I’ve been playing a game with myself on my dog walks lately and thought I would share it with you all.
I’ve been doing nosework training (where they search for a specific scent) with both my dogs for awhile now. Since I’ve been involved in nosework, I’ve become fascinated by what, how and where they sniff. It’s this whole world that they can enjoy that we cannot perceive and there is something about that that is captivating to me.
Most of my walks with my dogs are simply for sniffing. I try to choose quieter locations so that we can just relax and they can sniff and I can look and we don’t have to worry too much about training.
Okay – so here’s the game:
When I turn a corner or otherwise enter a new area of our walk, I pause and look at the surroundings. I try to guess where Doug or Dan will stop to sniff. If they stop in an area I didn’t expect, I try to think about what that area has that other areas do not.
Here’s some of the things I’ve observed: -Bushy bushes are good for sniffing. I think this is because there is more surface area on bushier plants and so they hold more odor.
-Vertical surfaces, especially corners are good for sniffing. Likely because these are preferred marking locations for other dogs.
-Sometimes, my dog will pass a bush, tree or other object and then turn back to sniff it. This usually has to do with the wind direction. Even when it seems still, there is direction to the air movement.
Try it!
I wanted to give you a chance to try this before your next dog walk. Below is a photo of a neighborhood block that Doug and I were about to walk down. Check out the photo and see if you can guess where Doug will sniff. Then, you can see in the video where he *did* sniff. How many of the spots did you guess correctly? Were there any surprises?
Guess where Doug will sniff!
Try this on your next dog walk. Let me know what you learned! I would love to see your predictions and results too.
The saying holds true for dog training. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
My hope for animal training and pet owning is that in the next few years we see a shift towards emphasizing prevention of behavior problems rather than major problem solving.
Why prevention?
If you focus on prevention, rather than waiting for a problem to occur, you have some advantages. First, it’s a better use of your time and energy. Solving a behavior problem when you’ve already lived with it for weeks, months, or years can be both daunting and exhausting. You might already be burned out from living with the problem for a long time. Doing the work to change the behavior can be hard when you already feel used up.
Second, your dog won’t have the history of practicing the unwanted behavior. If your dog barks at the mailman for years before you start to change that behavior, it’s much harder! Your dog has years of practice with “barking at the mailman = mailman goes away”. That history can mean the behavior will come back easily, even if you are successful in changing it.
How to focus on prevention?
There’s a few things to consider in order to be effective at preventing problems before they start, or at least before they get big.
1. Visualize and write down what you would you like your dog to do. Each time I’m about to encounter a new-to-my dog scenario, I ask – “what do I want him to do here”?
Example: When I’m watering the vegetable garden, I want Doug to lie down nearby and stay until I release him to chase the water.
2. Build the necessary skills and behaviors so that your dog can do those things.
Example: Doug has learned lie down on cue, but the water is really really enticing! I have to work on this slowly so that he can lie down and stay for long enough for me to water. I might begin with just 1-2 seconds of seconds of lie down and stay while the water is on.
3. Manage the situation for success if your dog’s skills aren’t ready for the real deal.
Example: Doug stays inside while I am actually watering the veggie garden until he can lie down and stay in the presence of the hose for long enough that I can water the garden.
4. Reinforce the behavior you like with something you dog actually wants in that moment.
Example: Doug’s reinforcer for staying while I water is to chase the water in the grass near the garden. If I toss a ball while the hose is on, he watches me toss it and then looks at me. He does not want to fetch (normally his favorite game). If I stop providing water-chasing time after his down stay, I would fully expect him to start to charge into the garden at the hose.
For the example above, Doug did charge through my veggie garden to chase the hose water once before I created this training plan. But as soon as I caught myself thinking, “GAH DOUG!!!”, I stopped. I put him inside to prevent practice of that behavior so that I could finish watering and I came up with a plan. We can’t predict everything our dogs will experience nor can we anticipate everything they might do in specific situations. Like in this example, there will be times where a problem will pop up and you’ll have to solve it right away. And that might be the closest you can get to prevention in some situations.
Doug, waiting for his chance to chase the hose water
However, there are many experiences your dog will encounter every day or multiple times a day for his whole life. Some examples: Being with you in your living room while you watch TV or read. Being with you while you work from home (like so many of us are doing now). Going on walks in your neighborhood. Spending time with your family members. Playing with toys. Eating meals near people or other pets in the house. And so on. These things will vary based on your lifestyle, household, and where you live.
No matter how long you’ve had your dog – start this now! You can come up with your own list by thinking through your own personal daily or weekly routines and the routines that you’ll go through to care for your dog. From there, ask:
What do you want your dog to do in each of these situations?
Does your dog have the skills to actually do that behavior? If not, what do you need to teach to get there?
How can you manage the scenario while your dog develops those skills?
And how are you going to reinforce those behaviors so that they persist?
If you’ve been following my Facebook page, you know that we have a new addition to our household. Little Doug joined us on July 31st at 8 weeks old. The past 3 and a half weeks have been full of puppy playtime, socialization opportunities and learning about each other.
One of the things I have been most excited about is going to puppy class! It’s been quite awhile since I have attended a puppy class, even though I teach puppies all the time. Several of the people in my life have asked me “Why do you need to go to puppy class? Don’t you already know how to train a puppy?”
Yes, I do know how to train a puppy and I’ve been re-reading all of my puppy books over the last few months as a refresher too. But puppy class is still important. Here’s why:
Doug is learning to be in a classroom. I hope to do various dog sports with Doug, so this is a skill he really needs!
Doug is learning that other dogs nearby doesn’t always mean playtime. Sometimes he needs to work with me, despite the other fun opportunities around him.
It is a great tool for me to keep me on track. Even for a dog trainer it is easy to lose focus when raising a puppy and slack on training or socialization. Going to class each week is a great way to hold me accountable for practicing with Doug.
I am learning something different about Doug by going to class with him. I know how he is at home, in our neighborhood, and at the vet now. But in class I can see which skills he has mastered and which ones he needs practice with in one more setting. For example, he struggles to just relax without something specific to do. This is something we are working on now. But one of his strengths is ignoring other dogs even when they are barking at him. He was able to stay focused on me and the task at hand when another puppy in class was begging him to play!
I encourage everyone, no matter what you plan to do with your dog, to take a good puppy class. The right fit for a class will be different for everyone and every puppy class is a bit different. So be sure to ask what is covered, what the structure of the classroom will be, and consider what you want to get out of the class when choosing one.
