Friday, December 30, 2011

Where is it? FOUND IT!!!!

Here is a short video of dogs working some fun search games we do in the Thinking Games class.  
They've played the game a few times at this stage and are getting more and more independent with their searching...now so thrilled with the game that they can play off leash, because they will stay with the game, knowing there's something fun and rewarding at the end!!! 

Latest graduates and what we did in class lately...

This is Jazz.
This is Seven.
Here are a few shots of the most recent class graduates. The first two (top of this page/ along with a third who sadly missed "grad night") graduated from Manners class. The three at the bottom took part in a 6-week mixed class where we combined content from three different classes: Rally'O, Thinking Games as well as intro to Conceptual Learning. What great fun! It is always rewarding and fun for me, too, when people go on with the training beyond just the very basics. In this mixed class we got to introduce dogs and handlers to Rally'O (Rally Obedience) and worked through a couple of Level 1 courses as well as picked apart some of the more complex individual stations and exercises. We also started intro work on teaching concepts; meaning; NOUNS -- teaching the dogs names of objects. This is often a totally new concept; requiring a new and systematic way of working and teaching, as most of the things we normally teach our companion dogs centers around action-verbs, "doing" something. When working on teaching nouns, there is a small degree of "action" - in that we need some kind of indication behavior so the dog can "point" to the object we ask for, but the rest is quite different from most other things we do and it is rewarding yet challenging to work through the stages. Fantastic mental exercise for the dogs! (well, humans, too!)


This is Halle.
This is Charm.

This is Aspen.

As a favorite, we also did some fun Nose Work Games...working on independent searching through some simple yet amazingly fun search games. We start easy and add complexity and challenges as the dogs get confident with understanding the game. Will upload a small video to illustrate some of this fun so stay tuned...video coming soon :-) The search games are usually a favourite for both dogs and people. It is truly remarkable to watch a dog keen to use his or her nose in a game we all approve of...the joy is ever so obvious! FUN to see them use their powerful noses...

Monday, December 19, 2011

Thoughts on relationship and value...

With only a few sleeps until Xmas, surrounded by thoughts of Giving, Sharing and Being Grateful, I find myself reflecting over the human-dog relationship. I know I don’t need to tell you that dogs are amazing.. But I’ll spend a few moments reflecting and pondering with you.

Besides being our constant companions…obviously dogs have brilliant ability to learn…beyond what most of us actually really explore and push boundaries for. We have not even scratched the surface for what we could indeed teach our companion dogs. I am convinced, too that dogs DO love and WANT to learn:  they LOVE the attention they get in the teaching/learning process. If you are a good “employer” (which hopefully you strive to be), make it safe for the dog to experiment and offer behaviors and pay your dog well for effort and learning - the relationship that develops in this process is also truly remarkable and will continue to deepen and flourish further, the more you teach and the more you challenge the dogs’ brain to keep learning! I see it in classes and my clients all the time. Dogs absolutely love learning, they truly enjoy and want to be participants in the process…and they are utterly and bluntly honest about what they know and what they don’t know! And how fun for people, too…to see their companion shine!

So…when you Have taught your dog some stuff…we run into a topic which often is controversial and met with questions and hot debate. We have taught our dogs some basic skills/ manners  and “we know that the dog knows” these – should they not just “obey” because they “know”?? We are the leaders and they should be subservient and just DO things because we ask them? Misbehaviour really shouldn’t happen “Because they know better?”!?
Like walking nicely on leash, for example…if we’ve given them a few cookies during a few walks for being beside our leg, then yanked them a few times and told them “NO!” for pulling…and again given them another treat for walking beside…should they not KNOW better? Have we now not clearly shown them what leash walking should look like? Shouldn’t they now walk nicely all the time? ---Maybe not…Here’s my take on stuff like:
walking nicely beside your leg (VS. sniffing the ground, or pulling toward something really exciting),                          
coming when called (VS. running off to play with another dog or chasing a bunny),                                                          relaxing and lying down calmly waiting (VS.  lunging away from you, straining, looking for fun elsewhere when on leash)…

Dogs are completely HONEST about where they see the VALUE. Where has your dog, through a history of reinforcement (rewards) learned that there is FUN, Joy, and opportunity for reinforcement?? THAT is where his attention and energy will be directed to! If you don’t build a reinforcement history for walking nicely next to your leg but instead  your dog finds amazing joy in straining away from you to smell the world, try to chase bunnies…etc…of course your dog will think that the value when on leash is Definitely AWAY from you. Not in being WITH you.
If your dog has lots of opportunity to play off leash in the dog park, running AWAY from you and learning that other dogs are truly Amazing and fun, whereas you are mainly a sure-fire signal that the fun is about to end and there is no reward history telling the dog that hearing you call him would ever have any significantly positive consequence (possibly rather the other way around) L - of course your dog will see more value in running away from you towards other dogs, than he will see in coming TO you. Simple as that. 
IF, however, you take the time to build YOUR value…teach your dog how to play games with YOU, teach your dog that beside your pant leg is the best place in the World to walk (have him earn all his breakfasts and dinners for walking where you WANT him to walk) and spend time BEING YOUR DOG’S BEST FRIEND…guaranteed, in the process your dog will start to Seek You Out as someone fun and reinforcing to be around!

I am often amazed at how many students in my classes complain about the dog’s “lousy recall” and when discussing the dog’s daily/weekly routine we quickly discover that INCREDIBLE time and effort is dedicated toward making sure that the dog has ample opportunity to play off leash in the dog park, but one-on-one time owner-to-dog is nearly non-existent. Why would we then be surprised to find that the dog clearly chooses other dogs over the owner? When looking at things from a “minutes-per-day” perspective, it is pretty clear that the owner has actually taught the dog: life is all about other dogs, not human family members. Why is it then a surprise that the dog has clearly chosen to stop listening to the human being at all? It should not be a surprise…nor should the “fix” feel like a mystery. Dogs are (sometimes brutally) honest. They tell you, through their actions, where they see the value.

The really good news is this: You can CHANGE THIS! If the value isn’t where you would like it to be; you CAN switch things around! Really, I see and help people do it all the time!

The most functional and rewarding relationships definitely seem to be ones where the dog sees a ton of value in being with their person and actually will CHOOSE to be with the human, even when “distractions” are present. It is also a relationship based on trust and a safety. In the most successful human-dog relationships that I see, (if I define that simply in terms of least amount of friction and frustration) besides the very important safety factor, it is quite obvious that the owner has been able to build their own value to a large degree / the dog clearly WANTS to be with and “do” stuff with and for the human being. These people, while obviously committed to spending one-on-one time with their dogs are not rigid or unrealistic in their expectations of their dogs, they understand that there is an on-going balancing act; and they are also flexible and open to re-adjusting this balance as the relationship develops and evolves. Keeping and maintaining your value as a “best friend” to your dog is not something we should take for granted or think we don’t have to work toward and continually assess. Relationships evolve and change, and so does the value scale, which needs to be looked at and adjusted from time to time. In times of frustration, or when “mistakes” happen – important to consider that your dog is not to blame for “mistakes” – inevitably it is the human being who is responsible for:

a)      Making sure you make and take time for your dog: one-on-one
-in dog agility a common saying is also ”BE the handler. SHOW the way!”. BE the driver, be the chauffeur. Call it whatever you want – time and commitment is needed!
b)      Actually teach your dog what you DO want him TO DO instead of just being frustrated at the  “don’t do’s”.
c)       If/ when there are “mistakes” – ‘Fess up! Your dog is not to blame! Dogs are (well yes, they ARE opportunists) but always HONEST…if there are “mistakes”… Either you have not done a) taken time for your dog, or b) there are gaps in what or how you have taught him. He is probably not prepared well enough for what you are asking of him!

With these thoughts to ponder, I leave you to celebrate a very Merry Christmas! And wishing you a Happy New Year, too! As part of your New Years’ resolutions, maybe consider adding a resolution relating to the current relationship with your dog!? Is there room for improvement? Teaching better, more solid skills? Or maybe just spending more one-on-one time; making sure you live up to being His/ Her Best Friend, too?! And of course, if you would like some support on your Journey – I’d LOVE to see you, whether in a class or private one-on-one.  

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Pinot agility training

Fantastic and really fun day of agility training with Pinot yesterday! I will share some video below.
We've been working skills, handling and equipment for a year and being that Pinot is my very first agility dog - I am exstatic about where we are! It really has been a totally adrenaline filled and addictive journey! I can see many, many more agility dogs in my future :-) The new year 2012 will hold the next adventure for us: our first competitions! I can't wait to get to our first trial! It will probably be chaotic and crazy - but amazing FUN nevertheless! Here's a video from yesterday's training session.


I am really looking forward to the upcoming Lynda Orton-Hill agility workshops we have signed up for, we'll be working and learning over three days Nov 18-20, 2011. Will have to share more about what we learned, after...

The learning we have under our belt to date is a big complilation of skills and coaching from a ton of different sources. I have been trying to absorb information and "stuff" about agility for a good three years..reading books and magazines, watching DVDs, watching people compete and train both live and on youtube (tons of good stuff out there!) and talking to agility trainers, competitors, etc.

By the time I got Pinot (two years ago) I had a good idea of where to start and what route I wanted to take. We've obviously learned together, side-by-side and many times I have had to pause and go back and ask questions before continuing on with our training. But it's fun to be where we are today!
Her first year was spent just building important foundation skills without obstacles; circle work, tricks, body awareness, and basically learning the ins and outs of how to  "run together". Last fall and over the winter is when we really started teaching jumping skills, working on contact behaviors and slowly and gradually combining all of it into short sequences and introducing the other pieces of equipment. Weaves were not introduces until this past spring.

Last year I hosted a "Backyard Agility seminar" twice - bringing in my good friend Catherine Thomas, from New Brunswick to come and coach, teach and help myself and others interested in agility, to get off on the right track. She basically uses the Greg Derrett and Susan Garrett handling system of handling, so this is the one I have been tryinig to learn and use as well. When she was out, we basically designed a "plan" with desirable steps to teach and achieve over the winter months: some focusing on small little behaviors (such as what's  needed for the 2on 2 off contact), others being handling skills - getting the dog to understand pinwheels, 270s and such....and this "list of skills" is one I have referred back to many times.

A lot of our training has been done in really small spaces as it's tough to get access to large pieces of land for training in Banff and Canmore. About once a month I have thus tried to get out to Kim Boyes' Hyper Hounds near Okotoks for privates or semi-privates to add to our "homework" list and get help with my handling, as well as have opportunity to practise on all of the equipment and as of lately; start to do full courses. I have also been going to a different facility about once a month where I can just pay a fee to use the space and equipment - there's no teaching or coaching - you just work by yourself.

I've managed to get in on a couple of other agility workshops also: last December: Justine Davenport was in Calgary for a "Double Box work" seminar, which Pinot and I took part in. A video from our work at that seminar can be found here:
Pinot, Dec 2010 Double Box work seminar It's fun to look back at stuff like this now and really see how big a difference a year of training can make!

This fall I got to see Anneli Hilton in "Distance Skills 101" (seminar), which was all about starting to work: yeah, you guessed it: Distance!
There are more influences, but this gives an idea....There's a great saying about kids that goes something like "It takes a Village to raise a child"...I think the same is true for raising Pinot to become an agility dog. I have many people to Thank for her progress and our learning together. And OH how much fun the journey has been!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Rally Obedience with Maggio

This past weekend I competed with Maggio at the APDT Rally Obedience trial hosted by Sit Happens! in Calgary. We needed one more leg in Level 3 to get his RL3 title - and it just had to be under a different judge than Tammy Brooks who we had already qualified twice under in the spring.

Funny thing, how this training and behavior stuff seems to Evolve without us realizing. I mean - I really did not train and practise much at all for this trial as I have felt pretty confident in our skills in regards to what's required for Level 3. I read through the exercise signs and did a couple of run throughs last week, feeling like "we've got this under control". I should be able to handle through the courses and we should be able to finsih (provided my ring nerves stay under control). But then, in the ring - a brand new problem was born. One that I didn't even know existed.

Our first round, under judge Sarah-Jane Petti - a round which WOULD have counted (had we qualified), resulted in an NQ due to a silly brain fart that took me completely by surprise. Stuff that just "happens" and left me confused about what really did happen? The brain fart moment caught me totally off guard and I was not prepared with a "plan" of how to handle it. Had I kept my brain on my head through it - I would have said to the judge "I would like to re-do this station"...taken a few steps back and re-done the station...thus resulting in deductions in points - but because of my choice to just keep trying on the spot without indicating I am re-doing - I had a Non Qualifying score. It was very messy and also pin-pointed a brand new problem to me: Maggio was totally confused about the similarity of the words "Stay" and "Stand". It had never happened before, but with so many position changes in a row in Rally and going from sit to down to stand and then sometimes leaving the dog with "stay" - I think everything just became a guessing game. He was honestly confused - and happily trying his best. Here is a video of this run:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtuKlYzl_08


I only did this one round on Saturday, went home for a "think", a glass of wine and a good sleep before returning back on Sunday. In my warm ups on Sunday I made a point of experimenting with what difference it made whether I used or dropped my hand-signal to "stay" simultaneously as I said "Stay" and whether I could really slur through the first letters in "st...." and really emphasize the "AY!" when I wanted him to STAY. as opposed to "Stand" when I tried to really enunciate every letter. With this somewhat comical plan I made it through the first half of the course pretty nicely....and then we ran into the same trouble again. Stay? or Stand? WHAT?

This time, though - I knew that I have to tell the judge clearly that I am re-doing...and re-do I did: a few times, before we got our stuff straight. Goodness gracious. We got through it but Now I REALLY had to come up with a Real plan.
Here is the video of this round: (which I call "warm up" as it is for the "wrong" judge, so even though we did qualify and had a score of 199, it did not count towards the title)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raIbgzziqtM


I now had a few hours before my final try. I drove off with Maggio, found a nice, big piece of grass in the city and over three little mini sessions set out to convince him that "WAIT" is the new "Stay". I had come to the conclusion that the frequent changes of position, similarity in words was just too confusing and without a new cue that would really sound distinctly different, I would be up for the same mess. Same hand signal, just a new word that is distinctly different than "Stand" to replace the old "Stay". This saved us in the last round. We got through. No big mess-ups, "Wait" worked and Maggio was happy to work. We lost some points to other mistakes and oopses, but with 6 months to wait until the next opportunity to try - I was happy with some loss of points - at least this counted: and Maggio finished his RL-3 title. Hooray!

A big Bison bone for Maggio in the car on the way home. A smile on my face. A couple of ribbons to add to our collection. One fourth placement and one third. But Mostly I returned home with a great feeling of gratitude for a dog who was so very happy to work. It felt like true teamwork and really fantastic to work together! He made me very proud. I hope he understood the many Thank yous I tried to convey last night. He's never asked to sign up in any trial - yet he's travelled this journey with me as a very willing and happy partner. What amazing creatures these dogs are!!!!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Breed-Ambassador Dressing up for Grad night

This is Davis - an American Staffordshire Terrier - one of the breeds that will often be lumped and labeled under the umbrella of "pit bull". Davis is a "Staffie" but more than that: he is a fantastic Breed Ambassador. I've had the great priviledge of having him in one of my recent Mutts and Manners classes. What an awesome dog! Fantastic with people and other dogs alike, one can only wish and hope that anyone with biases and prejudices against "pit bulls" would get to meet dogs like Davis.

So, I just had a burning desire to share that, and add a photo of the very Handsome Boy during the final class when he came "dressed up" for the occasion! Way to go! The bar has been raised! And congratulations Carla - job well done - he'll make you proud many times over yet!
Davis is taking Grad Night to new heights, arriving with "attire"! What a handsome boy!
Davis graduated from Mutts and Manners class last Thursday night.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Weekend walk in the Foothills

Sharing some photos from the weekend. We have been so lucky with the fall weather. People and dogs alike have been able to enjoy some amazing hikes and walks. Here we are out for an amazing outing with friends in the foothills south of Calgary.
Pinot checking back: "Are you coming?"

Tails and backs...dogs on a huge treasure hunt enjoying all kinds of interesting finds in the tall grasses.
Our friend Monty at full speed.

Pinot takes a break.


Maggio. "Mr Wags Unlimited" himself. A true portrait of never-ending happiness :-)


Alberta really is an amazingly beautiful province.






Wednesday, October 19, 2011

"This puppy can't do it!" or do we need to find better motivation?

Last night in Puppy Foundation Skills class we worked on a variety of Attention games and Focus. There were five pups in the group and for most of them it was week two or three in a very distracting environment! Quite often we'll have this conversation about the need to find something (usually food or toy) that Puppy really likes that we can use to reinforce (reward) the behaviors we like and are working on. Without something that the puppy truly cares about, the "training" can easily become an exercise in frustration and can understandably seem like a battle that can't be won. It can totally seem like "This puppy can't or won't do it!" I've often heard people sigh in frustration and say "My puppy is just too distracted!"
If that seems to be the case - (usually) there is nothing wrong with the puppy. There is just an imbalance between what the owner is using as a "reward" and a very stimulating environment that seems very enticing and inviting (puppy mates to potentially get to play with?!!!) Unless we really take care too look for something that the puppy TRULY values - why would a baby animal automatically "know" what is wanted or asked of him and choose to turn to a person with "mediocre" rewards?
Quite often we have this idea that any food should do - any puppy should work for any kind of cookie or any kind of toy in any kind of environment. After all - we gave the puppy SOMETHING, right? Shouldn't that be enough?

Something pretty cool happened last night that illustrates just how big a difference the choice of reinforcement (reward) can make.
I had been keeping an eye on one of our newest members of the class, observing and hearing from the handler how distracted her puppy was; unable to focus. I was sensing some frustration growing. I asked if I could borrow the puppy for a moment to demonstrate the next exercise (a baby heeling/ attentive leash walking exercise).

After quickly establishing that the puppy was comfortable being with me, I held the leash handle in my hand and simply waited for the puppy to acknowledge me. After a short moment, the puppy offered a quick head turn in my direction...I praised her up and said "YES!" and smiling warmly at the puppy I pulled out some string cheese to reward this voluntary check-in. She ate her cheese slowly as if wondering about it - and went out to the end of the leash to strain toward another puppy and see if she would get to go play. I didn't let her get to the puppy but stood still again waiting for her to check back with me...waited a little longer this time...and eventually she looked back in my direction. I again told her "YES!" and offered another piece of string cheese. Same lukewarm reaction from her. She ate the cheese but not with the kind of gusto that comes from true enjoyment. A few more repetitions of the same....each time it seemed to take a little longer before she checked back with me and between each repeptition there seemed to be more straining away and more sniffing of the floor. I was now looking for plan B as I was running out of cheese and thinking "This is not really working".

After the on-leash version (described in text) is well established,
it is not such a big step to remove the leash and continue to
work the puppy off-leash. By giving the rewards right next to your body
you start to convince the puppy that this is indeed a "magical
place" and they start to show up beside your leg more and
more and more...
So I re-loaded my pocket with some freeze dried liver instead. My demo-Puppy could immediately smell the difference and what a shift in attitude we got to witness! All of a sudden I had a puppy looking up to me, offering gorgeous attention, and when praised and told "YES!" she was snarfing up her liver with GUSTO!  and very quickly re-orienting to me yet again and again... as if continually asking "Is this what you want? This? What about this? And this too?"
We started exactly the same as before. I stood still, just waiting for her to look in my direction. When she did, I told her "YES!" smiling and offering her a piece of liver or two. It only took seconds before she simply would not look away, she would not leave my side! She just stood there beside me looking into my face and eyes. That is the first step. When that was established, I would start to move. One or two steps. Was puppy following? YES! she was! So again I would verbally praise her up, tell her YES! and pull out a piece of liver and reward right next to my pant leg (in the location I want the dog to walk for nice polite walking-beside). It was a beautiful sight and this puppy had in a matter of minutes transformed from "too distracted to focus" to a focus-machine...looking for ways to earn more reinforcement!

There was no magic to this - the importance lies in Understanding what happened and how it impacts your dog's ability to learn and focus and be motivated to work. What we use as "rewards" are only reinforcing to the dog if the DOG sees them as true rewards and WANTS them! Sometimes we simply have to experiment and try different things! Like with my demo puppy. We learned something about what she truly finds valuable yesterday.

People who really get hooked on dogs sports have usually
also been very successful at developing a nice repertoire of
"top rewards". Big effort = Big reward. Everyone is happy,
and the dog loves the continual challenges presented.
In this puppy's case the difference between "too distracted and not interested in training" and a "learning machine" involved a switch from something we "think" should be a reward: cheese (which is something many dogs looove - but this puppy felt lukewarm about) or the dry dog bisquits the owner had been trying to use (which clearly were not of high enough value) to something we let her tell us she WANTS: dried liver.

It's really no different than motivating people when you think about it. One of my mentors and teachers, Chris Bach (The Third Way) illustrated this to me with a very memorable example. Let's say you have a job where there are big performance bonuses paid out in event tickets. You are a hockey fan and really don;t care for the Opera at all, but your boss at work insisted on paying your performance bonus in tickets to go see the Opera. How "rewarding" would you find that? How long would you continue to work in that kind of situation? Would it seem like it's worth your while?

But if your boss now had a conversation with you about your wants and desires and you could tell him you'd really prefer tickets to hockey games instead - and he started to give you wonderful tickets to your favorite hockey teams' games...now, wouldn't that change things? All of a sudden you would feel like you were heard and had great motivation to work!

So, for our dogs - whom we do not have the ability to converse with like that...we need to find out in different ways. It's worth doing some experimentation with and can be a discovery as simple as what we had in class. Or it might take some time and effort to really find out.
Sometimes the top reinforcers will change, too. So keep experimenting and try different things! Also switch things up. The more highly-sought-after rewards you know you have in the repertoire to use, the easier the journey will be! What are your dog's favorite "tickets"? What is going to help motivate him so that he goes from "Too distracted to work" or "mediocre response" to that "WITH GUSTO and brilliance!" response?!




Thursday, October 13, 2011

Working for....Praise or Food or checking to see what you've got first?

Making eye contact is a Foundation Skill we work a lot on in
the "Adolescent Mutts and Manners" Program. It teaches
several important lessons:
1. it teaches the dog to focus on the handler's FACE, not hands
2. it teaches the dog a lot about impulse control around food;
IE; just because we have food here,
does not mean it is automatically available and
3. it becomes a really wonderful connection tool for the human being;
there is hardly anything that is more "warm and fuzzy" than a dog
looking lovingly up into your eyes.
Eye contact builds wonderful connection!
Continuing on the topic from last time What happened to praise. There are a few things that can happen if we start to rely too much on the use of food (or toys) and also more specifically if we use those as "bribes" instead of "consequences" or not thinking about WHAT we are actually rewarding with the food. So maybe rather - if we are using food in non-effective ways.

I think all of us have seen the dog that comes when called - arrives at the handlers HANDS, checking/ smelling for food - and when finding none, he takes off again. How frustrating!

Another thing I see and hear complaints over very often in classes, is what we can call the "One-cookie Syndrome". This is something handlers create by only ever rewarding their dogs with One Cookie. The dog comes, gets his One Cookie and nothing more...and so he runs off again. Each time he comes to the handler, he is rewarded - but with one, very predictable cookie. And so it won't be long before the dog figures out that opportunities for praise/ rewards/ treats end with the first cookie, and so he starts to believe that after the one cookie, he is definitely free to run off again.

This is Currie. Another Manners class participant who
mastered the Eye contact game beautifully.
Attention starts here, this is a very powerful and useful game!
The third thing that often happens in conjunction with, or after these two are already in place, is that the handler - now wanting to prevent the running off - starts to grab the dog's collar as soon as the dog gets to them. I have seen many a student in classes do this with much rehearsed precision, incredible timing and speed; diving over the dog's head with a lightning-fast motion that captures the dog before he has time to think about making a decision about whether to stay or go. And thus, with this new capture-the-dog technique, we have created a new phenomenon: the Keep-Away-Dog.

So, as with so many things; one thing leads to another and before we know it, we have a whole host of new dilemmas to deal with.

Here's a simple little test you can do right now with your dog to see how much he values verbal praise or if you need to start to think about How you reward/ reinforce your dog and whether you are using food effectively.

Take a container with some yummy treats and place them up on a table/ counter next to you when your dog is in a different area of the house. Now, call your dog. When your dog comes to you - do NOT use the treats to reinforce him with immediately, but shower him with lavish praise. If he likes to be petted, give him behind-the-ear scratches, chest scratches and bum rubs- all the while praising him up like he's just done something amazing. Does he happily stay with you, soaking up the praise? Is he willingly letting you grab and let go of his collar? If you can keep him with you, fully connecting for about 20-30 seconds - THEN reach into the container of treats, take out a few (as in 5-6, Not just one!) and give them, one-at-a-time in a slow succession...all the while continuing to praise. If you pause between these treats, and only use verbal praise - where is his focus? On your face where the wonderful words came from, or your hands - where the cookies came from? If you now take a few steps away from him...does he follow you? and if so, where is his focus: on your hands or on your face?

When you are done with this interaction, next put the cookies in your pocket and take the same show on the road next time you can safely let him off leash outside. Same response? Different? What happens?

This is my Dear boy, Maggio who is excellent at
offering eye contact and asking
the question: "Is this what you want?"
This little interaction will tell you a lot about where your dog's focus is and where you have taught him to find his reinforcement. A lot of scenarios can play out. If he didn't care about you calling him at all, obviously that says something about his recall and ability to come when called. Maybe the rewards are too much in the environment and really not enough with you at all?
If he came, but could smell the cookies on the counter/ or in your pocket and was obsessed with how to get to the cookies instead of caring about your praise - that shows you an area that can be improved upon!

If he came, took his cookie and started to dash away from you...you know you need to keep him engaged for longer periods of time. It's the one-cookie-syndrome thing. Try really hard to draw out your reward sequence...starting with verbally praising your dog up, then rewarding in multiples to keep him engaged, all the while continuing to Smile and use your warm, verbal praise.

If you get way more focus on your hands than your face - this tells you where your dog has learned the reinforcement comes from.
One of my favorite things to teach dogs is the "Eye Contact Game" - but even beyond teaching it formally: NOTICE when your dog is connecting with your eyes! Notice when he checks in and seeks out your eyes! Smile back and tell him how much you love him for it! Don't wit until you have no connection to try to get it - but notice when you have it, and use your best, warmest verbal praise accompanied by a warm smile to tell your dog what a great choice you think that is!
There really is no better feeling than a dog frequently looking up into your eyes, as if asking "Is this what you want?"

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

What happened to Praise?

We've come a long way in dog training when it comes to Methods and How we train and motivate our dogs to perform.
I know - corrections and heavy handed methods are sadly still out there and in use - but there is a shift in thinking and there seems to be more awareness and interest in exploring dog friendly techniques. At least I want to believe so.
Annette and Maggio in a Rally'O trial.
One of the main things really setting Rally'O
apart from traditional obedience is the ability
for the handler to talk and use verbal praise
even in the ring, during the performance.
In this movement toward more friendly and "positive" training, there is one development that I am not particularly fond of. I will tell you what I am referring to - and then you can judge for yourself if you have ever seen this or maybe if you are seeing any of this in your own training?!                                                           The question is "What happened to Praise"?

Those who have attended classes with me or seen me work my own dogs, will know that the clicker IS a tool I have in my tool box. I *do* find it a hugely valuable tool and for some tasks: especially those requiring very specific timing to teach, such as precise movements, the clicker is invaluable. But at the same time - I do not find it a Be all - End all tool.
I also "get it" when clients struggle to keep track of dog, leash, treats/ or toy/ listening to instructions, let alone trying to put it all together. Sometimes it's just too much to add a clicker - and I see better results when we remove it and focus on Just Training.

In serious circles of "Clicker Trainers", timing and juggling of multiple tools is second nature and does not, of course, cause issues with not having enough hands. The mechanics seem to flow seamlessly and the sequence of click, treat is rythmic and precise, and the click captures Just the right behavior. Every time. Progress is fast. In many ways it is beautiful.

But here is what often bothers me when watching some Clicker Trainers (both skilled and not so skilled) work: the mechanics and concentration on flow is so overpowering and "sterile" it leaves no room for verbal praise! There's often reference to the need to completely isolate the click from anything else, to remain objectively neutral while training. The dog, when "clicker savvy", should "work to hear the click".

When a dog understands the sequence of click=always means a reinforcer is imminent, the dog may indeed be "working for the click" but it seems as if, in the process of picking up the clicker, the trainer has forgotten about verbal praise?! In attempts to keep the click completely salient and clean, so much concentration goes toward it - that the trainer becomes a quiet robot, not ever verbally connecting with their dog, not praising or celebrating the progress made! I find this very sad.

Again - I like the clicker for a lot of things. I use it. But even more than I like the mechanics of a tool, I LOVE what happens when we reach a milestone in training and people happily exclaim "YES!" (treat) "YES!" (treat) "YES!" (treat) and continue on with a long sequence of "What a good boy/ girl/ What a clever puppy! GOOD CHOICE! That was amazing! Good boy!" A dog that finds value in praise and social connection with people, will turn into a wiggly-tail-wag of joy. I find THAT a true pleasure to watch.

I think verbal praise is extremely important and find it very sad it often seems forgotten in striving for "clean training mechanics". Using the clicker as a tool has its place in training, so does food, so do toys. Let's just not forget about Praise! It's something you will always have with you, something hopefully your dog will have come to value and see as Important.

Next time I will suggest a simple little test you can do to see whether you are remembering to also use verbal PRAISE to reward your dog or if you are relying too much on food? There is a simple thing you can do to find out...the dog will tell you :-) But I will save that for next time.


Monday, September 26, 2011

Hiking photos

It's pretty well a tradition for us to get out on a full-day hike on the weekend for my late September birthday. And so we did again...
The whole family got out in the gorgeous mountains for a full day 14-16km trek, leaving children, dogs and adults alike pretty tired, relaxed and filled with feel-good endorphines.
Here are just a few photos of the dogs enjoying their day out.



Maggio living up to his name: Blazingstar Moutain Bluebird. Almost high enough to just spread his wings and fly?! :-)


 Re-fueling and resting tired legs.

Her Highness, Pinot the Princess, DID bounce and swim across the river on the way out. However - during the six hours we were on the other side hiking on a hot September day...the water levels were actually quite a bit higher upon our return...and alas - her Highness got quite upset when she realized returning across the very fridgid river would mean getting both wet and cold. Concerned that she would get carried down stream and really panic, I ended up giving her a Royal Shuttle service across. All ended well, and all slept very well after a tremendous hike!
I keep reminding myself how very lucky indeed we are, to have all of this,
right in our own "backyard"!

Friday, September 16, 2011

A tired dog IS a good dog

Our all-time favorite outing includes tons of retrieve games, some training intertwined
with the running - and getting truly exhausted.
The classic signs of a well exercised dog of course is the tongue...which makes for some pretty amusing photos :-)



Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Rovers in the Rink

September 11, 2011 final class for this group of
Super Recall in the rink.
Missing from photo: Shammy, Tashi and Blake.
Murphie.
As the summer season comes to a close, so are rink classes coming to an end. What great fun it has been to train in the rink! Exercises requiring tons of space have been a lot of fun to work on in this big big space!
Nacho.
I am hoping we can go back next summer and repeat the same.

Retrieving, working on interactive dog-human play, simple off-leash follow-the-person exercises have been favourites.

Chief Takoda.



Final class and graduation also for the Rink Manners class.
Missing from photos are Bonita and Blitz.












Manners participants have had an ideal space to work on Recalls, Loose Leash Walking and much more. During the final class we made an attempt at some Level 1 Rally'O exercises.  Great troopers worked through gusty winds and laminated Rally exercise signs flying all over the place :-) Oh sigh...Rally is best done on a wind-less day outdoors - or indoors altogether...

By the end of Manners class we were practically in the dark. As the cold winds and threatening sky draped in over us on Sunday evening, I was happily thinking my grateful "goodbyes to the rink"...and looking forward to fall and winter classes indoors!

Monday, August 29, 2011

On the road...

August 2011, hanging out on the beach. Katherine's Cove by Lake Superior.
Almost five weeks were spent travelling and on the road this summer. Tenting, driving, tenting some more, swimming and spending time with the kids - and with Pinot, who got to come along as a solo dog for the journey.
Maggio came along for a similar trip two years ago and after about 5 days, he told us very clearly and every single day, that he really did not like being away from home for that long and that he found it rather stressful. This time we made different arrangements for him - he spent most of the time on a small farm with friends and his good dog-buddy as well as some time at home here in Banff. When we returned home, he was happy, relaxed and I sincerely believe it was the right decision to make for him.
After the somewhat stressful experience of travelling with him a couple of years ago (and realizing HE was really not having the great time WE had hoped he would have), I was honestly not sure what to expect with Pinot and how she would find it to be on the road for such an extended period of time. But I needn't have worried about her. She turned out to be the most fantastic traveller and blossomed, matured and bonded with all of us in more ways than one. It was truly satisfying to see the relationship blossom between her and the kids individually, and it was fantastic to see the kids all take such a new interest in her. Maybe she has lived a bit in the shadows of Maggio because he has always been there, too, since her arrival...now she was put in the spotlight.

I have reflected a lot over what the difference is; what it is that makes one dog so able to be such a great traveller and the other become nervous and find it so stressful to be away from the familiar? I speculate and guess - but think there are a few things at play that go way deeper than their upbringing and training. The ability to relax and turn "off" when appropriate and needed is just one. Pinot demonstrated this in a remarkable way on a daily basis; how she could be with us almost everywhere, all day long - but without becoming too aroused/ stressed or concerned with her surroundings...yet take it in, and then able to just turn it off and relax either in the midst of the commotion or as a result of it at the end of the day. There was a great balance; and it seemed that all the stimulation of continually being somewhere new, but feeling safe with us, just added to her content state - made her tired but happy. What a blessing to have this experience together! It was a great journey on so many levels. Many reflections, some new-found insight and also more questions; so much to learn!




Tuesday, July 5, 2011

A sad goodbye...to our beloved Bandola, the cat.

It has been a sad couple of days in the Young household. We had to say goodbye to our faithful cat companion Bandola yesterday. We have had Bandola for 14 years - she was adopted from the Fredericton SPCA and at the time between 1 and 2 years old.  Bandola lived to be between 15 and 16 - a long, wonderful life, really - so it was not out of the blue and she had really slowed down over the last 4 months or so...but over the weekend things took a quick rapid turn for the worse and she stopped eating. I took her in to the vet in the am and her heart was basically failing her. Our vet also suspected a tumor in her rib cavity - it was very tight and "full". Not many options for a senior citizen of her age.

After the exam and many tears in the vet clinic, we brought her back home to give everyone a chance to say goodbye - more tears - and with the thought being we would have her at home for a final sleep in our bed overnight. But she basically collapsed on us at home; trying to drink some water and almost falling into the water dish...then unable to drink and just laying down, resting her head on the edge of the dish. There she lay; still breathing, not seemingly distressed  but unable to move. It was painful to watch, so Steve, my husband and Fenja (8) took her back in to the vet clinic the same evening and she was put to sleep. I have cried so much I feel like I will dehydrate and become a paper tissue soon.
This cat - and her "sister" Cassis (14) who is still around, were both unconventional wedding gifts from Steve to me; groom's Wedding gift to the bride. They were the First of our Young Family. She was appropriately named Bandola by us after the wine region Bandol, in southern France - where Steve and I honeymooned after getting married in 1997. (And as far as Cassis goes: Cassis is a tiny little fishing village near the same region, by the gorgeous Southern coastline of France). 

It's heart wrenching to think back of the big life events we have shared with these cats. Bandola has been around for the birth of all three kids, has lived in every house we have owned together, has moved with us several times and basically across the entire country and rightfully held the title "Queen of the Household". The kids don't know a life without her - for them, she's always been there. She was the one who really taught the kids what it means to respect and listen to an animal and how a cat says "That's enough" - we could never have asked for a better teacher. She herself went from fearful, hissing, scared around people when we adopted her, to loving, loyal, seeking out attention and insisting on her daily cuddles and snuggles during the (sometimes) least convenient times. It is amazing what a big hole and void she leaves. Tiny and fragile little thing she was at the end, but a tiny thing who has taken up a big space in our home and huge space in our hearts.

Bandola will be missed and thought of often and with love. It has been a true blessing and honor to share these 14 years and be loved back by a cat like her.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Rovers in the Rink

Tonight the Wags' Summer Programs kicked off...in one of Canmore's RINKS! Wow - how amazing!  It really is pretty fantastic to realize how big a rink is when you put a few dogs in there and start to talk....people actually come CLOSER to hear what you are saying! And THAT'S a new concept to me :-)

The SUPER RECALL group will be working a ton on play and games; specifically tug and retrieve...and trying to get "ultimate control" of these games. Such as; can the dog hold a sit while you throw the toy waiting for a release word? And what about calling the dog back to you BEFORE he gets TO the retrieve item? That will be some of the challenges we'll work through in this six week class.

The MANNERS group has a lovely mix of young dogs who will no doubt go far. If the stuff tonight is any indication (which usually it is) of the raw material we're working with - we'll have a lot of fast learners doing a lot of pretty cool stuff by the end of this class. I will try to have my camera with me to share some successes....I am thinking there will be many moments to celebrate :-)

As a final note - if you know of anyone wanting in on an outdoor training class...we can accommodate for late-comers and there are still a few spots open! Train your dog this summer!

Thursday, June 2, 2011