Love That Dog

Students wonder all the time, why their dog trainer can take their dog and get the dog looking so sharp and behaving so well in a matter of minutes. The answer is simple. Professional dog trainers use very clear and consistent reward strategies with the dogs they work with. Dogs at the end of their leash know precisely how to earn the next reward, and dogs thrive with this predictability. On the plus side, this is a skill that is easy for anyone to learn. In fact we teach it ...in our entry level agility classes and make use of it all the way up to our competitive classes. Even if you aren't interested in competing in agility our entry level classes are focused on working on your skills to communicate clearly and consistently with your dog, which is helpful for ANYONE who loves a dog. If you are interested in levelling up your relationship with your dog, try our Agility Building Blocks Level 1 class. Click the link to register and share this with a friend. https://pawsitivelysocial.as.me/schedule.php See more

Most of the people I work with didn't get into agility training because they were looking to compete with their dogs. Instead they usually began agility either to simply try something new with their dogs OR because their dogs were a bit fearful of new things and they were looking for a fun way to improve their confidence out in the big wide world. As with all positive reinforcement based training, while we work on the skills of agility, we are also altering how our dogs feel ...on new surfaces, in new environments and moving their bodies in particular ways. If you have a dog who needs to gain confidence, consider agility training. Winter is a great time to start agility training because by the time the snow melts you and your dog will have built enough confidence and foundation skills to have a fun activity you can share. If you live in Thunder Bay, check out the following free class to try... If you already play agility with your dog, share this with your friends. https://pawsitivelysocial.as.me/AgilitySample

I love to remind myself of this as well as the fact that it is as true for me as it is for my dogs. If I think about a behaviour I like such as loose leash walking or a quick orientation and return to me when I say her name, I wonder, "am I doing something proactive to make sure this behaviour is growing in likelihood?" When it comes to a behaviour I find less desirable such as pulling on her leash, I wonder 2 things. First of all, I wonder what is reinforcing this behaviour,... because something must be maintaining it, AND I wonder how can I change the situation so that this behaviour is decreasing. As a trainer who chooses to use positive reinforcement methods as much as I can, this means that I have to be able to reinforce an alternate behaviour such as walking with me, targeting my let or eye contact with my face with the same reinforcer with which the current behaviour is being reinforced. However, if the reinforcer I am currently holding is not as valuable to my dog as the one she is getting from the environment. And science says that I cannot completely be rid of the original behaviour unless the new behaviour is being rewarded by the same reinforcement as the old one. I'm kind of stuck... Or am I? To the rescue comes my good friend David Premack and his Premack Principle. This learning principle simply states that a lower probability behaviour can be reinforced with a higher probability behaviour. For example in the case of pulling on the leash, walking with me or attention to my face can be rewarded by the opportunity to sniff, greet another dog or person. This little tidbit answers both of my questions. Premack is probably what is maintaining the behaviour AND it is also what I can use to change it. Often times, when our dogs pull on the leash, we just follow along letting them sniff or greet other dogs or people. The behaviour of sniffing or greeting is not a problem in and of itself, BUT if they pull on the leash, and if leash pulling is a behaviour we WANT to be decreasing, we are in trouble. So what can we do? Putting the sniffing (go sniff) or the greeting (say hi) on cue is an important first step. Now you can give your dog a cue to sniff or greet when s/he is giving you a desirable behaviour such as eye contact with your face instead of pulling on the leash. There is so much more you can do with Premack which is great because this principle is ALWAYS on our shoulder waiting for us to notice and determine how s/he can help.

Outdoor winter training can bring many challenges with it. Not the least of which is the fact that it is just plain cold. If you live in a climate where you have snow and ice like I do, you are faced with trying to find ways to reward your dog without freezing your fingers. Although there are many techniques, I love this refillable option because it is affordable and you can control the contents of the tube so it can work for any dog, even one with food sensitivities or a dis...cerning palette. I fill the tube with canned dog food or cat food, open the lid and tuck it in my pocket. When I need to reward my dog, I pull out the tube squeeze and present it to them for a reward opportunity. Before I take this reward outside on a walk, I practice it in the house so that I can put this reward on a verbal cue (Lick it) because I don't want them thinking it is a cookie as the behaviour required from them to collect their reward is quite different. Once they know the cue and what behaviour it means, I can take my new reward strategy out on walks and keep my fingers toasty warm, while still rewarding my dog frequently to keep them learning and growing the walk behaviours I like.

On Tuesday we shared a training tip stating to use your 'dog-side' hand to deliver treats. Science calls this "placement of reinforcer". Where we put the treat can impact behaviour because our dogs are such amazing predictors. They pay attention to patterns and this helps them to navigate the world so successfully. Let's take a look at heeling or walking nicely at your side for example. If you want your dog to walk nicely on your left side, if you deliver your treats from... your left hand you will be able to deliver your treat straight down your side to your dog's mouth. You dog is watching all of those movements and is preparing himself to accept your treat when it gets there. He is shifting his weight back, lifting his head up and getting into treat eating mode. Interestingly all of those micro-movements are also being reinforced by the cookie when it arrives and they begin to be built into the behaviour. Of course, those all sound like great things that support your heeling position. If however, you use your right hand to reward your dog, those micro-movements that happen to facilitate treat taking are very different. They will shift their weight forward and even across your body slightly. After a few repetitions, if we aren't careful, we will allow them to "meet us partway" and give them the treat out of the original heel position and now we are on a slippery slope that leads to them walking partially ahead of us in their effort to facilitate the treat delivery. There are lots of places in our training where we could be far more strategic about where we place the reinforcement, this is just one example and one reason. Write in the comments if you can think of another reason or situation when placement of reinforcer impacts a training outcome.

Seeing as most of us have a dominant hand, we tend to use it a lot and working with our dogs is not different. Even if you aren't interested in the sport of agility, this training tip is an important one. If you are interested in the sport of agility, it is important that your dog works at your side and because of this, it is important that you become ambidextrous. One of the first ways we work on this is by learning to use both hands to deliver treats. When I am working my ...dogs I try and work them at my sides. It is critical for agility that our dogs seek out our side instead of our front so that we don't end up tripping over them and also so that they can properly read their path based on the line we create with our motion. Using the hand closest to the dog to deliver the treat is useful for all levels of dog training as it reinforces a great position for walking as well as for agility. I even go so far as to try and deliver the treat right at the side seam of my pant leg to further reinforce exactly where they need to be to get their treat. In case you are wondering, I hold the leash with my other hand... Happy Training!

I do this for dehydrated beef liver. I find you can get about 8 out of each one! This way they go a lot farther and they can be used in my remote trainer. I have also done this with softer treats like Wellness Bites and Zukes. With my small dogs, this makes perfect sense because they only have so many calories that I can utilize each day for training, but it works for the big dog too. What are your favourite treat hacks?