Crossed Paws – Training Steps

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Okay, here is the first training plan for 52 Weeks.  Crossed Paws!
Dan and I are at step 5 right now, hopefully will get through 6 and begin 7 today.

Goal: When cued to “cross” Dan will cross one paw over the other in a down position.

Shaping steps:

  1. Click/Treat any paw movement from a down position.
  2. Paw movement from one paw only; ignore movement from the other paw.
  3. Place a target just in front of the moving paw. Click/treat for touching the target with a paw (ignore touches from other paw or nose touches).
  4. Begin to move the target a little, just an inch or so toward the stationary paw. C/T for target touches.
  5. Put the target on top of or on the other side of the stationary paw (you may need to experiment to see how far you can move the target each time for your dog). Work up to placing the target on the other side of the stationary paw. C/T for target touches with the moving paw.
  6. Now your dog should be crossing his paws to touch the target! Begin to add a little duration. Count to 3 before you C/T.
  7. Take away the target and wait. You may have to go back to C/T for an approximation of the paw cross, but your dog should offer it (be patient!).
  8. When your dog is offering the paw cross on his own without the target and can hold the position for 3 seconds, you are ready to add the cue. (See Handout, “Adding a Cue to Any Behavior”)
  9. You did it! To make the behavior stronger, work on generalizing (location) and adding distractions
    1. Practice in 3 different locations.
    2. Practice with 3 different distractions.

Project 52 Weeks

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As a professional dog trainer, there are times where I am so busy with clients’ dogs that training my own dog falls by the wayside. When I do work with Dan, we are often working on a long-term goal – an agility skill, working on calmness around other dogs and people, etc.

I have been thinking about ways to focus more on simple fun with Dan and also to teach him some skills, tasks, or behaviors that I haven’t taught before.

Sometimes I will get on a roll and teach Dan a new trick, but this really only happens a few times a year. When we do this, he learns it quickly – in a week or less! He is happier because he’s gotten some focused, fun attention and it’s easy to practice indoors in the winter when he might otherwise not get enough exercise.

Putting these thoughts all together, I have decided to start “Project 52 Weeks”. I am going to teach Dan one trick/skill/behavior/concept per week for the next year. And, I want you all to try it with me!

Here’s what I will do:

  1. Sunday evenings I will post the behavior of the week.
  2. Tuesday mornings, I will post the training guide/shaping steps
  3. Thursdays I will post Dan’s progress and the following Sunday when the new trick comes out, I will post a video of the last trick.

Here’s your part:

  1. Sunday evenings, look at the behavior of the week – try to come up with a training plan
  2. Practice it Monday/Tuesday
  3. Tuesday you can look at my training plan and compare it to yours. Modify yours as you like and keep practicing!
  4. Sunday, post a video of the final behavior (or the progress you’ve made) on my page. Everyone who posts a video will have his or her name entered into a monthly drawing to win a cool dog book, toy, or treat. The behavior doesn’t have to be perfect in order to post a video, just a start.
  5. If you aren’t able to do it every week, that’s okay – join us when you can!

The main event will take place on my Facebook page, but I will post a weekly update on the blog too so you can all follow along with what’s happening.

Sunday, September 27th will be the real start date with the first drawing taking place October 31st. We will get a head start on the first week with the trick: Cross Paws in a Down like this adorable Boxer.

Paws Crossed

Week 1: Paws Crossed

Hope you can join us in learning some fun new tricks with your pup!

Laura

134 Pieces of Kibble

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When Dan was a puppy, I used kibble from each meal for his training sessions. Sometimes we used up his whole meal this way, sometimes just a handful.

Lately, I have noticed that my current habit is to just dump his food in his bowl and move on to the next task in my morning/evening pet care routine. Dan eats in about 2 minutes and then is on to something else.

Recently, I decided I really should be doing a better job of using a meal to enrich Dan’s life. I am always telling my clients about toys like the Kong Wobbler or the Buster Cube and we have every version of these food delivery toys I could find. But I had been slacking on using them myself. So I started giving Dan one meal a day in a food puzzle toy. He LOVES it and it keeps him busy for at least 15 minutes, even with toys he has used many times.

Last week, I also got back on track with using his dinner for our evening training sessions.

How many pieces of kibble are in your dog’s meal? Naturally, the number of pieces varies with size of kibble and cups of food given. Dan’s kibble is sort of big – about the size of a small grape. And he gets one cup of food at each meal.

I decided to count the number of kibble in a cup, just out of curiosity. There were 134 pieces of kibble!

On Monday, I only used about half for training. We sat on the front porch, I read my book, and we practiced “check” as dogs walked by. Dan did wonderfully, a dog even barked at him and though he struggled with it, letting out a growl, he maintained his composure and relaxed. The same dog went the other direction a little later and he barely noticed! This is major improvement for Dan. Dogs on the other side of the street he just watched calmly, though alert, and when I asked him to “check” he looked at the dog and looked back at me! before I clicked. This is the first time that he has offered to look back at me on his own. I simply delayed the click a half a second and he just did it. Such a good boy. But this is due to our practice of this behavior over the last year – we have probably practiced “check” hundreds of times with many different dogs.

On Tuesday, I decided to just go for it and use all the kibble. I wanted to see how long it would take to use it up. We practiced loose leash walking in front of the house in addition to practicing “check” with passing dogs and other distractions.  Do you have a guess at how long it might have taken us to use 134 pieces of kibble?

18 minutes. Yup. That means on average, Dan got a treat every 8 seconds. Now that’s a high rate of reinforcement!

If you had 134 treats to use in 18 minutes, what would you use them for? I challenge you to try to use your dog’s kibble for training at least a few times per week. It is an easy way to make it part of your day and your dog will LOVE the attention he gets during training.

Herding with Dan

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This past weekend, Justin and I took Dan to his very first herding lesson. We all had a blast!

Dan saw some sheep in a pasture before we even started slowing down to turn into the drive and you could just see his face light up.

We arrived early and while we waited our turn, we practiced relaxed downs in the backseat of the car. He did great. In this type of situation, a new place that seems exciting, many times Dan will react to other dogs even from the car. The German shepherd who went before us walked by our car and although Dan was very aroused, he didn’t bark and was able to “check” (look at that) and remain focused on us.

The lesson began with our instructor working Dan. This was great fun for Justin and I to watch. There was a minute or two where Dan was barking, anxious, and just running in big, uncontrolled circles. His hackles were up; he was clearly on edge. However, he soon relaxed a little, his hair went down, his face relaxed, he stopped barking, and started to move in a more controlled way. It seemed as though he finally started to think about what was going on instead of just exploding! Our instructor started teaching him to turn away so that he would begin to move back and forth, bringing the sheep toward the handler, rather than just circling. Soon he had Dan taking the sheep exactly where he wanted. It was beautiful to watch.

Then it was my turn. Yikes! Poor Dan!! I have a LOT to learn.

The idea is that you turn your dog away from you by moving into his space, putting pressure on him, and when he turns you relax that pressure and let him do a quarter circle or so away from you around the sheep. Doing this back and forth teaches him to bring the sheep toward you. When you go the wrong way, the pressure is not let up as a reward, so basically your dog isn’t getting his reinforcer! I did this to poor Dan several times before the instructor provided more help and you could really see his behavior change. He became more frustrated, driving at the sheep harder and more aggressively. When the instructor stepped back in, Dan immediately relaxed again, doing his job as asked. When it was my turn again, I finally was able to move the right way. Although it wasn’t very smooth looking, it felt better and I was glad to be able to give Dan some resemblance of a reward. Good thing dogs are so forgiving!

I have to say, this was one of the best experiences I have had in dog training in a very long time. Dan and I have practiced so much impulse control, relaxation exercises, and loose leash walking – while these are necessary skills, they are all about fighting Dan’s instinctual and natural behaviors to run, chase, pull and bark. It was such a treat to get to embrace his natural abilities and see him just thrive in that environment.

Not only was it fun to watch Dan doing what he is meant to do, it was eye-opening to be the “student” again. I really know very little about herding. I just know the general goals and rules of herding trials. I have watched herding trials and been around sheep in several different environments, but watching and doing are two very different things!

I will be honest, it was very frustrating to do the wrong thing and feel like I couldn’t figure out how to do it correctly. This only lasted a few seconds before our instructor saved us, but that feeling is a really good one for any teacher or coach to experience regularly because, chances are, your students are feeling that way too!

Kay Laurence, a well-known dog trainer and speaker at the annual conference that my graduate school hosted, always talks about how important it is to her to always be learning something new. The last time I saw her, she was taking a glass-blowing class. I didn’t really understand that at the time, other than just for the sake of learning, but I was still in school. The experience of trying something that I had no idea how to do reminded me that learning is HARD! Getting to that successful moment was so important for me and extremely reinforcing.

We can’t wait for our next lesson!

Here’s a short clip of Dan doing his job, just a few minutes into our lesson:

What’s In A Click?

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What’s in a click?

Well – nothing! Until you build the value into that noise, it means nothing to your dog.

How to build value in the click?

Before you can start to use a clicker, you have to introduce it to your dog. Here are the steps I like to use:Clickers

  1.  Take the clicker and click it a bunch of times before you go get your dog. This gets your “clicks out”. So many people want to play with it when you first hand it to them that this is always the first thing I do with my students ☺ After this you should never, ever click without giving a reinforcer afterwards.
  2. Now, get your dog and a handful of treats. You can use his kibble if you want to (and if he likes it).
  3. Click without moving your hands at all. Then pick up a piece of kibble and give it to your dog. Repeat until you have used up your handful (maybe 20 times).
  4. Now, when you dog isn’t looking, try to click. If he looks toward you, he’s got it. If not, do step 3 again until he’s got it.

*Important Note – even though your dog is just learning what the click means, you can still reinforce unwanted behavior when clicking and treating in this exercise.  It doesn’t matter much what your dog does during this exercise, as long as he isn’t jumping/barking/trying to steal food from your hand/etc.  Only click if he is doing something you wouldn’t mind him doing again.*

NOW, what’s in a click?

Once you have introduced the clicker, here’s what it can mean:

  1. Marker or Bridge: “That is exactly correct!”  The moment you click captures the behavior your are reinforcing.
  2. Positive Reinforcer: “Oh boy a treat (or other reinforcer) is ready for me!” Every. Single. Click. Should be followed by a treat or later another reinforcer. But it has to be a reinforcer, so start with treats. More on that in another blog.
  3. Cue or Discriminative Stimulus: “Better go get the treat!” The dog should orient toward the place where the treat comes from. This might be you, a spot on the ground near your dog, or maybe the treat comes to your dog so he shouldn’t move at all.

So, the click is a great communicator and in just that one little moment, your dog gets all of this information.

Why a click?

Some people are hesitant to use a clicker, after all it is one more thing to carry and try to hold onto with a dog’s leash, treats, poop bags, keys, etc.
But, the clicker is an excellent tool because:

  1. It is super fast. Your words are slow, but the click is quick. Just like your wiggly puppy. This makes timing the click much easier than timing a verbal bridge.
  2. It sounds like nothing else. It is only used in training. Verbal praise can often get overused in everyday interactions, but the click is saved for times when you definitely have a reinforcer available. This gets your dogs attention!
  3. It cuts through other noises quite well. In busy environments with noisy traffic, crowds, or barking dogs, the click is easy for your dog to notice.
  4. It helps the trainer (you) to pay attention to what you are trying to reinforce. Since it is such a pinpointed stimulus, you are likely paying more attention to try to get that click to happen at just the right moment.

Your backup clicker

A clicker is not magic. It is just a tool. There are places where it is the best tool and other times where there are better tools. And times where you forget to bring your tool!

Because of this, I always teach a verbal marker to use as a “backup clicker”. I use the word “yes!” and I say it in an enthusiastic, punctuated tone that is almost the same every time. Differently than my dog would hear me say “yes” when I am talking on the phone, chatting with my husband, or while telling him he is “suchagoodboy”.

Some people use the word “good”, “bravo”, or make a clicking noise with their tongue (this is what I do with the cat).

Whatever you choose for your backup clicker; teach your dog the meaning of this noise just like you did with your clicker. Then you will always be prepared if you need a different tool or leave your clicker behind.

So, go get your clicker (most pet shops have them), and start building value.  Then teach your dog something new!

Happy Training,

Laura

Sammy’s Big 15th B-Day

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Tuesday was Sammy’s 15th birthday!  Can you believe it?Sammy - 15th Birthday

She is doing pretty well, but definitely has her off days.  She sometimes is stiff, slips on the wood floors, barks for no real reason, and occasionally has accidents in the house.  BUT she also still loves to play fetch, go for long walks, cuddle at bedtime, and sleep at my feet all day long.

Here are some pictures from our birthday outing to the park:

Birthday Selfie

Birthday Kisses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best. Stick. Ever.Got it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And our recent trip to the beach:

Lovin' the Beach

And here she is in her usual sleeping spot:

Sammy Sound Asleep

 

Happy 15th Birthday Sammy!

Laura

Dog Treats Everywhere…

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Remember my post “Always Training All the Time”? (If not, you should read it here). Well, in order to be always training, you’ve got to be always ready! One way to always be ready is to be armed with reinforcers at any moment!  I use lots of reinforcers other than treats, but treats are usually the most valuable for my dog. This makes treats my go-to reinforcers for new or challenging behaviors.

The Treat Drawer

The Treat Drawer

This means that we have dog treats everywhere.  And it also means I put more dog treats through the washing machine than I care to admit!  I did a whole-house tally and here’s the list of the places I keep dog treats:

  • In my car
  • In my husband’s car
  • In the kitchen
  • In the treat drawer
  • In every coat pocket
  • In my office
  • In our bedroom
  • In the fridge
  • In the basement training space
  • In the training bag(s)
  • In my purse

Do you have other strategies for being ready to train at any time?  Leave your comment below!

Happy training!
Laura

Dan Turns 3!

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Dan is 3! His birthday (Jan 10th) snuck by us this year, but we were at the beach for the weekend – I don’t think it could have gotten much better for him! He had a great time chasing the ball for hours with Sammy, Jack, and Bean.

I am trying to re-assess my goals for Dan every year on his birthday. Of course I am thinking about it more often and taking notes on single behaviors/experiences, but it is nice to have our big picture list each year.

Over the last year, Dan has learned to:

  • Play Frisbee – and actually bring it back sometimes!
  • Ignore other dogs at the park to play fetch instead
  • See dogs from the car without barking
  • Walk around our neighborhood without too much pulling or barking. There is definitely room for improvement but this is actually a fun thing to do with him now instead of a dreaded chore.
  • Do lots of foundation skills for agility
  • Do up to 3 jumps, the table, and the teeter for agility (at speed)
  • Do obedience commands in random order

Our training goals for this year:

  • He’s gotten over bikes, shopping carts, cars, and busses, even squirrels. But not skateboards. This is on the top of my list!
  • Barking like mad at UPS/FedEx/Mailman – I think all of my online Christmas shopping created this problem for us.
  • Herding the cat very intently – He will literally stare for hours. He never tries to harm the cat, but it definitely is annoying for Cecil (and us!). I am pretty sure he will always do this to some extent, but the goal is to at least get him to stop when asked for more than 10 seconds.
  • Fine-tune our neighborhood walks – no pulling, more attention, ignoring other dogs.
  • Obedience commands in novel environments (parks, parking lots, new buildings, new neighborhoods, etc.)
  • Practicing his calm behavior near other dogs in novel environments, separate from playing fetch
  • Continue agility foundation skills
  • Do agility in some new places – introduce the rest of the equipment (weaves, a-frame, a full tunnel, dog walk, other jumps)
  • Take a private agility lesson
  • MAYBE do a group class – we will see how everything else goes

Stay tuned as we work on these things.  I will be posting updates and pieces of his training throughout.

Happy Training!

Laura

Merry Christmas!

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This week, we are taking a break and enjoying some family time. Holidays with pets are always entertaining. We have been enjoying my Mom’s cats, Leo and Remmy this week. They have been chasing ribbon (sometimes attached to the gifts…), sleeping under the Christmas tree, and enjoying the endless attention they are getting from me, my husband, and my sister. And they were a big help in making cookies, as you can see in the video here.

I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday and have a great start to 2015

Why a Recall Matters

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The dogs got out this week.

I had only let them out for a potty break into our fenced in back yard.  But it had been windy and the gate came open and I didn’t notice.  It was a rainy Sunday morning, so Justin and I were still drinking our coffee in our PJs.  I was listening for a bark that they were ready to come back in when Justin looked up and said “umm…there’s Sammy.”  She was standing on the front porch.  Uh oh. 

We let her in and Justin went to check the backyard while I checked the front sidewalk for Dan.  He was nowhere to be seen.  I was standing in my slippers on our front sidewalk whistling for him and a man was walking by across the street.  “Are you looking for a black and white dog?”. he asked.  “YES!”.  “Oh he is down the street, he just walked by me a minute ago, oh look here he comes.”

I ran across the street to him and looked down the sidewalk.  Here comes Dan!  He was running to me faster than I have ever seen him go (and he’s fast!).  We went inside and he got a very special treat.  And now our gate is bungee corded shut in addition to the latch.

This is the importance of a really, really good recall (“come”).  Because mistakes happen.  And Dan wanted to take himself to the park, but because of our practice, he wanted to come to me more.

Do you have a great recall story?  Share it below.   And check back soon for a series on teaching and practicing your recall.

Dan and Sam

What’s a blog post without a picture? Dan and Sam, posing for a photo.