The Alexander Menagerie -- November 2008

Training update

Shocking, I know, but I actually have been training Pflouff. I've worked on some behaviors more than others -- a few I haven't even started, actually. I'm mostly emphasizing the behaviors that we'll be doing in class.

So some updates:

Targeting with nose -- Accomplished first goal. New goal: The dog touches the marked end of a touch stick with his nose with only one voice cue.

Targeting with paw -- Haven't started. (Need to get target!)

Recall -- Believe it or not, I haven't started this. Bad trainer! I told Jay that every time he takes a break today, we HAVE to do some puppy recalls. They are way too important to ignore.

Sit -- I've done a little with this, but not much. Most of her sit training was done by Jenni. I use it mostly for polite greetings, before opening the crate, or before putting down the food bowl. I need to work on a formal sit and get it on verbal cue and hand signal, but I just haven't done so. Sit has a tendency to get overworked and turn into a behavior-halting default behavior -- annoying during training sessions -- so I'm swinging to the other end of the spectrum and ignoring it.

Down -- I'm working on this. I prefer to teach a foldback down from a stand initially. I don't want to teach a down from a sit until Pflouff has good cue discrimination between sit and drop.

Walk at my side -- The goal for this one is different from the method used in my puppy class. I've done more with the puppy class method since that's what will be requested of her over the next few weeks.

Name recognition/Attention -- Accomplished first goal. New goal: The dog finds partner’s face and holds eye contact for 10 seconds with no more than two voice cues. No body language or touching other than looking at the dog.

Retrieve -- Accomplished first goal. New goal: The dog takes and holds two objects in his mouth (one at a time), one of them metal.

Grooming / Nail clipping / Husbandry and conformation stack -- I worked on this one time and didn't review my goal before doing so. I totally jumped ahead and rushed her, and we both ended up frustrated. So I'm starting this one over!

Crate training -- I haven't worked on this behavior formally. She sleeps in a crate, and she willingly walks in on her own, both at the beginning of the night and after pottying during the night. I need to test it during the day though. I think Jenni already trained it though.

Stay on a mat -- This behavior is so much fun! We've done three sessions, I think, and she'll run over to the mat and plop her little butt into a sit. So CUTE. I haven't increased distance to five feet though, so the first goal hasn't been accomplished yet.

Scent work -- Haven't started.

Zen -- Just started this one yesterday, but it's definitely coming along!

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Colitis... I hope

Poor Pflouff got sick and spent the day at the vet yesterday. Monday evening, she wasn't terribly enthusiastic about her dinner (at 4PM), but she ate tons of tuna brownies at class (at 6:30PM). She seemed all right when she came home, but she was whiny and restless ALL night Monday night. (I know this because she kept me awake!)

Tuesday morning, she wouldn't touch her breakfast. All she wanted to do was lie down or cuddle -- definitely not the puppy I'm used to. So off to the vet we went. She was so lethargic by the time the vet saw her that the vet was sincerely concerned and ordered bloodwork and x-rays, fearing a blockage.

The initial x-rays were inconclusive, but Pflouff was dry heaving and wouldn't touch food or water. The vet gave her barium and kept her at the clinic all day so she could take x-rays throughout the day to see if the barium went all the way through. There was a spot on the x-ray that she was concerned about, but by Tuesday evening it had dissipated, and I was able to bring her home.

Pflouff had moments of energy last night, but overall was still somewhat lethargic -- and she still wouldn't eat or drink. (The vet had given her subcutaneous fluids to ensure she wasn't dehydrated.) I moved her from the small crate to a big crate, and she walked in and crashed without a complaint. That sort of worried me, frankly!

In the middle of the night, she threw up.. but it was yellow bile, and I had a feeling it might be because she was hungry. I wasn't allowed to feed her yet, but I gave her water, and she drank well. This morning I had an energetic, starving puppy on my hands! The vet prescribed that disgusting, easy-to-digest canned food for her, and she was so hungry, she ate every bite and came looking for more.

We have to go back to the vet this mroning for a final x-ray, but I'm pretty sure it will be clear. I know from experience with Pax that the symptoms of colitis can come and go for a while, so I don't think she's 100%, even though she's acting totally normal right now. But I think she's going to be fine very soon.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Puppy class #1 -- huge success!

I cannot rave about Ahimsa Dog Training enough. They are doing absolutely everything right. I am just so impressed.

First, they have an awesome setup for puppies. It's a small space, which could be disastrous, but they've made really smart choices. First, they limit the number of puppies. Second, they strategically set up ex-pen panels to create individual areas for each puppy. Cloth curtains on the panels keep the puppies from fixating on their neighbors. There are two chairs in each area for the people and a tether spot to affix the leash. PERFECT for individual work.

The floor is basically stall mats, which means it's cushy, non-slip, and easy to clean. The door area has a double gate, so you can move dogs in and out, even during playtime, without concern that another puppy will escape.

The class itself is active and fluid. They start with the name game or simple sits or touches. There's a white board with the puppy behaviors listed: come, stay, sit/down/stand, leave it, tricks, walking on a loose leash, and problems. Each human student goes to the board and puts a mark next to the three things he or she would like to work on in class that night. Very cool!

Last night we did name recognition, touch, walking on a loose leash, polite greetings, and talked about problem chewing. We also had two or three different play times, and during those we would occasionally go in, grab our pup's collar, say "Gotcha!", feed a treat, and then release her to play again.

I had done so little with Miss Pflouff prior to that class, so I was really stressed about going. But she was a champ! (Thanks entirely to Jenni, I have no doubt.) We had done some name recognition, so she was great at that. She's also good at touch. Her greetings are wonderfully polite. And she caught on to their loose leash walking exercise immediately. (She was the demo dog for that one.)

The only downside to this class is its location. It's 45 minutes away... in good weather. Winter is fast approaching, and I'm dreading trying to cross the ridge to get there on a snowy night.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Tick tock... class is starting

Pflouff's first puppy class is tonight -- and I'm almost embarrassed to take her! I've done sooo little. Oh, a session of this and a session of that, but definitely not what I should have done prior to class. Since I call her Pflouff and Jay is persisting with TenTen, she doesn't even know her name!

I'm looking forward to the class (though I wish I were completely anonymous). It's a drop-in format, so the other puppies could have already attended other classes. That's good in a way, because it makes it harder to compare your puppy to others. Less pressure.

Just the same, I have to get focused. This baby is food motivated and smart -- and the clock is ticking! It will also be a lot easier around here when she learns basic English. (Com on, Jenni! We have to get cracking!)

Long ago I created some worksheets to help me organize and keep records on my training. I decided to use this one to plan what days I would work on what behaviors. (You might think this is laid out oddly, and it is, because this isn't what I originally used it for.)

I wrote the behaviors in a list in the large fields on the left. On the slanted lines at the bottom, I put the day and date. I'm going to color in the square in the appropriate column when I work on a behavior that day. Originally I thought I would plan out a whole week ahead, but I decided not to do that. Instead, I'll just keep an eye on the chart at large, so I can see how often I'm working on various behaviors.

For individual behaviors, I have this worksheet. It's pretty straightforward. I just list the criteria I'm working on in a particular session and then record the number of reps/errors. I don't keep records all the time, even though I find that my training is MUCH better when I do. However I want to work on a lot of different behaviors right now, and so I don't know how I'll keep up with them, if I don't keep records.

Quick weekend update: Pflouff is doing fine. Jay played primary caretaker for a number of hours yesterday afternoon so I could take a nap. It was lovely to get some deep sleep. Pflouff is great at night, but I still have to sleep with one ear listening for her. That means not only is my sleep interrupted, but it's not very deep or restful. So yesterday was a blessing.

Jay is home this entire week, so he'll be able to help me manage Aslan (if he's in a growly mood) when I need to move everyone around, and he'll be able to entertain Miss Pflouff when I need to be on a work phone call.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Bad parenting moment

Oy – had a bad parenting moment. I vacc’d her on Wednesday and sent her to daycare on Thursday. Probably not the best choice. But then followed that on Friday with ANOTHER change in her diet. (She wasn’t loving the boys’ kibble, so I decided to try Solid Gold’s large breed puppy food.) I didn’t even THINK about what that would do to her system. We went to bed last night, and she started crying – very unusual. Then she sat up and threw up. Then she had diarrhea off and on the rest of the night.

POOR BABY. You could hear her little gut gurgling. She was soooo good though. She told me clearly every time she had to go, so there was never a mistake in the crate. (She also almost convinced me to let her sleep on the bed with me, but I resisted.) She still had the last dregs of the issue this morning, but she ate and drank normally, and her energy is up. Bad mama!! Bad, bad!!

Jay had his own bad parenting moment. Sweet man picked up new toys for the Pflouffer.... Two new toys. In a house with three dogs. This did not go well. Poor Aslan was HEARTBROKEN. I felt terribly guilty letting Pax and Pflouff play with them in the basement, but I needed the distraction.

We need to do something special with Aslan. He has been really good and trying really hard. Everyone mixes off and on (like when pflouff goes out to potty), and he has been great. The one thing I can’t let him do, though, is sleep in the bedroom. There’s just too much coming and going, and that sets off his guarding issues. I feel horrible gating him out, even though I know it’s the right choice. (He isn’t suffering, mind you. He sleeps on the guest bed when he’s not in our room. He has more room than ANY of us!)

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Daycare report

Pflouffer spent the day at Great Dog Daycare in Seattle yesterday. It was an evaluation day for her, so she got lots of one-on-one attention. They give a fun little written summary at the end of the evaluation day. Hers says that she:

• played with other dogs, especially Luigi, Zoe, Misty, and Booker,
• played with people, especially Kristin and Catlin Jo,
• played with toys,
• snuggled on the couch,
• had lunch (ate most, and threw the rest around her crate),
• drank water,
• took a nap,
• went potty, and
• was reserved.

The latter surprised me. They said that she "kept close to humans at first. As the day went on, her confidence grew, and she made some new dog friends too."

At first I chalked it up to being dropped off at a strange place, but then I remembered that she had gotten vaccs the day before. She may simply have not been feeling all that well in the morning. If I had a brain, I wouldn't have gotten her shots the day before daycare -- especially her first day of daycare. It's way too common for dogs to feel crappy the day after they get their vaccinations.

Other behaviors they noted during the days were:

• Cautious
• Observer
• Interested in other dogs
• Good play skills

They have a scale from 1 - 10 to rate how much she enjoyed the experience. 1 means she didn't like it. 10 means she loved every minute of it. They said she started at a 7 and increased through the day.

Final comment: "She's a very sweet girl, and all the staff LOVE her! She's do wonderfully here! Towards the end of the day and after she had her afternoon nap, she really got into playing. She is SO cute to watch!"

Jay picked her up and bought a ton of new stuff, including a fuschia colored collar and leash. (She's stylin'!) She crashed hard on the way home, and was over-tired and therefore totally wild when she got home. It was 9:00 before she was ready to cash it in for the night, but when she did, she was out like a light.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Making a plan

I pulled out the list of foundation behaviors I want to teach...

• Targeting with nose
• Targeting with paw
• Recall
• Sit
• Down
• Conformation stack
• Walk at my side
• Name recognition/Attention
• Retrieve
• Grooming / Nail clipping / Husbandry
• Crate training
• Stay on a mat
• Scent work

I compared those to Sue Ailsby's Training Levels. Her first level behaviors, except for Zen, and a great number of her second level behaviors are on my list. Since I want to train the Levels, I added Zen to my list.

I also decided that I needed a low-level goal for each behavior to get me focused and give me something concrete to focus on. Again, Training levels to the rescue! With a few adjustments, I used her initial goals for each behavior as my initial goals for each behavior. "Sit" I modified a bit, because I want a competition-quality sit. She doesn't have paw targeting at this level, so I modified her nose target goal. Finally, I combined the conformation stacking with husbandry behaviors for this first level, because I'm going to start with a hand stack, not a free stack.

My list with initial goals:

Targeting with nose -- The dog must deliberately touch the handler’s hand with his nose on only one voice cue. The hand in position is, naturally, a second, allowable cue.

Targeting with paw -- The dog must deliberately touch the target with his paw on only one voice cue. The target in position is, naturally, a second, allowable cue.

Recall -- The dog must play the Come Game between the handler and a friend or stranger standing 20’ apart.

Sit -- The dog will do a tucked, on-the-haunches Sit from standing position on one cue only (may be a voice OR a hand cue, but not both, and no extra body language from the handler). The handler may use the dog’s name to get his attention before starting.

Down -- The dog must Down from a Sit or Stand with no more than two cues - hand and voice, voice and body language, two voice cues, etc. It is not necessary for the dog to stay in the Down position, simply to lie down.

Walk at my side -- Handler stands in one spot while the dog keeps the leash loose for one minute with one distraction. Handler may use cues but may NOT cue the dog to Watch or to Heel, or to Sit, Down, or Stand or Stay. The intent of the exercise is that the dog’s default behaviour for one minute is to keep the leash loose. The dog is NOT required to watch the handler.

Name recognition/Attention -- Dog's head swivels immediately toward handler when handler says name.

Retrieve -- The dog nose-targets four different objects including a dumbell, on one cue each.

Grooming / Nail clipping / Husbandry and Conformation Stack -- The dog allows the handler to handle his ears, tail, and feet. This may be done on a table or on the floor. There must be minimal struggling.

Crate training -- Dog enters crate with no more than two cues (vocal, body language, or hand signals), remains in crate while handler closes/opens door, no vocalizing or pawing.

Stay on a mat -- Dog goes to, gets on a mat, dog bed, hammock, or pause table from 5’ away, 2 cues only - two voice cues, or a voice cue and body language, etc.

Scent work -- The dog finds a treat hidden under a cup or piece of cloth. There should be a cue to Find It.

Zen -- The dog must stay away from a treat in the handler’s hand for 5 seconds. There can be only one voice cue which will be given before the hand is presented.

I won't work on every behavior every day. Just don't have that kind of time! But hopefully I can work on a few behaviors each day.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Deep breath... breathe

Yesterday was tough. Nothing actually went wrong, but it was one of those really long days where it was run, run, run from one thing to another. TenTen had to spend quite a bit of time in her crate in the afternoon as I ran from appointment to appointment, and she was really tired of it by the end. I gave her chewies, but they weren't enough to satisfy all that puppy energy.

I worked all morning, ran to appointments all afternoon, and finally got home about five thirty. Everybody's dinner was late, and trying to get everyone pottied and fed without letting Pax and Aslan interact was stressful. Again, nothing actually went WRONG -- which I'm grateful for -- but I was stressed and exhausted by the time it was over.

I didn't get a chance to eat until I was done with all that either. My first meal of the day was at 6. Heck, I hadn't even had anything to DRINK before that yesterday.

Jay and I were supposed to work in the barn yesterday evening, but I was too wiped out. I asked him to stay in the den and help me entertain TenTen. She deserved some serious attention after being such a trouper all day.

Work has really cut into my time with her. I've really not even had a chance to start training her! Heck, if every day were like yesterday, this would be the least trained dog on the planet. She barely even knows her name!

Speaking of, I've got to give up this "TenTen" or "Tennyson" pretext. Yes, that's the name on forms I fill out, and I certainly intended it to be her name, but her name is Floofer. Or, as I spell it, Pflouffer. (My friend Debi thinks it should be Pflouxffer.) Even Jay is calling her Pflouff now.

So Miss Pflouffer is at daycare for the first time today. I consider one-day-a-week in doggie daycare to be a survival necessity -- for me! It's Mother's Day Out. Granted, I'm just working as usual, but it's a chance for me to destress, rest, eat regular meals, and get some things done.

It's a chance for Pax and Aslan to destress too. They've been in "General Population" -- meaning they're not separated from one another -- all day, and things are going fine. They're mostly choosing to ignore one another. I'll go back to separating them when Pflouff comes home tonight, because I don't want Aslan to get over-stressed.

I need to use today to make a training plan for Miss Pflouff. It's clear that I'm going to have a busy schedule, so I'm going to have to have an easily-followed game plan.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Ow!

I knew when I decided to get a puppy that doing so would add a significant level of stress to the household for a while, and that would likely create issues with Aslan. When Aslan is stressed, he redirects his stress onto Pax. I've worked pretty hard to minimize this problem since it began about three years ago, and at this point, both because he rarely gets to "practice" acting out and because he has matured, we rarely have an issue.

When we do, the issue is potentially serious. The last real fight we had was last February, but that one resulted in trips to the vet for both dogs. More than that, it created tension between the two dogs which lasted for several weeks. During that time, they had to be separated, and their reintroduction was phased and carefully monitored.

Since we brought TenTen home, I've watched Aslan carefully, particularly when Pax is around. He has been great with the pup herself, but there have been moments where he growled at Pax. Until yesterday afternoon I'd had enough time/space to redirect and jolly Aslan out of his reaction, or to remove him so he could calm down. I could, however, see that his stress level was building -- which is predictable and expected. I'm surprised he was able to be "in the general population" this long!

Yesterday afternoon, I was playing with the pup on the stairs to the basement. Aslan was at the head of the stairs. I think Pax ran into the middle. Aslan growled, but Pax was RIGHT THERE in a small space. Aslan jumped him, and I reacted by standing and reaching out to separate them.
Aslan nailed me at least three times. To be honest, I don't remember exactly how many times he bit me. I know I was darn thankful that I was wearing a heavy long-sleeve fleece. Great Pyrs have a very hard, crushing bite -- he's a livestock guardian breed used for predator control. His bite style was developed to be used against animals that were going to fight back and try to kill him.

I got hold of their collars and managed to separate them. Aslan didn't bite me "accidentally." Dogs know EXACTLY where their mouths are and what they're doing with them. He was telling me to get out of his way because he was going after Pax. I was able to get them apart though, and neither redirected their aggression to me. (That's really important. Had he redirected to me in that situation, not only would I have been injured far worse, I would be truly frightened of him and the situation. Our problem would be much, much more serious.)

Adrenaline or endorphins kept the bites from hurting much. I was actually surprised he broke the skin, but he did. He got the side of my hand at an angle, so there's a groove, rather than a puncture. I went down to my doctor's office and got it cleaned up. He wanted to put in a couple of stitches, but I opted for the tape stuff. I'm not worried about a scar, and I want it to be able to drain.

It bled a fair amount initially. I still had Aslan's collar, so my white dog had blood all over him. I told Jay on the phone not to be worried by the blood on Aslan -- it was mine, not his. Somehow, that didn't reassure him.

Anyway, I'm not terribly concerned. I'd hoped to avoid an actual fighting incident, but I stopped it quickly. Now the big dogs are separated. Aslan is very stressed, and we'll work on that. It will take some time for the household to return to normal -- it's stressful on everyone when a new one comes home -- but it will happen. I just need to take steps to minimize stress and prevent incidents until then.

I suppose the worst of it, from my perspective is that I got nothing accomplished yesterday. I worked until 3, and then almost immediately got bitten and lost the rest of the afternoon dealing with it. By evening, I was mostly concerned with keeping the puppy awake, so we'd all get some sleep last night.

Guess what? It worked! TenTen and I went to bed at 8. She slept without needing to potty until Jay came up at 2:30. He took her out, and she slept until 5:30. I took her out, and then took a chance on putting her back to bed. She slept again until 7!

Wednesday, November 19. 2008

Settling in

Miss Tennyson had her first vet visit with her new vet yesterday. I think she has had several vet visits prior to this, so it wasn't an entirely new experience. This was a new place with new people though.

The staff adored her. Every staff person in the building made a point to come out and snuggle with her. I took part of her dinner along with us, so the staff gave her lots of treats. TenTen thinks these people are great!

I decided that this trip should be all about fun. She got a basic checkup, but we didn't give her any vaccs or do anything unpleasant except take her temperature. The vet was thrilled that I decided to do that and encouraged me to bring her in for love and treats as often as I wanted.

I'm going to bring her in later this week for the vaccs she needs in order to go to puppy class and daycare, and then get the rest over the next few weeks. No reason to stress her system by giving them all at once (plus some are done in a series).

Yesterday was a surprisingly easy day. I was able to juggle her and work in the morning -- which was kind of surprising -- and I wasn't stressed or needing a break when Jay got home. We did go to bed early, but that's because I haven't had much sleep, not because taking care of her was exhausting in and of itself.

Oy -- the nights. TenTen drinks a lot of water, and I'm not fond of restricting water at night. Not surprisingly, what goes in, must come out. When she sleeps soundly, she can go quite a while before she needs to pee. Unfortunately, last night she slept too much in the evening, and so she was just lightly napping in her crate for the first half of the night. That meant we were up every hour or so for a while.

Fortunately, both Monday morning and today, she has slept until it's nearly light out -- which, this time of year, is late for a puppy. I was expecting her to be up at 5AM, but I got to sleep until 7 this morning. That made up for the frequent interruptions in the first half of the night.

The good thing, though, is that when she asks to go out, she's really good about walking herself alllll the way downstairs and out to the grass without stopping along the way, and then afterwards, she's happy enough to go back in the crate and settle.

This morning she woke up with WAY more energy than she has had since we picked her up. I think that's a sign that's she's really settling in. I'm encouraging the big dogs to play with her -- she and Aslan are SO cute together -- and I'm giving her bones and bully sticks. We've done a little training too, but that's a subject for a different post.

Right now all the dogs, including the little Pflouf, are crashed for their mid-morning naps. Blissful silence! I might even be able to get some work done. Or some breakfast!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I'm a lousy photographer...

...but here she is!

I know this is lousy photo, but the expressions on their faces cracked me up:

Monday, November 17, 2008

And so it begins

Tennyson is home.

Tennyson is not the Green girl that I had expected, but her Orange-collar sister. I thought I might have to change the name... but I decided I'm okay with it. I don't call her Tenn anyway. She seems to be Pfloofer to me! Don't ask me why.

It's difficult to get pictures, but I will get some, and I'll post them here as soon as I do. I took some video of her at her breeder's home yesterday, so I'll get that posted eventually as well.

Jay and I were on the road very early yesterday, because we needed to get home at a reasonable hour to feed the other Black Sea beasties. With the exception of some early morning fog, the skies were mostly sunny, and the trip down was fast and easy.

Jenni and the pups were waiting for us. We didn't go in and see the pups right away. We sat in the kitchen and hugged the adult Newfs and talked about the issues with the hearts. Jenni has talked to a LOT of people, including multiple vets, and feels like she has a more objective view on the situation now.

The bottom line with the Green girl is that her prognosis simply isn't known. The SAS is very, very minimal right now, but it's a progressive disease. It could stay minimal, or it could get very bad. Jenni had already agreed to keep Yellow for about six months, and so she doesn't want to keep Green at her place (because she wants the litter mates to have an opportunity to develop individually). So she's talking with various people about finding a foster situation for her.

When we went out to play with the pups, I found that I was okay with the situation. Green isn't suffering. She may never suffer in any way -- and they'll be checking her to make sure of that. She's just not going to be my dog.

After spending some time playing with the pups, I felt pretty good about the Orange girl. She's just as confident and energetic as her sister, but she's less... intense. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. For her part, she seemed to have been waiting for us. She took to Jay right away, and she has been so... settled... since we left that it's almost like she was saying, "What took you so long?"

Jenni had done a lot of work with the pups, and it definitely showed. Tenn is comfortable in her crate and in the car, and she wasn't too bad on leash. Oh, and she's well on her way to being housebroken! She has a clear substrate preference for grass, and she'll wait to get outside, if she can. The only mistakes I've had have been because I couldn't get her outside fast enough. Her signals were clear -- it was just a long way to the door.

We left Jenni's around 1:30, grabbed some lunch from McDonald's, and then drove to Dog Days, a training facility in Vancouver, WA where my friend Greta was teaching. Tenn barely complained about the drive or the separation from her siblings. I really expected her to be beside herself, but it was like she didn't give them a second thought. On with life!!

Greta was teaching a private lesson with a rescue Lab with a terrible past. (This dog and all the dogs at the facility have been vaccinated, by the way, so although it's a calculated risk to expose her to that sort of facility before her second shots, it's less of a risk than, say, PetSmart or a dog park or even the vet's office.) She asked me if I'd mind letting Tenn meet her, thinking that this dog who didn't know how to interact with adult dogs might be more comfortable with a pup. I trust Greta's skills, so I was game. The Lab was SO HAPPY. She was desperate to interact with a dog, but she was overwhelmed by adults. Tenn was just the medicine she needed -- and Tenn was completely unfazed.

Tenn met a couple of other dogs (Greta's and our friend Jett's) while she was there, and played with some neat toys, including a wobble board. We discovered that she likes male dogs as much as she likes men. Little hussy. But that boded well for introducing her to Pax and Aslan.

It was 8:30 when we got home. I fed the horses, and Jay got the big dogs situated in the house. I decided to introduce them individually, Aslan first. Jay held each dog's collar initially, but it was quickly clear that they were excited but not out of control. I had worried that Pax might be a little snarky at first, but he accepted the situation with aplomb. It helped, I think, that immediately after introducing the dogs, I cued, "Dinner for dogs!" That began a really well-practiced, well-reinforced series of behaviors that instilled some normalcy into the situation.

Knowing how Aslan can get growly with Pax when he gets even remotely stressed, I expected to need to separate the big dogs and cycle their time with me and Tenn. Nope. (Not yet, anyway.) Aslan has had a few moments, but it has been really easy to jolly him and defuse the situation (and Pax is a PRO at being as nonconfrontational as psosible in those moments). I did end up gating Aslan away from the bed last night, because that was just too much for him, but he was still able to be in the bedroom, and he handled the various potty trips outside without any growling. I probably could have let him up on the bed after the first potty run, but no reason to push it.

I had work I had to do this morning, and I had meetings from 11-1. So today was an experiment in puppy management. I haven't done any training yet! I've just been trying to juggle work and puppy needs. She has a vet appoinment in an hour, and she's currently zonked at my feet. I'm going to hate having to wake her up!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Hope is a dangerous thing

There is part of me that wants to give up this insanity. To stop the puppy search, to give up all of the related hopes and dreams. Without the dogs, though, I'm without purpose. I tried, over the the last couple of days, to find something else that even remotely interests me... but you don't choose your passion. It chooses you. And my heart belongs to dogs.

I asked Jenni to write down what she told me on the phone, because I retain what I read much better than what I hear. Her reply...

I was pretty upset by the whole thing. I’ve never had a puppy not clear their heart check – which I know is amazingly lucky but still . . . So I think I sorta flipped when 2 of the 3 didn’t clear. In the past couple days, I’ve been doing a lot of research, talking to different vets and cardiologists so I think I have a more rational picture of what is going on.

Usually, a heart check consists of the cardiologist listening to the heart. If they hear a murmur, they grade it 1-5 depending on how loud or severe the murmur is. Both Yellow & Green had grade 2 murmurs. Heart murmurs at this age (10 weeks) can becaused by a whole lot of different heart defects or by none at all (innocent murmurs). Often in this case, breeders just hold onto the ones with murmurs for a couple more months & have them re-checked to see if the murmurs have gone away. I decided that doing so wouldn’t be fair to the puppies – they need individual homes and individual attention which I realistically cannot provide for them by myself. So, I opted to spend the big bucks and have echocardiograms done on the two puppies so that we could determine exactly what the issues were or were not at this time.

Green girl has 3 different problems with her heart. The first is mild SAS (sub-aortic stenosis). However, SAS is a progressive disease so there is a high probability it will get worse. The big question is how much worse. If it doesn’t progress much, and she only had SAS, she would probably live a fairly normal life – possibly a bit shortened depending on the final severity of the disease. The complicating factor in her case is the two leaky valves – a mitral & a tricuspid. The leaky valves (and the SAS) allow quite a bit of regurgitation (mixed blood flow) in the heart. This means the heart has to work a lot harder to move enough oxygenated blood to the body and over time leads to heart enlargement and premature heart failure. The consensus recommendation from the cardiologists is to keep her for a year and then have another echocardiogram done because what we see at 1 year is what she will have for life. Of course, if the SAS progresses, she could drop dead from heart failure before reaching a year. Even in the best case scenario, she isn’t suited as a “working dog” and will have at least a somewhat shortened life span. My plan at this point is to try and find her a foster home and have her rechecked at 6 months or a year. I may have to face the euthanasia decision down the line and it will definitely be harder later but I’ve decided to give it a chance based on the cardiologists recommendations. I know that about 8 years ago Ohio State was doing a research project on treating SAS and I’m still trying to contact someone about the outcomes – but again, her case is a lot more complicated because it is not just SAS.

Yellow has a leaky tricuspid valve. Those don’t normally tend to progress and while there are no guarantees, the chances are 99% that she’ll live out a normal, active life. Orange has no problems with her heart.

Melissa, I know you had your heart set on the green girl, but I think her sister Orange would be a really nice VN potential puppy for you too. She just shouldn’t be bred – and let me tell you after investing all this time, money, tears & heartache, not breeding is starting to sound pretty darn attractive to me!

I'm not sure what to do. Jay was terribly disappointed and would like to have the little Orange girl. My heart aches over Green. Jay doesn't want to foster her. He doesn't want to get attached and then lose her prematurely. Neither do I... and yet....

I know what I can't do -- I can't give up. Without dogs I don't have a life. They're oxygen to me.

I'm going to call Jenni, and make plans to go down to Portland tomorrow. We may not get a puppy. But at least I can face them and talk to Jenni.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Bad news

Puppies got their hearts checked today, and results aren’t good. Green has a couple of things wrong with her heart – bad enough that Jenni will keep her with them, check her heart in a couple of months, and could have her put down at that point. Yellow has a murmur, but it’s not bad and shouldn’t impact her. Orange is clear.

There’s a person in line in front of me who wants Yellow. However, she may opt for Orange if she wants to completely avoid the heart issue. Yellow isn’t suitable for me – too laid back. So if she takes Orange, there’s no puppy for me. Regardless, none of the pups are suitable for breeding, and I was looking to breed later.

I’ll find out tomorrow whether Orange is available, and that’s when I’ll make my final decision... but I think I’ve made it already.

I’m so sad. I thought, after a two year search, I was finally bringing home another puppy. I bought a crate, a video camera, and signed her up for daycare and puppy class (which is supposedly non-refundable). I’m so tired of getting my hopes up and having them smashed into a million pieces.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Random topic #6 -- Making a training plan

When you decide to train a behavior, how much thought do you put into the process before starting? Do you just jump in with both feet, ready to experiment? Do you break the behavior down and figure out how you're going to get the initial behavior?

Most people spend relatively little time planning their training. As a result, steps are frequently overlooked, not added until problems develop and reveal the holes in the training. Or, the trainer simply reaches a point where he isn't sure what to do next.

The most efficient way to train is to start with a training plan. A training plan gives you a roadmap from where you are to where you want to be. The first step is to define the behavior in detail.

What will the finished behavior look like?

You must be able to picture the behavior in perfect, precise detail. Don't just focus on the obvious. Think about each part of the dog's body -- what must it be doing during each part of the behavior? Want a dog to win the heart of the judge? Include a wagging tail and pricked ears as requirements of the behavior. In clicker training, it's all possible! By the way, don't forget the dog's mouth. So often people ask me how to stop a dog from whining or barking during the behavior. If silence is part of the behavior, plan it, and train it from the start!

How will this behavior be cued?

Verbally? Physically? Environmentally? A combination? Remember that part of teaching a cue is making sure that only the cues you want become lasting cues -- and that dogs are master discriminators. Include plenty of time for generalizing the behavior.

What kind of latency is required?

Latency is speed of response -- the time that elapses between the cue and the behavior. Zero latency is an immediate response. Short latency is habitual, meaning if you train it for some behaviors, the dog will likely adopt it for all behaviors.

Does this behavior have duration? Distance?

How long should the behavior last? If there's a specific time requirement, plan to train fifty percent beyond that. For example, if you need a two minute sit-stay for competition obedience, plan to train at least a three minute sit-stay.

Distance should be trained similarly. Distance includes behaviors where the dog is sent to work at a distance, behaviors where the dog must respond to a cue when he is at a distance from the owner, and behaviors where the dog must maintain a behavior even when the owner moves away from him. Distance is challenging because the further the handler is from the dog, the stronger environmental stimuli become.

Does your dog have to be in a particular place relative to you to perform this behavior?

Should the dog always be in front of you or perhaps always within a certain radius of you? If not -- and especially if you specifically don't want the dog to restrict his position relative to you -- you should plan on spending time generalizing this element.

Are you always going to be sitting, standing, or lying down when you give the cue?

Again, this is a generalization issue. Your body position can easily become a secondary cue for the behavior. This may work for you in competition heeling, but it can sabotage you for a household sit.

In what locations will the behavior be cued?

Steve White trains every behavior in twenty different locations to ensure that his police dogs truly generalize their behaviors. You may not need quite that much generalization. For some behaviors, you don't need any! My dogs, for example, aren't allowed in my husband's office in our house. They don't need to generalize to other rooms or other houses.

What distractions might the dog face in those locations when performing the behavior?

List them, rank them, train them.

How reliable does this behavior have to be?

Reliability is a number. You may need only 9 out of 10, or you may need 99 out 100 -- or 999 out of 1000.

The definition of the behavior is a detailed description of where you want to go. The second step is to evaluate where you currently are. If this is a brand new behavior, that’s easy! You’re starting from scratch. If this is an in-progress behavior, test and evaluate the behavior for each of the above criteria. Keep records and let the data tell you exactly what your dog is capable of doing reliably.

The final step is to make a plan to get from where you are to where you want to be. Start with the behavior. Break it into responses, and shape it to perfection. When it’s exactly right, add the cue. Then one by one add elements like duration, distance, and distractions.

It can be helpful to give yourself intermediate goals along the way. Sue Ailsby's Training Levels are a masterful example of this. Here, for example, are the seven intermediate goals for training "Sit". (Note: After the first level, all subsequent levels of this behavior must be done in a ring or similar environment without clickers or food present.)

1. The dog must Sit from standing position on one cue only (may be a voice OR a hand cue, but not both, and no extra body language from the handler). The handler may use the dog’s name to get his attention before starting.
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2. The dog Sits from Stand on one cue only. The handler may use the dog’s name to get his attention before a voice cue.
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3. The dog Sits from a Stand on one cue only from 10’ away. The dog may drift off the position where he was standing, but there must be a fairly immediate response to the cue.
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4. The dog Sits from Down with one cue only.
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5. The dog Sits from Down on a hand signal only.
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6. The dog Sits from Down on a hand signal only at 10’.
7. The dog Sits from Down on signal in line.

Her list of goals are clearly influenced by competition obedience. If you were training for, say, retriever field trials, you might have entirely different intermediate -- and ending -- goals.

As you train, keep your training plans firmly in mind. Track your progress. Periodically review your training plan, and revise the definition of the final behavior, if necessary. Don’t stop working on the behavior until the behavior your dog performs is a reliable mirror image of the behavior you described.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Random topic #5: Fallacies of "dominance theory"

Dominance theory comes from the field of ethology, which is the study of animal behavior in its natural environment. The ethologists observe behavior and then analyze it and look for patterns. Over time, as they get more data, their theories evolve and change, because they find that with more information, some of their initial conclusions were incorrect.

The "dominance theory" that is bandied about in dog training, -- and has been since the mid 20th century, is based on a series of short-term wolf studies done in the 1940s. Because these were some of the first studies of their time and they had so little time to do them, the ethologists concentrated on the most overt behaviors -- like what they termed the "alpha roll." Those behaviors comprise roughly 1% of wolf life, yet in the dog world, we still use them to define the entire social world of our dogs.

Since those initial studies, ethologists have done many more longer-term, more comprehensive studies. They found that their initial conclusions were incorrect, and within the world of ethology, the initial work has been dismissed. Alpha rolls, for example, are a ritual initiated by the submissive animal who offers his muzzle and willingly rolls to his back. In the wild, a wolf forcibly flips another wolf only if he's going to kill him. (There's a reason why the alpha roll causes some dogs to lose control of their bowels -- and others to fight back mightily.)

Even if the dog world were to absorb every lesson the ethologists have learned about wolves in the past 60 years, there would still be problems with applying the lessons to domestic dogs:

• Wild wolves live in survival situations. Group behavior is VASTLY different in survival situations than in non-survival situations. Rules become MUCH more important. It's the difference between a combat unit in the Army and the average American household.
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• Wild wolves are a stable family unit. They live in a multi-generational unit that they were born in and will likely die in. Sure, there's some splintering sometimes, but it's generally stable. That means relationships are stable and predictable. Dogs rarely have that reality. Sure, some dogs live with the same group -- a largely unchanging group -- for their entire lives. Others live in a what must seem to be a constantly changing pack. And then when you throw in doggie day care and dog parks and simple outings or meet-and-greets... The lifestyles of dogs simply don't match the lifestyles of wild wolves.
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• Wild wolves live in a single species group. They don't live with humans. Or goats. Or horses. Ethologists study all different kinds of groups, and they find similarities and differences. Know what they don't study? Social groups made up of different species. Know why? Because each group is different! When you mix social species, it's up to the group members to determine the rules within their group. That means that there are no hard and fast rules within a human-dog group!
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• Dogs aren't wolves. Different groups of social mammals *do* have similarities in their social structures, but not so much similarity that you can take the rules from one group and apply them whole cloth to another. In fact, long-term studies have been done on packs of domestic dogs -- and the conclusion was that their rules are different from those of wild wolves. Similar in some ways, but different in others. (And they don't match the conclusions set forth in those initial wolf studies either.)

The biggest problem with applying lessons learned by ethologists is that even if the data/theory is correct and appropriate, the data does not say, "X behavior is a dominance behavior and can be used to establish dominance." Their data says, "In x situation, y was observed in concert with a, b, and c, resulting in z."

Ethologists observe natural behavior and draw conclusions from the patterns they detect. They are not studying how to CHANGE behavior. That's the science of Behavior Analysis.

Is ethology important? Terribly so. There's not a Behavior Analyst worth his salt who won't tell you that it's important to understand who the animal is and what's important to him. That how we determine what their reinforcers and punishers are. But ethology itself is not a science for changing behavior, and it's not a roadmap for living with dogs. Are there lessons that can be learned that will make it easier to understand this non-human species? Sure. But there's nothing that says either we or they have to follow some particular set of prescribed rules.

Leadership is important in all social groups of social mammals. How leadership is obtained varies. What leaders do varies. Dominance -- as defined by ethologists, who originated the whole dominance theory -- means "control of valued resources." That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Control the valued resources, and you're "alpha." Teaching everyone in the group how to get access to the resources he wants in ways that make everyone happy is the sign of a true leader.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Random topic #4: Solving behavior problems positively

Because clicker trainers don't use physical corrections, booby traps, or other positive punishment, many people wonder how we deal with unwanted behavior. One of the worse solutions I hear -- often from clicker trainers themselves! -- is "ignore the behavior." Oy.

Okay, let's talk through this "ignore the behavior" nonsense. Ignoring undesired behavior is a technique called extinction. Extinction is an operant conditioning principle that states that if a behavior is not reinforced, it will gradually eliminate.

Extinction is an excellent training tool if the trainer controls the reinforcement. It is, in fact, a crucial part of shaping. For example, a trainer first captures sit and clicks (and reinforces) every sit the dog offers. Then the trainer increases his criteria and now begins to click and reinforce only the on-the-haunches sits. Because they are no longer being reinforced, the sloppy, on-the-butt sits will extinguish, and because the on-the haunches sits are being reinforced, they will increase.

Extinction by itself, though, is rarely a good choice for established problem behavior. The reason the dog is choosing that behavior is because it somehow works for him. Unless the trainer can control that reinforcement, extinction won't work. Even when the trainer can control the reinforcement, extinction needs to be coupled with a high rate of reinforcement for a desired behavior or the dog will simply choose another, potentially worse behavior.

Solving problem behavior – any problem behavior – is a four-step process:

1. Identify the behavior you don’t like.

Be specific. Describing your dog as “too hyper” or as a “brat” doesn’t really say what you want to change. Instead, try statements like, “I don’t like my dog to jump on people” and “I don’t like my dog to pull on leash.”

2. Determine what you want the dog to do instead.

It’s not enough to say you want the problem behavior to stop. Your dog could stop that behavior and choose to do something even worse! Save yourself time – and your dog confusion – by defining what you want your dog to do in this situation.

For example, if your dog jumps on people, you might decide you want your dog to sit to be petted. If your dog pulls on leash, you probably want your dog to walk at your side, ignoring distractions.

3. Manage the situation so the unwanted behavior becomes unreinforcing or impossible.

This step is critical to the process. Every time your dog successfully does the unwanted behavior, he is reinforcing it – he is making it more likely to occur again in the future. Your job as trainer is to figure out what triggers the behavior and anticipate it, to be proactive and prepared.

You know your dog jumps on people who come through the front door. So when someone comes to the door, you plan ahead and put your dog on leash. You might also tell the visitor to stand perfectly still unless the dog is seated. If you don’t have time to work on the behavior, you set your dog up to succeed by putting him in another room, thereby making it impossible for him to jump on the visitor.

4. Train the new, preferred behavior.

Train the new behavior like any other, making sure to reinforce every correct repetition. When dealing with problem behavior, the best reinforcer is always the payoff the dog was getting from the unwanted behavior. The dog who jumped was getting attention and petting. When a visitor comes, he doesn’t want a food treat. He wants attention! So make sure to give him what he wants in exchange for doing what you want.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Random topic #3: What is behavior?

Quick quiz:

Which of the following is a "behavior"?

• An entire obedience routine
• A heeling pattern
• A right turn in a heeling pattern
• A single step
• Lifting a foot
• A weight shift

Answer: All of the above.

Behavior is anything and everything the animal does. It is a continuous, ongoing sequence from the moment it is born until it dies. Although we can certainly separate "a behavior," the definition of that behavior -- where it starts and stops, what is and isn't part of it -- is defined entirely by the observer.

What does this mean? It means that a weight shift is a behavior; a step is a behavior; a series of steps is a behavior; the approach, takeoff, and landing of a jump is a behavior; and an entire agility sequence is a behavior if defined as such by an individual... say, a trainer.

It also means that "behavior" is occurring before the action defined by the trainer, and it will continue after. At no time does the animal stop behaving.

What does this mean to a trainer?

The goal of training is to define what Bob Bailey calls a response. This is an isolated "piece" of behavior. Clearly defined by the trainer -- and specific to that trainer. One trainer might define "sit" as the dog simply putting his butt on the ground in a reasonably timely maner. Another might define it as tucked, square, on the haunches with zero latency. They're both right, because each defines the response that he or she is looking for.

In each training session, the trainer defines the response she is looking for. This is setting criteria, and it will change from session to session. Initially you might be clicking one step in heel position. Later your criteria might be 30 seconds in heel position. Eventually you might want five minutes of focused heeling including turns and stops.

Because "behavior" is continuous -- occurring before the response you're looking for and continuing beyond it -- the trainer has to isolate it. The trainer does this by varying the behavior before and after the response and identifying the desired response itself with a click. Eventually the trainer will add a cue to "name" the desired response. Even so, be aware -- any behavior that occurs consistently before the cue or after the click will be chained onto the response.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Decision made: puppy kindergarten

I mentioned in an earlier post that I've had a devil of a time finding a puppy kindergarten class that begins after I bring Tennyson home but before she turns 16 weeks old in January. I e-mailed the schools near me, and each wrote back to say explicitly that, no, they weren't starting classes in December. Barkz is having a class, but it's all the way in downtown Kirkland.

Since I'm going to work through Sue Ailsby's Training Levels with her outside of class regardless I considered declaring surrender and just waiting until January. But before I made that decision, I decided to search the Web one last time.

I found a class offered by Ahisma Dog Training. Ahisma is owned by Grisha Stewart, whom I met several years ago. I know she is an excellent trainer who shares my passion for positive training. The main Ahisma center is in Seattle, which is far out of my driving range. This class is in Redmond, and is taught by one of her other trainers, Mireille Baumoel, whom I don't know but am sure is equally excellent.

The class is offered on a drop-in basis. I selected to attend a Monday night class for six weeks beginning on Nov. 24. That will take us through December, and then I can make the decision either to continue with Ahisma or to switch to a school closer to me in January.

I signed up for the class and was directed to download some really neat resources Grisha has put together. There's a seven-page handout of things to do to prepare for the first class, a 40-page book about positive training, and links to some really cool videos. I wish I could share them with you, but, of course, they're only for people who have paid for the class.

I want to share one super creative idea she has built into the pre-class handout though. She calls it a "scavenger hunt." It's a socialization game. There are a list of behaviors (of increasing difficulty, but never terribly difficult), that your dog has to perform for a "tester." The tester is someone at a business such as a vet's office or pet food store. She has a list of participating businesses but says someone from any business will do. The catch is that each behavior has to be performed -- and signed off on -- by someone at a different business.

What a GREAT way to get the puppy out and about to see lots of new things and meet lots of new people! Clicks to Ahisma!!!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Dog-friendly methods of getting behavior, part 3

Over the last couple of days I talked about how a training method affects how dogs think and learn, and I looked in depth at social facilitation, molding, luring, and targeting. Today I’ll look at the pros and cons of two more dog-friendly methods of getting behavior -- capturing and shaping -- and I'll suggest a realistic strategy for choosing the best method for achieving your training goals.

Capturing

Capturing is usually the first “hands off” training technique tried by most new clicker trainers. The concept is incredibly simple: When the dog does what you want, click and reinforce it!

Capturing is necessarily limited to behaviors that occur naturally in their finished form. It’s rather unlikely that the average dog is going to offer a full set of weaves the first (or second or third or...) time he sees the poles, but it’s a pretty good bet that he’s going to sit, lie down, or bark at some point.

It’s also limited to behaviors that occur with enough frequency that the dog can figure out a pattern to the click. It seems obvious to us what we’re clicking, but the dog may not be focused on that particular aspect -- or any aspect -- of his behavior at that moment. It’s only with consistent capturing of that behavior that he can figure out the common denominator of each clicked situation.

Like the Boy Scouts of America, the motto of any trainer who wants to capture behavior should be “Be Prepared!” Behavior happens quickly, and if you aren’t ready, an opportunity to catch it can be missed. This doesn’t mean you have to follow your dog around, clicker in hand, twenty four hours a day. Instead, identify the times that the behavior most commonly occurs or the events that generally precede the behavior and be ready to capture the behavior then. For example, to capture a bow, catch your dog when he is stretching after waking from a nap.

Although capturing is limited to the frequently-occurring behaviors included in a dog’s personal repertoire, it ranks fairly high on problem-solving ability because the click is the only information given. The dog must experiment to work out what he can do to earn a reinforcer. Happily, nearly all of the behaviors desired by pet owners occur frequently enough to be captured. It’s quite easy to teach a complete beginner’s class -- even a class of pet owners with no desire to become trainers -- using only capturing.

Another pro to capturing is that it teaches new trainers to anticipate behavior and to see the smaller responses that occur just before the desired behavior. This, of course, is the first step on the road to shaping.

Shaping

Shaping is sometimes portrayed as the Holy Grail of clicker trainers. Some go so far as to say any method other than shaping isn’t real clicker training. Its perceived complexities terrify neophytes and some experts. Some are too intimidated to try. Others, discouraged by their first fumbling attempts, decide it isn’t worth the effort. Others follow the instructions but find their dogs didn’t read the same manual. What, then, is so great about shaping? In a word, power. Unlimited power.

Before I cover the pros and cons of shaping, let’s talk more about what it is. Shaping is another term for successive approximation. Complex tasks are broken into achievable chunks, and then taught bit by bit. Shaping comes in two “flavors.”

In the first, commonly called free-shaping, the trainer creates a new behavior “from scratch.” For example, to shape a spin, the trainer might start with a glance to the right. Then a slightly larger movement of the chin to the right. Then a subtle shift of weight. Then the lifting of the front left paw. And so on.

The second type of shaping builds on an existing behavior. This is how elements such as distance, duration, and distractions are incrementally added. For example, once that competition sit is on cue, duration is added gradually... half a second, one second, two seconds, four seconds, seven seconds, ten seconds, and so on.

Although I speak of two flavors of shaping, they are really applications of the same method. Shaping is shaping. However, beginners often find using shaping to add elements to an existing behavior is easier than free-shaping a brand new behavior. Using successive approximation to add distance or duration is a great way for trainers to experiment and get comfortable with the technique and to begin to hone their observation skills. However, the real power of shaping, and its major benefits, come from free-shaping.

Shaping is, by far, the most flexible training method available. It is limited solely by the animal’s ability and the trainer’s skill. You can’t teach a dog to fly, but if you had the skill, you could teach him to do a solo freestyle routine cued by the music. For an experienced dog and trainer team, shaping is as fast as targeting, and its precision absolutely can’t be matched.

The key, however, is experienced. Shaping isn’t fast for new shapers or inexperienced animals. It takes skill to break behavior into responses so tiny that your dog can be consistently correct, even when you increase criteria. It takes skill to see subtle nuances of behavior and to anticipate them well enough to time your click perfectly. For the dog, it takes a lot of brain power to work out what a click means (especially if the click is less-than-perfectly timed). It takes creativity and a willingness to experiment and make mistakes. If the dog or the trainer doesn’t understand the method, isn’t comfortable experimenting, or isn’t a good problem-solver, free-shaping can be very frustrating.

Despite these significant challenges, do I think it’s worth the effort to learn to shape? Yes, for most anyone interested in truly learning to train, I do. So often, I see clicker trainers stick to luring and cheat themselves out of possibilities they truly can’t imagine.

Clicker trainer Sue Ailsby has a Portuguese Water Dog named Scuba who has been extensively free-shaped. Watching Sue shape a new behavior is a jaw-droppingly amazing experience. It takes just one or two clicks at each criterion for Scuba to catch on, so she learns at seemingly light-speed. It’s as close to pure communication as training can possibly be. Until you see it, however, you simply can’t conceive of it. Not really.

Shaping is unlimited possibilities.

So which should you choose?

Each of the six dog-friendly methods of getting behavior is a legitimate technique. All have pros and cons. None are suitable for every trainer, every animal, and every situation.

I firmly believe that a good trainer should understand and be able to use ALL of the methods. Each method affects the dog just a little differently, and so a little experience with each method, particularly in the formative first 16 weeks of life, will create more neural pathways in his brain and give you more choices in your training toolbox.

Choosing the right method for most situations depends on several factors which were covered in part one of this article. Briefly, they are:

• How many behaviors will this dog need to learn?
• How quickly do I need to train the behaviors?
• How precise are the behaviors?
• How skilled is the primary trainer?
• How interested in training is the trainer?
• How experienced is the dog in each method?
• Will the dog need to “think on his feet,” or will he primarily respond to well-rehearsed cues?

Even if you review this list and determine that one particular method is right for you and your dog, there still may be times where that method simply isn't the right choice in a specific situation.

I was in the audience at a Clicker Expo watching one of the strongest proponents of shaping do a demo. She asked for a volunteer from the audience, and the dog that was brought up was wildly distracted. She used a lure to refocus him and to get him generally oriented to what she wanted to do, and then she switched to shaping.

There was NOTHING wrong with using that lure. It was absolutely the right choice in the situation. She had seconds to get the dog focused in an extraordinarily distracting situation. She also needed to get him oriented to the type of behavior she wanted -- she didn't have time to freeshape from "nothing" a possible shaping-unsavvy dog.

Sometimes the best solution is to use a combination of methods. Use a lure to get the dog focused on the general type of behavior you want to work on, and then free-shape. Set up your environment in a way that your dog can’t help but succeed -- a type of molding -- and then capture what you want. Stretch your imagination and your boundaries!

No matter which method you choose, remember that training is just a tool we use to deepen our communication and relationship with our dogs. Don’t get so focused on the result that you forget to enjoy the journey. Clicker training is the road less traveled, and that makes all the difference!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Dog-friendly methods of getting behavior, part 2

This article is longer than I remembered, so today I'm going to look in depth at four of the dog-friendly methods of getting behavior: social facilitation, molding, luring, and targeting. I'll finish the others up tomorrow! But first, I heard from Tennyson's breeder:

The kids are great – all over 22 lbs now (Yellow is over 24!). They’ve been going out for some playgroups with camp dogs and went to Puppy K on Wednesday night. Realized I haven’t done anything on-leash with them (oops) so that is probably something that will need more work. I’ve definitely noticed they are in a “fear period”. All are jumpier around noises and things that didn’t bother them before. I’m making sure nothing is too scary and using lots of jolly talk and treats. They recover very quickly which makes me hopeful that I’ve done adequate socialization before the fear period started!

Heart checks are on Wednesday. Fingers crossed, everyone!

Instinct, allelomimetic behavior, mimicry, social facilitation

In these closely-related methods of getting behavior, you’re taking advantage of an instinctive desire to do what others are doing to get what you want. Dogs are not known as mimickers. You cannot, for example, reliably have one dog demonstrate a perfect finish, and then expect the other dogs in the class to copy it. Yet, they still have a tendency to repeat some natural -- “untrained” -- behaviors that other dogs do.

For example, if one dog in a group begins to bark, the others frequently bark. If one gets up and goes outside, the others often follow. If you signal a recall for one, the others may come in as well. Observations at a doggy daycare show this tendency quite clearly. Groups of dogs tend to run, bark, and even lie down to nap at the same time.

Trainers of working dogs have taken advantage of this tendency for generations. It’s common to pair new dogs with older, experienced dogs. Sometimes this pairing is quite literal. Young fox hounds are braced with older hounds so they have no choice but to follow the older dog’s lead. In some kennels, the training of the young hounds is done exclusively by the older dogs.

Trainers with multiple dogs can take advantage of this method for simple, natural behaviors if they have one dog who is already fluent. Cue a recall -- or sit or down or other behavior -- and reward the dogs who respond. Many dogs will respond just because the other dog did it. And those who don’t may be motivated to figure out why the others are getting reinforced.

Less obviously, allelomimetic behavior may be used to modify the emotional state of the dog. Allelomimetic behavior is “mutual mimicry.” It includes not only “acting like,” but also “feeling like.” And it isn’t limited to dog-dog interactions. Tense handlers have tense dogs. Calm handlers have calm dogs. Households experiencing unexpected acute stress may have dogs exhibiting unprovoked aggression or other stress displacement behavior. Trainers can use this tendency by modeling the calm, focused emotional state they want their dogs to exhibit.

Some real-life examples of social facilitation and other instinctive methods of learning include...

• A group of daycare dogs sitting quietly when the gate is opened… and new dogs following suit the very first day!
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• Young puppies and adolescent dogs performing—and later repeating—recalls at the dog park because their older playmates respond to the cue.
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• A dog learning behaviors as varied as pushing a box along the floor and walking backwards by copying the behavior of another dog being rewarded for those behaviors.

The final example is the most controversial. Repeated laboratory experiments have concluded that dogs are not capable of learning by observation. However the training world is filled with anecdotal evidence disputing that. The bottom line is this: Try it. If it works, you’ve found an easy solution ideal for the canine brain. If it doesn’t, simply try something else.

Molding

Molding is a method of setting the dog up so that he must perform the behavior. It includes physically compelling behavior or using props. Trainers sometimes use the term “modeling” interchangeably with molding. Technically this is incorrect. Modeling more accurately refers to demonstrating, rather than compelling, a behavior. Examples of molding include standing on a dog’s leash to force him into a down or putting a scrunchie on a dog’s paw to elicit a wave or a “limp.”

Molding has a bad reputation among clicker trainers. Although it includes techniques as innocent as heeling next to a wall to encourage the dog to move in a straight line, trainers, associating the method with force, often dismiss molding entirely. Unfortunately, by doing so they risk ignoring a method that could potentially make learning easier for their pet-owner students.

Some pet owners are not interested in dog training. They don’t want to become good trainers. They aren’t interested in theory. They simply want their dog to obey simple cues and live harmoniously in their homes. For some of these people, molding is both clearer and easier than other methods. If they are successful, and the specific technique they use doesn’t hurt or frighten the dog, why not take advantage of the method?

Of course, the method does have drawbacks. To be used successfully, the compulsion shouldn’t trigger the dog’s opposition reflex. The common techniques of pushing on a dog’s hips to get a sit or stepping on a leash to get a down are poor training choices because the dog’s natural response is to resist. Instead, use the opposition reflex to your advantage. Got a dog who shifts his weight backwards in a show stance? Tug lightly on his tail -- and watch him resist the backwards pull by shifting his weight to the fore.

Another common and more accepted use of molding is the use of props -- wire guides through the weave poles, a piece of tape on the nose to encourage “hide your eyes,” a channel to force a straight approach on a recall. The problem with these and most other examples of molding is that the props and trainer participation have to be faded from the picture, and that’s not always easy, especially for beginners.

Molding is similar to allelomimetic behavior in that both can be used to effect a change of emotional state. Emotions and physical position -- body language -- are closely linked. So closely linked, in fact, that scientists have an ongoing argument about which comes first! Regardless, it is possible to change a dog’s emotional state by having him perform behaviors consistent with a different emotion. For example, a dog has trouble maintaining aggressive behavior when he’s wagging his tail.

Amazingly, the change in emotional state occurs even if the dog isn’t volunteering the behavior. In other words, molding the mannerisms associated with a particular emotional state can create that state. If your dog is growling at the end of his leash, try smoothing his hackles and lowering his tail to calm him.

Luring

Luring is a hands-off method of guiding the dog through a behavior. Lures are usually food but may be target sticks or anything else the dog will follow. The method is incredibly simple. Using the food or other lure to control the movement of the dog’s head, the dog is maneuvered so that his body performs the desired behavior.

Luring is a very, very popular method of positive training. It’s fast, it’s flexible, and it’s generally easy for beginners. Because it’s hands-off, it’s considered superior to molding. After all, the dog performs the behavior of his own volition!

However, if the dog is focusing on the food, he’s not focusing on what his body is doing. Fading the lure, and making the jump from guided performance to offered performance, is a feat that makes this seemingly simple method far more complex. Some trainers mitigate this problem by turning the lure into a hand signal cueing the behavior. Others keep the dog’s brain more in the game by using a non-food lure, like a target stick. Still, despite these drawbacks, skilled and unskilled trainers are able to use luring to produce a huge variety of behaviors.

If luring is both dog- and trainer-friendly, why do some clicker trainers complain that luring isn’t “true” clicker training? When using the lure, the click is essentially superfluous. The reinforcer can be delivered at the moment the behavior is complete, the conditioned reinforcer imparts no additional information.

But the real problem with luring is that the trainer is doing all of the work. She tells the dog everything he needs to know, helps him through every step -- and helping the dog becomes habitual, for both of them. For a hobby trainer, this may not be a problem, but for a serious trainer, a dog who cannot problem-solve, who cannot work his way through a puzzle, is ultimately limiting.

When I hear a trainer complaining that he really can’t see what the big deal about clicker trainer is or that he isn’t getting the mind-blowing results that other claims, almost invariably I find that he is luring almost exclusively.

Targeting

Targeting is frequently lumped in with luring, and, indeed, the two methods have much in common. But targeting has some unique characteristics and deserves to be considered on its own merits.

Basic targeting -- touching a specific spot with a nose or paw -- is frequently one of the first behaviors budding clicker trainers ever learn. Some teach their dog to touch the end of a target stick, and then use the stick to lure the dog through future behaviors. Others teach their dogs to touch their finger, their palm, or something like a margarine lid.

For many, this simple touch is all the targeting they do. Others go a step further, generalizing the touch cue to get their dogs to interact with other objects or using targets placed in specific places to move their dogs around. Common uses of targeting include:

• Transferring the touch to a door or a light switch to teach common service dog behaviors
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• Teaching a dog to pick up an indicated object
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• Touching specific areas of the contact obstacles in agility
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• Teach the dog to “go out” to the ring fence in competition obedience

Some trainers are going even further with their targeting. First, they teach their animals to target with different body parts. They might have separate cues for targeting with each front paw, each back paw, shoulders, hips, nose, chin, and chest! Then they use a series of targets and combinations of these cues to create chains of behaviors.

For example, to teach a dog to “pray,” a trainer could ask the dog to sit, cue him to target his left front paw to the trainer’s knees, cue him to target his right front paw on top of his left paw, and then cue him to target his chin to his chest. Chain it together, and you’ve got a fast route to complex, precise trick!

This method has been used with great success in zoos and aquaria for many years. With exotic animals, it’s often difficult to use a traditional lure because the trainer has limited (if any) contact. Targets give those trainers a limited set of powerful, well-known behaviors that they can call on for a variety of uses.

Uses I have seen include teaching each member of a group of chimpanzees to go to and remain at his own target while the trainer works another member of the group; teaching an elephant to continuously target a spot with his forehead and then, one at a time, targeting a hole in a fence with each foot so his nails and foot pads can be cared for; and teaching a gorilla to grip and hold a bar, which is moved further down a sleeve, so eventually he is presenting his arm for blood draws.

As positives, targeting is both fast and flexible -- creative trainers can use targeting to teach most any behavior. But the method does have some drawbacks as well. Unlike luring, the target and trainer participation can’t always be fashioned into a hand signal used to cue the behavior. Trainer participation is high, and it’s not always easy to fade the target and the trainer from the picture, especially for beginners.

Additionally, the level of problem-solving performed by the dog is limited. After the initial targeting is taught, other behaviors are simply combinations of the initial behaviors chained or back-chained together. The trainer shows the animal exactly what is required and continues to show him until he learns the pattern. Since all the information is provided to him, there’s just no need for creative problem solving.

Conclusion

Tomorrow I'll look at the last two dog-friendly methods of getting behavior: capturing and shaping. Then I’ll tackle once and for all the question of “Which method should I choose?”

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Random topic #2 -- Dog-friendly methods of getting behavior

I originally posted a version of this article in Teaching Dogs magazine back in 2004. (Wow. Has it really been that long?) Today, a lot of big-name clicker trainers tell people that shaping, capturing, and targeting are the only legitimate methods of getting behavior if you're clicker training. I vehemently disagree, even if it means I can't claim the label of "clicker trainer." (I'm okay with that. Really.)

I firmly believe that there are at least half a dozen dog-friendly methods of getting behavior, and they are all "legitimate." However, I just as vehemently believe that all methods of getting behavior are not created equal. Depending on your goals, your experience, your dog's experience, and the situation your in, different methods have different pros and cons.

No method -- not even shaping -- is right for every trainer, every dog, and every situation.

In this three part series, I examine the most common dog-friendly methods of getting behavior: social facilitation, molding, luring, targeting, capturing, and shaping. Today I'm going to discuss the consequences of choosing a particular method and overview the pros and cons of each. Tomorrow I’ll explore each method in detail and the next day I'll look at some practical applications.

Examine your goals

Training your dog is similar to teaching a child to work a jigsaw puzzle. The method you choose affects more than the behavior at hand. It affects your dog’s mind, teaching him how to learn, how to approach problems in the future.

When choosing your method, consider not only the immediate behavior but your overall training goals. Is this a pet animal, who will learn only a small handful of behaviors, owned by someone who desires a steady, predictable companion? Or is this a performance dog, who will ultimately have a large repertoire of behaviors, who may need to think on his feet in a working situation, or who might benefit from problem-solving skills?

Some people want a thinking dog. Others very definitely don’t. Neither is right or wrong, just desirable or undesirable for the tasks the dog will be asked to do. Before you choose a training method, ask yourself the following questions:

• How many behaviors will this dog need to learn? The more behaviors you need to teach, the more important it is to teach concepts that can be generally applied to different behaviors.
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• How quickly do I need to train the behaviors? Some methods are faster for beginners than others, but those methods tend to get the same results forever. Other methods start slow but increase in efficiency—bypassing the initially faster methods—as the trainer and dog get more experienced.
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• How precise are the behaviors? Some methods are better-suited to larger, less precise behaviors, and others excel with precise behavior.
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• How skilled is the primary trainer? Some methods are easier for beginners. Some require both physical and mental skill.
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• How interested in training is the trainer? Not everyone who trains a dog aspires to be a “dog trainer.” Some methods require more knowledge and skill than others.
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• How experienced is the dog in each method? The more familiar a dog is with a particular method, the more rapidly he will learn new behaviors taught with that method.
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• Will the dog need to “think on his feet,” or will he primarily respond to well-known, well-rehearsed cues? Some methods teach the dog to wait to be shown what to do. Others require the dog to figure out what’s needed. These habits carry over into their working lives.

Weigh your options

Once you have your answers, compare them against the training methods. All have pros and cons. None is a magic pill perfect for every dog and every trainer. The six most common dog-friendly techniques for getting behavior are described below.

Instinct, allelomimetic behavior, mimicry, social facilitation. While these are each subtly different, they all fall into the category of naturally occurring, “non-training” methods of learning. With this method you’re taking advantage of the dog’s instincts to get the behaviors you want. For example, many dogs will naturally follow another dog. You could, then, pair that dog with a dog who has a terrific off-leash recall to help build a habit of returning when called.

Pros: These natural methods of learning are ideal for the canine brain. They are an excellent choice when working on simple behaviors with a group of dogs.

Cons: Although there are numerous anecdotes of dogs learning trainer-defined skills using these methods, depending on them to teach behaviors that aren’t natural canine behavior is an iffy proposition. Bottom line: if it works, terrific! But don’t count it as a sure thing.

Molding. Molding is physically guiding or otherwise compelling a dog to do a behavior. Pulling up on the dog’s collar while pushing down on his rear is a method of molding a sit. Molding also includes the use of physical props, such as working against a wall to force a straight heel or putting tape on the dog’s face to elicit a paw over the nose.

Pros: Molding is easily understood by humans, and thus it’s very easy for beginners. It’s a quick, easy way to teach large behaviors.

Cons: Though good for large behaviors, molding is limiting for trainers who want more precise or advanced behaviors, and it requires a great deal of trainer participation, which then has to be faded from the picture. The dog has to do very, very little thinking -- his body is set up to perform the desired behavior.

Luring. Luring is a hands-off method of guiding the dog through a behavior. Lures are usually food but may be target sticks or anything else the dog will follow. A common method of luring the sit is to hold food in front of the dog’s nose, and then move the food up and back. As the dog’s head follows the food, generally the back end will drop to the floor.

Pros: Luring is fast and flexible, and it’s easy for beginners.

Cons: Lures must be faded early or they become part of the behavior, and properly fading a lure is not easy for beginners. Luring, like molding, requires little mental effort by the dog (even if the lure is a target stick). You’re telling him everything he needs to know, and helping the dog becomes habitual -- for both of you.

Targeting. Targeting, at its most basic, is the behavior of touching a specified surface with a particular body part. In practice, targeting is much more flexible. Targets can be used to position an animal, to manipulate its body position, or transferred to a different surface -- or used in combination to get incredibly complex behaviors.

Pros: Basic targeting is a simple, easy to teach behavior that can be generalized to different body parts fairly easily. Targeting is fast.

Cons: After the initial behavior is taught, this method requires little mental effort by the dog -- the trainer gives the dog all the information he needs. Trainer participation is heavy and must be faded.

Capturing. In capturing, the trainer waits for the dog to offer the behavior, then marks and rewards it. Simple!

Pros: Capturing is easy for beginners if the desired behavior occurs frequently. Even better, it requires mental effort from the dog to figure out why it’s being rewarded.

Cons: Unfortunately, capturing is limited to naturally-occurring behaviors -- it’s not likely you can capture a competition-perfect drop on recall. The trainer has to be ready to capture the behavior when it’s offered.

Shaping. Shaping is a technique of training a complex behavior by teaching, and gradually building upon, the behavior’s individual responses. To shape a spin, a trainer might start with just a glance to the left. Then a glance and a weight shift. Then a glance, a weight shift, and movement of a front paw, continuing until the dog is performing a complete spin.

Pros: The clicker makes shaping a powerful technique, enabling incredibly precise behaviors. Its flexibility is unmatched. Once the trainer and dog are skilled with the method, shaping is extremely fast. Best of all, shaping requires significant mental effort, creativity, and problem-solving ability by the dog.

Cons: Shaping requires good observational skills, and until those are developed, shaping can be frustrating to the trainer. It also requires the ability to break behavior into small enough increments that your dog remains consistently successful. If the trainer can’t do this, the dog can get frustrated. Shaping can be frustrating to dogs and trainers who aren’t method-savvy, aren’t comfortable experimenting, or aren’t good problem-solvers. Until the dog and trainer are experienced, especially if they lack a mentor to help them learn the method, progress can be slow.

No perfect solutions

Tomorrow I’ll look at each of these methods in more detail. As you compare your goals with the pros and cons of the different methods, you may find that there are conflicts. Perhaps you have a working dog who needs to problem-solve, but you’re under a strict, tight time-table. Maybe you aspire to a sport like canine freestyle which emphasizes both precision and creativity, but both you and your dog have a learned reliance on lures. Don’t lose faith. I'll give you specific tips and tricks for solving those problems.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Random topic #1 -- Stages of learning

Since I won't be picking up Miss Tennyson until November 15, I thought I might post some thoughts on a random selection of topics that come up frequently on dog training mailing lists and forums.

I thought today I would talk about the stages of learning. I break my training into four stages.

Stage one

The first stage of learning is when the animal learns the basics about what you want him to do. He learns the behavior and attaches a name -- or cue -- to it.

In stage one, my training is performed in formal sessions with counted reps. If the behavior is complex, if I'm not getting the results I expect, or if it's an especially important behavior, I may keep detailed records of the sessions, especially in phase one.

At the beginning of a session, I define the criteria -- specifically what I'm looking for -- for that set of repetitions. If the dog does what I want, I reinforce the rep. If not, I count the rep as an error and do not reinforce it. If he makes more than a couple of mistakes in a session, I might revisit my criteria to see if I need to make what I want more obvious or easier. I aim for a very high rate of reinforcement for doing what I want. I like to get 10 correct reps in a row before I increase my criteria.

In this stage I shape exactly the behavior I want and add a cue to it. I might work on the behavior in several locations.

Stage two

In the second stage of learning, I am adding additional elements like duration and distance to the behavior, and the dog is working out the boundaries and parameters.

I continue working in formal training sessions in stage two. I have the behavior I want, but now I'm making it harder by adding distance, duration, distractions, and even more locations. If apropriate to the particular behaviour I begin taking it truly "on the road" in this stage.

I am still ignoring mistakes and striving for a high rate of reinforcement. I don't freak out about mistakes. In fact, I want the dog to experiment and make some mistakes, because that's how he figures out what I want.

"Is it right if I do this? What about this? How about this?"

The dog should be responding quite well to the cue in this stage, even at the beginning of the stage, and so some trainers begin using physical corrections for mistakes. I don't. Corrections are absolutely counter to what I want to do during either of these first two stages, because they suppress behavior. I want my dog to experiment so he can figure out exactly what is and isn't reinforced, but he won't do that if there's an unpleasant consequence for doing so.

Stage three

The behaviors I teach can be loosely grouped into two groups -- those that are part of a sport and occur only within that sport and those that are common "real life" behaviors.

Real life behaviors, such as a recall or sit or lying on a mat are behaviors that need to be well generalized and will likely be performed outside of "training." Behaviors that are part of a sport are not likely to be cued outside of training (or competing), per se. I likely wouldn't ask the dog to do a set of agility weaves at any time except when I was working on agility.

Stage three is the first time I cue "real life" behaviors OUTSIDE of formal sessions. I continue having formal sessions, but I begin to phase the behaviors into use outside of formal training. I might, for example, ask my dog to hold a sit-stay while I carry laundry down the stairs.

The key to the initial phasing of the behavior into real life is that I cue the behavior ONLY when my DOG wants something. Maybe he wants me to open the door to go outside. Maybe he wants his dinner bowl to be put down. Maybe he wants me to throw his bumper. If he does what I ask, I do what he wants. If not, I don't. This is how to use environmental rewards. I create a clear contingency between doing what I ask and getting what HE wants. This is the stage where my dogs learn that not responding to what I ask has consequences -- namely that they don't get what they want.

For both types of behaviors, stage three is when I begin to sequence or chain behaviors -- asking for more work before the payoff. When I first begin sequencing a behavior I try to ask for the new behavior first and follow it with something well known or much loved. That way the dog is learning that although he's doing more work, it's easy and fun, and so he stays motivated.

Stage four

When stage three is very, very solid, I'll begin to use the cue in situations where the dog doesn't necessarily have anything obvious riding on his response, or I'll begin asking for longer, harder sequences. This is stage four.

By this point we have thousands of well-reinforced reps behind us, and fluency is aiding the reliability. Reinforcement of sport behaviors doesn't change much. I ask for longer sequences sometimes, but when the dog accomplishes my criteria -- whether I ask for one behavior or several in a row -- I reinforce correct behavior. I still try to reinforce real life behaviors as well, but sometimes at this stage, especially as life goes on, all they get is thanks and a pet.

I occasionally use negative punishment with real life behaviors at this stage if I'm not getting a response. I don't do that very frequently though. By stage four I simply shouldn't have to. If I'm getting non-responses, I rushed training. (Which doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I'm just not big on making my dogs pay when I'm the one who isn't being thorough.)

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Foundation behaviors, part 2

Continuing the list of foundation behaviors I want to teach Tenn...

Walk at my side. This behavior is a precursor to walking on a loose leash, competition heeling, and conformation gaiting. I thought about it and decided I want to, from the beginning, make walking next to me really, really reinforcing. That position is basically going to be the best place in the world to hang out. It will be taught off leash, no lures, just rewarding her for being next to me -- either left or right side. Doing this, by the way, is a great way to proactively deal with the habit puppies have of chasing pants legs.

Name recognition / Attention. I'll start this as soon as I pick her up. It begins with simply pairing her name with a treat. I'll also work on reinforcing uncued attention. Checking in with me is a highly reinforced behavior around here. I don't require eye contact for everything when working -- not for much at all, in fact. But teaching the behavior really helps cement the idea that focusing on me is a really good thing. Besides, nothing makes my heart melt as fast as the soft loving gaze of one of my dogs.

Retrieve. Retrieving is not an easy skill. It's complex, and when done precisely there are a lot of parts to isolate and hone. Still I consider it an important enough behavior that I want to include it in her foundation behaviors. In addition to my interest in retriever training for the field (which she would do only as my practice dog), retrieving is a darn handy behavior around the house. I really like being able to point out an object in the house or yard and have one of the dogs get it for me. It's also nice to have dogs pick up things they find and bring them to me, rather than taking them and eating them.

Grooming / Nail clipping / Husbandry behaviors. These are behaviors that are frequently skipped as part of "training." Many people just jump right into them and force the dog to deal with it. The truth is, though, that these behaviors are really very intrusive and not always comfortable. It's a lot easier and faster in the long run to teach the dog to patiently allow the procedures than to try to hold him still and finish as quickly as possible. I want to be able to groom, dremel nails, and handle feet, ears, and mouth, and I want the vet and groomer to be able to do the things they need to, without stressing Tenn.

Crate training. I don't use crates very often, but I'm probably going to use them more often with Tenn. Not only is management going to be more important with three dogs (one of who aggressively redirects if he's stressed), but if I do any competition with her, she's going to need to be comfortable in a crate.

She's also going to need to sleep in a crate at first. My preference is to have the dogs sleep on the bed, especially as puppies, but Jay has absolutely drawn the line there. Our bed just isn't big enough for a third dog. Besides I think that might cause some issues with Aslan. So Miss Tennyson needs to be crated at night for a while.

Stay on a mat. Being able to target a mat and stay on it is very helpful in real life. It's a place for the dog to hang out and wait. It's a stay-in-location stay versus a stay-in-position stay, which is more comfortable for long-time, relaxed stays in the real world.

Scent work. I hesitantly add this here. I've done very little scent work before, but I'd like to teach Tenn to track. Does scent work need to be one of her foundation behavior? Probably not. But it sure sounds like fun, so why not?

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Foundation behaviors, part 1

As I look for puppy classes for Tenn, I've been thinking about the first behaviors I want to teach her. First-learned behaviors are extraordinarily powerful; they're the behaviors that the dog reverts to when she doesn't know what else to do.

There are so many things I'd like to do with Tenn... conformation, obedience, Rally, tracking, water work, draft work. Heck -- I'd even like to do some retriever training with her, since it may be a while before I get a new curly pup. With all those activities on the horizon, I don't have any shortage of behaviors to train. But I think I've identified the handful I want to start with.

Targeting with nose and paw. Targeting is super important to me. I don't use targets terribly often as lures -- something the dog follows -- but I like them for distance behaviors. Targeting is also the behavior underlying most any object interaction behavior. No matter what kind of interaction you eventually want, the easiest way to start is by simply touching it.

I want to teach Tenn to target with both her nose and her paw. My plan is to use a black square target for paw touches and a white round target for nose touches -- and unique verbal cues that are carefully proofed. I taught Pax that objects on the floor were for paw touches and objects held off the ground were to be nose touched. Eventually I ran into situations where I wanted nose touches of something on the ground and paw touches of something I held, and it confused the heck out of him. I want to avoid that problem this time.

Recall. Pax has the most incredible recall ever, and I want Tenn's to be even better. That means lots of reps in lots of locations. I want straight lines and a FAST return. I'll probably have to work on this alone most of the time, so it will be a dual "stay" exercise as well.

Sit. I put sit on here, but sit isn't really my favorite behavior -- not for giant-breed puppies, anyway. It's way too easy to train a sloppy sit that will then be a pain in the tuchus to fix for competition obedience later. I would just wait to teach it, but it's both handy for everyday behaviors -- sit at the door, sit to be petted -- and it's a staple of puppy and obedience classes. So I have to go ahead and start shaping a tight, square, tucked sit from the beginning.

Down. I prefer down to sit as my default control behavior. There are actually several versions of down to be taught. There's the sphinx down, which is a foldback down from a stand used when there will be another action cue following soon. There's a settle, which is a down on a hip used for long, relaxed downs. And there's a down from a sit. I probably won't teach that one until Tenn is clearly differentiating the cues for (sphinx) down and sit.

Conformation stack. I have trouble teaching stand unless it's a clearly-defined position like the conformation stack. Also, since I want to show in conformation I figured I'd work on the stack from the beginning and really make a square, balanced stand a strong default. The challenge with this one is that I've never really done it before. I've played with it a little, but I'm not especially comfortbale with the techniques I've tried.

This is getting kind of long, and I need to get to work. I'll finish the list tomorrow!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Training class woes

I think it's pretty impressive that I can manage to have training class woes, and I haven't even signed her up for a puppy class yet. That, you see, is the problem: I can't find a puppy kindergarten for her.

Tenn will be ten weeks old (and a complete learning sponge) when she comes home. I really like to get my pups into puppy kindergarten right away to take advantage of a critical learning period that closes at about 16 weeks. Great plan, but she's not coming home until mid-November, and it looks like no one is starting a puppy kindergarten class in December.

Intellectually, I understand this. She's coming home right before the holiday season begins. (Oy. Is is Christmas already?) I expect that fewer people sign up for classes in December, and trainers probably want to have some extra free nights of their own. But none of that changes the fact that I have a pup who needs a class in December, not January.

So I searched and searched and searched, and I found a place in Kirkland called Barkz. It looks like a neat place. It isn't, however, at all close to me. To get there for a 6:30 class on a weekday, it will probably take me somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half -- and that assumes that the weather is good.

There are a couple of other places who are about half an hour from me who will be offering puppy kindergartens beginning in January. I may sign her up for one of those even if I sign her up at Barkz. There's another place that's about half an hour away that doesn't have any classes on its schedule past the end of October, so there's a possibility they'll have December classes. They're really expensive, but I'd probably rather pay more and be close considering the likelihood of winter driving.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if I couldn't get her into puppy class. I don't use puppy class to teach her new behaviors. I start teaching her basic obedience as soon as she comes home. (I'll use Sue Ailsby's Training Levels as a general guide.) Puppy class just helps me proof those behaviors in a distracting setting, and it provides an opportunity to socialize the baby.

Fingers crossed that I find a good class!

I heard from Jenni today. She got the pups' conformation evaluated.

Took the pups to see my friend Casey today. She was very impressed with all of them. There are definite differences among the girls but it is just that their strong points differ. If I could pick and choose parts from all 3 I’d have a “perfect” (ha!) Newfoundland!

Based on personality, I think either Orange or Green should go to you. Conformationally, they are both very close – Green’s neck is a bit longer, but Orange is cleaner coming in. Rears and side gait are very comparable on both. Green has a nicer backskull, but Orange has a nicer muzzle. Both have good toplines, good bites & very nice bone. I think they both have beautiful, feminine faces. Of course all of this is today and an educated guess at best as to how things will turn out!

The pup I've been attracted to all along is the Green girl. However, I told Jenni that I would be happy with either Green or Orange -- and that's true. They were both outstanding pups with the kind of personality I like. I'm hoping for Green, but I'll let Jenni make the final choices.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Getting ready for baby

There really should be baby showers for new puppy owners. Of course, I might not qualify as a new puppy owner, since she'll be our third dog. Do women with multiple children have a baby shower for each one? You can see how much I know about kids.

I do know about buying puppy supplies though. All the cool stuff you get is half the fun of getting a puppy! Here are some of the things I have bought or need/want to buy before Tennyson comes home:

• Leash
• Flat collar
• ID tag
• Food dish
• Dremel for nails
• Brushes
• Grooming table
• Harness
• Crate
• Crate pad
• Toys
• Treats

That isn't a complete list by any means. It's just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head. Some of it, I probably have in some form or fashion. I could dig up a leash and a dog dish for her, and I have some brushes that I use with the other dogs. I'd like her to have her OWN things though.

There are a couple of other things I've bought in anticipation of bringing her home. One is a Manners Minder, a really cool remote reward training system by Dr. Sophia Yin. The Manners Minder lets you reinforce at a distance or when your hands are busy. It will be good, for example, for teaching her to work at a distance, to be quiet in her crate, to do distance stays, and to relax on a grooming table. It also has a darn cool target.

The other thing I bought was a new digital camcorder. That was totally a splurge present to myself. I have a camera I bought when Pax was a pup, but it has always frustrated me because it's not very good in low light. Now that I know that quality in low light is important to me, I was able to research the best cameras for that. I ended up buying a Canon VIXIA HV30. My goal is to get not only general footage of the beasties, but to record some of Tenn's training sessions.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

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