Dogs don’t understand grammar.  They don’t understand a word before can change the meaning entirely.  Dogs don’t understand: Good sit, Bad sit, No sit, Do sit, Red sit, Blue sit.  All the dog is hearing is: Good CUE, Good CUE, Good CUE.  And unless the goal is to desensitize the cue as an action you want the dog to preform, you should save it as a requested action.  Here’s a video example of a dog doing a down, while in a down.  Notice how he tries to down again, even though he’s already in a down.  This dog understands: “Preform the action I am requesting.”

Down While Already In A Down

Now, don’t beat yourself up if you’ve been doing this.  Just realize there are other ways to praise your dog for doing a job well done.  Instead of saying, “Good CUE” maybe just say “Good boy!” or “well done!”  Don’t ever say something you usually want as an action, and the dog doesn’t do the action (holding still already in the position is not doing an action) and praise for it.  That’s basically rewarding the dog for holding still.  By saving the cue as a “please preform this action” and praising (or any other reward the dog likes) for quickly preforming the requested action.  You should notice faster results, and a less confused dog!

Canine Life and Social Skills is starting to take off.  It’s a new three part program from the APDT, which far exceeds most I’ve ever seen.  It has obedience, manners, and real life training such as waiting to get out of your car.  The objectives are to promote positive training methodology, strengthen the dog & owner relationship, encourage ongoing training, value real life skills, educate about dog behavior, and to promote the value of dog trainers & dog training.

C.L.A.S.S., through its evaluation, curriculum, and training resources, advocates the use of reward-based training. Positive, reward-based training minimizes the use of punishment and is fun for you and your dog! C.L.A.S.S. promotes relationship-based training, training in which the communication is two-way and the mutual trust is strong. It is training that is instructive, telling the dog, without anger or force, what we would like the dog to do.

There is also a shelter program that hopes to increase adoptions and decrease owner surrenders through this training program.

One of the goals of the C.L.A.S.S. program was to develop an assessment that is particularly beneficial to the needs of shelter dogs. To this end, any municipal shelter or registered 501(c)(3) shelter or rescue group may register their shelter for free and all dogs in your care may be tested in the program with fees waived. If you have a staff person who will be doing C.L.A.S.S. evaluations only on shelter dogs up for adoption, their evaluator registration fee is reduced from $40 to $25.

Once a dog has passed the initial B.A. level of the C.L.A.S.S. program, they may be listed on the C.L.A.S.S. web site in our “C.L.A.S.S. Dogs for Adoption” section.

I suppose what I’m most excited about is this isn’t just another obedience class.  Far too often I hear “my dog needs obedience training” when the client really needs a manners or reactivity  issue solved.  And quite honestly I’ve *never* seen a dog lose his home because, “well… Fido just wouldn’t heel straight” or “Sparky didn’t have a fast down” or even “Fluffy only preformed ‘sit’ when I held a treat.”  The main reason dogs under three years old are euthanized is because of behavior problems. And these “behavior problems” do not mean he wasn’t the rock star at obedience tasks. These behavior problems are usually no manners, anxiety, fear, or aggression.  (Miller DM, Stats SR, Partlo BS, et al. Factors associated with the decision to surrender a pet to an animal shelter. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1996;209:738- 742)  I’ve seen a lot of anxiety & reactivity cases where earlier training might have completely prevented it.  It’s a shame really, people don’t seem to realize the value and importance of good behavior training until there is a serious problem.  Which brings me back to the C.L.A.S.S. program.  Take a look at the three progressive levels.

The BA level:

• Wait at the door
• Come & getting leashed up
• Loose leash walking and attention
• Meet & greet
• Leave it
• Wait for food bowl
• Stay
• Settle
• Give & take
• Bonus, trick (roll over, spin, fetch, speak, or paw)

The MA level:

• Wait in the car
• Pass by other dogs
• Wait at the door
• Come & leashing up
• Sit, Down, & Stand
• Handling
• Loose leash walking & leave it
• Stay
• Bonus, targeting
• Bonus, trick

The PhD level:

• Loose leash walking
• Back up
• Stay
• Come & leashing up
• Meet & greet
• Attention
• Table manners
• Do you really know sit?
• Bonus, extra “Do you really know sit?”
• Bonus, targeting unfamiliar person

I personally like the “do you really know sit?” part because it promotes generalization of behaviors.  All too often we only practice training with our dogs in front of us in the kitchen holding a treat.  Then we go on vacation, visit a friend, or take a trip to the vet and the dog has no clue what sit means in those different situations and environments.  An over simplification of generalization is, it’s training for real life in various places.  Here are the possible variations to choose from:  1. Student sitting on hands in a chair 2. Student with back to the dog 3. Student with hands on head 4. Student walking around 5. Student standing 10 feet away 6. Student clapping hands 7. Student shaking hands with another person 8. Student with hand in front of their mouth 9. Student sitting on ground 10. Student bending at waist toward toes 11. Sit on recall (student has dog wait while student walks 35 feet away; student calls dog to come and when dog is halfway to student, student cues sit) 12. Student standing on a chair 13. Student holding one knee to chest 14. Student hopping on one foot 15. Student swinging arms 16. Student lying on the ground 17. Student jogging in place 18. Student doing jumping jacks 19. Student doing squats 20. Student doing leg lunges 21. Student doing push ups 22. Student doing sit ups 23. Student standing on hands 24. Student doing calf raises 25. Student doing a back bend

If you’d like more information you can download their student handbook HERE.

You see punishment is a funny thing.  It has a bunch of side effects.  One being the punisher needs to be present for the behavior to happen.  (Think of driving the speed limit.  Do you slow down until you see the speed trap?)  The other side of this coin is once the punisher is not present, the “undesirable” behavior is reinforced automatically.  (Once you pass the speed trap, you go right back to speeding.)  With this concept being understood we can move on.

Slapping an anti-bark collar on a dog, whether it electrocutes them with a shock, sprays citronella in their face, or makes an ear splitting sound is the punisher.  And I’d be hard pressed to find a dog who doesn’t know the collar is the “speed trap.”  Ever take that collar off the dog?  What happens?  Does the dog bark?  You bet’cha.  And usually with even more gusto.  So, is the dog trained at all?  Nope. Have you ever been stuck behind pokey the wonder sloth while driving?  You know, the huge truck going 10 miles under the speed limit.  Let’s pretend you’re behind this slow poke for a good 15 minutes.  Who doesn’t hit the gas (no matter the intensity), after he finally turns off the road?  Doesn’t it feel good too?

The problem with anti-bark collars (besides, in my opinion, they are down right cruel) is that they don’t train squat.  And if you truly understand behavior, you know they actually increase barking problems.  Because as soon as you take it off, barking continues.

Barking is never the issue anyway.  Barking is always a symptom of an underlying reason.  And if you figure out the reason, you get rid of the barking.  Don’t treat the cough, treat the cold.  Don’t focus on the barking, focus on why the dog is barking.

Reasons such as frustration, fear, anxiety, or aggression are challenging enough, so adding an additional “icky thing” only makes these problem worse.  If a dog barks at guests when they enter the house because he’s scared, a good solid spray in the face (or electric shock, or ear pinching sound) doesn’t help.  It only proves the dog’s point that people coming in the house cause super annoying, harmful, or additional scary things to happen to him.  So don’t be surprised to have a dog flip out and road rage on your guests.  And trust me, you want a dog who will warn.  You want a dog who will bark first.

If you know of a dog who is already wearing an anti-bark collar, let the owner know they are in for one heck of a behavior burst.  So, step one go out and buy yourself some ear plugs.  Step two, bring the anti-bark collar to its final resting place and file it away in the round file.  Step three, call a trainer.

But seriously, I hear it all the time.  “Well I told him NO.”  How much info is in “NO” anyway?  Is there anything at all, even remotely, driving your dog into the direction of behavior you want?  Why so anti-yes?  Why not tell the dog what to do instead?

It really is a choice.  Saying, “NO” to temporarily stop a behavior with little to no learning, or telling the dog to do something he knows and reinforcing that behavior instead.  One way (if done over and over again, over time) will damage the relationship between man and his best friend.  The other will strengthen the relationship.   Personally, I’d rather not have a dog who wants to take his ball and go find a new home.

Here’s an example.  If there’s a smelly sock on the floor, and your dog is about to investigate it, you could say, “NO.”  However, you could also say: leave it, sit, down, come, roll over, give me a paw, target, where’s your ball, want to go for a walk, let’s go bye-bye in the car, back up, spin, watch me, sit pretty, bow, heel……   and on and on.  (As well as pick up your freakin socks).  So, I suppose the sarcastic “down side” is the dog in question actually has to know a few behaviors first.  It’s not cool to spout out, “finish” if you’ve never taught it.  However, personally I think saying, “NO” is just as much as a “read my mind and what I want” as well.

Just say, “NO” to being anti-yes!  Don’t tell your dog to “don’t.”

It’s only a reinforcement if the subject/student/learner/receiver thinks it is reinforcing.

So, even though I enjoyed having a whole week off, everyone who reads this blog was frustrated there wasn’t a new post.  So, what was “rewarding” for me, was NOT “rewarding” to everyone else.  Now… think of something else we do with out dogs that this description would fit.  Need help?  I can think of several!

• Dressing a dog up in clothes or a costume
• Hugging a dog
• Going for a walk around something the dog hates
• Taking our boot away as a chew toy

Now, out of these I can even see how something can turn into an unpleasant experience for both trainer and trainee if the dog voices his opinion well enough.  Such as going for a walk around something the dog hates, or taking something away the dog wants.  Usually you’ll see some sort of protest from the dog in any way he can think of to change the known outcome.  So, if you constantly take away fun things to chew, you just might create a resource guarder.  However, if you remember to make it worth your dog’s time to have the “golden prize of chew” taken away, then he might start to learn better things happen when he gives up an item.  So, think about it.  Ever have an inadequate reward before?  Like when someone sarcastically promises you a shiny new quarter to clean the toilet?  Well whoo freakin hoo….  And I’d bet if you knew this was the usual outcome, you’d rather opt out of cleaning the toilet.  Am I right?

Think about this.  Your dog is getting a good chew on, and we take the item away and give him a pat on the head with a “good boy.”  Well whoo freakin hoo, you’ve just probably given your dog a shiny new quarter.  Don’t expect Drop It to improve anytime soon.  And in fact, it was punishment to have the chewie taken away.  No different than getting the car keys taken away for breathing too loud.

Now let’s think about a different example.  You own a dog who doesn’t like loud delivery trucks or other dogs.  Would you choose to walk your dog down a major street loaded with dog owners?  That would be what we professionals call, “dumb.”  The probability of a loud truck is high, and the chance of seeing another dog is also pretty high.  Why?  Why do that?  By walking your dog around something he doesn’t like, it can make the dislike greater.  So (scenario) you see another dog and just keep walking toward him.  But you are saying, “it’s ok, you’re a good boy.”  You’re just given your dog a shiny new quarter.

No matter what you’re trying to train, you need to remember to change the consequence of the behavior to something reinforcing in order to increase it.  In plain English that means: something pleasant needs to happen to get the dog to repeat the behavior you want.  It really is as simple as that.  Give the dog something he wants to get more of “that” behavior.  The challenge comes in knowing what your dog wants and when.

Most people think of reinforcers as having varying importance, “puppy price tags,” or value – in a pyramid style diagram.  It honestly reminds me of those old food pyramids trying to diagram what is the most important food to eat.  For example, food treats might be at the top level, then the next level is favorite toys, then the next level is a good belly rub, etc.  This thinking can get you into trouble, quickly.  There is no such thing as a set in stone value system your dog will always want.  And even if there were, and you used the cream of the crop all the time, it will actually kill the value of it.  It’s not special if it’s used all the time.  A better mindset is to think of reinforcers in a pizza diagram.  Each random slice is a different reinforcer you pull out at will.  Honestly, in a sense reinforcers are all equal, because they are desired at different times, in different situations, by different dogs, in different environments.  The kicker is they are not all equal at the same time, in the same situation, with all dogs, in all environments.  For example: A hungry dog would probably want food treats more than a dog who just ate and is full.  A dog who has “the crazies” probably wants to play more than anything.  A dog who bolted out the door and went for a five mile run probably doesn’t want a five mile walk when their caught.  Etc.  I know dogs who are exceptionally needy and need a lot of attention and petting.  But when the neighbor’s dog is out, he could give a rat’s rump about belly rubs.  People are the same way.  If you love pizza because it’s your favorite food, and you eat it for a week straight you probably would want a break from it.  Now I know there’s a select few of you reading this that are the exception, however, after a while even you would grow tired of pizza.  And then there’s the potential, if after you’re tired of pizza, but it’s still being introduced, it can actually create a bad association with it.  Ever hear a great song on the radio?  Ever hear it so much by being over played that the song gets killed?  Before long you’re actually changing the station when it comes on.  That’s my point.  Reinforcers need to be random.

The other kicker is reinforcers don’t have to be something tangible you give the dog.  It can be letting the dog do something he wants to do.  Such examples would be after your dog comes back to you at the dog park, you send him back out to play more, or let him chase the squirrel.  My parent’s dog loves to lick.  The joke is “Cassie can’t hold her licker.”  And one way to get her barking under control was to reinforce her by letting her lick you.  (Technically, for all you behavior dorks, that’s also an incompatible behavior.)  At first she had to sit, then I would let her lick me, and I’d pay some attention to her, but really, she just wanted to just lick my hands while I pet her.  I have also reinforced Cassie for being quiet by letting her bark.  Sounds counter productive, but this technique works when used properly.  (For my behavior dork friends, it’s the Premack Principle).  [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sXxtdPOC3A[/youtube]

So remember, anything that increases behavior is reinforcing!  Make life interesting and change up the goods.  Be creative and observant to see what your dog likes, when your dog likes it, and use that to get behavior you want!  Stay tuned for Reinforcement Understood Part Two next week!

A recent poll actually produced data that shocked me. In order of preference, people registered for training by: 1. How soon they could start 2. Location of training 3. Price 4. Trainer’s qualifications 5. Methods & techniques used  6. How long was each session  7. How many weeks came in a class.  What’s sad is the methods can have a direct impact on long term results, and in some cases create other problems like aggression (such as owner facilitated aggression).  The trainer might have an immediate opening because they are not in demand and don’t have a lot of experience.  Their class curriculum might be 10 weeks because classes move very slowly and you only learn two things per class.  Or the price is right because you’re at the “McDonald’s of dog training.”  Without looking past the convenience factor of when, where, and price – 9 times out of 10 you cost yourself more money in the long run.  I have seen loads of people who just go somewhere else after the first place didn’t work.  Which in turn costs more money.  However, my favorite laughable marketing “you’ve got to be kidding me” is when companies guarantee results.  “If it doesn’t work the first time, you can just train with us again free of charge.”  You can’t guarantee another being’s behavior.  That’s like me guaranteeing your mother-in-law’s behavior this holiday season.  Not possible.  Training only increases the probability of desired behaviors, it doesn’t guarantee them.  Also, isn’t that the definition of insanity?  Doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results?  No thanks.

Now, I’m not saying everyone should run out and find a professional who is two hours away, with a three month waiting list, that you have to drain your kid’s college tuition savings to afford them.  That would have its own set of drastic consequences.  However, you need to know who you’re about to learn from!  This simple choice can affect the rest of your dog’s life.

First, know what type of training you are looking for.  Obedience?  House manners?  Field work?  Search & rescue?  Hunting?  Service dog work?  Behavior modification?  Problem prevention?  Aggression issues?  Separation anxiety?  Phobias?  Resource guarding?  Potty training?  Socialization skills?  Fear issues?  Conformation?  And the list goes on and on and on…  All dogs are not created equal, nor is everyone’s living environment.  “Cookie cutter” training programs can miss out on a variety of needs, but can be sufficient if all you want is basic obedience.

So, how do you find a good trainer?  Oh let me count the ways.  There are a zillion articles out there, and my favorites are by: the Association Of Pet Dog Trainers, Pet Finder, and the Whole Dog Journal.  If you want more information on all the various certifications, the APDT has a nice list of the most popular ones.

So let’s pretend you need more than just basic obedience, and house manners.  The more specialized your needs are, the more qualified the professional you will need.  And if there is any liability or safety concerns you want to go to the top of the trainer food chain, or as far up as possible.  Pretend Case Study:  Fluffy is a five year old dog with a hypothyroid problem, aggression, bite history, and has seizures.  He just tried to eat the pizza delivery boy, and now you’re being sued.  You’ll want to find a veterinary behaviorist.  At the time of this post there are currently 54 in the USA & Canada combined.  And you can find them at the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists. There is also a directory at the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, (roughly about 160 in the entire USA) just input your search parameters for location.

Realistically, because there are so few veterinary behaviorists in the country, it could be hard to find one.  Most trainers who handle behavioral cases can (and should) work directly with your veterinarian.  And in my personal opinion you don’t need a degree in veterinary medicine to be called a behaviorist.  However, you need to be affiliated with or have the certifications to back up the claim of behaviorist.  There are two other major organizations to consider when you are in need of a professional with additional expertise.  The first is Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists, and the second is the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants.

So when should you call in the big guns?  My answer: before behavior problems get to the point you are at your wits end.  It’s a whole lot easier to change behavior without a strong reinforcement history.  So, if things don’t get practiced for an extended period of time, the cost of training will usually be significantly less because it takes far fewer lessons to fix things.  Plus, new undesirable behaviors don’t creep up into the mix either.

And why should you call in the big guns?  In the dog world, experienced trainers have seen inexperienced trainers cause more harm than good with good intentions.  They accidentally strengthen behaviors that need extinguished by accidental random reinforcement schedules, they don’t use (because most green trainers only use food) the correct amount and type of reinforcers (such as leaving something scary), and they accidentally punish the dog by placing the dog over threshold, they kill basic obedience by asking for a sit around an aversive stimulus not understanding counter conditioning, etc.  If you need more than just basic obedience and house manners, I’d call on someone more qualified if it were me.

One last thought, there are more options that can help besides veterinary and behavior services.  I have seen marvelous results from TTouch, acupuncture, Thundershirts, and even nutritionists.  Keep an open mind because sometimes solutions can come from the least likely of places!

I’m not saying “ignore the dog” is bad advice.  It’s actually just fine advice.  My concern is that it’s not done right.  Part of the problem is the “ignore” isn’t clearly defined.  When you ignore a dog, you’re trying to not offer any reinforcement at all.  You’re withholding attention.

And I still see people look right at their pet, say a quick “no,” push them away, etc, etc, etc…  The key is to pretend your dog doesn’t even exist.  You can’t see him, hear him, feel him, or even notice he is in the same room no matter what he’s doing! It only takes one little eye contact for the dog to learn he’s getting somewhere.  And the second the dog is given eye contact (or whatever else that tells him you notice he’s there), he’s rewarded.  So think about it.  If you have a dog who’s barking, and you “ignore him.”  He keeps barking, and barking, maybe gets a little louder, or barks with more gusto, or just barks more BPM (barks per minute), and THEN we reward him.  Oops.  Now we’ve created a behavior of barking with duration that will increase in intensity.

What happens is now the dog has learned to just give it his all, and bark like he’s never barked before for two minutes straight.  For some reason I always think of a small child tugging on his mom’s shirt saying, “Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom.Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom.Mom. Mom.Mom. Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!” until the mom turns around and says, “WHAT?!?!!”  Which has now taught the kid this works.

If part of the behavior plan is going to be “ignore the dog” you need to make sure that no reinforcement happens at all.  The other part to this training (which is unfortunately often left out), is you need to reward what you want the dog to do! Trust me when I say dogs are smart and will figure out exactly what works to get what they want.  And it might just be another obnoxious behavior.  Dogs aren’t given Human Handbooks, just like when you have a baby they don’t come with manuals either.  Just remember, the outcome isn’t changing.  The reward isn’t different.  The way the dog gets what he wants is.  So if your dog is barking at you for attention, you’re not changing the reward.  Think of it more like taking the desired outcome the dog wants and putting it on hold.  You don’t want to just withhold attention until the end of time, or think giving him a completely different reward will work.  That’s nonsense.  (And can actually cause a doggie road rage frustration.  It’s like, if I’m hungry I want food, not a hug – if I’m sad I want a hug, not food, etc.)  The whole reason the dog will be motivated to change his behavior is to get the desired outcome he’s been striving for in the first place, so you don’t change that.  Instead you would give him attention by doing a different behavior.  And in order for the dog to learn this quickly, you have to heavily reward a desired behavior, like sit for example.  So only when the dog sits he gets attention.  You have to be really black & white about it.  No grey area.  It’s vital to remember to reinforce the desired behavior.  Otherwise we’re basically taking away the car keys without any information on how to earn them back.  A trick before doing this is to have about a week of heavily rewarding for sit (or whatever behavior you want to replace the no-no bad behavior with), because then the dog will likely try this behavior first when he learns what he was doing (barking) just doesn’t work anymore.

The light bulb moment goes something like this:

• I want attention!  I’m going to bark.
• Hum… maybe I’m not barking enough! (ie: an extinction burst, which is where we usually fail at the ignoring part and say, “WHAT?!?!!!”)
• Gee… this worked before, now I’m confused.
• I think I’ll try sit.  That was just working a few days ago for other stuff.  Might work for this too.
• <dog sits> (AND WE NOTICE & REWARD)

Believe it or not, sometimes we human beings are so focused on the part we can’t stand that drives us crazy we forget to notice the behavior we actually want.  Sort of like when a puppy chews on his toys we don’t do anything.  But when he has our $500 cell phone, we dish out all kinds of attention & sometimes even teach a fantastic catch me if you can game.  So, make sure you pay attention and teach your dog what does work.  That’s the way to replace behavior.

Now… imagine your dog with his “lotto ticket.”  How much is it worth to the dog?  Why (in the dog’s point of view) should he give it up?  Is there a possibility of not getting the item back?  Is it fun and non-threatening to relinquish the item?

Always remember the dog is always a good dog for giving up anything he has!  If the dog drops his toy you should have the same reaction if the dog drops the TV remote control he was just chewing.  Be happy and REWARD the dog for giving things up.

Step #1:  Your dog feels comfortable with you around him when he has something in his mouth.  (Ask about resource guarding if you are not sure about this.)  When your dog has something, walk toward your dog, say, “drop it” and drop a treat on the floor beside the dog, and keep walking.

Step #2:  Your dog feels comfortable with you talking to him when he has something in his mouth. Walk toward the dog, say, “drop it” and drop a treat on the ground.  Stand near the dog.  Let the dog eat the treat and just praise the dog.  Walk away.

Step #3:  Your dog feels comfortable with you petting him when he has something in his mouth.  Walk toward the dog, say, “drop it” and drop treat on the ground.  Pet and praise the dog.  Walk away.

Step #4:  Your dog will give up what he currently has temporarily to get something else, and is allowed to go right back to the item he had.  Stand near the dog.  Say, “drop it” and wait for the dog to “spit out” the item.  Click the moment the dog gets the object out of his mouth.  Throw treat on floor away from the item (about 3 feet.)  Allow the dog to eat the treat.  Repeat.

Step #5:  Your dog will give up what he currently has to get something else while you reach for the item (but not pick it up.)  Stand near the dog.  Say, “drop it” and wait for the dog to “spit out” the item.  Click the moment the dog gets the object out of his mouth.  Throw several treats on floor away from the item (about 3 feet.)  Allow the dog to eat the treats as you touch the item.  Repeat.

Step #6:  Your dog freely drops items in his possession to get something else.  Doesn’t try and race you back to the object, you can now pick item up without any objection from the dog.  Same as step #5, except you are now picking up the item instead of just touching it.

• Remember to practice with items you can give back to the dog.
• If you are working with a “resource guarding” dog, there are safety precautions that are necessary.  Ask your trainer.
• This is an exchange exercise in the dog’s point of view.  Remember to give your dog something good for giving up his “lotto ticket.”

I’m adding the finishing touches on my seminar for this Saturday, “Practical Solutions for Practical People.”  And as I created this presentation I remember all the clients I have helped over the years and even milestones I have overcome with my own dogs.  It’s pretty cool to share this information with a roomful of people.  (You can register for our seminars HERE.)  It makes me realize reinforcement is in the eye of the beholder.  You see, I actually like public speaking.  I look forward to it.  I feel all giddy and think, “this information could touch the lives of so many people and help so many dogs!”  And the simple fact of getting positive reinforcement training methods to the public that can solve so many common problems just makes me smile. I look forward to seeing you on Saturday, and I’d love to hear any comments.