Behavior modification Archives • Three Dogs Training

“I Don’t Want to Give My Dog Treats All the Time!”

“I don’t want to give my dog treats all the time,” is a phrase I hear a lot. So, perhaps there are misconceptions of what we’re doing with these “treats.”

Treats are often called bribery.

Bribery assumes you are trying to influence an authority in an illegal or unethical way. It would be odd if your dog had enough authority over you that you needed to influence their behavior though illegal means.

Principal Skinner demonstrating asking for a bribe

Bribery (according to Cornell Law School) refers to the offering, giving, soliciting, or receiving of any item of value as a means of influencing the actions of an individual holding a public or legal duty .

I have been told that treats are not good for dogs and make dogs sick.

Training rewards, often generalized as “treats” are neither good nor bad for a dog. They are calories that your dog likes. And if they like them a lot, it’s even better. This means that training rewards can be kibble, boiled chicken, Pupperoni, or cheese. Or if you like, freeze dried organic free-range duck shipped in from a farm in the south of France. All that matters is that your dog likes what you’re giving them, will work for it, and it agrees with their system.

If there is food that is making your dog sick, there should be a discussion with your dog’s veterinarian.

However, when we are doing new training or behavior modification, there is a level of stress or excitement involved. That could be what is upsetting your dog’s stomach.

Every parent who has taken their child to an amusement park has had the same thought on the way home when the child pukes in the car, “Was it the corndog or the excitement?”

So, certain foods might not agree with your dog and perhaps a stressful situation might upset your dog’s stomach. The training rewards you use for you dog should be chosen based on your dog’s desire and their gut health.

Variety is good for all of us. Here are some my my dog’s and clients’ favorite food rewards/treats.

I’ve heard people say, “your dog shouldn’t think they’re getting a treat each time they do something.”

We do want our dogs to think they are getting a food reward each time they do something we’ve asked them to do, at least in the early learning stages. That’s how we get them hooked on the behavior.

Then, we begin to randomize the rewards. Sometimes they get a reward and sometimes they don’t. When we keep rewards randomized, the dog will work harder. They will hope each time will be the time they get rewarded because they have been conditioned to get a reward every time. If we don’t condition them to know/believe they will get a treat each time, they would give up when we tried to fade out the treats.

The variable-ratio schedule of reinforcement is the most resistant to extinction. This is because the reinforcement is given after an unpredictable number of responses, making it more difficult for the behavior to cease. Examples include gambling or lottery games, where a win is unpredictable but can occur anytime. – Simply Psychology

This is where things get dark…

By giving them rewards every time in the learning stages, you won’t have to give them a treat every time they do what you’ve asked for the rest of their lifetime.

Lastly – you are going to feed them every day, aren’t you?

Call it what you like, rewards, treats, reinforcers, reinforcement, or payment. Ultimately you will feed your dogs meals daily so why not use these calories to strengthen their desire to do the things you’ve asked them to do? Instead of 100% of their daily calories coming in a “free” bowl, you can give them their calories for hanging out with you for a settle while you drink your coffee in the morning.

By having containers of treats all over you home, you can easily and quickly reward any behavior you like. Use a “train mix” of treats and kibble. Keeping it tamper proof is important. Here are some that lock and open with one hand.

You can give them goodies along the walk to keep them from rolling in something stinky and you’d rather they walk with you instead. Having a treat pouch is imperative for quick delivery of reinforcers so you dog knows what it was that got them a delicious treat.

You can give them their food in puzzle toys, like some of these for enrichment.

A little D.A.P.’ll do ‘ya.

Using D.A.P. can really help in addressing common, low-level behavior issues in dogs – especially when used with positive reinforcement.

It comes up frequently during my behavioral consultations and I’ve mentioned it before here on the blog, but I can’t say enough good things about D.A.P. (Dog Appeasing Pheromone).

I won’t say that it’s the Holy Grail of resolving commonplace behavior problems but it’s no sippy cup, either.

Natural appeasing pheromones are produced by lactating females shortly after birthing a litter and give the young puppies a feeling of well-being and security when they’re near mom.

D.A.P. works by mimicking those natural pheromones and helps to give adult dogs a similar sense of calm and relaxation to what they would have felt as nursing puppies.

Many clinical trials of D.A.P. both in home and shelter situations have shown that it can help as a relaxing treatment when used in conjunction with positive reinforcement desensitizing and counter-conditioning (DS/CC). My own anecdotal experience in the field has shown the same.

It really can help and – best of all – doesn’t have any of the negative side effects seen in many anti-anxiety pharmaceuticals such as deinhibition and others.

Additionally, D.A.P. can be used in concert with many psycho-pharmaceuticals (but please double-check with your veterinary behaviorist first.)

Keep in mind that D.A.P.’s effects are not dramatic and most folks know it’s working when the collar expires and the anxious behaviors return or the diffuser runs out and they wonder why the dog is pacing again – then they check the diffuser and experience a “D’oh!” moment. It is designed to simply take the edge off gently and inconspicuously. This allows us to better do our DS/CC work with your dog.

We can simply stop without the step-downs necessary with many anti-anxiety medications.

If your dog is a re-homed dog new to your home this can help them settle in faster. If your dog is not fully comfortable with everyone in their home this can help them be a bit more at ease. And, if it doesn’t work for your dog we can simply stop without the step-downs necessary with many anti-anxiety medications.

For our part, at home we plug in the D.A.P. diffuser. Porthos is a pretty anxious dog and when he’s stressed it affects his diabetes so it is just a precaution to keep him on an even keel.

D.A.P.’s not meant to address out-of-control anxiety issues and like psycho-pharmaceuticals it needs to be used in conjunction with behavior modification. So, if you’ve got a dog that exhibits low-level, occasional fears and anxiety related issues you might want to give a D.A.P. diffuser or D.A.P. collar more than just a look while you are contacting a behavioral professional.

Alpha. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Alpha is the most misused word in dog training and often leads to abuse. Here’s the correct definition of the word.

One of the most misused terms in all of dog training is the term Alpha. I hear this term used over and over again.

Alpha is a scientific term that allows researchers to identify the animal in a social situation who has the most access to the most resources from food to safe sleeping places to reproduction.

Alpha is not about force, aversives, bullying, or dominance.

Here’s a video by Dave Mech (pronounced Meech), the renowned wolf research biologist who coined the wolf “Alpha” reference in his 1970 book The Wolf: Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species, where he discusses how the term is woefully outdated because of subsequent research that proved their original Alpha concept was an unfortunate result of non-optimal study subjects.

It would be much like observing humans in a prison and extrapolating from that that all humans sleep with shivs under the pillows and use cigarettes as currency:

Being the pack leader is about being a parent and not a bully. It’s not about rolling your dog, kicking your dog, poking your dog with a snake-like sound, using shock, pinch or choke collars on them, or using any other aversive tool.

If someone tells you that to be the Alpha in your pack you need to dominate by force or cause pain to your dog, it’s not a position based in behavioral science but is simply their choice.

If you want to be the leader of your pack then be your dog’s parent.

Teach them, guide them, love them, play with them, redirect unwanted behaviors, and control access to resources. In short, be everything they’re instinctively expecting out of a parent and nothing they’re not.

Not only is this proven behavioral science, it’s just good plain old common sense.

Everyone’s looking forward to Halloween, but what about your dog?

While Halloween is great fun for us, it is often very stressful for a lot of dogs. Here are some helpful tips and products.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year becasue it involves everything a holiday should – fun, silly, and chocolate.

Halloween also happens to be the day we adopted Boo –click here for that story.

The air is crisp and kids are running around super energized and dressed strangely. There are knocks on your door constantly and there’s food being handed out from bowls that are probably at dog height.

Where to put the candy?

The bowl of candy (we know is mostly chocolate) should be up and away from the dog. Your dog should not be able to reach it by jumping or putting his paws up, or knocking it over.

Halloween activities are all great fun for us, but can you think of a combination of things that could put a dog more on-edge? (Unless, of course, you added firecrackers into the mix?)

One of the reason we like holidays so much is that they are a departure from the norm of everyday life. We do different things. We adopt different schedules. For a large number of dogs an unexpected change in routine is like fingernails on a blackboard and can set off a spiral of stress-related, unhealthy behaviors. Watch your dog for signs of stress so you can give them a break from the merry making.

Your dog doesn’t need to be right by the door. Have your dog in another room as far from the door as possible. Give your dog a stuffed kong, filled Pupsicle, or other puzzle toys so he/she is happily occupied. A stuffed bone, or goat or lamb horn would be good too.

I have written a number of blog posts on anxiety aids and are a few of my favorite OTC anti-anxiety supports.

If none of the anxiety aids or toys help and it seems like your dog is having a canine panic attack, you will want to consult your veterinarian and or a veterinarian behaviorist who can prescribe medication to help your dog (or cat, too) through these stressful holidays.

Then it will be time to call a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and/or a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant so you can work on skills and exercises for next year. So, you and your dog can have a…

Happy Halloween!!!

Leadership, or Who Let the Dogs Out First?

The myths of canine social behavior, the misused and misunderstood concept of dominance, and building a strong relationship with your dog.

Ask Professor Boo is our recurring, positive reinforcement dog training and behavior question and answer column. If you have a question that you would like to ask Professor Boo, please feel free to contact him.

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]ost social organizations have levels of hierarchy to make them run smoothly.

When we emphasize humans as “Leader of the Pack” vis-à-vis their dogs this does not involve force or physical control.

Traditionally, in most canine and human societies the leader is the one who controls all goods and services – food, play, toys, outside, social activities, etc.

And the leader is the one who takes care of the family/pack.

We hear a lot about showing our dog that we are their leader by being dominant.

The behavioral definition of “dominance” refers to hierarchy in a social organization, not an implicit personality trait or forcefulness.

Example: your boss is dominant in the workplace because he/she is in charge of working hours, your tasks, what you get paid, time off, etc. However, it could be illegal or just unpleasant if your boss used force to support the hierarchy of the workplace. The good boss that has a good leadership relationship with his/her employees explains the order of the workplace at the beginning then he/she uses incentives, bonuses, and commissions to reward employees for work well done. Yet, even with this kindness and guidance this good boss remains in the “dominant” leadership position.

To build a good leadership relationship with our dogs:

We need to teach solid boundaries – like our boss expecting us in at nine – if we’re not, we lose pay.

We need trained behaviors we can request from our dogs – like our boss would ask us to perform our job.

We need to respect our dogs – like the good boss respects that you can’t work 24/7. You need enrichment time.

In the end, it doesn’t matter if your dog walks in front of you or goes out the door first.

In the end, it doesn’t matter if your dog walks in front of you or goes out the door first.

It matters that your dog is not pulling you because you have taught them it pays to walk on a loose leash = Trained behaviors and boundaries.

It matters that you can ask your dog to go ahead of you because maybe it’s easier for you at that moment = Requested trained behaviors.

It matters that maybe this is your dog’s free time to sniff and have some fun = Freedoms you allow because your dog needs enrichment, too.

To be a good leader for your dog, your relationship needs to be built on understanding, guidance, and respect; and you must take responsibility for Learning, Teaching, and Reinforcing.