You are on fire!

On this particular day, I am accompanying John on his regular hikes with our dogs.  Rio is dashing from tree to tree. From scent to scent oblivious of the world around her.  I call her. Nada!  I know better than to keep calling her, but I also take notice that this girl needs a refreshing course on recall. 

We continue our walk as I am planning in my head the next steps to follow up with her. I have several options.  As the walk progresses her recall does too.  Good, but still not exactly what I want.

Next day I have a couple of my client’s dogs - first timers for board and train.  We all go for an off-leash romp.  I begin to call my client’s dogs just as we leave our property to ensure they are coming to me. 

Sedona, the younger one comes back to me with the speed of lighting and with a bouncy, joyful trot.  Good girl, Sedona!  Sienna her much older “sister” also makes her way back to me for a tasty bit.  And indeed Ms. Rio has decided that she too can come when called!  I can’t help but chuckle as to what I think is going in her Beagle brain: “I’m not going to let these guys get the good treats, I am rushing in for mine.”  Whatever works for you Rio, but just come when called.

We continue going up on the steep hill and once again I call all dogs, inviting mine to take a “U-turn” and the others by name.  Indeed, all dogs are now next to me taking their turn to eat their treats.

Go play!  I tell them, as I now can confirm my suspicion that all it took was some healthy competition for resources to get this girl on fire!  

Dogs are constantly competing for resources; it is the way of nature - evolution. The take-home message as I see it, is not to pit one dog against the other crudely, but instead to be mindful of what the dog or dogs might want at a given moment and use that as a consequence for behavior.

Yes, it is true like in the case with Rio, sometimes circumstances or the environment itself will launch competition full force as it did with Rio and my client’s dogs. And there is nothing wrong in using this to work on some need recall, etc.  

Consider this:  One of the most salient traits that separates excellent dog trainers from “so-so” trainers and average dog owner is the ability that excellent trainers have in capitalizing in the use of consequences for behavior. After all folks, it is not the cue (or command) that drives behavior it is consequences for behavior that drives this.

Our ability to recognized the gazillion reinforcers at our disposals and our correct and timely use of them will up our training game. And as the laws of learning point out… whatever behavior gets reinforced will become the norm.  Nice!

Rio continued to enjoy her walk just like the previous days, but today, she was a girl on fire, claiming tasty pieces of duck and proceeding to run like the wind away from me and in search of new smells.  Sprinting finally at the end of our walk down the ridge to the familiar path that bringing us home. 

Ask with Abandonment

We constantly want our dogs to do stuff for us.  And that is not really a problem. One could argue that any relationship is to a greater extent built on what the individuals in the relationship do for one another.  While, of course, our relationship with our dog(s) is precious, I am not saying that it is or should be equated to relationship we have with other people.

Then again, our relationship with our dogs can easily gravitate between us wanting something from them because it pleases us- I am thinking here of how much we love to have Deuce join us on the sofa every evening instead of “retiring” to his crate early in the evening.  Yes, Deuce and I are the early-rises in the family so I guess it makes sense that he wants to retire early!  LOL.

Or the times where we do know better and we need our dogs to do something right then and now because their safety or the safety of others might be at stake.

So again, the problem is not in the “asking” or in the wanting- or even in having the expectation of the dog complying over and over again with our requests.

The problem lies in not understanding how to best use reinforcers (what the dog wants a given moment or would work for).

There are many qualities to any reinforcer.  I will mention a few and expand on some.

1. What kind of reinforcer are we offering? Here again we can argue that it is not only what specifically it is such as: food, play, quiet time as social interaction, access to other dogs, a good sniff, etc. But is it the “appropriate” reinforcer for the behavior?
2. The immediacy in producing the goody.
3. The relationship between “counts” of behavior and the times these are reinforced. This is called a schedule of reinforcement. Depending on the schedule what the results in “correct” answers.  
4. The how the reinforcer is being delivered and advanced technique that can really up the game in getting more of what we want from our pup, etc.

If we are asking our dogs to do something that, for the most part, is considered difficult for the dog to do mainly because there are other competing reinforcers at the moment we must show up and offer “gold”.  Otherwise we are fooling ourselves that our dog will be interested in complying.

And please remember…DOGS DO NOT WANT TO PLEASE US! What they want is what they want.
If pleasing us produces something the dog wants, guess what?  The dog would continue to do it.  It is that simple, yet that powerful.  This is your first tip to success in having your dog comply with you.

Time and time again I have clients tell me sometimes frustrated, and always disappointed that there dogs are not minding them.  Once they understand how to use reinforcers (yes there is a science to it folks!), their dogs become much more interested in them. And everybody is happy.

To give you a specific example: I am working with this client who by any standard has more knowledge and interest in working with her dog than the average pet parent.  Her dog is awesome! I want this dog.  Now, her awesome dog is also an adolescent who on top of it all has not been neutered.  Yep, two levels of complications here for my distressed client.

She tells me she needs to work on recall (come when called) ASAP.  So we get busy.  I learn on the spot that her dog really likes to tug; didn’t I tell you that her dog is awesome?

I begin to tug with him and yes, he is a beautiful tugger.  We get to work with tug and recall.

First on line then off line.  Now my happier client has something else up her sleeve to offer her dog if he is really not interested in food. Even the food mongers also reach their limit into how much food they can eat.
A few minutes into the dog working with me and I have a dog that is doing constant check in just wondering when I will ask him to run to me to take the tug for us to play.

The check-in becomes so predictable that we are laughing.

Another example in how to work with changing how a dog feels, that is the EMOTIONAL aspect of the dog, is in us being able to pair something so incredible-worth-while that it will trump the fear the dog is experiencing when faced with something “scary”.  Here our only -yet hugely important concern is to PAIR or ASSOCIATE the positive item with the non-positive or scary stimulus. So far, that appears easy right?  Show something “good” that the dog wants and viola!  You are changing the association. But not so fast… the devil is in the details.

Once again, if the scary thing is too big (as in really, really scary) it most likely will trump even the most delicious morsel. So understanding how to set this up is really important to reach success and be fair to the dog. Timing both events is also crucial because when we are talking about associations we want the scary thing to always be paired with lovely powerful stuff for the dog.

So, my suggestions in ways to use reinforcers (and establish good “pairings”) are below:

1. The easy part:  When you want your dog to do something for you, don’t just ask mindlessly and with expectation that he “should” (or else…) but really think if what you offering at that moment is really what your dog wants there and then.  Expanded on pt. 4 below.

2. Learn all the fantastic things your dog loves. Write them down!  And become very diligent in producing all these amazing gold nuggets to your advantage. Play around, experiment, take note of success and keep practicing.

3. If you are working with emotional stuff (fear, aggression, anxiety of any sort) please hire someone with experience and that commits to using the science of animal learning (get some referrals- it never hurts) to help you through the process. Once you understand this you should be able to carry on some of the work on your own.

4. You have heard of the saying - and I am paraphrasing here: “I want to be the person my dog thinks I am.” So, if you are so nice to your dog that he thinks you are awesome that is terrific!  Continue then to be really generous with your dog.  Being really generous with your pup implies for me being aware of what they need and want too, not only what we want.  Stop. Think. Evaluate. Give what is wanted at that moment.  And then, ask with abandonment.

Asking for too much?

As part of my ongoing education, I attend monthly webinars that touch upon different topics surrounding behavior and training. This month’s topic related to the questions of: Are we asking too much of our pets? And, if so, what specific environments or concepts can put a pet’s well-being at stake?

Funny that this particular topic was being presented as I have on my own focused in my private practice and with my own dogs in making sure that our dogs are not paying the price for our endless ideas of what they “should” do or be.

I think most people mean well, but are just uniformed about the true nature of DOGS. For example, why is it that people decide to adopt or purchase a dog?

Is it because they hope that their new pet will fulfill a particular need? What happens when we think of our furry pets as children? Or a replacement for human children?

These are important questions to ask ourselves. To clarify, there is nothing wrong in my view to welcome a pet into our family based on some of our needs - this is true of any relationship. The important thing though is to take stock as to the impact our needs might have on our dogs on a day-to-day basis!

Case in point: I get an email from a potential client explaining to me that his dog… “needs to learn to sit and stay”, “needs to come when I call him.” I had to smile when I read this because even though I knew exactly what he meant: the owner has the need of having his dog sit/stay and come when called and these are really not his dog’s needs or wants we have grown used to thinking of our pets as an extension of our wishes.

Another example is the expectation that our dogs MUST like everyone! And even be polite and with good manners with every single person we choose to engage with.

Dogs must be comfortable with having anyone reaching out to pet them… as if dogs don't have a need for personal space!

Dogs should play nicely with all dogs we choose to introduce them to. And they should never (start) a fight. Good dogs don’t fight.

They should have a strong and consistent work ethic, day in and day out, regardless of the environment, how they feel, how tired they might be, etc.

We have grown accustom to having dogs be there for us no matter what! But the question still remains: Are we asking too much of our dogs?

Are we bribing our dogs with food?

I am working with a client and her dog with recall (come when called). My client calls her dog and seconds later produces a treat for the dog. The dog meanwhile remains motionless down the hallway of the home.

I tell my client that it's best not to bribe the dog. She looks at me puzzled. 'What do you mean by bribing her?' She asks me. I explain to her that there is a big difference with the use of food as a reinforcer and the use of food as a bribe.

A reinforcer is a consequence and something desirable by the dog. It appears after the dog has performed the behavior we are after – not before. That is a bribe! This is an important distinction because consequences are what drives behavior.

If there is an area of contention in positive training, commonly known as reward-based training, is the use of food. People agonize over to use food for training the world over. I am sure every single trainer has heard the same from their clients: Why use food? For how long must I use food? Etc.
There are scientific reasons why we work with food. First off, food is what we called a Primary reinforcer. That simply means that dogs (or any animal for that matter) not only needs food to survive but wants food, likes food, and will work for food.

If you think of it, why would we not use one of the most powerful reinforcers on the planet to teach and maintain behavior? Not doing so is what is crazy!

The second conflict people have about the use of food for training is the how long must they use the food part. The answer is that it depends. It depends on several things: For example, is the behavior we are interested in teaching new “material” for the dog? Is he just learning this?

Is the context, person working with the dog, the setting where the dog is supposed to perform the behavior also a novelty? Any change in the context in which the dog is expected to perform is perceived, as a “novelty” scenario for the dog and in such cases food should remain part of the picture until the dog has learned the behavior in this specific context.

Another important factor to consider is that if we want any behavior (from any species) to remain strong that behavior must be reinforced. Period! If it is not reinforced in some way the behavior will become less frequent until it becomes extinct.

Third conflict some people bring to the table when using food as a reinforcer is based on the expectation that the dog should do what he is told either out of love for us, respect or because he simply should. We humans are so comical at times; this being one of those times. LOL.

Here is my best analogy to explain how our way of thinking is not in line with the theory of learning. Imagine that your boss expects you to show up to work because you should either:

A. Like your boss, or worse - do it out of love for your boss. In essence, you should show up to work without the expectation of any other reinforcer just for the love for your boss… right! Let’s see how long this lasts…

B. Your job should be intrinsically reinforcing enough to you so that you do not need to get paid for it with money that is, which is highly reinforcing (and a need in most circumstances) for people.

C. Because you SHOULD… there is clearly a moral tone to the “should” and even though people are moral beings, dogs are not! So should really never enters in the decision making process of any dog.

What I hope is for people to truly understand the scientific principles behind the use of food as a powerful way to teach and maintain behavior. When they don’t, and as a result they fall short on using it wisely, everyone loses. And life is way too short to make things more difficult for everyone. Stay tune for more in depth “discussion” on food as well as other salient reinforcers.