When Your Dog is Smarter Than You.

I think it is important that I personally have confidence and knowledge of the products that I sell in Dogism's store.  I test most things on my own dogs or my friend's dogs. Since I am on a kick to teach my boys new tricks, I decided it was time to train Luey on the Treat House that I sell.  The idea of the Treat House is that the dog drops a ball into the top of the house, triggering a lever that kicks out a treat.  Luey is already trained to "take it" so he can pick up the ball, no problem.  He knows "drop it," so basically all I have to do is teach the location of where to drop the ball.  That should not be too hard.  What I failed to consider was the mind of Luey.  The king of treat toys like Kong, he is always up for the challenge of new treat filled toys.  So when I put this treat filled house in front of him, it didn't take him long to figure out that if he just flipped it over with his nose or paw, it would drop treats with about the same reinforcement ratio of the treat toys. 

I have somewhat successfully walked him through the proper use of the toy, but usually when I offer him the tennis ball, he just looks at me like "stupid human, why would I go through all that?" and promptly tips over the house with his nose. 

See the Treat House here.

A Final Truth About Dog Training

Okay, so I have shared with you some of the ugly reality about dog training.  It is not going to be easy and it is not always fun.  But it really is worth all the time and energy you put in.  It is a great feeling when you are out in public with your dogs and they receive compliments on their behavior.  It is also empowering to know that you have (some) control over your dog if you find yourself in an uncontrolled environment such as a loose dog while walking or getting your dog away from "that dog" at the dog park.  Some of my favorite times with my dogs are my training times, especially when teaching tricks.  Sure, many are goofy.  But then again, so am I and so are my dogs. 

All good behavior requires a foundation of the basics.  Take your time to learn them now and I promise, it will get easier and easier to train your dog to do anything.  Eventually, you will be able to enjoy your training times and reap the rewards and compliments of your beautifully behaved dog.  Best of all, the bond you create with your dog is not teachable or found in any book.  You alone create that and what could be more rewarding?

Some Truths About Dog Training Part 2

One of the first things I tell my students and repeat again and again is that training has to be fun.  I channel my inner cheerleader and show just how exciting training your dog can be.  In reality, training is not always fun.  It can be time consuming and frustrating.  Training every day is ideal, but even a few minutes can be hard to find some days, or when the weather is bad.  Dogs often pick up some behaviors very quickly and others take much longer.  If your dog just does not seem to be getting it, sometimes you feel like giving up.  You may blame yourself or your dog.  Forget blame and don't feel bad if you are not always having fun.  It is important that your dog always think it is fun however.  Why would a dog want to learn something or behave in a way that is not fun or at least worth the effort in the end?  For example, "stay" is not necessarily fun for the dog, but there is a reward at the end for doing so.  If you never offered the reward, you are not likely to get a reliable stay. 

So if you have had a bad day, it might be better to just skip the training and have some nice play time.  If you are frustrated but want to keep going, here is my favorite tip: in your best happy, overly enthusiastic voice, tell your dog how you feel.  In my "good dog" voice, I have often told both my dogs that they being bad or bratty and that they are driving me crazy.  Because it is in the same tone that often accompanies treats, they wiggle and stay motivated and I feel better having let out a little frustration.

Some Truths About Dog Training

Dog Training, Puppy Training, Making your Bad Dog Good... there are more books and websites out there on the subject than one could possibly read in their dog's lifetime.  Some try to simplify dog training into as few steps as possible and claim you cannot go wrong (you can).  Some rehash psychology 101 and bog you down in conditioning terminology.  The right book/article is somewhere in between.  Depending on what you need and your dog's personality, there are a few of you and a few dogs that will succeed with the minimalist, somewhat automated approach.  Most people and dogs need a bit more.  A little reminder of classical and operant conditioning and seeing these concepts through the eyes of the dog goes a long way.  The more you can think through your actions and how your dog reacts to them, the better off you will be in the long run.  These concepts work in so many aspects of your dog's behavior.  You will start to understand your dog at another level.  You will also bring your relationship with your dog to another level.  That is what dog training should be about, improving your bond, not automated responses.

As a dog trainer, I try to read all the books I can, if for no other reason than to know what my clients may be reading.  While there are many I have not yet gotten to, one I have read that I like is Gwen Bailey's  The Perfect Puppy.  It may be a little on the heavy side, but an owner that puts the time into reading this book is the type of owner the luckiest dogs have.  Another great book, not so much for training, but for insight, Patricia McConnell's The Other End of the Leash. I am kind of a huge fan of hers!

Please be honest with yourself when it comes to more than just basic training.  If your dog needs actual behavior modification, you may want to consult a professional.  Please feel free to contact me, if I can help, I will.
www.dogism.com

Pets and Death

There is never a good time to talk about pets and death.  There is a worse time however and that is in the moment.  Have you prepared for the actuality that something can happen to you and your pets would be left without you?  Jason and I recently prepared wills on the insistence of my father.  I procrastinated as long as I possibly could.  I do understand that something could happen to either one of us every time we leave the house (even in the house).  Accidents happen.  But if something happens to me, Florida law states everything goes to Jason and vice versa. Simple enough.  Then it hit me.  We were preparing for a trip out of state for the long weekend and it really hit home that something could happen to both of us at the same time.  Florida law also states that pets are property, nothing more than our sofa.  Without a will, I do not even know what would happen to the sofa, so I could not chance it with my pets.  Yes, we have friends and family that would step in and take care of them, but again, the worst time for any of them to have to decide something like that is in those overwhelming moments.  (Let's be honest here, no one would really wants the bird, so I have to be sure I have her covered, if nothing else).

I am not even going to pretend to really understand probate law, but a quick internet search taught me that you have to be very careful in your wording and have a trust set up if you have particular financial and care giving wishes for your pets.  We would probably want a good lawyer for these documents.  For now, we have kept it simple.  We have designated our furry and feathered property to people we know will love and care for them or find the best possible new home.  I really do not care what happens to the sofa, but there is now someone to take care of that too.

Dog Talks

Do you have conversations with your dog like I do? If I stop to think about it, I know they understand very little of what I am saying, but I talk away at them anyway. Sometimes, I even get responses back that seem eerily appropriate. Dogs can pick up on a lot of cues, from our tone and cadence to body language and respond to that. Sometimes, they hit the nail on the head and reinforce our belief that they understand us so well. I think many people do not give dogs enough credit for what they understand. However, we can also confuse our dogs and make learning more difficult if we don't stop to consider the perspective of the dog. Dogs learn human language as we do, by association and repetition. It does not matter what words you use for any behavior, as long as you are consistent. Students are constantly asking me what words to use for specific behaviors and every time I answer, it is up to them. The dog only knows what they are taught. Recently, I was doing some training with a woman and her puppy. I showed her how to teach the puppy to spin in circles. She loved it and was excited about the puppy learning to "dance" with her kids. The next week, she was frustrated that the puppy was not doing the trick well and told me that she even tried changing the cue word from "dance" to "spin". Her thought process was that the puppy knew it was not really dancing and therefore would respond better to "spin" since that was what it was actually doing. I could not help but chuckle a little. In the same week, I had an agility student question if using the word "charge" to refer to the A-frame was too exciting for her naturally hyper dog. I asked her if she had already taught the dog that "charge" meant to be excited and she said no, but that it is a common use for the word. It took a full explanation on my part to make her understand that her dog had no predisposed understanding of the word "charge".

Now, once we teach these words, we need to use them correctly. I am often correcting students who are telling their jumping dogs to "get down". I ask them, are you really looking for a "down" here (as in lay down) or are you wanting the dog to "get off".
I too am guilty of this. Since my dogs have so much freedom when walking on retractable leashes, they will often make a turn at a sidewalk intersection, but I want to continue straight. I will say "this way" and they know to change directions. One morning, we were near the end of our walk and we hit a point where we could go right or straight and still get home. Luey was ahead and turned right and I said to him, "oh, are we going home this way"? Of course all Luey heard was "blah blah blah this way" and immediately changed direction. I felt bad because he was tracking a scent and I pulled him off of it for no reason other than a poor choice of words.

Go ahead and enjoy your little chats with your furry friend, but if you are having any behavior issues or not getting training results, take a look at how you are acting first and remove extraneous words and actions, it may be that simple.

How Soon We Forgive

Dogs can have a profound effect on our emotional state. Usually, it is positive. They make us smile when we come home, they make us laugh with their silly antics. They are comforting when we are down and soothing while we relax. When bad things happen to our dogs, we naturally worry or cry. The loss of a dog can take a terrible toll on us. But how often have you noticed a dog making you feel hurt or jealous? Sounds a little strange doesn’t it? But it is true. Even though they have no way to knowingly cause these feelings and we really shouldn’t take their actions to heart, we sometimes do. In my current puppy class, there is a Havanese pup that is home with “Mom” all day and “Dad “works. There is a strong bond between Puppy and Mom that is actually interfering with Dad’s ability to form a bond. He tries to act tough, but you can tell it is hurting his feelings a little. Mom had to work the dog most of the class, but Dad still carried the little girl out, snuggling her against him.

Recently, Bailey spent the weekend with his breeders, a mother and daughter, at a conformation show that we were unable to attend. Brittany, the daughter, is Bailey’s handler at all conformation shows. She has a special relationship with Bailey; she was around for his entire singleton puppyhood and now gets to see him with some regularity because of shows. After the three day weekend, Brittany brought him home and he was his usual wild self, not even calming down to say good bye to Brittany. She tried so hard to get his attention and have him be still just for a minute and he would not. Finally, she said “fine, jerk”. I could tell that it hurt her feelings just a little that she could not get the attention she wanted from him. I too felt bad because I would (and have) feel that same way if I wanted his attention but he was more excited about something else. (Like how he completely forgets I exist the second he gets to doggy daycare and then refuses to leave after an entire day). Bailey has no idea what he is doing; he is just living in his happy moment, being a dog. But we emotional humans feel it inside, even though rationally, we know we should not. Like a good dog, we do not stay upset for long. As Brittany turns to leave “the jerk” still bouncing around the yard, she calls behind her in the usual sweet voice reserved for him, “I love you”.