The articles on this page are the copyright of Jackie Parkin and may not be reproduced without permission from the author.
Many of these articles started out as training answers in my posts on the Canine Training Forum on the K9discussion list, and you will notice the reference to disc training in those articles. I have also published some of them in my disc dog newsletter, High Flyin' K9's, which can be found on the Southern Ontario Disc Houndz website at http://southernontariodischoundz.blogspot.com/ The articles are on a variety of dog training topics and are listed in no particular order.
Do You Want Fries With That?
Canine Education > Punishment & It's Fallout
by Jackie Parkin
At its root, learning is all about making associations. Positive associations between things/people/events results in happy responses to those things/people/events. Negative associations between things/people/events results in fearful & oftentimes, aggressive responses, to those things/people/events. Perception drives our emotional responses to the things, people, and events in our environment ... and so it is with our dogs
Behaviour Modification Drive Through ...
Dog Owner: "I'd like my dog to stop pulling on leash"
Drive Through: "Do you want fries with that?"
Dog Owner : "Yes, I'll take a large size 'aggression towards strangers' please"
The above example sounds a bit silly, & certainly aggression towards strangers is not something a dog owner would 'request'; but unfortunately it is an all too common side effect of many correction based training methods for stopping a dog from pulling on leash. For this reason, modern dog trainers who follow scientifically proven training modalities (as opposed to the alpha dog myth of dominanace & pack leadership) will veer away from punishment based canine education. Modern dog trainers will be well versed in positive reinforcement training and the fallout associated with correction/punishment based training methods.
Learning by association is called classical conditioning. Think Pavlov. Ring bell/feed dog. Ring bell/feed dog. Ring bell/feed dog. Ring bell ... dog salivates in anticipation of food. The dog has made a positive association between the sound of the bell and the presentation of the food. But this can also work in reverse. For example: ring bell/hit dog; ring bell/hit dog; ring bell/hit dog. Ring bell ... dog reacts with fear &/or defensive aggression in anticiaption of being hit. In the latter example the dog has made a negative association between the sound of the bell & being hit. (now I am NOT suggesting that you should ring bell/hit dog!!!)
Punishment is not our most effective tool when training dogs because timing is imperative and few people have good enough timing (quick enough responses) to properly pair the punishment with the action. It's too easy to make wrong associations and create phobias
Let's use fire as an example. If you put your hand in a flame you get burned IMMEDIATELY & you know that the action of putting your hand in the flame caused the burn. But what if you put your hand in a flame, and then five minutes later as you pick up a cup your hand starts to burn. Would you relate the pain to the fire or the cup you just picked up at the instant the pain started? See how 'timing' can affect perception?? Now you might be afraid to touch cups!
A HUGE problem with punishment is that dogs often don't associate the correction/ punishment with "their own actions", but rather, with what is going on in their environment at the time the punishment is delivered. Let's take a look at how a typical downward spiral into on leash aggression can be created ....
> Your happy exuberant dog pulls on leash to greet people that he sees in the street and you give him a firm collar correction perhaps accompanied by a verbal reprimand
90% of the time (probably more but I'm being conservative) the dog will associate your violent behaviour with the presence of the other person. In the dogs mind, the other person/dog caused your reaction. Other people approaching you now become predictors of punishment.
> So now the dog becomes anxious & fearful of strangers approaching & starts to spook bark .... & you correct him.
> next he goes from spook barking to lunging & barking at strangers; the purpose of which, in the dogs mind, is to keep those strangers at bay in order to prevent YOU the owner from becoming violent towards the dog. And in response, you increase the severity of your collar correction & verbal reprimand; and perhaps even go to more severe punishment based tools such as choke collars, prong collars, or shock collars.
With the increase of the punishment, the dog further increases his aggression to push the trigger away sooner, and you end up with a dog that gets reactive when the trigger (person, dog, skateboarder, jogger ... whatever) is 50ft away or just entering his line of vision. The trigger becomes a cue that says "your human is about to turn into a raving lunatic", and the dog reacts to do everything he can to try to drive away the trigger, and each time he fails (because the dog/person/skateboarder or whatever) continues to approach, and you continue to punish him for his behaviour, he learns that he is right ..... that "thing" turned his human violent. Therefore that "thing" must be feared and he must continue to try to push it away, & his aggression intensifies.
Correction based trainers will argue that punishment does work, but ..... punishment is only effective if the dog lives in fear of it. In order for punishment to truly work, the dogs behaviour must be completely suppressed. The punishment also has to be expertly timed so as to make the correct association. Let's go back to the fire example .... Did the fire burn your hand, or was it the cup?
I think people are drawn to punishment because they see a 'quick fix' to an unwanted behaviour. But punishment only suppresses behaviour temporarily. And only works when the fear of punishment is present. For example:
Have you ever had a speeding ticket?
Have you had more than one speeding ticket??
What do you do when you see a police car???
The 'punishment' of the first speeding ticket didn't effectively change your behaviour did it? You probably slowed down for a little while & drove within the speed limit, keeping a close eye out for cops, but eventually you sped your way into a second punishment. But if you see a police car .... you slow down.
When the 'threat of punishment' (police car) is present your behaviour (speeding) is suppressed. But when the threat of punishment is not present, your 'behaviour' (speeding) resurfaces.
Punishment is like a prescription drug ..... there are side effects. You take drug A for one ailment & it cures that ailment, but now you have a second ailment that is a side effect of the drug. So now you need drug B to treat the side effects of drug A and you develop side effects to the second drug. So now drug C has to be added to your cocktail to curb the side effects of the second drug. And before you know it you're a walking pharmacy.
Punishment & behaviour work the same way. Your dog pulls on leash; you correct him & now he may not pull on leash, but he develops fear anxiety &/or on leash aggression towards strangers. It's a downward spiral. So before you order your 'training meal' at the behaviour drive through, ask yourself ..... "do you want fries with that?"
Violence In Dog Training > Just My Opinion
Are we as a society becoming desensitized to violence in dog training? Are we, thanks to celeb tv trainers flooding thousands of households each week, becoming tolerant of, and even embracing violence in dog training? Have we become so entrenched ... so tolerant .... so desensitized .... so brain washed ... that we can't even recognize violence anymore? Has our definition of violence become so diluted that we only recognize violence in its mose extreme examples? These are questions that concern me.
I think violence is closer to the human heart than we like to admit. Lashing out is hard wired in the human animal. Frustrated babies/toddlers lash out and hit. Agitated children lash out and hit. And some children escalate to kicking and biting. As children we are taught that we cannot lash out physically whenever we feel frustrated, agitated, or angry. While most of us learn that this is not acceptable behaviour, the sociopaths among us do not. The sociopath will use domination, suppression, intimidation & physical violence against other humans in order to gain control and somehow feed the darkness within them. And then there are the animal abusers ..... held back by some tiny shred of morality that prevents them from violence against another person, they take what they cannot do against humans, and instead vent that violence on dogs and other creatures that they can "lord over" and bend to their will.
It bothers me that the human race is so married to violence, domination, & control. And before you argue that it's not ... look around. Look at the violence in the world. Look at the nefarious way that humans treat other humans. It's all just par for the course. We've become so desensitized to violence that we don't even recognize it most of the time. Only the most extreme, gruesome crimes against animals & humanity register as violence in our minds. There is a big difference between yelling at someone, pushing/shoving them, a fist fight, and pulling out a knife and stabbing them. ALL of those things are aggressive acts, and yet, we only really take notice when it escalates to a major fight or a stabbing (shooting etc. ... fill in the blank). And sadly, the same is true for violence/aggression towards our animal companions. Choke chains, prong collars, shock collars, yank & jerk training techniques, suppression, intimidation, dogs working out of fear of punishment .... it's all varying levels of aggression to which we have become so desensitized, that we no longer recognize it as violence. And thus, we have become habituated to violence, and we defend those who use it; blinded by their celebrity, and brain washed by clever television show production and marketing skills. It's bad enough that the general public does not recognize suppression/intimidation tactics in many of these tv dog training shows. And it's disturbing to me that the production companies producing these shows have not researched the subject matter sufficiently to know that they are promoting violence against companion animals. Forcing a frightened dog into submission IS violence. These self professed trainers ARE being aggressive in their approach. Force IS violence. But we as a society have been, through constant exposure (thanks to the television media), desensitized to this level of aggression. Unwitting dog owners sit glued to their television sets in awe of the "results" the trainers achieve. But ... the END does not always justify the MEANS!! I'm mortified when I watch video footage of "trainers" hanging dogs, punching/kicking dogs, shocking dogs ... all in the name of training. And I'm even more mortified to see the onlookers .... saying nothing ... doing nothing to stop the abuse; in some cases even applauding the results, fascinated by what the trainer can MAKE the dog do. Is that what this is about?? The Ego? The power trip? The way I see it, this is the same mentality that spawns rapists & perpetrators of other crimes where "power & control" are at the seat of the violent act.
Perhaps the problem is that we live in a very hectic, frustrating world. Many of us experience some level of agitation and frustration on a daily basis. Perhaps this underlying agitation has lowered societys threshold to violence. Perhaps too many of us are walking the fine line between frustration and aggressive outbursts. Perhaps this is why so many are eager to embrace punitive dog training methods. But there is a danger .......
Here's my problem with promoting punitive training methods > I totally understand and "get" how frustration can lead to physical outbursts ..... frustration leads to agitation leads to anger (or aggression as we label it in dogs). For those of us who refrain from using dominance, punishment based training tactics, in moments of frustration/agitation/anger, we may escalate to where the tv trainers are now in their everyday handling of dogs. And as such we have a moral compass that 'holds us back' from crossing the line into outright violence. (that same moral compass that prevents you from pulling out a gun and shooting someone during a bar fight for example). But if this place of escalation is where you reside on a daily basis (routinely using suppressive punishment based training techniques), then when frustration/agitation/anger sets in ... where are you going to escalate to?? You're already using dominance, suppression, intimidation tactics, & physical corrections to "control" your dog. The only place left for you to go is over the top into physical violence causing bodily harm. THIS is why we cannot advocate dominance based corrective training techniques. Training techniques that condone and encourage people to take the dominant, "don't mess with me dog" role, give people "permission" to reside in a very dangerous place .... a place that is a very short walk to outright violence. When you reside in this place the only place to go when you are angry is outright violence. And THIS is why we cannot advocate dominance based corrective training techniques.
Why Do We Compete?
With the running of the recent Olympic Games, I got to thinking …. why do people compete? Why does it matter if Canada has more Gold Medals than China or Russia or the USA? Why is it important? Why do we compete?? And when I sit down and really think about it, over the millennia, has competition not caused more friction in our world than camaraderie?? So why do we do it?? Is it a hard wired human behaviour deeply set in our genetic make up?
Perhaps this obsession with competition is a throw back to primitive times when competition was linked to survival. Losing meant dying and so the ‘drive’ to win (survive) was passed on from generation to generation. Have we selectively bred the human race to pass on the desire to compete? Afterall, if those that compete and win are those that survive & procreate, then it is that genetic material that will be passed on. Survival of the fittest could be said to apply also to the competitive nature and not just health of an individual. And competition is not just linked to the human species although competition for sport/pleasure might be said to be exclusive to humans. But is it?? Have you ever watched 2 dogs running to get the same tennis ball? Are they competing for sport/pleasure? Afterall, what is to be gained by being the one to bring back the ball? The ball will get thrown again regardless of who brings it back. Do dogs have a sense of, “woohoo! I won!”?. Outside of survival (competing for food/mates etc.) is winning a concept that they can perceive? Or is it simply competition for attention. “Yay Fido! You brought the ball back! Good Dog”, to the retriever of the ball, and no attention to the other dog. The subject is fraught with questions
But let’s look at sports competition. How does survival play a role here? Well in an elimination game, survival means staying in the game > making it to the next round. But outside of just the elements of the game itself, we could say that it’s all about survival of the Ego. Although almost no one would want to admit that
> Reputation, recognition, accolades, awards/trophies, being better than the next guy = ego.
> Challenging ourselves, proving something to ourselves, also = ego.
Our ego is the part of ourselves that we identify with and therefore the ego has a strong instinct for survival. And competition, in all its forms, feeds and strengthens the ego. We are conditioned from a very young age to compete against each other. Even school children learn to compete for higher grades in order to gain social status in the classroom, and in some cases privileges as well. Being #1 brings privilege to those who hold that position no matter whether it’s in sports, academics, business, or social status. And craving that attention, acceptance, and privilege seems to be a very primal human instinct. I do believe competition is a hard wired part of human nature.
Our subconscious (our Ego) wants to be considered valuable to our peers and that feeling of recognition, acceptance, glory, is very reinforcing. And we all know from dog training that reinforcement strengthens behaviour. So when we find a behaviour (and yes, competition is a behaviour) through which we can receive reinforcement, we want to do it again, and again, and again. And the very random nature of winning vs not winning in competition, makes us gamble for the reinforcement. We become addicted to the possibility of winning. The possibility of being #1. The possibility of gaining status, attention, awards, acceptance, and accolades. We play the slot machine called competition.
When I first asked myself, 'Why Do I Compete', my answer was, “I don’t know”. It’s what you do, so I do it. But in hashing out the subject with fellow competitors I see a lot of my own reasons within their answers, many of which (outside of the above discussed reasons) were to do with meeting new people and having goals. I realized that a big reason for me is the goal or deadline to get something done. With a large number of dogs to look after (my own, boarders, and fosters), the farm critters, teaching classes, working, and organizing competitions, I find that the days just get away from me and many things on my “to do” lists just don’t get done. And often the training of my own dogs will fall into the just doesn’t get done category. We've all heard of the cobblers children?? So having a competition to go to gives me a deadline and a goal > it forces me to get out there and train my dogs. The second big aspect for me is the opportunity to hook up with friends and meet new friends. Some of my best friends I’ve met through competitive dog sports, and if not for competition, I’d never have met these people. And of course there is the hard wired need for validation > if other people think I’m okay, then I must be okay. I’m working hard to overcome this need for validation
I put the, ‘Why Do We Compete’, question out to some dog sport competitors and the most poignant answer I got was, “to honour my dog.” This particular fellow said that he competes with his dog to honour his dogs love of the game and because competition challenges him to be the handler his dog deserves. I must confess, that answer brought a tear to my eye. To be the handler my dog deserves > now there's a worthy challenge for us all.
The Training Mantra > Form the Habit of Training Your Dog
When you get a new puppy or dog you make a committment to that dog, and part of that committment should be to train him/her sufficiently to be a canine ambassador rather than a public nuisance. But now you have to add yet another thing into your already busy day. How will you manage?
I've been reading a lot lately on habits and how habits are formed. It takes at least 21 days to form a new habit. For you and for your dog as well. The brain produces new neuro-pathways only if it is bombarded for 21 days. What this means is that the brain will not accept the 'new data' to form a new habit (or change of habit) unless the new behaviour is repeated for 21 days in a row (without missing a day).
The technique for forming a new habit (and training your dog IS a new habit that you will need to form) is to commit to approximately 15min per day to the formation of your new habit, and do it faithfully for 21 days. By the end of the 21 days it should actually be harder NOT to engage in the behaviour than to continue to do it. So in essence, what you have to do now that you've made the decision to own a dog, is to create the habit of training and maintaining your dogs behaviour. You have to form the habit of committing time to your dog.
One way to accomplish this is to have a Mantra that you repeat three times a day. Why? It is believed that ideas remain unactualized until they are spoken. Mantras give suggestions to the mind. Speaking a Mantra helps you to focus. It reminds you of your committment. And it motivates you to continue on your quest. The trick is not to think long term. Don't worry about tomorrow > just get through today. Read the Mantra in the morning, mid-day, and before bedtime. Committing to the reading of the mantra is part of the habit forming process
The Dog Training Mantra: Today I commit to the habit of training my dog & make a promise to myself that nothing will interfere with this committment. I will not skip one day for that day cannot be retrieved. I will not break this habit of daily training because the few moments spent each day on this new habit are but a small price to pay for the happiness and success that my dog and I will enjoy throughout his lifetime.
Finding The Time To Train is not as hard as it seems. You can incorporate at least 3 training sessions into each day without drastically changing what you are already doing.
- Get up 15 minutes earlier than you currently do and spend that time with your dog. Take him out to potty, train ONE skill, and play with him.
- When you come home from work take your dog out for a walk and practice ONE skill & then play with him
- During ONE one hour TV show, practice ONE skill with your dog during the commercials
- Use LIFE REWARDS to establish and practice everyday good canine manners > in this way you are training/reinforcing your dog for good behaviour without having to set aside any extra time
Committing To Your Dog > For LIFE!
My goal when training companion dogs is to help the owner and dog to form a bond/relationship that will keep the dog in the home for the duration of his life. We keep hearing about how many dogs and cats are euthanized in shelters across the country every year. Why is this? Where do these pets come from? How do they end up in the shelters? While much of the focus is on pet over-population, and puppy mills, and backyard breeders, the REAL problem is ignored. That is not to say that there is not a pet over-population or that puppy mills should not be shut down (they definitely should!), but the bigger problem is PEOPLE. The people who BUY and ADOPT pets without making a full committment to them. So again the question .... where do these pets come from? While they might originate from puppy mills, backyard breeders, and unaltered dogs/cats that are allowed to roam ..... they don't often go from those sources directly to the shelters. They first go to HOMES. 80% of the dogs/cats in shelters HAD HOMES!!! These animals were OWNED and abandoned at the shelters by their owners. Let's not suger coat it folks. We say "surrendered" to the shelter because it sounds more noble than the reality, which is you are abandoning your responsibility to that animal. You are 'dumping' him at the shelter > giving up on your committment > throwing your pet away. That's the reality. And as grim as that reality is, at least it's better than abandoning the dog in the streets where IF it lives, it will likely end up in the shelter anyway.
Granted there are some legitimate reasons for owners to re-home their dogs. But the responsible dog owner re-homes their own dog and cares about the home the dog goes to. Responsible owners with purebred dogs exercise the option (which is often a contractual obligation), to return the dog to the breeder, where the breeder will re-home the dog to a suitbable candidate.
But more often than not, the excuses for giving up dogs are not legitimate. I can't begin to tell you the myriad of ridiculous, lame excuses I've heard for dogs being abandoned. And most are accompanied by some variation of the statement, "if he doesn't find a new home by the end of the week, we'll have to have him destroyed." That's right ...... just lay the guilt and responsibility for YOUR dog on someone else!!
Dogs are in shelters because PEOPLE DON'T KEEP THEM!!! And probably about 75% of the people who abandon their dogs to a shelter will go out and get another dog within 2yrs. And the liklihood of that dog staying in their home is about 50% . It's an endless cycle of people getting dogs and not keeping them. As long as people don't keep their dogs, the puppy mills, pet stores, & backyard breeders will continue to produce puppies to meet the demand for new puppies. If there are no buyers, there will be no need to mass produce puppies. And if people KEPT their dogs, the demand for new puppies would drop, the shelters would not be over flowing, and millions of dogs would not lose their lives every year.
Think about it.
A dog is FOR LIFE!
Maintaining Behaviour
Building reliability on behaviour is different from "teaching" behaviour. It can all be done positively. Usually behaviour breaks down because the trainer ups the ante too quickly > assuming the dog 'knows', when in fact the dog just got lucky a few times. Compare it if you will, to learning a new disc throw. You practice the new throw and finally you get it right >> do you now know it? Are you 100% proficient at the throw yet? In all wind conditions? Did that one/first correct execution of the throw seal it permanently in your mind and muscle memory?? Or will the next 5 or 6 or 10 times you attempt it after that first "correct" response, be failures? You did it once but can you do it again? How many correct executions of the throw (in all wind conditions) does it take before you are 100% proficient. Now think about the things we train our dogs to do and the expectations we have of them to be able to execute behaviours 100% reliably. Behaviours fail because reliability has not been achieved. Reliability fails because we don't give the dog adequate time and rehearsal of the behaviours for them to become solidly sealed in the dogs mind and muscle memory. And .... because we haven't proofed for distractions that challenge the dog sufficiently to learn how to function in the face of distractions. It's also important to remember that while a person or dog can perform a behaviour in an environment where they are focused on just that one thing, adding distractions will affect the ability of the individual to perform. And depending on their level of proficiency with the behaviour, they may not be able to perform at all, or they may perform at a lesser level of execution ..... slower response time, slower execution. I know that if I’m concentrating on something (even just writing this article) and someone starts talking to me, that distraction interferes with my train of thought. I can’t focus on writing when someone is talking to me. But I’m able to write and think just fine with the television or radio playing in the background. The distraction of the television/radio is not as great as the distraction of the person talking to me. Similarly, I can drive with the radio playing but if I’m going slow concentrating on looking for an address or street name, the radio is too distracting and I have to turn it down. So while the distraction of the radio is something that I can handle in one situation (normal driving), it is too great a distraction in another situation (looking for an address). So even if your dog can perform a behaviour in the face of distraction in one environment, he may not be able to do it in another environment.
I saw a television show about memory function and an expeirment was done with gymnasts where their performance was measured on a tumbling sequence when all they had to think about and focus on, was the sequence. Then they asked the athletes to remember a series of numbers while they were tumbling and repeat the numbers at the end. Having to remember the number sequence affected the execution of the tumble. Many years ago I saw a similar exercise done with another group of gymnasts where they asked the athletes to recite a nursery rhyme while they tumbled. Some couldn't do it at all. Some struggled but got through. And others did okay although their level of execution was not up to par. So now let's go back to our dogs. We teach them behaviours, but in order to build reliability, we also have to add challenges that affect their ability to perform. So as trainers it's our job to introduce a variety of distractions and challenges starting with very small easy to achieve steps and gradually increasing the level of difficulty.Maintaining a level of proficiency is also important. Oftentimes we teach dogs "life skills" behaviours but don't maintain them. We just expect the dog to remember the skill when we need them to. Take the Come cue for example. How many people practice come and randomly reinforce it on a daily basis? Most dogs are taught Come and then just expected to do it whenever needed and regardless of distractions. Muscle memory is developed by repetition of motor skills. So it is important to maintain behaviours that we would like to keep sharp on execution. Don't rely on the dog to know how to come off distractions if the only time he gets to practice it is when life throws a curve ball at him. Again let's look at humans. I can type really fast now because I use the computer a lot. I don't have to think about what fingers to use on what keys. I think a word and my hands type it. I have developed good muscle memory for the skill of typing. My handwriting on the other hand, has gone to hell in a hand basket!! Have I forgotten how to write? No. But my ability to do it well has suffered from lack of practice. I haven't sufficiently maintained the behaviour of hand writing to do it well. Now back to dogs > if we don't practice and maintain behaviours on a regular basis we cannot expect the dog to have a reliable response when we need or want it. I tell my students that if they have a good quick response to a cue in practice, they'll have a good chance of a reliable response in real life. But if they have a so/so response in practice, chances are they'll have no response in real life.
So in a nutshell, building reliability is just a matter of simply teaching a reliable response. Think of it as a hypnotic suggestion ..... 'when you hear the word Mississippi you will cluck like a chicken'. You don't think about what to do when you hear Mississippi > you just do it. That's
the kind of response you want from your dog.
Teach behaviour and maintain behaviour. Often we teach, but fail to maintain.
De-motivation > Common Things We Do To De-Motivate Our Dogs:
In dog training we often talk about motivation and what exercises to do to motivate or dogs. But what about the things we do that de-motivate our dogs? Far too many times we sabotage our “motivation training” by de-motivating our dogs without even realizing it. Sensitive dogs are especially easy to de-motivate as they are extremely aware of the handlers moods and subtle behaviours. So what are some of the things WE do to de-motivate our dogs?
1. Sighing &/or Groaning >>> we all know how a well timed “wooohoo!!” can motivate our dogs, but the equally well timed (& often involuntary) sigh/groan for a missed catch can serve to de-motivate
2. Body Tension >> as we get uptight and tense up our bodies, our dogs read this as pressure and that [negative energy] pressure can serve to de-motivate the dog
3. Feigning Enthusiasm >>> don’t even bother to try this!! Dogs know when you are faking it. And that forced smile and “good dog” brings with it a body tension & stress in the handler that the handler is not often even aware of, and this stresses the dog and acts to de-motivate
4. Tone Of Voice >> you need to be honest in your tone of voice. Don’t say the right words with the wrong tone. For example: you’re getting frustrated but you’re trying to stay positive so you say “good dog” but the tone reflects a different message to the dog (“you’re starting to tick me off dog!”) Dogs often respond more to tone than to words. The right words spoken in the wrong tone can shut a dog down.
5. Frustration >> frustration is a huge de-motivator for humans and dogs. Be careful in your training that you are not confusing and frustrating your dog.
6. Confusion >> clarity is important for learning for both humans and dogs. Confusion leads to frustration which leads to stress …….. which de-motivates.
7. Boredom >> as handlers we sometimes overdo things in the repetition department. This is especially relevent in disc dog training where WE play an equal role in the execution of a move. Dog gets it right but you’re not happy with the way the flow felt for you, so you do it one more time, and one more time, and one more time ……… and too much repetition causes boredom for the dog and he loses motivation. Guard against over-repetition in training sessions.
Now many of these things overlap. Using disc dog training as an example: boredom > confusion > sighing/groaning. Triple whammy de-motivator for the dog!!! (1) You’re not happy with the way the flow feels for YOU so you keep repeating the segment over and over again, and this creates the boredom for the dog; (2) each time you get it wrong you sigh/groan at your own failure; (3) you don’t want the dog to think it’s his failure so after you sigh/groan at yourself, you say something like, “good dog it’s not you it’s me”, and now the dog is getting 2 different messages all at once (ugh & yay!) and becomes confused. So the next time you’re out working with your dog and your dog loses its motivation and drive, take a moment to analyze your behaviour to see if perhaps YOU are the one de-motivating your dog.
Hmmm …… this really lends itself to the saying: “Dogs learn in spite of us >> not because of us.”
What Is Back-Chaining?
Back-chaining is a method of training a behaviour sequence in reverse order. In other words, you teach the last piece of the sequence first and keep adding to the front end of the routine or behaviour being taught.
Some of you might remember learning to recite poetry this way, as a kid in school. We were taught the last verse of the poem first, then the second to last, third to last, and so on. This makes it easier to get through the poem because instead of struggling to remember the end, the end was the first thing you learned and therefore the easiest verse to remember. So as you recite the poem it gets easier and easier, the closer you get to the end.
The same applies to our dogs whenever we are teaching them any kind of behaviour chain. A behaviour chain can be described as any complete behaviour that can be broken down into several small steps or building blocks; or any combination of behaviours that link together to comprise a complete task.
When you teach a behaviour in start to finish order, you are always asking the dog to go from strength (the piece he already has command over), to weakness (the piece he is trying to gain command over). This makes learning the behaviour chain a struggle because the dog is always going from easy to hard ….. from strength to weakness.
When you teach a behaviour in reverse order > or back-chain > the dog is working from weakness to strength. Learning becomes easier because, as each already learned behaviour in the chain presents itself, it acts as a reinforcer for the link just performed. The behaviour chain in and of itself, becomes reinforcing to the dog, because each step in the chain reinforces the preceding step.
Building Drive & Intensity
You can increase a dogs drive & intensity towards any object if you approach it from the perspective of a reinforcer/motivator that you first have to condition. This can be quite effective for those dogs with little or no disc or toy or tug drive. The trick is to give the toy (whether it be ball, disc, tug, whatever you want) or the tug game, value. In other words, if you have a dog that has little interest or drive for a toy, disc, tug (from here on in I'll just say "toy" to refer to all), then before you can use those things as rewards, lures, or objects of interest for training, you have to first condition them to be desired objects to the dog. With most dogs you can use feeding time to achieve this. It won't happen overnight > you need to give it adequate time. For some dogs it will happen fairly quickly and for others it will be a slower process. Depends on the dog.Basically you are going to use a targeting exercise, and the target is the toy that you want to build drive for. First you are going to teach your dog what "touch" means. Then once he knows how to target, hang the toy somewhere close to where your dog eats (or you could hold it) and before you put your dogs supper down, ask him to "touch" the target. With repetition the dog will start to see the value in touching the target and will begin to anticipate the touch cue and start boffing the target to get you to put down his meal. Now up the ante > ask the dog to touch the target twice before putting the food bowl down (or if you are holding the toy move it from side to side and ask the dog to touch to the right and then to the left). When the dog is high on this boffing the target game to get supper > up the ante again. Now simply touching will not work. Mild frustration will come into play because what once worked is no longer working. This frustration should bring about an intensified attempt to make attention to the target work, and most dogs will start to mouth the target > BINGO! > this works and you put the food down. Slowly up the ante (only when the dog is really driven at the current level of interest) so that the dog grabs the toy/target with more gusto and then to the point where the dog actually grabs the toy. And then maybe tugs with you with the toy. Because these behaviours cause you to feed the dog his supper, they become important to the dog becasue supper is important to the dog. What you end up with is a dog that is VERY turned onto the target object. Essentially what you are doing is creating a drive & intensity for the target object, by pairing it with something the dog really wants ..... Supper! Feeding time works better than training/treats time because usually a dogs drive for supper is higher, and in this training game … no target = no supper. Supper is important therefore targeting becomes important. Once you have the interest and drive developed for the target object, you can then use it in your training as a reinforcer for other things. I have a friend who, in order to prove to naysayers that this method is highly effective, got her dog totally turned onto and driven for her 'car keys' as a reinforcement. The dog was highly motivated to do anything for the opportunity to retrieve car keys > even the flyball runback was for car keys! She later used the keys to get the dog interested in a tug by attaching the keys to the end of the tug rope and dragging it along the floor.
‘In Drive’ versus ‘Operant’ > Help! I’m Confused
In dog training there is a lot of lingo that can be cause for confusion. Is my dog ‘in drive’, or is his ‘operant’, and what IS operant?? Do I have to clicker train to be using operant conditioning?? Help!! I’m confused!!
Well if you have those types of questions, you are not alone.
"In Drive" and "Operant" can be synonomous. A dog can be operant and in drive at the same time.Operant simply refers to how a student operates within his/her environment > not whether the dog is high/low; in drive or out of drive. In other words, operant learning simply refers to how we respond to things that are presented to us in our environment. Learning through the natural consequences (be they good or bad > positive or negative) of our actions. A behaviour that brings about an unpleasant circumstance will likely influence you to do things differently in the future, while a behaviour that brings about a pleasant circumstance will influence you to repeat that activity again. When a student is in an operant state, he/she (or dog) is in a state in which optimal learning can occur. Whether that optimal state is 'in drive' or 'out of drive', is specific to the individual. Therefore a dog can be "in drive" and operant at the same time.Two of my border collies (father and son) are completely opposite in this regard. Buddy has to learn 'in drive'. When an accomplished trainer friend tried to 'quiet' him so that he could 'think & learn', the result was that he was unable to learn. When allowed to learn in drive, Buddy excelled at his lessons. On the other side of the coin, we have Ace. When high and 'in drive', Ace's brain is scattered and unfocused and he does not learn at all. Ace needs to be quiet and calm in order to learn. Once a behaviour is calmly learned, Ace can then perform the action in drive. But he can't learn in drive.Luring vs free shaping also does not technically define operant vs non-operant. Even when a dog is following a lure, he is offering a behavour. Modeling on the other hand refers to the physical manipulation of the dog to create the behaviour. Operant conditioning deals with the modification of voluntary behaviours through the use of consequences. In dog training this has been taken to mean that only free shaping refers to operant learning. However, the combination of luring/reward education that seques into offered behaviour is often the quickest and least stressful method of learning. For example > if I said to you "find your way to Alaska", and gave you nothing else but a click/treat everytime you took a step northward, it might take you a very very long time to find the target destination (or behaviour). And depending on your temperament and how strong your desire is to find Alaska, you may or may not follow through, and you might become stressed and frustrated. But if I gave you a map and said, “find your way to Alaska”, you would have a much easier time. Now let's say I give you a map, let you make the trip a few times, and then ask you to find your way without the map. Don't you think it would be quicker & easier than the first option in which I give you no direction on how to find Alaska at all?? Luring serves the same purpose as a map. Show the dog the way to the target behaviour and after he's made the trip a few times, take away the map (lure), and let him find his way there by himself. Because he's been there before and it was reinforcing, he will try to get there again. So you see, using lure/reward training, sequeing into offered behaviour is still operant learning. You're just helping the subject to get to the target behaviour with less stress. The behaviour is still shaped based on consequences of offered behaviour. Luring also does not have to refer to food luring > target training is also luring. Luring can be referred to as the action of providing the necessary stimulus to evoke a behaviour.
Rewards & Reinforcements > Does Click Always = Treat?
This is a BIG question in clicker training, and it also represents a problem with how clicker training has come to be perceived.Click = Treat
And to most people Treat = Food
Clicker training is not about "food treats" > it's about using a marker to identify correct responses and bridge the gap in time between when the dog hears the click and a "reinforcement/reward" can be delivered. That reinforcement/reward does not have to be a food treat all the time, although food treats are a very good way to quickly reinforce behaviour in the learning stages.Rewards/reinforcements can be considered to be ANYTHING the dog will work to achieve. Food, toys, verbal praise, social contact, or the opportunity to engage in a favourite activity are all examples that come to mind. Once your dog knows the meaning of the clicker (you have done the right thing and a reward is forthcoming), start to mix up your reinforcements > sometimes give a treat, sometimes verbal praise, sometimes petting, and sometimes offer a disc or other favourite toy. It also helps to vary between using the clicker as your marker and using a verbal cue such as, Yes!, as your marker. Two reasons ...... (1) you don't want the dog to build a dependency on the clicker (there are some dogs out there who will not perform unless they SEE the clicker!!); and (2) you’re not always going to have a clicker handy, therefore you need a verbal cue that holds the same meaning. For example, when playing disc with your dog, you won’t likely have a free hand for a clicker. Yes!, if it holds the same meaning as the clicker, can be effectively used instead.So mix things up and don't get hung up on the "treats" when you are clicker training. Use all the tools in your training tool box > varied rewards and treats, your clicker, toys, and your voice.
As soon as my dog(s) know the meaning of both the click and the Yes!, I mix it up, even within the same training session. Sometimes I'll use only the click or only the Yes!, but most of the time I mix it up. Part of the reason for mixing it up is so that the dog doesn't develop superstitious behaviour such as, trick A only earns reinforcement IF there is a clicker being used. You don’t want to create a situation where the clicker becomes a visual cue to let the dog know that reinforcements/rewards are available. I also don't usually have my food treats where my dogs can see them (and I never wear a treat pouch) because I don't want their performance to be dependent on knowing/seeing that the food is in play. I can’t tell you the number of people I know who have had a hard time weaning their dogs OFF the presence/sight of the clicker &/or OFF the sight of the bait pouch. In these cases the clicker and the bait pouches have become crutches in much the same way as leashes, halti’s, and even corrections can become crutches, without which the dog cannot reliably perform. All that being said, as all of us with multiple dogs have learned, every dog is different and while the basic premise of the training applies to all, we have to tweek and modify things to suit each individual dog. I find that dogs are wonderful teachers if we allow them to be.
