7 MISTAKES YOU'RE MAKING IN BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION

I came across this very well written article by Lisa Mullinax of Mullinax Dog Behavior regarding desensitizing a fearful/reactive dog. It is well worth sharing and well worth taking the time to read if you have a fearful/reactive pet.

7 MISTAKES YOU'RE MAKING IN BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION

Let me start by saying this: I have made all of these mistakes at various points in my career. Even now, I have times when something goes wrong in a training session and upon closer examination, I will spot one of these mistakes.

There’s no such thing as a perfect training or behavior modification session. I’ve been to lectures by some of the world’s best animal trainers and they have shown videos of themselves training a dog, beluga whale, or walrus and pointed out their training errors. We all make mistakes.

The difference between a good behavior modification program and a bad one is the ability to spot these mistakes and correct ourselves, rather than punish the dog.

YOU'RE TOO CLOSE

Are you afraid of spiders? Me too. But I’m not running around and screaming because of the freakishly large spiders in South America. Why? Because they’re too far away to present a threat to me.

Distance affects reactivity. The closer you get to something you fear, the greater your level of stress. Once the stress reaches a certain level, the brain tells us to react in some way that increases our chance of survival, which can include avoidance…or aggression. The other thing the brain tells us is to stop wasting energy on non-essential functions in that moment. Like eating. Or thinking.

If your dog is exhibiting any type of avoidance or aggression in the presence of a dog, person, or other trigger, you are too close (early warning sign – your normally polite dog starts painfully ripping the treats from your hand). Anything you attempt at this level is only going to amount to temporary suppression of behavior, which is not the same as changing the underlying emotion behind the behavior.

Behavior modification happens at a distance the dog is aware of the trigger but not showing any negative reaction, often referred to as under-threshold. If your dog reacts, MOVE. Get her out of the situation and to a distance that she can give you a behavior you can reward.

YOU'RE TOO LATE

So, you don’t like clickers because they seem gimmicky, and you don’t want to say “Yes!” because it sounds silly. Frankly, I don’t care what sound you use, but if you’re going to be effective, you MUST have great timing. You will never have great timing with just the treat in your pocket.

The point of a clicker (or “yes!” or a click of your tongue, or whatever) is that you have a unique sound that marks the moment of your dog’s brilliance. That sound has been consistently paired with rewards so that the moment your dog hears it, the reward centers of the brain start churning out dopamine, which feels good. So, even if you are caught digging around in the pocket of your jeans for the treat, you’ve still captured the behavior the instant it happened, increasing the chance that your dog will do it again next time.

Why not just use “good dog/boy/girl?” Well, because it’s slower but, more importantly, you probably don’t give your dog a food reward after saying it, so it doesn’t have the association needed to have that feel good effect. Worse, if you say “Good boy” before patting your dog on the head, which he hates, you could be using a marker that has a bad association.

Things can happen quickly with a reactive dog and if you don’t instantly capture that brilliant moment your dog looks at you the moment he spots a new dog, you’re going to end up rewarding the wrong thing.

YOU'RE TOO STINGY

People don’t hire me because they want to teach their dog to walk at a certain speed in a specific position at their side and look up at them when another dog passes by. They hire me because they want their dog to stop lunging and barking at other dogs on walks.  They want their dogs to NOT do something.

And yet, this is where I see reinforcement break down all the time – people don’t reward the dog for NOT doing bad behavior to begin with. I see so many dog owners out walking their dogs, completely oblivious to the fact that their dog is looking up at them, seeking some form of feedback. If I had just 2% more Crazy Dog Lady in me, I would roll down my car window and shout, “REWARD THAT, for Pete’s sake!!!”

What does all this have to do with being stingy? Well, if you’re only looking for perfect behavior, you’re missing opportunities to reward less-than-perfect-but-still-better-than-aggressive behaviors your dog might be displaying. I try to teach dog owners to look for two things:

•                Behaviors which are incompatible with the unwanted behavior (differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior – DRI). For example, looking at you is incompatible with biting a passerby. Your dog can’t do both at the same time.
 

•                Behaviors which are different than the unwanted behavior (differential reinforcement of other behavior - DRO). An example would be looking at another dog without barking. While your dog could bark, he’s not doing so in that moment.

Now, technically, your dog biting YOU in the leg would be incompatible with biting a passerby in the leg. That’s why an important part of behavior modification is teaching the dog a variety of behaviors we like BEFORE we head out in search of strange dogs or people.

The higher the rate of reward, the faster your dog will start to form a pleasant association to the presence of strange dogs or people. Stingy rewards result in stingy behaviors.

YOU'RE FORCING INTERACTION

Your dog is doing really well watching kids in the playground across the street, giving you all sorts of good behaviors you can reward. So, you’ve decided you're ready to invite your neighbor and her three dog-loving children to your 800 square foot house for a play date to see how he does.

Dogs DO NOT need contact with the thing they fear in order for it to be a positive experience.

Dogs DO NOT need contact for socialization to occur.

Think of your favorite coworker. Do they hug you a lot? Snuggle up to you during meetings? Of course not! Positive associations can be formed without any physical contact at all.

Fifteen years ago, having a stranger feed your fearful dog was considered a good, positive approach to desensitization. However, we've discovered over the years that if a dog isn’t ready to approach a person on their own, the treat is only going to mask the fear. Once the treat is gone, the dog is now much closer to the person than they are comfortable with. Depending on the dog, they may decide the best way to get distance is to use aggressive behavior. Believe me.  I have the torn clothing to prove it.

A far better approach is to start with the fearful dog at a distance from the stranger (and contact prevented by a leash or other management tool), with the owner dispensing all the treat rewards, just as we you do with a dog that was reactive to strange dogs on walks. This way, the dog is exposed to the new person, but at a distance that is safe for both dog and people.

YOU'RE WAITING TOO LONG

Three seconds. That’s the maximum amount of time I permit a dog to interact with a new dog or new person before calling them away. “1 – 2 – 3 - Rex, come!”

That’s because three seconds seems to be just about right for a dog that is uncertain when interacting, but it’s also not enough time for a person or dog to behave in a way that could trigger a reaction in the dog. A first meeting might consist of a dozen 3-second encounters, or it might consist of two. It all depends on the dog I’m working with and the person or dog at the other end of the meeting.

First meetings are important, especially in behavior modification. When things are going well, it can be tempting to keep going and “see how he does,” which is how many bites happen and fights start. Better the first meeting be a positive 3-second experience than a longer experience which only ends up reinforcing your dog's negative association to people or dogs.

YOU'RE TOO POLITE

You have permission to be rude. To turn your back on a perfectly nice person and walk away without a word. Why? Because every second you spend trying to explain to a well-meaning dog lover why your dog doesn’t like their dog or doesn’t want to be pet allows that person to get closer and closer.

It is better to be rude forgotten five minutes later by a stranger than to be paying their dog’s vet bills or explaining to animal control why your dog just bit someone.

Fine. You can’t be rude? Here’s one approach I teach clients which allows you to give your polite explanation, but gives your dog the distance he needs to feel safe. It also turns the sharp, pointy end toward you, just in case.

While I find ideas like the Yellow Dog Project admirable, we're still trying to teach people not to leave their dogs in the car on hot summer days while they shop at the mall, so it's going to be a while before this becomes common knowledge.  In the meantime, you're still stuck with trying to explain to someone what the ribbon means.  Better to give your explanations over your shoulder or not at all.

YOU'RE NOT LISTENING

If your dog is reacting in a way you don't like, he's telling you something.  He's telling you that the environment or situation you have him in is too much, that he doesn't know how to handle it.  LISTEN to what his behavior is telling you, then stop putting him in those situations where he feels the need to either escape or defend himself.  That's not training.  Training is about preparing your dog for those situations, teaching him behaviors that help him cope.  If he's relying on escape or aggression, that means he is not prepared. 

It is your job as his owner, his guardian, his leader, his hairless ape, or whatever you choose to call yourself, it is your responsibility to keep him safe.  When he reacts with fear or aggression, that means that you set him up to fail.  I say this not to make you feel guilty, but to encourage you to listen to your dog.  If you don't, he's going to resort to instinctive behaviors designed to keep him safe. 

CONCLUSION

I could probably go on, but these are the most common mistakes I see.  And it's not at all uncommon to find these mistakes made among those who claim force-free methods didn’t work on their dog.

My hope is that this article will help you recognize the common mistakes we all make – not to make you feel bad, but to help you make the adjustments necessary for success.  I've had to re-evaluate and make adjustments many times over the course of my career, and no doubt I will have to do it many more times. 

© 2013 Lisa Mullinax.  All rights reserved.

The Nose Knows!

A Great Dog Training Article From the Terrierman's Daily Dose

An oldie but good read from Terrierman.com blogspot, reprinted from Dogs Today, October, 2011

Harry Potter Dog Training

This article appears in the October issue of Dogs Today.

I feel sorry for professional dog trainers.

You see, they are hired to train a dog, but the first thing they have to tell the client is that they are not going to train the dog – they are going train the client to train the dog.

When this is said, there is always a lot of smiling and nodding by the client, but there’s no real comprehension and probably not too much acceptance either.

Even the dog trainer doubts it can really be done.

You see, people are people, and they are difficult to change. When a dog or a dog trainer shows up in a person’s life, that person already has a schedule and it probably does not include 30 minutes, twice a day, of walking the dog.

Is a dog trainer going to be able to win that kind of time and exercise commitment from his or her new client?

Probably not.

Think about how many people start with a gym membership, and how few are still going to that gym two months later. Think how many people start a diet, and how many fall off the wagon.

When a dog trainer shows up at the door of a new client, honesty may be the best policy, but telling a client “you’re fat and lazy and so is the dog, and both of you need to walk two miles a day” may not be the best way to build up a referral dog training business!


Magic Wands

When people hire a dog trainer, they are not looking for a change in lifestyle or a change in values.

They are looking for a magic wand.

And why not?

We live in an age of miracle diets, miracle bras, and five minute workouts to lift and tone the body.

We have instant answers from Google, satellite mapping systems in our cars, and one-minute rice on the stove.

Surely there’s a 10-minute cure for any and every canine problem?

Come on now: What would Hermione do?

Of course in the world of Harry Potter, it was not Hermione that had a way with creatures, it was the game keeper Hagrid, who was never seen to wave a magic wand.

Instead, Hagrid’s magic was of a more down-to-earth kind. He knew that the secret to training animals, from dogs to dragons, was exercise, consistency, earned affection, and simple corrections and rewards.

The House as Prison Planet

And what do we Muggles offer up to our canine charges instead?

Tell the truth now. What really happens when we come home from work?

Too often we are both exhausted and distracted. We plop down in front of an electronic screen of some sort – a television set, a computer, or a cell phone. It’s been a mad day, and we just want to unwind between telephone calls and emails that demand a reply.

What about the dog?

He’s fine we tell ourselves.

After all, we buy it the best dog food, we spend a tidy sum on veterinary care, and the dog has a basket full of chew toys. We even put in a flap door so the dog can exit to the yard whenever it wants – no need to even ask.

But, of course, if the dog could talk, it might tell a different story!

Imagine, for a moment, that you and your dog have exchanged roles.

Instead of a dog living in your house, you are a small child that has come to live in a cave inhabited by four or five dogs. You are an only child, and the cave is attached to a small yard. You were brought to live in this cave when you were only two years old, and ever since that time you have only been able to communicate with other humans on those brief occasions when you have been allowed out on a short leash.

Now here’s a question: Would you be happy? Would you be fit? Would you know the language of humans? Would your mind be fully developed? What kind of adult would you be if you were raised in these same conditions?

Do you see the parallel? The wonder is not that some dogs are discipline problems, but that almost all of them are not as crazy as bed bugs!

When dogs deprived of exercise, socialization and instruction act out and are brought to a trainer for remedial work, their owners are almost never looking to be part of a drawn-out process that will cost a lot of money and extend over many weeks or months. Instead, the average owner is looking for an event; a quick incantation or party trick that can be repeated in two or three sessions, after which order and calm will be restored.

The Magic Starts With You

But are there really such tricks in the world of dog training?

Yes and no.

Yes, there are specific solutions for narrow and specific problems.

That said, the most important part of dog training has never been a secret any more than eating less and exercising more has been “the secret” to losing weight.

The most important part of dog training is active, consistent and focused participation by the owner in the education of his or her own dog.

The magic does not start when you hire a trainer. The magic starts:

• When you exercise the dog every day.

• When you pay close attention to your dog and communicate consistently with it through well-timed rewards and signals.

This is not to say that there aren’t tools, and that many of them aren’t great.

Every dog catalog and magazine is packed with ads offering up various types of collars, halters, and leashes. Every bookstore is packed with dog training guides promoting clickers, hand signals, food rewards, ball rewards, scent-training, and every kind of freshly-potted canine philosophy.

But no device or method matters if the owner does not have the self-discipline to show up everyday to actively work with his or her own dog.

This is Hagrid’s secret, and it’s not one you can buy in the magic shops in Diagon Alley.

Illustration by Kevin Brockbank for Dogs Today.

Wishing you a Happy New Year

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