Teaching Manners, Behaviors, and Relationships
Ever wonder what our Tricks & Clicks class is like? Rather than take our word that it’s silly, great fun – how about a movie?
Ever wonder what our Tricks and Clicks class is like? We think it’s a huge amount of fun, but rather than take our word for it how about taking a look for yourself?
The setup for this movie is that, during class, I took out a toy that Pinball’s never seen – a skateboard – and am clicker-training him to figure out what to do with it:
Sure, it’s a silly movie but it made us laugh. Let us know what you think!
French police embrace positive reinforcement behavior modification to improve driving safety.
Apparently along the route to the south of France from Paris to Orleans to Limoges to Toulouse drivers during the four weeks of the national “vacances” will be rewarded for good driving with coupons for approximately sixty dollars’ worth of gas.
While the nay-sayers might call it bribery, the fact is that behavior modification is always more effective when a desired behavior is rewarded. It doesn’t even matter if the subjects – drivers in this case – know their behavior is being modified.
Punishing bad driving over the years has not modified the general habits of drivers to make them drive more safely. But it does act as a source of revenue for municipalities – so one wonders who is really getting the positive reinforcement for bad driving. Yes, you guessed it – the city, state, or other local municipality is hoping you will speed through their sleepy little town so they can collect a fine.
They know from years of good, solid behavioral science that punishment will not correct your driving habits – it will just make the subject (again the driver in this case) try to avoid the punishment. So, again from good solid behavioral science they know all they need to do is simply move the speed trap and the whole process starts all over again. They want to keep punishing you not to make you a safer driver, but to make up for budget deficits. They know you will not change your driving habits over the long term for a punishment ticket – and they are happy about that.
However, if you knew that by not tailgating, or not speeding, or by using your blinker, you could end up with sixty dollars’ worth of gas you would actually be happy to see the police and show them what a good job you were doing. Over time you would want to drive safely in the hopes of getting the sixty bucks and this would become your conditioned new behavior.
Positive reinforcement in this case modifies your behavior to drive more safely.
Punishment in this case modifies your behavior to be a better look-out for the speed traps and keep driving outside the rules of the road.
Positive Reinforcement is not just for dog training and, once your mind is keyed to pick up on it, you’ll be amazed by how often it occurs in our own lives. If Chief Inspector Dreyfus realized this when dealing with Clouseau all those years he wouldn’t have ended up in an asylum.
How the canine brain generalizes learned knowledge and how to use that to not only help you understand your dog better but to train them.
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]Q[/dropcap]: At home my dog knows not to jump up on our living room couch, but when we go to visit my parents within minutes he’s up on their couch and looks at me like he doesn’t understand what I’m saying when I tell him to get down. I know he knows not to go up on couches because he’s so good at home, so what’s going on?
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]: While dogs and humans might be great friends and companions, it’s important to never lose sight of the fact we are very different from each other in many respects. Keep in mind that we dogs think very differently about things – like pee and poop, for example. We think chasing a squirrel is great fun – do you? And remember that while we learn via the same four quadrants of Learning Theory that you do, how we generalize that learning is a bit different from humans.
One of the great things about the human mind is your ability to take a concrete action (let’s say sitting on a chair) and turn it into an abstract concept that you can then use to inform your decision making in other situations. For example, once you guys have learned to sit in a chair at home you can – as if by magic – sit in a chair at a restaurant, in a chair at the movies, on a park bench, in a car and more. This type of abstraction is so commonplace to your everyday lives that you lose sight of how amazing it is and it’s actually a very important cognitive talent that not every animal shares.
Unfortunately, that includes us canines to a large extent.
Decades of canine behavioral science have shown us that we just aren’t as good at generalizing as you humans are – we, of course, knew this already about ourselves… We are capable of generalizing quickly in certain situations – for example, if something really scary has happened. Our brains would need to remember that and generalize it to everywhere immediately for survival. But just sitting in a strange places – for example – is not a survival skill (in our heads anyway). But I digress – as I usually do…
To go back to your couch-loving pup, in his mind there is no abstract link between the couch in your living room and the couch at your parent’s and because of that he is not transferring his awareness of not being able to go up on your couch to your parent’s couch. He is not doing it because he’s being disobedient; he’s doing it because he has learned not to go up on your couch at home – he has not learned to not go up on your parent’s couch. He sees that as being two completely different actions.
We see variants of this behavior all the time in our dogs: has your dog ever had a reliable loose-leash walking command at home and then suddenly lose it the minute you’re out and about, say in a distracting pet store? In the dog’s mind, walking politely around your neighborhood is utterly different than walking through a crowded, exciting and distracting pet store and his mind is reacting accordingly. I, for example, used to take treats just fine at home but it took almost a year for my human to get me to take treats when out and about. I was just too distracted, overwhelmed and confused in those situations – but everyone knows I am a special case…
The trick to getting around a dog’s lack of generalization is to have a strong set of basic commands that are not bound to a specific location or set of circumstances. This is achieved by practicing basic commands in a variety of places that are common and strange, mildly distracting and very distracting so that you give your dog the ability to understand that the command works everywhere – not just at home or not just in the training center.
For instance, one of the first commands my human teaches all of us is the “Off” command. (This is different than the “Down” command, which literally means “lay on the floor.”) Also top on her list for us to learn is the “Settle” command – which means lay-down and hang out in a relaxed position where I ask you to and wait for me to release you. I know it sounds complicated, but in reality it is one of the easiest behaviors to teach and one of her most favorite. It’s like an invisible crate, she always says.
So to go back to your example again: you’re visiting your parents, your dog is up on their couch, and because you have practiced that “Off” command in a variety of places strange and common, with and without distractions – your dog hears the command and the conditioning overrides any location confusion and, voila, your dog gets off your parent’s couch when you say “Off.” Then, like the good trainer I know you are, you ask your dog to settle on a pillow or blanket on the floor while you and your parents visit. Your dog happily complies because you have conditioned great enjoyment with that “Settle” command and you have practiced that “Settle” in various places strange and common with and without distractions as well.
By understanding how our canine brain functions and shaping your training around it you will be able to give your dog a set of tools you’ll be able to rely on wherever you are. This makes you the “leader” without force, without fear, and without pain. This will make your dog’s life less confusing and less scary and that makes you the best friend for your dog (and my hope is vice-versa).
The dangers of speed eating in dogs and the best ways to get them to slow down their eating using positive reinforcement training methods.
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]Q[/dropcap]: Professor Boo, our puppy’s been with us for two weeks now and the speed at which she eats is starting to get out of control. She’s a breed that’s prone to bloat so we purchased a stand for her bowl, but is there any way we can slow her eating? We tried putting half of her food in her bowl at first and then the second half later but she just wolfs it down just as fast no matter how much we give her. Help!
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]: For as much as the super-speed eating your puppy is doing seems like a problem, it’s actually something of a mixed blessing.
On the one hand, it is a problem because swallowed air can lead to bloat and gastric torsion which can be huge medical emergencies. On the other hand, though, your puppy is telling us that she’s extremely food-motivated – which will make training her as she grows up just that much easier.
There’s a two-word answer to this problem: Puzzle Toys.
By putting some or all of your puppy’s kibble into the puzzle toy and giving it to her you’ll not only slow down her rate of eating but you’ll also be providing her significant amounts of cognitive stimulation as she’ll have to figure out (and work at) getting her food out of the toy.
We’ve been using the Twist ‘n Treat, Atomic Treat Ball, and Tricky Treat Ball at home for our goofy black Lab, Porthos, since just about since we brought him home as a pup. Along with being diabetic he’s also a compulsive speed eater and the Atomic Treat Ball and Tricky Treat Ball have worked like charms to keep him busy for long enough to allow his brothers to finish eating so he doesn’t try to surf their bowls as well.
In addition to puzzle toys, a good way to slow down the speed of your puppy’s eating is to set aside a portion of her kibble and use it as training treats. She’ll not only eat as slowly as you’d like by your setting the pace of the training session, but you’ll also get a head start on using solid positive reinforcement training techniques to help her become a great dog.
Boo appetit!
The Pet Safe Stay Mat has absolutely no place in positive reinforcement dog training.
Usually on the Three Dogs blog we like to bring you guys notices of classes, updates to the web page, and items of interest that may help you and your dog(s) live a happier, healthier life. However, sometimes we have to warn you about things and this is one of those times.
Imagine you have gone to visit your neighbor because you are new to the neighborhood.
They kindly offer you a necklace as a house-warming gift and they then proceed to go make some tea. You are sitting in a chair in the neighbor’s living room and notice something outside the front window. You get up to investigate the commotion out the window just across the room.
Suddenly, you hear a funny noise then the pain begins and at first you can’t tell where the pain is coming from. You begin checking yourself and find the pain is coming from the “necklace” your new neighbor just gave you. You try to get it off but it doesn’t come off. The pain is non-stop. You begin to run around to see it you can find something to help get it off, something to make it stop – something to stop the agonizing, confusing, scary pain.
As you are running, you brush the chair where you were sitting before this all began and for a brief second the pain stopped. That couldn’t be it – no. So you keep running; keep pulling at the necklace, now you are screaming and asking any deity to help you make it stop. You ask yourself, “What have I done to deserve this? What lesson could this possibly be teaching me?” But no good answer comes in the language you speak. The pain just won’t stop.
Unexpectedly the new neighbor grabs you and forces you back into the chair. You sit in the chair shaking and breathing heavily – afraid to move; afraid even to breathe too hard for fear it will start all over again. Even though the pain is stopped, the fear, the anguish, and confusion are all still there. What the hell was that???
It was the “Pet Safe Stay Mat”* brought to you by the people at Pet Safe who encourage shocking a dog into scared submission rather than easily rewarding them for doing what is fun and makes everyone happy around them.
Here’s their explanation:
The Stay! Mat functions by detecting your dog’s weight on the mat. If your dog leaves the mat while the unit is turned on, the mat will send a radio signal up to 6 feet in all directions. The receiver collar will receive the radio signal and produce a beep or beep and static correction until your dog returns to the mat. The correction type depends on the setting you choose. Once your dog returns to the mat, the beep and static correction will cease. (Two week training period required.)
In the words of Karen Overall, M.A, V.M.D., Ph.D from Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Small Animals:
“Shock collars are seldom used correctly, are more often overused or inappropriately used, can make any aggressive animal more aggressive, and may tell us more about the people who feel that they have to rely on them than about the pet’s problem…”
In the instructions for the cold-hearted “Stay Mat” it says there is a two week training period required but I can easily train a dog to hold a position on a mat for rewards in an hour or less. I can proof that behavior in a couple of 10 – 15 minutes sessions and have it reliable with distance and distraction in a couple days. So, why spend more time, more money and torment your dog in the process by using this device?
When looking at various training methods we have to consider what is the scientifically best proven approach – it is and always will be positive reinforcement because it has been proven to be both more effective and more humane than coercion. AND we have to ask ourselves: how would you like this done to you? Yes we are talking about dogs not people. But when we are talking about dogs we are talking about animals whose capacity to feel, emote, love, fear, and forgive is equal and sometimes greater than we humans can produce. And it is necessary to keep in mind that the way a dog’s brain and our brain processes pain and fear are almost identical – fight or flight. So it is valid to ask if this is something you would like to endure.
Please tell Pet Safe, PetSmart, and others who are carrying this product; tell your friends, your neighbors and anyone who will listen – this is not the way to teach an easy settle command. But it is a great way to torment your dog, teach them fear, and break down any hope at a trusting relationship with them since you will be the one putting them back “into the non-comfy chair.”
