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Challenging Behavior

10/8/2021

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​Does your dog have a behavior that is driving you nuts? Perhaps they are getting into the garbage, counter surfing or jumping on people. Every time Fido does this unwarned behavior he is rewarded.  Either by your attention or his prize off the counter or garbage can.   To resolve the unwanted behavior we have to first identify what we would like them to do instead. Then we put in a management plan to prevent the dog from doing the unwanted behavior while we work on the new skill.

Management is the most important step because every time the dog does the unwanted behavior that bad habit is reinforced, sometimes unintentionally and sometimes the behavior is self rewarding.
which makes it much more likely to continue. If you push a dog away while they jump they are excited and rewarded by the attention.  Counter surfing or getting in the garbage are self rewarding in that they usually find a prize.

After we make sure the behavior cannot continue we  focus on teaching the new skill and getting it generalized to lots of different environments and situations. Station training for jumping, leave its for the garbage and counter surfing.  We also want to add enrichment to keep their brains busy so they are less likely to get into trouble. 

If you need help we are here. Email ronda@29K9.net.
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Does Your Dog Come When Called

8/29/2021

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Does your dog have a reliable recall?  Many don't and most dogs only respond when they want to. When a puppy or rescue comes home they often will follow us around and recall doesn't seem necessary until they begin to get a little more interested in the environment.  They will appear to develop selective hearing, at least part of the time anyway. There are some easy steps to developing a reliable recall.  It also is a matter of safety that your dog will respond. 

How do you build a solid and reliable recall in your dog?  Easier and a lot more fun than you think.  Here are some tips:
  • ​Don't say their name as a cue, i.e., stop, no, wait, come.  
  • Do say their name when you want their attention then follow it with something good.  Treat, game of tug, dinner, throwing the ball.  Play a few rounds of name game each day.  Randomly say their name and reward them for simply looking your direction.  If they don't respond wait 15 seconds before repeating, Even if it takes two or three times still reward.  This is incentive for a faster response.
  • Use high-pitched, happy voice is more likely to engage your dog than a stern or loud voice.
  • Don't punish, yell, squirt water or citronella, zap with an e-collar.  Aversives are not as likely to entice your dog to coming (they may even hide) plus they are more likely to cause fallout behaviors such as aggression.
  • Use a specific cue.  I like "Touch" because it means "come touch my hand".  Once they understand to touch my hand we add a sit to it.  So when I say Touch my dog comes and touches my hand and then sits and waits for whatever is next.  Sometimes it's leashing up for an outing or it may be going back out to play.  Might even be a game of tug, fetch, a treat, maybe even dinner.  Something good will happen.
  • Do not chase your dog but let your dog chase you.  Say his name and then start running.  Most dogs cannot resist a game of chase and it will become game on. (Be careful with this one if your dog becomes over stimulated too easily.)
  • Play.  When your dog comes to you toss out a ball or toy.  
  • Play some more.  Grab a handful of small treats and hand one to your dog and then throw one.  Drop the next one in front of you and then farther out.  Repeat this until your out of treats.  Your dog will be come back and forth, learning that the good stuff is with you. 
The main thing to remember is that the more fun you have with your dog the better your relationship and the more your dog will want to seek you out.

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When Your Dog is Reactive

8/14/2020

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​Is your dog reactive to other dogs while on walks? You know what I’m talking about.  That sweet, furry love of your life, who turns Cujo-like when he sees certain dogs (or all dogs). You aren't alone, it happens much more often than you realize. When it happens to you, tho, it seems much louder, much worse than when you see another dog react. This is normal because you aren't emotionally invested in someone else's dog but your dog can skewer your heart with this behavior..

You ARE  emotionally invested in your dog and this affects how YOU react to your dog's reaction. Embarrassment, nervousness, fear, shame...these are all normal feelings. That's when we typically begin to yell, cajole, threaten, plead for the dog to behave. "It's no big deal" "STOP IT" "C'mon, you know better than to act like this" "ENOUGH already!" Maybe throw in a prong collar or e-collar for good measure to punish the behavior in hopes that it will fix the situation. 
 
Instead, tho, the behavior eventually begins to escalate, getting worse.  The first step in addressing the behavior is not punishment or bribery but identifying what the dog is trying to tell you.  What they are trying to say is usually either “I’m so excited I don’t know how to control my behavior” or “I’m scared and need some space”.  Either way your dog is over threshold which means that learning is not going to happen.  Trying to yell or beg or bribe will not affect how the dog will react next time
 
 So what is a frazzled handler to do?  Take a deep breath, step to the side and say “lets go” while turning around and heading the other direction, increasing distance to that which they were reacting to.  Once the dog has calmed down and giving you good attention you reward this behavior.  Now it is important to make a plan that avoids these situations until your dog is ready and able to handle them. 
 
Contact a professional who is experienced and educated in science based methods to work with you and your dog.  One who understands that the research is very clear on how to best address the challenges for best results long term and has the experience to teach you and your dog.  No flooding, no forcing, no punishment.  Solid behavior help instead.  Your average dog trainer is just that, a dog trainer.  They aren’t educated or experienced in dealing with behavior issues in the best and most modern ways possible.  This isn’t about cookie pushing but in timing rewards so that counter conditioning occurs by changing the emotional response to the stimulus (the other dog).  Timing is everything, and must occur at precise moments with a high enough value reward while at the same time preventing over threshold or flooding situations where learning does not happen. 

If you can’t afford a behaviorist there are also online resources, such as CARE For the Reactive Dog, that can help the dog owner learn skills to address their dog’s challenges.   Beware of any trainer promising fast fixes…these fixes typically require use of punishment which may  suppress the behavior but does not fix the emotional response.  This can lead to even more challenging and dangerous behaviors later because the dog is still reacting but with a new level of fear added on. 
 
If a friend tries to help you because something worked with their dog remember that not all dogs are the same.  Educated and experienced trainers and behaviorists have spent countless hours learning about animal behavior and how to address these things in the best and safest way possible.  While your neighbor or friend may mean well, they haven’t put their heart and soul and wallet into learning the best methods to make your dog better.

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What Is Science Based Reward Training?

7/4/2020

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So called "balanced trainers" will often say that trainers must have more than one tool in their toolbox when justifying the use of aversives (prong collars, choke chains, e-collars, squirt bottles...)  Science based positive trainers have many tools in their tool box but NONE of these tools hurt or scare. Balanced trainers often jump to the aversive because they think a treat isn't working or "it's faster" but they don't step back and look at the big picture.  How does a science based trainer approach differ? We look at the big picture and then break it down and then focus on changing the dog's behavior. Let's take that common unwanted behavior of jumping on people.
 
1.  What is the unwanted behavior: Jumping
2.  When does it occur: People coming in the door 
3.  What is the motivator: Attention
4.  What is the wanted behavior: Sit

What do we need to do:  Manage the environment to prevent the behavior from continuing, teach and motivate the new behavior, teach the human how not ro reinforce the unwanted behavior when reintroducing the dog to the environment.

For the jumper we manage the environment by preventing Fido from being in the environment where the jumping occurs.  When someone is coming in the door have Fido outside or in another room. Next, we teach the new wanted behavior, sit, until sit is generalized to many situations, locations and with distractions.  Before we bring Fido back in we must teach the human that  any attention is good attention to a dog and rewards the unwanted behavior.  Yelling, waving your arms, pushing Fido away can be a favorite game.  Take all of this attention away by turning sideways with your arms crossed and no eye contact.   Say "sit" once and then wait for it. It's hard not to repeat the cue but it is important that the dog makes the choice to provide that behavior and it will get faster as they connect the reward to the behavior. 

​In the beginning  this takes time so don't try to do this part while you are in a hurry.  Jumping has given Fido a lot of attention in the past so he's going to have to work thru it in his brain that jumping no longer nets him any attention.  He may even do the sit a few times and then suddenly you may have what is called an "extinction burst".  This is when Fido, after doing well, reverts back to that unwanted jumping with a little more gusto in a last ditch attempt to get that jump to reward him with the attention.  He is thinking "it worked for a long time, surely it will work again".  Now is the time to stand firm.  Practice this every day with family members first, then ask friends to work with you.  Have treats by the door and tell visitors what you are working on and what you want them to do so that Fido has the best chance at being successful in learning to make the right choices.
 
This is how reward based training works.  We identify the challenge, identify the motivator (or reward). We identify the wanted behavior. We manage the unwanted behavior by preventing the situation. We teach the wanted behavior.  We ask for the wanted behavior while ignoring the unwanted behavior. This way we avoid punishments that the dog does not understand and, according to repeated studies, reward based training helps set up solid foundations that can prevent long term problems.  It allows the dog to learn to make right choices and build self control, creating a life long family member that you enjoy spending time with rather than a dog who is submitting out of fear of the next punishment. 
 


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The Adolescent Dog

4/27/2020

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“Where did my puppy go” is often the first hint that your dog is an adolescent.  We aren’t just talking size but behavior, attitude, self control challenges.  That puppy who was so desperate for attention you only had to think about him and there he was.  So many times I hear “well, our puppy is so well behaved we don’t need training or socialization.  Then the dog gets to about six months of age, give or take, and they appear to go nuts.  

Why does this happen?  Well, there are a lot of reasons.  Biologically they are in puberty.  Even if desexed their brain is still developing until around the age of 2.  And just like humans, the last part of the brain to finish developing is the frontal cortex.  Guess what area of the brain controls impulse control?  Somewhere between 18 months and 36 months (typically around 24 months) the frontal cortex is complete. 

Many dog owners don’t think about this time period.  Somewhere around 6 months, when the dog’s appears is less puppy and more adult, they begin expecting adult behaviors.  To best explain this, just because a 13 year old human can reach the pedals of the car does not mean they are mentally mature enough to be able to handle the responsibility of driving.   This is also why many adolescent “out of control” dogs are turned into shelters.
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The first step in this is to remember that your adolescent dog is not an adult, nor are they a puppy.  They do, however, need training.  Much of their puppy training goes out the window as they start to express behavior typical of an animal getting ready to leave the nest.  Go back to the basics, build your relationship with your dog.  Be sure to engage in play with your dog as part of the training.  Don’t spend hours training do spend a few minutes here and there. 

The puppy who never jumped may suddenly decide to jump. Why? To get your attention. Suddenly they aren’t the cute puppy that everyone wanted to  engage.  Now they are bigger, louder and kind of obnoxious. Most of the attention they receive is for bad, in your face, behavior. It’s important not to give that type of behavior any reinforcement, which includes your attention. From that first jump turn sideways, say “sit” and ignore the dog until that behavior happens. Remind them that only good manners should get them attention.  Spending time training reinforces that good behaviors = rewards. 

Even your dog’s sleep habits may change so they need more positive mental stimulation to help them sleep consistently.  Physical exercise is good (check with your vet on what your dog needs) but if you only focus on physical exercise you will have a well conditioned athlete that constantly needs more activity to maintain.  You want a good balance of mental to physical exercise. 

Adolescent dogs have up and down behavior.  One day on point and the next day checked out.  This is perfectly normal.  On bad days try to do shorter training sessions, more random requests for a behavior in exchange for a life reward. 

Although you still want to keep socializing your dog to new experiences, animals and people understand that some days they may not want to be social, even fearful.  Do not force them into a situation.  If you are on a walk just turn around and go the other direction, talking softly and finally offering a reward when the dog’s attention is back on you.  Let your dog set the pace.  Most issues at this point are a result of not listening to your dog and pushing them into a situation they weren’t comfortable with  which means the next time may be even worse.

The encountered dog on the walk may be a perfectly lovely dog but now an imprint has happened. Now your dog may be thinking “I was scared the last time I saw that dog and I had to go right up to it and that scared me even more. Maybe if I bark louder or meaner sounding that dog will go away and leave me alone.”   We want him to remember nothing happened.  He saw the dog, became uncomfortable and his handler turned him around and walked away from that scary thing.  Guess what happens now?  Your dog goes at his own pace, gradually getting closer until he’s able to be confident in his greeting.

Training and recall are going to be hit and miss during this time.  Always EXPECT the right behavior but be PREPARED for the challenging behavior.  I expect my dog to come when I call but I am prepared to have a special yummy treat and am ready to engage the dog in a game of chase the handler or a special tug toy if I need to. Remember, in the animal kingdom adolescence is the time that prepares an animal to leave the nest by learning the skills they need to survive.  Teaching them new behaviors and fun tricks are ideal for this time.  It keeps their brain active and learning.  And it’s hard to  get mad at a dog doing a silly trick. 
 

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Proof Those Behaviors

3/27/2020

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Why Should Your Your Friendly Dog Learn to Wear a Muzzle?

11/2/2019

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Dogs wear muzzles for many different reasons, not just aggression.  
  • They like to eat things they shouldn't
  • They may be a bit hyper and mouthy 
  • Practicing for a vet visit
  • To ask for "space" so random people don't feel the need to approach and pet a dog who may not want to be petted
  • A nervous handler needing more confidence in controlling an anxious dog during training 
  • Protecting a new puppy when unsure how an older dog will adapt

Why is it a good practice to teach a dog to wear a muzzle?  Putting a dog into a situation where they are already uncomfortable and then adding the never-before-worn muzzle adds even more stress to the situation.  This means their next experience with training, at the vet or groomers will be even more stressful. 

My dogs are all muzzle trained.  Over the past couple of years our Desi has had a lot of vet visits due to skin issues.  As the vets and vet techs are climbing over this 150 pound Great Dane to examine and obtain scrapings and biopsies they need to feel safe in order to give him the best care.  I am not offended and actually offer to muzzle him.  I want to make sure he's getting the best care but I don't want him stressed out, either, since that can make his issues worse. 

We start muzzle training early.  We show them the muzzle, let them sniff and check it out, giving them treats.  Then we put treats in the muzzle so they can put their faces in to get the treats.  Once they are consistently putting their snouts in by their own choice we add the strap.  Then we secure it, very briefly, with a high value squirt of spray cheese added.  Gradually they wear it for longer and longer periods of time, adding activities such as going outside or for walks, always keeping it fun with high value treats.

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The Adolescent Dog

10/5/2019

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​Remember that cute little puppy you brought home a few months ago?  Where did he go?

The dog between 6 and 18 months of age is not quite an adult but no longer a young puppy.   Just because they are ‘full size’ doesn’t mean their brain is fully developed.  It may even seem all the work that you have put into his training has gone up in smoke.  No worry, tho, your sweet puppy is still in there, he is just growing up and going thru that ‘awkward phase’ that many trainers refer to as the Brat Zone, the adolescent.   Here are a few tips to get thru this time.

  1. Don’t stop training.  Get out the treats, toys, games and train.  Keep the sessions short but fun.
  2. Work for food.  Incorporate food puzzles, snuffle mats, kongs, find it games.  Mental exercises (brain games) will help your dog’s brain form the right connections and learn to make positive choices.  It lowers anxiety levels and lessens the chances for destructive behaviors developing.
  3. Physical exercise is important and when incorporated with mental exercise you get more bang for your buck.  Take the dog for a walk in a new area, allow the dog to sniff and explore the area but also practice a few basics on the walk as well.   Focus less on heel and more on what your dog is getting out of the walk.
  4. Socialize.  Many dogs that went thru puppy classes no longer have opportunities to socialize.  Arrange play dates with compatible dogs, attend classes just for the social, get involved in rally or Fit Dog clubs. 
  5. Be prepared for ups and downs.  One day your dog may be spot on, the next day not so much.  This is normal.  And temporary.  Patience is the key. 
  6. If you let the dog get away with something once he will expect it again. And again.  And again.  Example, if you let the dog jump on you now you will be setting up it up for the future.  Make sure you continue enforcing the rules you’ve already set in place. 
 
I promise this is temporary.   Talk to a trainer who is experienced and uses reward based training to help if you need to get a handle on wayward behaviors before they become a real problem. 
​©29k9  

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Flipping the Switch on Learning

9/11/2019

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​Operant Conditioning is learning thru consequence (both rewards and punishments).  We learn that if we do one thing, something else will follow.   Science has repeatedly shown us that long term, rewards are more successful.  Study after study shows us this.  A Review of Dog Training Methods:  Welfare, Learning ability, and Current Standards, authored by  IJ Makowska, M.Sc., Ph.D. for the BCSPCA,  she demonstrates thru multiple studies and research just how important making the right choices in training are to a dog’s welfare.
 
I am going to use a simple example, flipping on a light switch and being rewarded with the light.    If we want that light to turn on then every time we must flip that switch to make it happen.  This is what we are teaching a dog with positive reinforcement.    We do not have to use aversives  such as shock collars  (or electric, static, whatever you want to call it), prong collars or even high pitched whistles.
 
How would this work, say,  if I wanted you to turn on the light but you didn’t know that was what I wanted?  Imagine that I  put you in a room and wait for you to turn the light on.  Then, every time you did something, but that something wasn’t turning on the light, you were punished.  You stand up “zap”.  You sit down “zap”.  You ask what I want “zap”.  This is positive punishment.    At what point would you become reactive to everything because nothing is working or simply shut down and give up?  How did you learn to flip the switch?  You saw someone, probably a parent, do it and then did it yourself and were rewarded with the light turning on or off.   This is positive reinforcement.
 
How simple is this to do?  When a dog is jumping they don’t KNOW this is the wrong behavior.  They just know it will get your attention.   So we choose the behavior we want them to do and then remove our attention from the jump and teach them that sitting gets them your attention.  The dog darts out the door getting freedom and a game of chase.  Wait, that’s not what you WANT them to do?  Again, we determine the wanted behavior, not darting out the door.  So first, we prevent the dart with a baby gate and/or leash and teach them that waiting while the door opens gets a reward.  Then we teach them that going thru the door on cue gets a reward.  Now the dog is waiting at the door instead of darting.  We can even teach them to turn on that light switch by stacking behaviors. 
 
Yes, this will take some time, especially if your dog has spent time learning the wrong behaviors. In the end, tho, your dog will be happier and less likely to develop behavior issues.  Using science and reward based training methods; this is how we should be teaching our dogs.  Teach Rover that he must do certain things in order to get that reward.  If he doesn’t do the behaviors that are required then he won’t get the reward.  With dogs we cannot explain this to them but we can teach them  by demonstrating that every time they make the right choice something good happens.  When they make the wrong choice they get nothing.  No attention, no yummy treats, no games to play, no snuggle time. 
 
Initially, we work on small, simple behaviors such as focus and sit to get rewards.  Then we make things a little harder.  Sitting and waiting in one place.   Add in coming when called.    Learning to choose the cooperative behavior in order to participate in the rewards of yummy treats, snuggle time, games of tug of war, going for fun walks. 
 
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    Ronda Warywoda

    CPDT-KA, UW-AAB

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