How Dogs Learn Archives | Page 9 of 23 | Michael's Dogs Behavior Group

Five Training Fouls to Avoid

Michael Baugh CDBC CPDT

We do our best teaching (training) when we set our dogs up to succeed. We make it easy for our dogs to get it right – to perform the tasks we want to reinforce. Once we build some momentum we increase the difficulty, but not before.

As trainers, we want to do the same thing for ourselves. Let’s set ourselves up to succeed by eliminating the stuff that get in the way of good solid learning. They are the distractions and interference that slow us down or even derail our teaching efforts. I call them training fouls. Here’s my short (but not exhaustive) list of the worst culprits of training fouls. Don’t fall victim and, please, don’t get flagged for a training foul yourself.

The Session Thief. This is perhaps one of the most common fouls. A trainer is in a session with her dog. Perhaps the dog is a bit slow to respond to a cue. Then, another well-meaning person jumps in with another cue and steals the session. You can see how this would confuse our dog and frustrate the first trainer. Don’t be that person. And, don’t let others foul you in this way.

The Dog Shamer. Nothing kills training like someone making you feel bad about how you are raising your dog. This foul may come as a surprise. After all, it’s my job to help get folks back on course with teaching their dogs. But, giving professional advice and guidance isn’t the same as making someone feel like an idiot. Don’t shame your fellow dog lovers – they are doing the best they can with the information they currently have. And if you want to be helpful to someone else, be helpful. Leave the criticism and same on the other side of the foul line.

Whispering Uncle Buddy. We all have a friend or relative like this. Our dog is sensitive to new people he doesn’t know well. Maybe he’s even bitten before. But our kind-hearted (but bumbling) friend or relative is certain our dog will love him anyway. “I have a way with dogs.” “All dogs love me.” “I’ve had dogs all my life.” Sigh. These are most often the folks who get bitten. They feel bad. We feel bad. They are walking, talking, smiling, training fouls. Certainly don’t be that person. And keep that person away from your dog.

The Alpha “Expert”. This guy (and it’s usually a guy, sorry) might also be an Uncle Buddy (see above). He may not a dog trainer by profession, but he’s seen lots of TV shows on dog training and maybe a few YouTube videos. He knows how to show a dog who is boss – how to make him mind – and he certainly knows more that the trainer you’re working with. Foul. I already know you are not that person. Don’t let The Alpha “Expert” confuse you about how to teach your dog. And please, don’t let him hurt your dog in the name of training.

The One-More-Timer. This is a training foul we most often do to ourselves. A learning session is going exceptionally well. Our dog seems to be grasping the concept and that last rep was perfect. We’re so proud we want to see it just “one more time.” Stop. Record the win and take a break. “One more time” is the curse of great trainers worldwide. Don’t foul your dog (or yourself). Celebrate the success and end on that note for the time being.

Most of these folks are just humans, like you and me, trying their best. Be firm with them, but kind. Help them become better teachers and dog lovers, just as you have become. We are all learning. And we all know the learning comes faster and easier when the humans involved are patient, relaxed, and clear thinking.

Learn. Smile. Breathe. Teach. Repeat.

Michael Baugh teaches dog training in Houston, TX. He specializes in behavior related to fear and aggression in dogs.

Human Centered Dog Training

Michael Baugh CDBC CPDT-KSA

Yes, good dog training is mostly about teaching the human. And, there’s absolutely no shame in that.

All the stuff our dogs do, their behavior, is largely influenced by their external environment. Some would say behavior is driven exclusively by the dog’s external environment. Sure, our dogs have internal experiences, like pain, hunger, illness, etc. and those play a role in behavior.

Still, our dog’s external experience is key. Dogs walk, run, lie down, chew, poop, pee, bark, and jump – all in their in the physical world, our homes and neighborhoods. How the environment responds to those behaviors determines if the dog keeps doing that stuff, and if so where, when, and how. Here’s one example. My dog lies down and stretches out. He’s learned over time that areas in which the sun is shining provide him warmth. He seeks those areas out more often. The environment (angle of the sun) has influenced when and where he lies down. The world is always teaching our dogs which behavior is reinforcing and which is punishing. Right?

What does all this have to do with us humans? Everything. No doubt we are the most important players in our dogs’ environment. Every day we determine when they eat, where they sleep, when they are let inside or outside, what opportunities they have for social interaction (with humans and nonhumans), and how they live their physical, mental and emotional lives in general. Nothing influences our dog’s behavior more than we humans do. Nothing.

Of course our dogs think (and feel). They may not muse and contemplate. Those processes involve verbal language. But our dogs are expert observers, constantly assessing the world around them for potential danger or sources of pleasure. Our job is to line up the feedback we give our dogs (when they eat and when they have access to other pleasurable activities) with what they are doing. That’s called reinforcement. Our dogs remember, and memories of reinforcement (and punishment) guide their behavior. We call that learning. Harnessing this process is the most natural way to train dogs. It’s the natural way all animals learn.

We humans are the most important player in our dog’s world. But, there’s a down side to this. Whether we intend it or not our dogs are always learning from us. The only question is are they learning what we want them to or are our actions teaching them the wrong lesson? Here’s my short list of stuff we should avoid doing around our dogs (this is not an exhaustive list).

Yelling, Hitting, Choking, Shocking: teaches the dog that we are dangerous – may lead to them avoiding us or aggressing against us.
Lying to our dog with our actions (being inconsistent): teaches the dog that we are an unreliable actor in their environment – will lead to unreliable/ inconsistent behavior from the dog.
Misusing food / bribing / giving food at the wrong time: teaches the dog that they get food for doing wrong things (like begging at the table) – can lead to the dog only responding to us when we have food.

Noticing the mistakes we’ve made with our dogs is actually a good thing. Don’t ever let anyone shame you about the choices you’ve made. Just use the information to make better choices from here on out. Our dogs can learn. But, so can we. We learn which of our actions work and don’t work just like our dogs (learning by doing). We also learn by watching others model behavior (imitation), by listening, and by reading. So we’re actually in really good shape. We can learn to:

Be better observers of our dogs – notice when our dog gets stuff right and how to reinforce behavior we want him to do more.
Set our dogs up to succeed – creating opportunities to do the things we want them to do more and then providing reinforcement that strengthen those good choices.
Put those great behaviors “on cue” – teaching our dogs to do what we want when we ask it.
Be consistent – making training a lifestyle of good behavior and reinforcing experiences throughout the day and not just when we have a treat bag on.

Successful dog training hinges on our human behavior. That’s big, maybe even a little scary. But it’s empowering too. I call it human-centered dog training – teaching humans how to teach their dogs. It’s a two species process – always. That’s a lot of brainpower and lots of heart working toward changing behavior, even reversing the most troubling behavior problems. We are learning together with our dogs, learning cooperation – humans and dogs not in conflict but on the same team – making choices with each other – finding better ways to live with each other – looking together for that warm spot in the sun.

Dog Trainer Michael Baugh specializes in behavior related to fear and aggressive dog behavior in Houston, TX.

Dog Bite Prevention

Michael Baugh CDBC CPDT-KSA

None of us expects our dogs to bite. Even folks who have dogs who’ve bitten before are still sometimes surprised by their dog’s behavior. The reason is simple. Most dogs don’t bite, and those who do tend to do so infrequently and in very specific circumstances. We’ll get to that last part in a bit.

The best way to prevent bites from our own dogs is early intervention. No surprise there. Teaching young puppies important life skills and exposing them to the human world in thoughtful ways can prevent tons of problems, most notably aggression. Puppy classes for young pups (as young as 8 weeks) are an essential start.

As your dog matures, the most important bite prevention skill humans should have is awareness. Notice your dog. Specifically, notice what frightens him or makes him uncomfortable. Fear fuels aggression. We can often prevent outbursts (and bites) by simply avoiding situations that scare our dogs. Otherwise, we can help our dogs around those situations. Ideally, we’ll help our dogs though the scary parts of life with some long-term training and behavior help.

Fear is the most common cause of bites, but it’s not the only one. Dogs in pain often bite people (we could argue that that’s fear of escalated pain, but I digress). Dogs who covet or guard food, objects, locations, and sometimes people can also bite (fear of losing those things? – Okay I’ll stop). Even in these cases, our job as dog guardians is still awareness. Avoiding, Working Around, and Working Through still apply. Be your dog’s advocate and help diffuse situations that frighten him.

Avoidance. This one is sometimes controversial. We humans are stuck on the idea of mastering our dogs and making them do things. As a result we have trainers who intentionally expose dogs to things that frighten them so they can show the dog who’s boss. Nonsense. If there’s something that upsets your dog and you can easily avoid it, do so. Keep the dog in another room, behind a solid door, or on a leash – away from the people he’s most likely to bite. That’s prevention.

Work Around. Many dogs can tolerate frightening situations if the scary thing (person) isn’t too close or too active. For short-term bite prevention, moving your dog away from the scary thing is always helpful (leash). Calming the environment (including our own human behavior) is also very helpful. Humans who don’t move, who avoid looking at the dog, and who don’t speak to the dog are doing great work. We teach children to stand like a tree: hold their feet still like roots, wrap their arms around themselves like branches, look down, and remain silent. They’re diffusing the situation and preventing a possible bite.

Work Through. This is training for longer-term bite prevention. We can teach dogs to behave better (not biting) in three ways:

Teaching Tasks – This involves teaching your dog how to respond to situations that used to result in conflict, fear, or anxiety. It’s obedience training. But, some of the tasks are specifically designed to help dogs relax (resist the impulse to lash out). Note: the only way to successfully teach frightened and potentially aggressive dogs is with positive reinforcement training. Using physical punishment or intimidation will likely increase aggressive behavior.
Teaching Confidence – This is about teaching your dog that situations (and people) that were frightening or upsetting are actually not so bad. Because we train with reward-based methods, your dog learns that whenever a new situation presents itself that we humans become joyful, praising and generous with food. This is called “classical conditioning,” and it occurs even as you teach tasks.
Teaching your dog to make good choices (self control) – Our dogs should never be forced to “handle” or “get used to” a situation that is frightening or upsetting (see “Avoidance” and “Work Around” above). We can expose our dogs to situations in a calm setting and at a safe distance. In this way we give our dog the option to make good behavior choices on his own. Because we’ve taught him useful tasks and helped him learn to be less frightened, we are setting him up to make appropriate choices. Trainers of wild and exotic animals have known about the importance of choice in training for a long while. An educated and experienced dog trainer can help you better understand and apply it as well.

During training many dogs learn to wear a muzzle. Muzzles prevent bites by keeping the dog’s teeth away from human flesh. The Muzzle Up Project on Facebook is a great resource for us humans to learn about the use and importance of muzzles.

If your dog has already bitten someone, or many people, please see a veterinary behaviorist or behavior consultant. You can prevent future bites. This blog is a start, but it’s not enough. You’ll need more help. Fortunately, that help is available.

Michael Baugh teaches dog training in Houston TX. He specializes in aggression and other behavior related to fear in dogs.