How Dogs Learn Archives | Page 13 of 23 | Michael's Dogs Behavior Group

Sit Happens – No Problem

Michael Baugh CPDT-KA, CDBC

Good dog trainers know we don’t teach dogs to do anything they don’t already know how to do. That may sound like nonsense, but it’s true. Your dog already knows how to walk beside you, and come to you. He also knows how to stay put and lay down. He knows how to sit too. The trick of training your dog is to teach him to do those things a lot, in all kinds of situations, when you ask for the behavior.

So yes, it’s true, sit happens. It happens all the time. In fact, most of my students have already taught their dog to sit on a verbal cue by the time they meet me. But here’s the rub. The dog will sit when asked so long as we’re inside, and the person is facing the dog, and (by the way) nothing much else is going on at the time. The question we really want to ask isn’t does your dog know sit? It’s how strong is your dog’s sit, and in what context? There’s the rub indeed.

Sit can be used to remedy dozens of problems, including jumping on people (he sits instead), bolting outdoors (the dog is sitting not running), stealing things off counters (can’t do it if he’s sitting), and chasing your kids (impossible if you’ve asked him to sit instead). Achieving these goals is very doable, but we need to start with the basics. Never give your dog the final exam before you’ve taught him the material. That’s just not fair.

It’s not about the word. Start teaching sit by temporarily taking the word out of your vocabulary. Instead, every time you see your dog sit say “yes” and give him a delicious bit of healthy food. Once he sits, take a few steps backwards and see if he follows you and sits again. Say “yes” and treat him again. This is called capturing, like catching a bit of action on film (behaviors are actions). Do this over and over, so that your dog gets hooked on sitting. Every time he sits, after all, something great happens.

Name it. When your dog is thoroughly addicted to sitting for you, name the action. That’s right, when you are 95% sure he’s going to do it anyway you are going to cue your dog to “sit.” This seems backwards but it’s not. Verbal cues (they used to call them commands) are not directions to do something; they are permission to do something. Your dog is already begging to sit for you. Now the word is going to give him the green light. Say it once. Your dog can hear you, so repeating the word sit is not useful.

Take the show on the road. Now you can start using sit as an antidote to more troubling behavior, but take it slow. Ask for sits in gradually more difficult situations, but not so difficult that your dog fails. Remember the rule about not giving the final exam too early. The best way to teach your dog is to set him up to succeed, raising the bar of difficulty a little at a time. Since your dog is working at a game he can win, he will be excited and energetic about sitting. “Yes” and treat enthusiastically. This is going to give you the opportunity to teach quick sits in more distracting settings. Forcing sits by yanking a chain or pushing on hips is less exciting and slows the process (it can also hurt your dog).

Let your imagination guide you to further challenges. What else can you teach your dog to do that is the opposite of bad behavior? Look back and notice the things your dog is already doing well. Capture that behavior and use it to crowd out the stuff you want him to stop doing. Dogs who walk calmly on leash (good behavior) don’t lunge and pull (bad behavior). Dogs who eliminate outside (good) don’t do it inside (bad). Dogs who lay quietly on their beds with their Kong Toy (good) don’t beg at the table (bad). You get the picture. It’s all a matter of replacing the bad with the good. Add to that, it’s a great way to build a relationship with your dog. And isn’t that why you got a dog in the first place?

A Look at Inter-Dog Aggression

Michael Baugh CPDT-KA, CDBC

Let’s start with the good news first. Most dogs are not intent on killing each other. That’s not to say they don’t have conflicts. They do; and those conflicts can sometimes be scary, noisy and even hurtful. Still, in most cases dogs don’t settle the score with fatal consequences.

dogs8 — Play can sometimes look like aggression

In fact, dogs give each other plenty of signals when they are upset about something. They growl, snarl, lung and even snap wildly at the air. You’ll hear some trainers refer to that as “ritualized aggression.” Think: argument or the occasional sign language you see in Houston traffic. It’s unpleasant and communicative, but not dangerous in and of itself. There are more subtle nuances as well, the slight change ear posture, facial expression, breathing rate, or pupil dilation. When it comes to their own kind, most dogs are expert communicators. The reason is simple and serious. Real fighting is costly in terms of both risk and expended energy, so dogs have to be very good at resolving things without physical conflict.

If we step back a bit we can see most inter-dog aggression is about stopping some perceived threat and making the other dog go away. Increased distance often resolves the argument. This is most obvious in dogs who guard food and objects from other dogs. It’s also evident in dogs who lack experience interacting with other dogs. Animals, including the human animal, tend to reject things they don’t understand. Dogs who aren’t familiar with their own kind keep their distance. They might run away and hide as adolescents and young adults. Later as more mature adults, they might put on an aggressive display or worse to make the other dog go away. Either way, the message is clear. “Stay away from me.”

The real trouble arises when the dogs can’t properly communicate, and when one or both of them can’t retreat. They’re trapped. This is especially true in the case of dogs who are specifically aggressive towards other dogs while on leash. It is, perhaps, the most common form of inter-dog aggression.

Jean Donaldson (1996) first identified the on-leash cycle of aggression. It begins with well-meaning people who take their new dog or puppy on a walk for the first time. The dog, naturally curious, pulls toward other dogs he sees out in the wide world. He may even bark. The owner, frightened or angered by the pulling, yanks back on the leash yelling “heel” or “no bark.” Trying to stop the problem, the person might invest in a choke or prong “training collar” for his dog. Then, even if the dog begins to pull less, the owner keeps tension on the leash every time another dog is near just in case. As the weeks and months roll by, the dog learns that whenever he’s on leash and other dogs are around things get a little scary and maybe painful. He’s unable to investigate his own kind, and his owner is freaking out (or at the very least anxious). Before long the pulling and barking turns into lunging and growling, plus more yanking on the leash and yelling. Now dogs on walks are no longer a curiosity but a trigger that something bad is going to happen. We don’t know for sure what the dog is thinking, but we can imagine it might be “Get out of here dog, you’re making my owner freak out and he’s choking me.” Imagine how much worse this becomes if the other dogs in the neighborhood are trapped in this same cycle.

Prevention is always easier than a cure. Would that we could turn back time and stop the cycle before it starts. We’d teach our young dogs and puppies how to meet other dogs while on a leash. We would hold the leash without pulling it taught; we’d keep the line slack while two friendly dogs sniffed and circled each other. On our best days, we’d chat up the neighbors and admire each other’s dogs. Some days our dogs would play in an enclosed area off-leash. Each day we and our dogs would become more social.

Fixing the problem takes more effort. However, there is help. Qualified dog trainers and veterinary behaviorists can outline a plan that includes protecting your dog from having more aggressive displays. The plan will also involve reward-based training, teaching appropriate behavior while helping him feel better about his own kind. The prognosis is usually better with younger dogs, but there is always hope.

Dogs, I’ve discovered, are amazingly adaptable. At their core, they are social animals. Even the hardest cases can and do show some improvement. I guess that too is the good news.

(originally published in Houston PetTalk Magazine August 2011)

Look and Listen

MICHAEL BAUGH CPDT-KA, CDBC

HOUSTON – A lot of people think their dog has selective hearing when it comes to basic obedience cues, especially coming when called. No matter how many times they call their dog, it seems he’s just not listening. Some folks even worry their dog may be ignoring them out of spite. Fortunately, that last one probably isn’t true. He just hasn’t been trained yet to tune into you when you call.

It turns out the key to really effective dog training isn’t so much about listening. It’s about teaching your dog to look at you. Dogs who are keeping their eyes on you are also keeping their ears attuned to what you are saying. In fact, most precision obedience training is really about the dog’s visual attention, not his listening. Dogs actually learn visual cues (hand signals) more easily than they learn verbal cues (words).

Start at the beginning. The first thing I recommend people teach their dog is eye contact. It’s important that dogs learn to focus their attention on our faces. It sets them up to catch our verbal instructions on the first go around. It also allows them to better read our facial expressions for feedback on how they’re doing (dogs are experts at reading human facial expression, even subtle change in our expressions).

Here’s how to do it. Keep some of your dogs kibble in your pocket. Every time you catch him glancing up at your face say “yes.” Then, immediately follow up by giving him a piece of his food. This is called capturing a behavior. In a short time, your dog will be watching you all the time regardless of whether or not you have food on you. Once you he’s doing that you can start calling his name (only say it once please). When he responds to his name with a look up to your face, immediately say “yes” and treat him. Repeat this often so that his name becomes like a magic word that draws your dog’s attention to you immediately every time.

Before long your dog will be glued to you, watching attentively for further instructions. Your friends will all say, “Wow he really listens.” Of course you’ll smile and agree, because you know he’s looking at you.

(from myfoxhouston.com)