Thought I would share with you all my lovely pupils who have been training with us at Old Mill Dogs
The agility classes and at the end the lovely puppies making a start on agility equipment (note - they only do equipment suitable to their age and breed, there are plenty of exercises you can do with a puppy before you start agility with them)
Most of these dogs have been training with us for 6 months or less and they are doing amazing :)
In the last post I discussed Reinforcements and Punishments, today we are going to learn
the four quadrants of operant conditioning.
For this we need to define positive and negative
Positive - something is ADDED
Negative - something is REMOVED
So this leads us to the four quadrants
Positive reinforcement - Something is ADDED to makes the dogs behaviour MORE likely to happen
Positive punishment - Something is ADDED to make the dogs behaviour LESS likely to happen
Negative reinforcement - something is REMOVED to make the dogs behaviour MORE likely to happen
Negative punishment - Something is REMOVED to make the dogs behaviour LESS likely to happen
So what does that really mean?
Positive reinforcement
If the dog does something we like we give them something they like - for example when the dog sits nicely we give them a treat and that makes them more likely to want to do that again.
Positive punishment
For example when a dog moves out of the heel position a jerk on a prong collar makes them less likely to want to move out of heel position again
Negative reinforcement
When a dog starts to recal back to you you the e-collar stops zapping the dog so he is more likely to want to recal to you
Negative punishment
When a dog jumps all over you for attention when you come into the house so you ignore them while they are bouncing - he is less likely to want to jump over you for attention in the future.
One other thing to consider
Reinforcing behaviours makes dogs not only repeat the behaviour you reinforced but it also makes them more confident to try new things and use their brains to problem solve so actually helps make your dog smarter, more confident and happier
Punishing makes a dog not only less likely to repeat the behaviour you punished but also makes them less confident to try new things, less likely to try and use their brians to solve problems and can actually make them less smart, less confident and less happy
Of course in the real world punishments happen but when your dog presents you with a training challenge it is always best to try and fix it using as much positive reinforcement as possible, a limited use of negative punishment where needed and to try and avoid positive punishment and negative reward
This one is way easier to see than to explain!!
You start with your dog on the left hand side focusing on you
Then you rotate anticlockwise 180 degrees keeping your dogs attention by bringing in your right hand with a treat in it. Reward when you are facing the opposite direction with your dog on the opposite side from where you started
Repeat the other way
Keep practising the flat work as well and you can add the front cross into this to change the side your dog is on
Finaly I have started work on the website for my dog training classes.
I have a fantastic venue for classes but for the summer I have decided to be more European and run outside classes. This means dogs and handlers can have more space from each other, but it adds real life distractions.
I have only got a few pages up so far but please let me know what you think - cick on the log to get there
Many of the behaviours you would like to train your dog to do they already do naturally. Capturing just means rewarding/naming the behaviour as it happens naturally. Over time your dog will begin to associate the word with the action or will begin to offer the action more.
Often this is how we toilet train a puppy, wait till they are doing the toilet outside and then praising and rewarding them for going to the toilet in the correct place. It can also teach a really strong recall behaviour if you call your dog when they are already running back towards you full pelt.
As dogs (and people and all animals) are more likely to repeat something that has been rewarding to them if you pick the behaviour you are wanting to train - say the down - and then reward every time your dog is lying down then you will find your dog offers lying down to you more often and you can add a command word to the behaviour.
You can also use this method to teach your dog to calm down in stressful situations. If every time your dog is totally chilled you say 'calm' to them then eventually they will become calm just by you saying the word.
It is important to remember this when we are interacting with our dogs. It is very common for people to yell 'QUIET' at dogs when they are barking, the dog does not know the word quiet but if said often enough when the dog is barking and they will eventually learn to bark when you say 'quiet' Better to say 'quiet' when your dog is actually being quiet!
The more traditional methods of training a dog is by manipulation, physically putting the dog in position. Examples of this
Sit Push the dogs bum till he sits Down Push on the dogs shoulders till he lies down Paw Pick up the dogs paw Stop Stop dog with lead Recall Reel dog in on lead
In the video above you can see the guy tugs down on the dogs lead to make her lie down. This is the way many animals in the past have been trained and it does work for some animals. It is fairly simple for the human to understand, put the animal in the position you want enough times and it will slowly learn to go into the position.
There are several problems with this method.
Firstly it is actually using punishment to train the dog, the shoving is something slightly unpleasant for the dog (I know its not like beating it) so he learns to avoid being shoved to get into the position. Often the dog can even look happy once they have figured this out and the trainer thinks they have a dog who works for no rewards and is so motivated they love to work for you. Sorry to burst your bubble, if you train with punishments then for your dog its reward is the avoidance of the punishment, your dog is happy because he isn't getting shoved or yanked.
Also it is not natural to go where you are shoved. Try it on someone, if you push then gently then to remain upright they push back a little. You can see in the clip even with a 'trained' dog when he is pulling on the lead she is resisting and being dragged down. Over time you could injure growing joints with a battle to push your resisting puppy to the ground until they understand they have to go the way you are shoving.
You can get around that by teaching your dog to respond to pressure. A good way is to have your dog on the lead and stand behind them and give very slight pressure on the lead. Wait. When the dog turns to face you click and treat. The dog will learn that pressure on the lead means to go where the lead directs.
Compulsive methods are thought to work more slowly than other methods because the dog does not have to engage its brain. A good example was my mum trying to teach Ben to give a paw. He sat nicely, happily let her pick up his paw and then give him a treat. He just seemed v happy, crazy lady picks my foot up then gives me food. It never seemed to occur to him that he could speed up the process by lifting his foot himself. Using a combination of methods but most of them compulsive it took aver six months for Ben to give a paw, and even then he is slow and not overly confident giving a paw. Using different methods for Mia to give a paw took less than a minute and she is very happy to show her trick.
I am sure we all at some point use some compulsive methods, take a dogs collar, pull on the lead or something. Many dogs dont mind but it can make a dog shy to have its collar taken and other methods can use your dogs brain more and make them happier to learn and perform their trick
Interesting where you can get inspiration for dog training.
Today on 'The Wright Stuff' on TV this morning I got some amazing advice from Joe Mangle from Neighbours.
They were talking about raising children and how some children are so out of control.
He had a amazing point
It takes time and energy to be consistent, to teach our children (or dogs) that actions have consequences and that we mean what we say.
It is far easier to give in and give the sweetie when the child is chucking a tantrum (or let our dogs pull on the lead because we are in too much of a rush to teach them to walk nicely on the lead)
Then we get angry with their behaviour and yell or punish them. This is confusing, sometimes they get what they want, sometimes they get punished.
If we are fair and consistent, make sure they know what we want from them, let them know when they are doing the right thing and, when needed, show them the consequences of doing the wrong thing (naughty step, no pudding, dont get to keep walking forwards on lead) then children and dogs will be better behaved, less confused and everyone will be happier
Lots of people dont treat their dogs - Ben thinks this is really sad.
Arguments against include
'If I treat then he will become too focused on me'
Fantastic!! Your dog is really motivated by food!! Now he just has to learn that he has to earn his treats. Try carrying food in your pocket and surprise your dog when he does something really good, he will learn that treats arrive out of nowhere if he is good.
'he should want to work for me'
None does something for nothing! Even if its only the fuzzy nice feeling it gives you when you do something nice for other people. Some dogs are more motivated than others, some find a pat on the head or a smile from you really rewarding, but still why not have a nice treat for extra special behaviours - its like a bonus at work, it tells them that that thing they did was really great
'I cant always be carrying treats about with me'
Well actually you can - but you dont need to. The amazing thing of training with rewards is the more a behaviour is rewarded then the more the dog actually enjoys just doing the behaviour. Mia gets fed in her crate, she gets lots of treats in her crate, and many times during the day she just goes into her crate because it is a really great place to be. So can be walking to heel, sitting when asked, recall, anything.
Also food isnt the only reward in the world. Anything your dog enjoys is a reward, so you can chuck a ball, pat on the head, play a chase game, send them to play with friends, these are all rewards too
'He will only do something if I have a treat in my hand'
If that is the case that is because you have not faded out the lure
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19SZTwQkpEw Or your dog has learnt that he only ever gets a treat from you if he does something when you have a treat in your hand. Start hiding treats and surprising your dog with them, he will soon start working without the visual cue
'He isnt food motivated' Yup that possible, but unlikely. Food is important to a dogs survival, if it dosent eat it wont live. But if food is always lying about (If you free feed) and you just give out treats all the time for no reason then treats are not exciting. Dogs actually enjoy having a job to do so build the importance of food, only feed at meal times, dont leave food lying about any other times and always ask for something before you feed them. Get some really really high value treats, roast beef, chicken, cheese, or garlic sausage when your dog is hungry and reward it for simple behaviours, over time your dog will learn to love learning and food.
'I dont want a fat dog' For me training treats are tiny! 1/2 the size of a fingernail or smaller. Compare that to a dog getting a huge bonio every night. Also you can use some of the dogs food, meals dont always have to come in a bowl! In the wild animals have to work for their food, they enjoy it in captivity.
'He should KNOW how to behave, why should I reward him for that?'
This one saddens me the most. People who assume dogs come fully trained and so anything they dont expect is the dog being bad and is punished Sure the dog learns that way too - but its not really nice or fair
Dogs dont know how to live in our world, our rules are strange to them. Based on their personalities dogs just do what seems most sensible to them, then they see what happens. If something nice happens then they are more likely to do the thing again, if something bad happens then they are less likely to do it again. I prefer not to punish as it isnt the dogs fault. But if your dog has been lying calm for 2 hours, playing happily with their toys for a while and you ignore them, then you only pay attention when they go to chew your shoe you have not only missed lots of chances to let your dog do the right thing you have also taught them that grabbing your shoe gets your attention and lying calm or playing with toys is ignored.
Over the past few years I have been buying lots of dog training books, from the really great to the amazingly rubbish.
This is my fave book out of the lot. I initially got it to help with Mias reactivity, and it has helped lots (and is keeping on helping)
But the more I read it the more I realised it helps with ALL dogs.
The programme is great for Mia, reactive, easily distracted, v smart, high energy with issues with other dogs.
It has taught me great ways to build focus in her using games and behavioural tools, how to deal with her triggers, to realise when she was about to go off on one and how to improve that.
But it has also helped lots with Ben, ideas on how to increase his focus and excitement for working, how rate of reward can really build value in a trick, position or command to make him enjoy doing it more, to understand more his level of arousal so I know whether he needs geed up a bit or calmed down.
Watching other dogs in classes, agility shows and out about in the street I can see how other dogs would benefit from a little Control Unleashed.
I have enjoyed reading and using it so much that I have even sourced a hall to hopefully run a kind of informal class and allow me to work Mia with more distractions.
If you have a great dog but want to understand them more get this book!
If you have a dog with a few issues get this book
If you have a dog with lots of issued get this book - but also contact a behaviourist
If you are thinking of doing agility or are doing agility but could do better GET THIS BOOK!
