Archive for the ‘treats’ Category
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I’ve picked up some ideas from dog trainer Paul Owens, who calls himself the original dog whisperer. In his book, “The Dog Whisperer: A Compassionate, Nonviolent Approach to Dog Training, 2nd Edition” (co-authored by Norma Eckroate), he says positive reinforcement training allows a partnership based on kindness, respect and compassion. Owens uses nothing but nonviolent, positive reinforcement training methods. Basically, the key is proper communication. Owens says nonviolence means no jerking, shocking, pulling or pinning (wait, what about when my mutt pulls me?). He instead uses treats, vocal praise, petting, clickers and life rewards such as playing, food or a walk to motivate the dog. He says substituting an unwanted behavior with a good behavior and using repetitions will condition a dog to do what you want him to do. “The bottom line is that it is not necessary to use any jerking at all to get your dog to do what you want,” Owens said in his book. He has a point. I know I’ve pulled my dog’s leash too hard - training collar or not- out of frustration or impatience. That’s a terrible way to teach a dog anything. And honestly, Ace has learned to ignore my tugs and “leash corrections” anyway, so it’s time to try something new. Owens answered the following questions for my blog: What is the most common misunderstanding when it comes to dog training? Many people think dogs are in competition with them and that as the dog’s “master,” they have “to win” and force their dogs to “submit.” There is no competition. We own everything our dogs want so it’s simply a matter of teaching them that they get whatever they want if they do something for us first. After a while, habits are formed and the behaviors become automatic. Until that happens, it’s our responsibility to keep our dogs, ourselves and the environment safe. Many people also have a misunderstanding that they have to use physical punishment with their dogs in order to get off-lead, reliable behavior. Shaping reliable behavior is easy when you follow the rules. When I began training 35 years ago, I never used treats although I did use generous praise and petting as well as life rewards such as freedom to jump in the pool, chase a ball, go for a walk, get on the bed, etc. Enforcement of “commands” (I no longer use that word) was primarily leash corrections, poking with my fingers and pinning a dog to the ground. I became very skilled in getting dogs to do what I wanted using these methods. When I switched to positive training in 1988, I learned the difference between getting dogs to cooperate rather than forcing them to submit, how the scientific protocols of weaning a dog off of treats was essentially the same as weaning a dog off of aversives, and most importantly, how the methods used for training were as important as the results. Regarding this last point, over time I learned of the link between how humans treat animals and how we treat each other, so I chose to stop using physical punishment or the threat of physical punishment. I often quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he was asked why he didn’t use violent methods in his fight for equality. He said, “If peace is our goal, then our means must be peaceful.” What are the most common mistakes people make? They don’t learn how to “speak dog,” especially in regards to consistency, timing and precision. They don’t provide the necessary quantity and quality of the “9 Ingredients” necessary for a happy, healthy, relationship: Food (diet), Play, Socialization, Quiet Time, Exercise, Employment, Rest, Training (discipline through nonviolent means), and Health Care. Of course we make these same mistakes of not providing these ingredients with ourselves : 0) You have several books and DVDs to aid people with dog training. Are you working on any new material? My goals have always been to make scientific learning principles accessible and easy to understand, to promote positive training, and to help people learn to treat dogs as they would their friends, themselves and their family members rather than as possessions. My new book, “Good Habits, Great Behaviors, A Self-Help Book for Dogs and Humans” will be out in January and hopefully will help continue to foster these goals. Check out Paul Owens’ web site Raise with Praise. His books include “The Dog Whisperer” and “The Puppy Whisperer.” He also has DVDs on dog training. Ace and I walked through a wooded park for day 25 of our challenge. I did this because a few days earlier he was not very good on a walk through a field and woods; he was too interested in all the new smells. This time he did better. I had treats along to keep his attention whenever he started sniffing or pulling. I will make sure to carry treats more often because it really makes a big difference (what a concept). Click here to see all my 30-day challenge posts. Teeter terror: The hardest agility obstacle My mutt and I have been going to agility classes for about eight months. The first couple weeks, Ace had no issues with the teeter totter. He ran across it with no fear. He ran across it so fast that my instructor encouraged me to get him to slow down. This is when we came across a problem: Ever since he walked across the teeter slowly one time, he has been afraid of the teeter.
Here are some ideas for helping a dog that has a strange phobia. I’m not talking about a fearful, aggressive dog, but a dog that has an irrational fear of something in particular, like water, bikes, cats, gates, horses, etc. I am trying to build on Ace’s small successes with the teeter, in order to overcome his fear. These are the five things I am working on and hopefully they can help your dog, too. 1. Remain calm and confident. 2. Never yell or show frustration. 3. Reward small successes. 4. Use whatever it takes to bribe the dog. 5. Practice every day, in short periods. Does your dog have any strange fears? (Image from geocities.com) |
The teeter has caused us many problems. Ace is very unpredictable. For example, if the teeter is not on the course, he runs beautifully. If the teeter is one of the obstacles, it screws him up just because it’s out there and he tries to avoid it. Other times, he makes it half way up and then stands in the middle barking at me. Sometimes he walks the teeter with some food bribing. And maybe one out of 20 times, he actually runs across it just fine.