Tag: clicker training in houston katy TX

Real Dog Training is Cool

photo courtesy: Robyn Arouty Photography

Michael Baugh, CPDT-KA, CDBC

Real Dog Training is cool.  Don’t get me wrong, some TV trainers are okay.  Victoria Stillwell was a real reward-based trainer before she got her own show, and that convertible of hers is pretty darn cool.  Rollerblading with bunch of dogs might be cool to some, but it’s not really my thing.  Pffsst!  Yeah, that’s not cool.

This is.  Today I made friends with a Shih Tzu who really didn’t like me at first (I’m pretty sure he wanted to bite me).  A few hours later I helped a woman potty train her beagle puppy.  That’s real dog training.  It’s not broken up into short segments between commercial breaks and problems aren’t resolved in an hour or less.  There are no short cuts with behavior; it takes time.  Real trainers do a lot of coaching, a whole lot of demonstrating and even more cheerleading.  We take care of our human and dog clients by making the process as clear and simple as possible.  We show people the magic of dogs without messing it all up with a bunch of mystical mumbo jumbo of our own.  Hello!  Cool.  Whispering?  That just makes it harder for people to hear you.

The truth is there isn’t much new in dog training.  Whoa, blasphemy.  What about clicker training (not terribly new) and all the new research coming out about dogs?  Okay, we are getting better every day at refining and applying behavioral science with dogs, but the basics remain the same.  I helped the Shi Tzu warm up to me with good old fashioned classical conditioning.  As for the beagle bathroom breaks, enter Dr. Skinner.  This stuff is old-school, well practiced, and thoroughly researched.  Real trainers teach it with vigor and style, yes.  But we don’t have to dress it up to make it cool.  It just is cool.

So why are so many trainers trying so hard to be the next latest and greatest thing?  I recently read about a new age celebrity trainer in Hollywood.  Her web site was chakra rocking and chi wheeling.  Her uber cool movie star clients apparently loved her.  But I had to wonder, with all this spirit, where the substance was.  She was beautiful; and she sold the enigmatic charm of dogs oh so well.  But could she really teach and train?  Scan the internet (okay maybe you shouldn’t) and look at all the trademarked methods for dog training.  They’re making things up and busting other stuff left and right.  Instant results and guarantees are in vogue, while the “how to” is a bit vague.  Sure the “Baugh Method” would boost my ego.  But seriously, it’s just silly (the abbreviation is awkward, too).    What’s wrong with the Pavlov method, or the Skinner Method, even the Breland and Bailey method?  Maybe it just doesn’t sound cool.  I don’t know.

I guess it’s all just a matter of perception.  If you’re a behavior geek who knows the difference between ABA and ABBA (and perhaps appreciates both) it boils down to this.  You’re still a geek.  On the other hand, if you are attractive and skate well you get your own “way.”  Maybe you can tap into our human need for mysticism and talk about flow and energy.  That’s the stuff.  Then, you’ll have that certain something that all the popular kids in high school had.  No one could define it, but it didn’t matter.  They were cool.

I keep thinking of Alex.  He was a 7 month old lab mix and a hard-core play biter.  I use the term loosely.  He wasn’t playing, he was demanding attention.  Chomp – Ouch!  It hurt something fierce.  The night I met him I laid out a training plan and left bleeding.  I hoped against my angst that his family would follow through and follow up.  If they didn’t, Alex was on fast track to disaster.  There was no glamor that night, no cameras and no quick fixes.  I was tired from a long day and I smelled bad.  I called a trainer friend while I tried to hold back my own doubts.  “I just stuck to the basics.” I said, “It has to work right?” He’s a cool guy.  He assured me it would.

Alex’s family applied The Skinner just as I’d shown them.  They were precise and tireless.  They charted Alex’s time-outs (negative punishment) and watch them decline steeply.  They taught Alex some amazing good manners (positive reinforcement) with skill and masterful timing. The punctures and scratches and bruises faded as their success grew.  They called almost daily with reports.  We kept things on course, and when it was time we celebrated.  I beamed with pride and told them they were my heroes, because they are.

Sometimes clients (or potential clients) ask me if I’m like “The Dog Whisperer.”  They want to know about becoming their dog’s Alpha and earning his respect.  Some ask if I use this method or that, if I can break this or that.  I guess it’s the litmus test of coolness.  I do my thing, just a regular reward trainer trying to keep it real.  Sure, it gets tough sometimes.  There are a lot of other trainers who are much slicker.  I get it.  Then I think of Alex and his family, happy and hanging out watching TV.  They’re just regular folks and he’s just a normal relaxed dog.  They worked the process and the process worked for them.

Okay, yeah.  That’s way cool.


A Culture of Learning

Stella. Courtesy Robyn Arouty Photography

Michael Baugh, CPDT-KA, CDBC

Folks ask all the time, “How often should I train my dog?”  I’d like to be able to say every day, all day; your dog is always learning.  But people want structure so instead I recommend short sessions (clicker training) several times a day totaling 30 to 40 minutes a day.  They are both the right answer.  Still, I like the first one better.

Weave training into your everyday life.  Make your relationship with your dog a culture of learning.  That’s the best way.  Now, I’m not really talking about making your dog wait for you to pass through a doorway first.  It’s not about requiring him to sit and stay before you put his food bowl down.  It’s not even about demanding he sit nicely instead of jumping on your guests.  Don’t get me wrong.  Those are all very nice manners to teach your dog.  But, I’m talking about a different culture of learning, one that has nothing to do with making, requiring or demanding.

It’s about noticing.  Here’s a little bit of dog-trainer-geek science.  A behavior with a favorable outcome (for the dog) is more likely to be repeated.  It’s called Thorndike’s Law of Effect.  Scientists don’t hand out that word lightly: Law.  Thorndike’s law of effect is just that, a law.  It’s been proven, tested and re-tested.  That gives you a lot of power when it comes to training.  There are lots of favorable outcomes you control: food, playtime, petting, warm smiles and praise.  That means you can get a lot of good behavior on the “repeat cycle” of your dog’s repertoire just by leveraging those favorable outcomes.  It’s how clicker training works.  Your dog does something cool.  You click and treat.  The dog does that cool thing more.

Okay, what does that have to do with noticing, specifically noticing your dog?  Life doesn’t happen in 10 minute clicker training sessions.  But our dogs are always learning from us and from the environment.  Thorndike’s law of effect is always at play.  That means it’s up to us to always be aware of what our dogs are doing, watching for good behavior that we can reinforce (favorable outcome), noticing.  That’s the culture of learning I’m talking about.  Notice when your dog does something right and be ready to let him know that’s what you like.  Now you’re teaching your dog every day, all day.

This may seem difficult, but read on.  We humans seem to be pre-programmed to notice when things go wrong not when things go right.  While I was writing this my dog, Stella, came over to check in with me.  I love that behavior but I ignored it.  Later she started barking out the window and she earned my full attention.  That’s the way people are, but it’s backwards training.  Stella learned that checking in with me got her nothing (no favorable outcome) but barking got my attention (favorable outcome).  I ended up on the wrong side of the law, Thorndike’s Law.

Notice.  Your dog does great things every day.  Never miss a chance to pet him when he sits nicely and gazes at your adoringly.  Smile and rub his belly when he curls up at your feet.  Throw a party when he comes when called.  Then throw the ball and play for a little while.  It’s worth it.  And it’s a good way to live.  Notice what’s right with your dog and be glad.  Then notice the people in your life – even the ones you don’t know – and the world around you.

There’s a lot of good going on.  Click and treat.