steps, two steps. They are getting rewarded on average every three steps, but it's not always three exactly and they are getting fewer treats than in initial training. Over time, we simply make the average a bigger number. 
3. Random Ratio: This is the other way to build strong behaviors. In random ratio, the dog gets a reward sometimes, but not other times. It should be as random as possible. Truly random rewarding is hard for us people to wrap our heads around; we try to make patterns so it makes sense in our minds. Dogs are great at figuring out patterns, so they soon learn if we are actually making a pattern and predict it. This can be used in training the 'heel' just like the above example, but we would want to keep it random, instead of aiming for an average number of steps. 
4. Fixed Interval: The dog gets a reward only when the behavior is offered when a set period of time has elapsed since the previous response. This is something that we don't really use much in training because it actually isn't terribly useful in most training situations. The idea is that a dog offers a behavior, like 'sit' and gets a reward. There would be a predetermined interval, lets say 4 seconds, that the dog needs to wait until it can offer the 'sit' again and get a reward. If they sit at 1, 2, or 3 seconds, they get no reward. Any 'sit' after 4 seconds gets a reward. Over time, responses on the part of the dog go up because they know they have to offer the behavior to get a reward. It's a fun thing to do, but really has little real use in day to day training. The problem is that a dog can get distracted and forget to respond with the correct behavior in that interval, so we can't effectively train anything that's well remembered.   
5. Variable Interval: Just like variable ratio above, this is a reward for different responses, averaging a number you have picked. The difference is that this is rewarding for a period of time instead of a number of responses. The dog would get a reward for the correct behavior after a period of time has elapsed, but that interval of time will vary within an average. Like fixed interval this can result in a steady string of responses, but since the response is dependent on the animal offering it, can be tricky to use in training. 

When using a Differential Reinforcement Schedule, rewards are given after certain types of responses are offered or after certain rates of response are offered. Basically, this means that the dog gets a reward based on the quality of their response or the frequency of offering the correct response. This is what we use to fine tune behaviors, to build complex behaviors, or work with especially nervous, anxious, or reactive dogs.

 1. Response Type schedules are simply the quality of the response- a 'down' with the belly all the way on the ground is preferred over a 'down' with the belly tucked up and not touching the ground.

Within this, there are three types of schedules which we use to get the desired behavior and remove unwanted behaviors:

      a. Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behaviors (DRI): A dog jumps to greet people will be rewarded for any behavior that they can't do while jumping. Sitting, laying down, or simply standing would all be considered incompatible behaviors. These incompatible behaviors become more rewarding than the problem behavior (jumping).
      b. Differential Reinforcement of Other Behaviors (DRO): A dog who barks at passers-by on walks can be rewarded for doing anything that is not barking. These other behaviors become more rewarding than barking, so the barking starts to diminish. 

     c. Differential Reinforcement of Excellent Behaviors (DRE): A dog who perfectly heels on command when asked the first time, then sits in position when the handler comes to a stop would get a reward because that is an ideal response. We tend to reward these great responses a bit longer because they are the ultimate goal and we want them to become the normal. By rewarding these great behaviors, all others extinguish themselves. 

2. Response Rate Schedules are ones that require a dog to respond at a certain rate for that reward. The reward is based on the offering of the correct behavior within the correct time period. Much like fixed interval and variable interval training, these aren't of as much use in dog training, but here you go anyway. 

• Differential Reinforcement of High Rates (DRH): A dog is only rewarded for offering the 'look' behavior if it occurs within 7 seconds of the previous response. If the dog looks at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 seconds, they get a reward. If it is 7 seconds or more they get no reward. This is used to build a steady stream of responses.
• Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates (DRL): A dog is only rewarded for offering the 'look' behavior after a specified period of time has elapsed, lets say 7 seconds. Any look after 7 seconds gets a reward, anything before 7 seconds does not. 

A Duration Reinforcement Schedule requires the dog to respond throughout a set period of time; these periods of time can be fixed, variable, or random. The classic example for this is the 'stay' cue. A dog is asked to hold the stay position for a period of time. Initially in training, we work with a short period of time and build it up gradually to longer duration and out of sight stays.

• Fixed Duration: The dog has to stay for 1 minute to get a reward. If they get up before that minute is up, there is no reward. 
• Variable Duration: The dog has to stay for an average of 1 minute to get the reward. This is the best way to lengthen the duration of a stay because you are on average staying within the time period you know the dog will tolerate, but can gradually increase the duration by increasing the average.
• Random Duration: The dog is asked to stay for random periods of time, rewarded only if they do so. This is a great way to lengthen duration also, because the dog can't predict how long you will be gone. If we simply leave for longer each time, the dog predicts that the time period will be longer, since they are good at putting together patterns. 

Still awake? Good job, you're almost done!

So what does all that mean? It means that you can fine tune and train different behaviors using different reinforcement schedules. Within this, you can even give different types of rewards based on responses (more on that another day).
There are three lessons I want you to come away with from this:
1. there is strong relationship between continuous reinforcement and degradation of behavior even before the food is faded.  If a behavior is always followed by a treat, over time the dog has no motivation to offer the behavior quickly or perfectly. If a behavior is always followed by a treat and the treats suddenly stop, the behavior stops too because the behavior is no longer paying off as it had been! Dogs who are on a continuous reinforcement schedule too long end up with sloppy or slow behaviors and behave like spoiled children, demanding things they want.
2.  Random and variable reinforcement always result in the strongest behaviors, with much lower incidents of the behavior extinguishing as rewards fade. If a behavior is always rewarded initially and then randomly or variably rewarded, there is still always the possibility of a reward, so the behavior continues with the same strength. This is how a slot machine works. The machines pay out on a variable or random schedule, though it is very difficult to predict exactly when it will. The longer you keep putting coins in, the more convinced you become that it will pay off next time.
3. It is very difficult for us humans to be truly random, which is why we tend to use variable rates of reinforcement in training. That way, your human need for some order is met and your dog is still not getting rewarded every single time, so we still get strong behaviors. 

The real point in telling you all of this, aside from giving you great reading material for your next bout of insomnia or a new drinking game (count how many times the word reinforcement is in here) is to demonstrate that the person who trains you and your dog should know a LOT about learning and training. It's not just a matter of tossing a collar on a dog and grabbing some treats- my 3 year old son can do that. It's not a matter of putting a pinch, choke, or prong collar on your dog and yanking him around to demonstrate "who is boss". Training and subsequent learning should be intentional, systematic, soundly based in science and well executed. There should be some room for flexibility with each individual dog/human pair and nobody should be pushed to the point of breaking or shutting down in training. Once you reach that point, nothing good is being taught.


Resources:
 Excel-Erated Learning; Explaining in Plain English How Dogs Learn and How Best to Teach Them by Pam Reid, pgs. 48-59

http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/behaviorism/Skinner.html

http://www.educateautism.com/applied-behaviour-analysis/schedules-of-reinforcement.html

Consultations Not Optional (Or Free)

While this is a big pet peeve of mine, I actually don't have many people ask if consults are optional or if they are free; and I consider myself lucky in that regard. Actually, it's probably the potential clients who are lucky. If presented with those questions, I try not to laugh and then (if we are all lucky) diplomatically explain that I cannot help without getting a thorough history and assessing the dog in person.

I can't stand it when I see that other trainers offer free consults. For one, it's devaluing their time and expertise, which is not the way to run a successful business. This makes me sad for them. Second, it's devaluing the time and expertise of all other trainers. If it seems acceptable for one trainer to not charge for consults, people expect all trainers to do the same. That devalues my job, which is not nice and not cool. 

Aside from people not taking seriously things they do not pay for (an unfortunate truth) the consult is usually the most important hour (or two) that I spend with a client. While it may seem like I am just asking a bunch of questions, typing on my iPad and occasionally petting or tossing a treat to your dog, I'm doing a lot more. With any dog I will be working with, I need to establish a baseline of what their "normal" is before I can start any training or behavior modification program. Everything I do and say during a consult is for a reason- except when I mispronounce your cat's name- that's just me being absent-minded!

The first step in discerning this is when I meet you and your dog at the door. With the exception of aggression towards strangers in which there is a different protocol, I will allow your dog to jump a few times to greet if that's what they typically do. I allow this to see first how your dog jumps (if they greet with exuberance, if they have any awareness of their own size, if they nip, if they bring me a toy, if they jump gently and barely touch me, etc). The other reason is that I want to see how you react to this behavior. I'm not trying to encourage it, and again, with aggression it's different and there's usually at least a leash and a gate involved. I want to learn a few things:

Do you yell at your dog?

Do you laugh? 

Do you apologize? 

Do you grab her by the collar and push her down to the floor? 

Do you ask her to "off" or "sit" about 30 times in a 1 minute time period? 

Whatever your response is, it's your dog's normal and I want to see it. I also want to see how your dog responds to your response to their behavior. This tells me a bit about your relationship with your dog. Sometimes, the relationship between dog and owner is one of the problems we need to fix, and I need to know that- so do you!

Next, we sit down and go through your dog's history. Knowing a dog's past can help us determine why certain behaviors have started or persisted and what has or has not worked in the past. Knowing a dog's daily routine gives me insight into the amount of time you spend with your dog and the amount of time you will likely have to put into training. I'm not going to be very helpful to you or your dog if I can't come up with a training plan that you can actually use and follow through with. I ask you what your training goals are and what behaviors are most bothersome to you. This tells me whether or not your training goals a realistic given your time and your dog. While I am typing up notes, I want to see how your dog responds to the sudden stop in treats from me- this lets me know how your dog deals with frustration. Lots of dogs are not good at dealing with frustration well and are lacking self control. Handing out free treats for a minute and abruptly stopping is an easy way to test this in most dogs. 

Just a quick note on what I am NOT doing in a consult- I'm never going to judge you during a consult or any other time. I may ask probing questions, but it's not so I can go talk to all my trainer friends about how inept you are, I promise. I ask tons of questions about time in the crate and daily walks so I can understand what you have to offer and to make sure we really can meet your goals. If it's just not feasible to meet your goals, I will tell you. I will also offer good alternative goals that are attainable. Plenty of times there are goals that seem out of reach but they just take a little longer to attain and I'll tell you that, too! 

Last, we will work on one or two easy commands. I will teach your dog first, then you practice with me watching you so I can make sure you do it right and to make sure your dog is responsive to you. 

That's it, that's what happens during a typical consult. More complex behavioral problems may have a slightly different protocol, but it follows the same pattern. After I leave your house, I go home and type up notes, do research, and develop your training plan. For every 1-2 hour consult with a client, I am spending an additional 2+ hours at home making sure we have a solid training plan that will work. If we need to tweak it down the road we can, but we need to start somewhere. 

Without knowing your dog's normal, I can't help you. Without taking the time and finding out a thorough history and setting clear training goals, we can't resolve problems. With something so important, why would I not charge for my time and more importantly, why would you not want me to? Just as you won't take seriously a service that is free, why would I take seriously work that is costing me time and gaining me little in return? Not to sound like a money-grubbing jerk, but this is my job. The money I make training dogs is income for my family, so it is very important to me. I'm very fortunate that I get to make money doing something I love, but I still take it seriously and so should you. 

The Way A Puppy Grows

Maybe you don't have a mother and aunts who love to sing like mine, but I have this one stuck in my head from my aunt singing it to our son the other day:

"Oh, I think it's rather silly, 

the way a puppy grows

a little on his waggly tail

a little on his nose

a little on his tummy

a little on his ears

I guess he'll be a dog alright

in half a dozen years"

I'm certain they didn't come up with the catchy tune all by themselves, unless perhaps you ask them, but it got me thinking about the way a puppy grows. I did a post a few weeks ago about the importance of a good breeder, because that initial environment has a big impact on who that puppy grows up to be.

As an example of the impact, I have a client who has two dogs from of the same breeder, same bloodline, bought a few years apart.

The one pup (we'll say Fido for simplicity sake) is friendly, social and accepting of people and has been from the beginning. Their other dog (Fuzzy) is reactive, nips people and barks (a lot) and has since they brought them home. When they got Fido, they were brought into the house where the puppies and their momma were living with the human family. They were exposed to the family including children, older family members and cats. When they got Fuzzy, the dogs were staying in a nice house of their own without people constantly around. They were well cared for, clean and healthy looking.  Fuzzy's litter was not exposed to various people and other animals. Fuzzy is reactive and fearful, Fido is friendly and confident.

Let's take a look at what happens those first 8 weeks, before puppies even go to their new home, and why it's so important.

Neonatal Period: Days 1-12
The puppy is pretty helpless at this stage, eyes and ears are not open, motor skills are limited, cannot regulate their own body temperature and need stimulation (licking by momma) to pee or poop. Puppies in this stage will whine or cry to attract their mother's attention, and already has a sense of balance, taste, smell, touch and can detect changes in temperature (meaning they will move toward warmth). Even at this stage, the environment will shape the puppy. Gentle handling such as picking up and holding and moving to a slightly different surface for a short period of time (less than a minute) will help the puppy later on:

"If puppies are handled and exposed to mild environmental stressors, it can have a positive impact on them in later years. On the other hand, pups left undisturbed or raised in isolation during this time can be emotionally reactive when they reach adulthood. You may not see visible signs until they reach adulthood, because the signs are so subtle that the novice eye would not recognize them as a potential future problems." *1

"Mild stress of the neonatal dog, such as induced by handling or placing the puppy on a cool surface, increases the puppy's ability to cope with stress later in life" *2

Transitional Period: Days 11-21
Motor and sensory skills start to develop, eyes and ears open, and they start to walk instead of crawl with trepidation. Their teeth are coming in, so they can start on soft meals (sometimes regurgitated by their momma), even though they will still be nursing for a few more weeks. Louder vocalization occurs when they are left in a new environment and since they can hear, they will initially startle at noises. At this age they also start to navigate away from their nest or den to go potty, because they can go potty without mom's help and realize that they don't want to sleep near that. Up until this point, their sweet momma has probably been eating their poop. The puppy is able to adapt to new stimuli and develops the senses through experiencing new stimuli like handling, playing with toys, experiencing new types of floor, bedding and climbing on stuff (not unlike human babies). Play fighting will begin during this time and positive reinforcement training can be used to teach them (by their mom or their humans). An interesting side note, potty training is already starting at this point and what happens here will have a lasting impact:
"From this point on, the puppies should have the possibility to leave the nest site to eliminate. Puppies who have been thwarted from doing so may become almost impossible to house train." *3

Socialization Period: Weeks 4-14
Social play is the primary endeavor at this time, as puppies are learning social cues and subsequently, the rules of normal play. This is also the time when they learn all about people-what they are and what they do. Puppies can be taught cues and behaviors using positive reinforcement and they are learning about bite inhibition from their litter mates. Spending time with people and their litter will ensure a well-rounded dog who is comfortable in different social settings. Through play fighting, they experiment with biting, grabbing, shaking and holding. Puppies start to learn about bite inhibition when litter mates yelp at too hard a nip or grab. The yelp will (typically) stop play for a moment because of the alarming sound. 

"Socialization to dogs and to people has to occur during this time. If this opportunity is missed, he puppy will most likely always be fearful of dogs and/or humans. During the socialization period, the puppy should also be exposed to all situations that it is likely to encounter during its life." *4

Hold on, Now here's a really important part of the Socialization Period:

Fear Imprint Period: Weeks 8-10 (or more)
At this point in development, puppies will retain fearful experiences/stimuli which they encounter.
"If 5 week old Beagle puppies were punished (e.g., with an electric shock for approaching a person), they shoed fear, but approached that person again when retested later. If the puppies were between 8 and 9 weeks of age, they retain the fear of that person...Any aversive experience during this time is to be avoided, since it may have lifelong effects on emotionality, anxiety, fear, hyperactivity and reactivity and aggressiveness." *5

That's it, just the first few months of a puppy's life and look at all that has happened in such short time! All of that stuff a puppy experiences before you even meet them for the first time really does impact who they will be.

There are more stages of development that your dog goes through, but we will stop here today because I've typed enough for one night and I think this is a good place to start. If you want to know more, you should check out the two books that I cited here, they are both great books.

Citations:

*1:
Raising Puppies and Kids Together, by Pia Silvani and Lynn Eckhardt  Page 12

*2:
Small Animal Pediatrics, by Michael Peterson and Michelle A. Kutzler. Page 188

*3:

Small Animal Pediatrics, by Michael Peterson and Michelle A. Kutzler. Page 188

*4:

Small Animal Pediatrics, by Michael Peterson and Michelle A. Kutzler. Page 189

*5:

Small Animal Pediatrics, by Michael Peterson and Michelle A. Kutzler. Page 190-191

Resources:

Raising Puppies and Kids Together, by Pia Silvani and Lynn Eckhardt (a great read if you have puppies and kids, btw.)

Small Animal Pediatrics, by Michael Peterson and Michelle A. Kutzler.

Food Bowl Woes

 I'll admit that we use a plethora of things to feed Roxie and a regular food bowl is at the very bottom of the list closet. Literally, in the floor of the hall closet collecting dust when our son isn't fishing it out to use as a boat for his animals.

We have a couple of food dispensing balls that she can roll around, a Buster Cube to roll around, a handful of Kongs and two Kyjen Slo-Feed Bowls that we alternate. We generally stick with the slo-bowls for her meals because her (human toddler) brother likes to help feed her and these are the easiest for him to help with. The Buster Cube we only use if we are heading out for a few hours since it's a little noisy. Her food-dispensing balls are used every other day or more and the Kongs are used a few times a week when I actually have the forethought to fill and freeze it before I leave- room temperature peanut butter is way too easy for her.

Sometimes, during a voyage with animals, the plain food bowl gets left out and our son is amazed that it can also be a vessel for Roxie's food, "like OUR bowl, mom?" Unfortunately, the novelty stops there. If we dare to feed the brat-queen with this strange stainless steel creation, she looks at the bowl and then I swear rolls her eyes before looking at it again and eating. Don't get me wrong, she loves food and this exchange lasts about 18 seconds, but I'm pretty sure she's ticked off about the bowl.
When we use any of the alternative food delivery methods, she jumps around a bit before sitting with her tail wagging so hard her whole body is wiggling around.

Why does she get so excited about eating her food in a different way?
Because it is a more natural way for her to eat. I am not saying she is a wolf and needs to hunt for her own food or that she would be able to catch her own food if she had to, but there is a level of predatory drive that just isn't provided by a plain, easy to eat out of bowl. When she uses the food-dispensing toys like the Buster Cube, the food falls out randomly and she smells around on the floor for it. This may be the messiest way to feed her, but definitely keeps her busy the longest. When she eats out of a Slo-Bowl, she gets to lick around and catch the little pieces of food as they slip away from her in the maze of a bowl. Sometimes, she goes back a few minutes later to see if there were and pieces that she missed. When she eats out of a plain, boring bowl, she comes to find us and glances longingly at her empty bowl. She gets the same amount of food no matter what we use to feed her, but 30 seconds of food feels like less than 10 minutes of chasing it around the living room.
Back to the natural way to eat thing. Dogs have evolved as scavengers in their many years living with people, so having to do a little more than scarf it down from an easy bowl is only natural.
You know what else it is? Mental and physical exercise. Mental and physical exercise are two of the most important things you need to provide your dog to help them be happy and healthy!! As a scavenger, she would have to search out food in all kinds of places and it would not be as easy as finding a bowl with food waiting for her three times a day. Even waaaay back when the common ancestor of current domesticated dogs and wolves was loping around, they were hunters and scavengers- they had to work to get their food.

Also, she eats slower so she is less likely to choke or get bloat or eat so fast that she pukes it all up (she's done this a few times in the past). Now, she's not a large breed so bloat really isn't a concern. I will say that with some dogs, the Slo-Bowls are not ideal to help with bloat because they get so excited/frustrated trying to get each piece that they take in more air, which really isn't what you are after. If your dog swallows a cup of food all at once, try feeding a little at a time and waiting a few minutes before giving more. Of course, with anything medical you should always consult your trusted veterinarian before reading anybody's blog. The food-dispensing balls and food puzzles are great though.

This week, do your dog a favor and recycle or donate that old food bowl and get a new way to feed! There are tons of different kinds out there and there is bound to be one that works for you and your dog.

Please, remember to always supervise your dog with any new toy or feeding device the first few times, so you are certain they won't eat it in addition to the food!

References/some of my favorite alternative feeders:

http://outwardhound.com/shop/dog-bowls

http://www.jjdog.com/product/Buster-Cube/Dog-Toys-Tugs-and-Rewards?utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_source=googlebase&cvsfa=4436&cvsfe=2&cvsfhu=31333138&gclid=CP2Dlp6V5MgCFVcSHwodousEYw

http://www.kongcompany.com/products/for-dogs/interactive/wobbler-2/wobbler/

http://store.petsafe.net/busy-buddy-kibble-nibble

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/130302-dog-domestic-evolution-science-wolf-wolves-human/

Face It (Canine Body Language part 3)

As promised, I am continuing my efforts to tell you as much as I can while I still have your interest with part three of Canine Body Language.
Today, we talk about dog faces... actually their heads and faces in general. Now, I will preface this with saying that we as dog trainers and we as people tend to anthropomorphize dogs without thinking about it, when in reality we don't know what they are thinking. The best we can do is examine body language in a given context and what happened before and after. Based on the outcome of a given situation, we try to figure out what happened. That's all I'm trying to do here- show you certain characteristics that consistently pop up in dogs in certain situations and what happened before and after. That's pretty much the best we can do until we develop a way to read their minds, or dogs learn to talk like us. So, when I use terms like 'happy', 'mad', 'scared' or 'frustrated'; it's based on a situation and the outcome. Sometimes these things can be measured scientifically, but I can't run EKG's, ECG's or measure cortisol levels on all (or any) or my clients. I'll try to use neutral terms like 'relaxed' and 'tense' as much as possible, since I don't actually know their emotions.

We all (hopefully) know the difference between a dog that is relaxed and happy and a dog who is tense and upset, but here's a little quiz just in case:

Which dog would you rather pet?

Oscar

Random Internet Dog, lets call him Fluffy
 (http://www.dougrichardson.com/blog/dangerous-game/)

Did you pick the grey and white cattle dog mix here? 

Good  job! You get to keep your appendages... for now. 

Th reason you want to pet the cattle dog mix, Oscar is because he has what we call a 'soft' face. His facial features are relaxed, there is no tension in his lips, except that little bit required for a smile. His ears are facing outwards, not flattened against his head. There is no tension on his forehead and even the rest of his body is pretty relaxed. He's looking at his mom, who is holding either a treat or a squeaky toy- both are the best thing in the world to him. Oscar is a super sweet boy who lives in a house with other dogs, cats, and frequent visits from children. You'd be well-advised to pet him and he would be eternally grateful.

The other dog I found when I did a Google search for 'growling dog'. I decided that he looks like a "Fluffy", so for argument's sake that's this pup's name. Fluffy is displaying some pretty threatening behaviors. Hopefully if you see a dog like this, you choose not to approach and pet them- for your sake and theirs. I'll get into that in a minute, but first I want to talk about Fluffy's face. The most noticeable thing is those pearly white teeth. Baring teeth like that, and to that extent (more than just a few front teeth) shows that Fluffy is giving a warning "See these teeth?! I will use them!". I'm willing to bet that he means it, too. It looks like this little guy has dilated pupils, but we have no way of knowing the lighting in the picture since it's on a white background (odds are, the pupils are dilated because of stress and not just light, though). Pupil dilation is important because when an animal senses fear, the pupils dilate as part of the fight/flight response controlled by the sympathetic nervous system. His ears are back an down ever so slightly- he wants to hear everything in case the attack he perceives is on more than one front. There's more with his tail and body stance that tells us he's uneasy, but that is for another post.

Odds are that Fluffy is really, really uncomfortable with the situation. The situation can just be a camera that looks creepy, or a person who seems scary. Fluffy's comfort level is all up to him, we have to respect that and work with it so that he can gain some confidence. 

Ok, that was pretty easy. Let's make it a little more challenging. 

What do you see with these two dogs, and which one would you rather pet?

Jake

Joie

Jake, the yellow labrabor, right?  Now lets talk about why.
Look at his head, there is no tension there- you can even see a little wrinkle if you look closely. His tongue is out because this picture was taken in August during a birthday party so he had been playing with his human siblings. You can't see his eyes well because if the lighting, but they are just like Oscar's in the previous picture. His face doesn't look as 'soft' as Oscar's, but that's only because he's panting. His ears are relaxed and down.
The black pit mix here is named Joie. She is a sweet, loveable girl who is overrun with anxiety. She is in a down stay, off leash but is still nervous. Her pupils are dilated even though it's fairly bright outside and she is doing a tongue flick. The tongue flick is an indicator of a stressor or something the dog is unsure about. It is partially directed at me because cameras are like big, scary eyes which make noises unpredictably. If you look at the top of her head, it looks like her skin is stretched tightly over her skull. At the sides of her mouth, you can see where her lips are sucked in tightly and tense. If you look at her ears, they are almost pinned back to her head as well. She has had a rough life with a few traumatic events in the family and subsequently reacts to all kinds of noises. Had I reached out to pet her instead of take her picture here, she would have smiled, licked me, and wagged her tail happily. If she were a dog I didn't know though, I would not reach out so brazenly. Instead I would let her come to me with the temptation of treats or a toy instead of push her past her comfort zone.
Good job! You are getting really good at this!

Next, which dog would you pet?

Roxie

Pollo

Did you choose the pit mix, Roxie? She's a wonderful dog, and I may be a little biased because she's my very own brat-dog. She's laying down on one side, which is our first indicator that she is pretty comfortable in her environment, but there's more. Look at her eyes compared to Pollo's. Yup- not dilated and you can't see the whites of her eyes. What Pollo is demonstrating perfectly here is what we call a 'whale eye'. There is something bothering him to his left, so he is looking away but doesn't want to look away completely. As I recall, there is a frisbee nearby that he wants, but his buddy Darwin owns it. He had a questionable start to life, so he is learning to accept people and new stimuli in his forever home.
Just to be clear, here is a photo of Roxie looking at something to her left. You can see some of the whites, but this is not a 'whale eye'. Her ears and forehead are relaxed (you can even see wrinkles on her forehead) and her eyes don't have that peeled-open look like Pollo's above. There's more about the rest of her body that tells us she is more curious than worried, but that's another post!

Roxie

 While we are on the subject of eyes, I want to talk about the 'hard stare'. In this picture, Roxie is staring at me because I am taking her picture and annoying her by asking her to stay when there is a toddler running around the deck with a pitcher of water (water is her Kryptonite). The look on her face isn't quite a 'hard stare', but if I didn't know her I would move slowly.

"If he comes over here with that water, I'm gone... for good this time!"

Ok, last one for today. Who here is stressed out, who is excited and who is just hot?

Violet

Jake

Ryder

So, this one is a bit more tricky and that's because we are looking at their tongues- this is a bit more subtle. 

Ryder is the stressed dog here, and aside from the dilated pupils, tight skin on his head and pinned back ears, he has what is called a 'spatulate tongue'. It looks like his tongue is stretched out at the edges as far as it can go. To his credit, it was also a warm evening, but there were lots of people around at a birthday party and he gets excitedly stressed with lots of people. He's a super sweet boy who probably wouldn't hurt a fly unless it threatened his human brother and sisters. If I saw this in class, I would have him get some distance, go for a lap outside the classroom or get him busy with a trick, game or cue. If he can't take treats or listen when he looks like this, he really needs a break. 

That leaves one excited dog and one hot dog. (This should be pretty easy with Jake figured out). 

You got it. Violet is excited and Jake is hot. 

Jake is still at a birthday party, having lots of fun running around with kids but it's August on the eastern shore so it's pretty warm. His tongue is out but the edges are more rounded than flat and his face is a little more relaxed than Ryder's. 

Violet has her tongue out in anticipation of a toy, and because she's happy that Matt is petting her. She loves attention from people. Her tongue is out, but not flattened at all, so she's not terribly warm and she's not stressed at all. 

Good Job! You made it through with all of your digits intact (hopefully). Look closely when you are with your dog this week and see what you learn! 

Resources:
Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide, by Brenda Aloff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response

Mission Main Street Grant

I'm taking a break from my series on canine body language to tell you about an amazing opportunity I found out about recently. Every year, Chase Bank gives a bunch of money in the form of grants to small businesses. This year, they are giving 20 small businesses $100,000 each and I would really love for Smart Pups to be one of the lucky recipients.
The way it works is any for-profit small business that has 100 employees or less that has been in business for at least two years. There are a few more rules, feel free to check them out here. Eligible businesses submit an application, complete with five essay questions:

1. Tell us about your business and what makes it unique. Please provide a general description of your product, customers, competitive landscape and overall performance.
2. What inspired you to become an entrepreneur? Describe both your greatest achievements and biggest challenges.
3. How is your business involved with the community you serve? Examples include: giving back to the community, sourcing locally and/or contributing to economic development via hiring.
4. What would a $100,000 grant mean to your business and how will you utilize the funds? Please be as specific as possible.
5. What are your short-term (1-2 years) and long-term growth plans for the business? How will this grant contribute to your plan?

Those have to be answered in 200 words or less; let me tell you that was tough! Apparently I tend to use lots of words...

After submitting that, the small business isn't done- now they need to get 250 votes to get to the next stage of voting. The businesses that get 250 votes will then be reviewed by a panel selected by Chase, to find the twenty businesses most deserving of the grants. Here's a link to this year's panelists.
They choose the winners and notify them and the winners get to build their businesses and help their community. Oh yeah, they are all about how these winners will help their community. Not to brag or anything, but a dog trainer who understands dogs, people, science, behavior and communication is a perfect choice to help the community in which they live.
Before you go voting or not voting, I just wanted to share with you my dream for Smart Pups and how I would use this grant if I were to win.
Though I have faced challenges along the way in the form of difficult dogs and people, the biggest challenge I have face in the past 5 years has been finding a good, affordable facility for group classes. When Smart Pups was located in New York, I was lucky enough to build a friendship with another trainer who was generous enough to share her training facility when she wasn't using it. Here in Salisbury, I am currently renting outdoor space in an equestrian show ring, which works well. The downside is that it's outside so if it rains or it winter, I can't have class. The ring is not completely closed in and is outdoors so it's not fit for puppy class. What I plan to (someday) do it build a training facility, where there is indoor heated and cooled space as well as outdoor space for classes. With the indoor space, I won't have to watch the weather constantly and classes will have a more definite start and end date, making it easier to plan classes far in advance. With secure indoor and outdoor space, my clients will have the comfort of knowing their dog is safe and the environment is ideal for learning- no unexpected passers-by and comfort in all seasons. With a facility offering storage and more space, I could also offer more specialty classes like reactive dog class, puppy class and agility training. By offering more services, I could reach more of the dogs and their humans in my community and help them all to learn to be more polite and responsible when out and about. If more people understand their dogs, and more dogs are getting training and good socialization opportunities, the more well-behaved they are. The thing is, dog training isn't exactly the most lucrative career, unless you can get a T.V. show and work with celebrities. I don't see that in my future, so to build all this will mean saving up for a while and even then, taking out a loan to build. Not that I mind that- that's my plan and what I will do no matter what, but the opportunity to do it all so much sooner that I thought possible would be amazing.
So, if you have a minute, please go to https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/vote  and type in Smart Pups in the box, then click on vote. It does make you log in with facebook, because they want to verify you are a real person, but it all seems pretty kosher to me :)

That's it for this week- I'm going to finish up the next in the canine body language series and get it up (hopefully) within the next couple days.

Thanks and please vote for Smart Pups!

My (Other) Favorite Cue to Teach Dogs

Aside from the general "my dog never listens outside of our house/yard", one of my most common complaints from clients is that their puppy (or adult dog, in some cases) mouths, bites and/or nips. This is most common in puppies and herding breeds. I see a lot of Labradors who do it too.
That doesn't really matter, though. What is important is that the vast majority of these dogs are not "dominant" or "aggressive" in any way. They are usually trying to interact in hopes of play or simply to get their owner's attention.
In addition to management tips and redirection, one of the things I love to teach mouthy dogs is the Touch cue (it's also called Targeting). This cue simply teaches a dog to gently touch his or her nose to a person's hand. I'll put the training handout at the bottom here so you can teach it to your dog, too! This cue is great for dogs who like to grab hands with their mouths because it teaches them an appropriate way to interact with hands.
You know what's better than that? It it so much more flexible than that. You can teach your dog to Target with different parts of their body, like legs (yup- all four of them), paws, hips, tail or ears. You can also teach your dog to target anything at all! People, walls, toys, wall switches, etc. The list goes on.

But that's not all! In shy dogs, this can boost confidence. In dogs who have lost a limb or have vision deficiencies on one side, it can help with body awareness. Using targeting, you can teach your dog to open and close doors, turn lights off and on. In dog sports like Agility, Canine Freestyle and Rally, it teaches them to target contact zones on obstacles and lateral movement. It can be used to teach all kinds of "party tricks". It can even be used as an emergency recall!

Without further ado, here are instructions for the Touch (or Targeting) cue:

TOUCH

Purpose for touch:  Touch teaches your dog to interact nicely with hands, which is very helpful if you have a 'nippy' puppy! It's also a great confidence booster and a first building block in many dog sports. 

Hand signal/ visual cue: Place your hand near your dog's face, palm open 

Voice command/ verbal cue:  'Touch'

Behavior Pyramid:

Start with your dog sitting or standing and hold your hand, palm open, in front of your dog's nose (3-5 inches away)  with your fingers pointed toward the wall. 

Wait.

Seriously, don't move your hand and don't say anything. 

Your dog WILL move to touch your hand with their nose. 

As soon as they do, say “touch”, CT

Repeat. 

As your dog gets better with this, try putting your hand in different positions. 

Mistakes your dog may make:

Approaching your hand with an open mouth:

Move your hand away, saying “oops”, then offer your hand again

Dog shies away from your hand:

Reward any movement towards your hand. As your dog gets better, wait until they touch your hand, even if it's brief. 

Building the behavior:

As your dog improves this skill, remember to add in your random reinforcement schedule- only giving food rewards intermittently without a pattern. In addition, you can give food rewards for the best, quickest responses. 

Try having your dog target other things (the wall, a toy, a specific toy, a door, etc.)

Now, go out to your living room and start having fun with your dog! 

Book Review: It Doesn't Matter, Just Scroll to the Bottom for the Name and Buy This Book

I've been slacking lately. Actually, I have been working on a couple of posts that involve a bunch of research and I have been working with actual clients a bunch lately. So maybe "busy with other things" could be subbed for "slacking".
Anyway, I figured that a book review would be a relatively quick, informative post and I have read tons of books so at least that part is done already!

The first book I'm choosing is one of my favorites (I'll say that a lot, but I REALLY mean it this time). I have read it cover to cover like a novel a few times and I recommend it to clients constantly.
The book is called Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide, by Brenda Aloff.
The title kind of takes all the mystery out of it, but I'll do a brief discussion just for fun. The book is all about canine body language, and interpreting the emotional state of a dog. Now, there are those who frown upon us trying to determine a canine's emotional state, because that's attributing human traits to a non-human animal, etc... but I believe that dogs are just as capable of us as feeling scared, happy, sad, stressed, angry, frustrated, and everything else we feel. You can disagree with me all you want, but after living and working with different animals my entire life I'm absolutely convinced that I've seen it. I'm going to list all the main topics covered by the book, followed by an example or two from each chapter.

Canine Body Language starts out with a review of determining a dog's emotional state. The first section reviews relaxed/neutral, confidence, curiosity, rolling, companionship, stress signals, fear indicators, caution, anxiety, avoidance, and smiles. Let's talk about an easy one to start with. 
A 'relaxed, neutral' dog can look like, on different dogs and in different situations. In general, a 'relaxed, neutral' dog has no body tension anywhere, has a semi-open mouth, and is blinking normally.

The thing is, this (and everything) can look different on different dogs in different situations. Everybody thinks that a dog with a wagging tail is happy, and that is sometimes true. Check out my post on tails here from a few months ago. Dogs use their entire body to communicate, so to understand them we need to look at all of it. This includes, but is not limited to:
-Tail
-Mouth
-Stance/Body Orientation
-Ears
-Tongue
-Lips
-Eyes
-Overall tension (or lack thereof) in the body

To get an understanding of what a dog is (likely) feeling, you need to look at all of these, and the book gives great examples of pretty much everything. That's why it's almost 400 pages long.

I also want to point out confidence. PLEASE, PLEASE, do not confuse confidence with dominance. They are not the same at all. There can be elements of confidence in an aggressive dog, or a dog who is trying to control a situation (rightly or wrongly); and there can be confidence in a dog who is performing fantastically on an agility course. Confidence usually involves the body being forward to a degree but not too far, and of course you have to look at the rest of the body (seeing a trend here?).
Section two discusses Calming and Negotiation signals. Blinking, look away, tongue flick, sniffing, shake off, stretching, yawning, paw lifts, and puppy licking. A dog who is yawning is not bored with you (probably). A dog who is yawning is a bit stressed by something in the environment. That something may be a camera taking a picture of them, or another dog who is being pretty threatening.

Section three delves into more of the neutral and friendly indicators and signals. Butt sniffing, inguinal sniffing, friendly, greetings, the "I love you" stretch, pass by and look away. The pass by is actually a good, normal way to gauge how two dogs will like each other. I call it 'going for a walk', and it involves at least two people and two dogs. The dogs are kept on leash and walked past each other, like two ships passing in the night. The third person can be useful to look at both dogs at the same time so their handlers can focus on walking. If both dogs remain relaxed during a pass by, it may be safe to try a walk together. If one or both dogs exhibit predatory or over-stimulated behaviors, that's probably not the best idea (at least not yet).

Section four highlights responses to invaded space, including aggression, alerting, targeting, corrections, warning, and guarding. Targeting is a great example from this chapter. My Roxie demonstrates this perfectly when she sees a cat, squirrel or another dog. She leans forward, lifts a paw, has a high, stiff tail, forward ears, and is very still. It's actually the beginning of a stalking behavior and recognizing it as such can be a great way for pet parents to prevent a bad situation form happening or pick out your dog's favorite toy from the floor.

Section five reviews predatory behaviors, like excitement, prey bow, stalking, and chasing. The prey bow is often confused with the play bow, and this is where a lot of dogs (and their people) get into trouble. A prey bow indicates to dogs that the 'game is afoot' and there will now be motion. There is tension in the body (noticeably absent in play bow), the body is oriented backwards but in preparation to spring forward, head and tail are up (tail is down during play bow), and the mouth is generally closed (mouth is open during a play bow)

Section six is more lighthearted and is all about play! Normal play between dogs, play biting, play bows, role changes during play, prey-predator switches in play, conflict and taking breaks, and play that is turning into something else. People ask me all the time what normal play looks like between dogs. I tell them that taking breaks, taking turns and nobody picking on someone constantly are normal and that depending on the individuals playing, it may look a little rough. Reading through this book is a great way to have an idea of what's normal.

Once you get through the book, you can take the quiz in section seven and give yourself a pat on the back for doing so well on it! If you don't, you can always read it again.

I'll say it again, I love this book. I recommend it to everyone with an aggressive dog, or an anxious dog, or anyone who takes their dog to the dog park. I recently ran into someone who refers to it as the 'dog Bible'. I kind of agree. If I could send one to everyone for the holidays, I would do that instead of a holiday card.

If you really like it, here's a few links to buy it to save you the Google search :)

Directly from the author's website:  http://brendaaloff.com/shop
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Canine-Body-Language-Photographic-Interpreting/dp/1929242352/ref=la_B001K7WXGQ_1_1/185-1689417-1229234?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407524043&sr=1-1
Dogwise: http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=dtb856


What's your favorite dog book?

Boundary Training (or why I don't like buried electronic fences)

It's starting to thaw out here, though now that I've said it I'm sure snow and ice will fall from the sky any minute now. Anyway, thawing means warm weather and more time outside with your dog. Time outside means that your dog needs a safe place to play and run with you. My ideal environment for this is a fenced in yard- since Roxie isn't terribly dog friendly we don't let her off leash unless she's in the house or behind a fence (even then, we rarely leave her unsupervised just in case). There's a couple downsides to fences, I know, I know. They are expensive, they take away from your view, they require maintenance, and some dogs can still get over an 8 foot fence. By the way, if your dog can jump an 8 foot fence here must be something pretty awesome on the other side and your yard needs to be more fun and second, enroll in agility classes right now! I mean it, make that behavior productive and fun for both of you!!

Fine. You don't like a physical fence. You want an underground electronic fence don't you? I knew it. 

Eek. I'm not gonna lie, I'm not a huge fan of those. I know they can work perfectly well for some dogs, and some families have one for years and multiple dogs with no issues. I'm glad that it works for them, but that doesn't mean it will work for you and your dog. For one, they aren't necessarily cheaper than a fence you can see. Then there are the behavioral issues that can arise. Behavioral problems?! Seriously? Yup. I've seen it firsthand. But first, let's review how they work. Most of these underground fence systems involve a shock collar, which provides a bit (or a lot) of...discomfort...when the dog crosses the boundary. This is a positive punishment. Positive punishment is one of the elements of operative conditioning, and involves presenting something unpleasant when the dog offers an incorrect response to a certain stimulus. In this example the stimulus is the boundary and the punishment is the discomfort provided by the collar. Why the heck is it called positive? Because the punishment is added to the situation based on the dogs response. Positive doesn't indicate that it's something nice or good, just that it's added to the equation. And why do I keep calling it "discomfort" instead of pain? Because the level of discomfort is dependent on the one receiving it and everyone, even dogs, have different levels of pain tolerance. I'm not saying it's not painful-I'm actually sure it's painful, but not all dogs will necessarily see it as being at the same level of painful. I consider this type of training as a last resort only, and it is never something I would consider for a puppy or a dog who already exhibits aggression or fear in any way. I still know how it works though, because I want to understand everything I can about training and behavior (I figure that goal will keep me reading and attending seminars for years!)

For this to work properly, the punishment needs to work within as few times as possible (less than 3). See, the more times you have to use this punishment, the less meaningful it is. (At your own risk of injury) slap your thigh as hard as you can. Do it again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again. You could keep going until your leg goes numb, but I wouldn't recommend it. Did that last one hurt as much as the first one? Probably not. Your body adapts to the pain and eventually the nerves stop sending the message that it hurts because it learns that the pain isn't going to stop. The same thing happens when you get a tattoo (at least a large tattoo). After a while, the area goes numb because the nerves stop responding. Since nerves are the same among different mammals, the same thing happens to dogs too. If you constantly offer discomfort or pain, it will eventually be less meaningful and will no longer be an effective consequence. An ineffective consequence is pointless and possibly abusive. So, the thing with positive punishment when it involves discomfort or pain is that it needs to work in very few instances, without causing undue harm or damage (I'm not going to go into the hypocrisy in that statement). Too low a discomfort and it becomes meaningless because it's not enough to stop your dog from chasing the squirrel, too high and your dog is terrified the collar and of going outside at all. 

The question is then, how do you determine the exact discomfort level that will stop the behavior quickly without causing harm? Great question. To do it perfectly, you would have to (somehow) determine that level for each individual. That would be difficult because of the aforementioned phenomenon of the pain lessening over time...and it would be kinda mean. 

Fine. You get lucky and get it right the first time and find out the correct level to stop the behavior within 3 or fewer attempts. This works until your dog sees something he really really wants and he runs out if the yard but now can't get back in (the shock works on re-entry too, ya know). Or a strange/scary/mean/rabid animal gets into your yard and now your dog is stuck with it. 

Again, I know it works for some people, but I feel that a real, visible fence or a leash with a puppy parent attached to the other end is your best bet. 

Even if you get the shock right, there can be strange behavioral consequences. I've seen otherwise quiet dogs who suddenly become reactive outside, and dogs who don't even want to go outside. Parents of dogs who are already reactive or aggressive can see the behavior increase and intensify.
I'm not trying to get into a discussion on types of training- I'll save that for another day-just trying to explain why those buried fences are not the best for everyone.
My original point was to talk about clicker boundary training. I had found a short tutorial on the Karen Pryor website a couple years or so ago and have used her method with success with multiple clients. I must preface this with the following: No fence or boundary training can completely take the place of you- the puppy parent. This type of Any boundary training is good for dogs who don't have really high prey drives (or at least have worked extensively to proof this training in all environments), a solid recall and for puppy parents who are going to be outside with their dogs. Honestly, if your dog is outside off leash and not in a fence, you are breaking a leash law. An underground fence won't stop your dog like a physical one will.
Here's the link to the tutorial: http://www.clickertraining.com/node/2409

The great thing about this boundary training method is that is uses no force or pain, and rewards a dog for returning to you from the boundary-which is what most of us want!! It's super easy and helpful for all types of dogs and people. 

Ok, that's all for now. I'll try to not make a habit of this whole two weeks between posts thing...

Resources:

http://www2.psychology.uiowa.edu/faculty/wasserman/glossary/punishment.html
Karen Pryor website
Excel-Erated Learning by Pamela J. Reid, PhD (if you want to understand behavior and training, this book is a fantastic resource. 

The Official Ahimsa Dog Training Manual by Grisha Stewart, pages 22-23