Category Archives: Top Training Tips

Top Training Tips

Think Outside the Food Bowl, 2

Part 2: Give That Dog A Job

Remimder why it’s important to get your dog working!

Unemployed dogs soon become self-employed so the easiest, quickest, most efficient and enjoyable way to get your dog working is by having him use some of those in-built skills  to earn his food, everyday.

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Food is Currency

To dogs, food is like currency, euros and dollars. So, if you are to employ a dog, you gotta get them working for their food.

Last time, we looked at the sorts of predatory and feeding related behaviours that dogs come with as part of the package.

We can safely offer our pet dogs outlets for behaviours like the following, using your dog’s dinner:

  • tracking
  • chewing
  • dissecting

And we can safely provide more appropriate outlets for some of this behaviour, through the use of games and play:

  • stalking & chasing
  • grabbing & biting

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Don’t let “domestication” fool you!

Domestication has done lots of things to dogs that has made them better pets and companions, but this process has also done a couple of things that mean getting your dog working for their food is even more important.

This process continues to ensure that dogs live closer and closer to humans and the more time the dog spends in the human world, the less time it gets to spend on doggie pursuits.

Domestication has certainly seen a dilution of some more serious predatory traits, but has amplified these traits across various breeds.
Each component of the predatory sequence is exaggerated in some dogs, but played down in others, according to their job or breeding history.

A lot of breed history is mythic but if we look closely at the early roles for many dogs, we can get some clues as to the activities they may love most.
But saying that, teaching your dog to carry out any and all of these behaviours will provide them (and you) much joy regardless.IMG_8604

Tracking:

 

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Chewing:

Our absolute favourite toy:

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Pupsicles:

Choose chews for your dog carefully and know your dog’s chewing style. Your dog chewing anything may be potentially harmful in a particular situation so be aware of ways to reduce the risks.

It’s never a good idea to give your dog cooked bones or very hard bone (e.g. weight bearing bone, heavy antlers etc.) as these can cause damage either when ingested or during chewing to teeth.

Natural chews are generally best but always check and monitor their condition. Look for signs of splitting or splintering, and keep an eye on their size appropriate to your dog.
Chews such as gullets, ‘pizzles’ and scalp have become more widely available.

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Cheaper rawhide type chews can be dangerous if swallowed so if choosing rawhide look for chews that are constructed from one piece of hide, that are not bleached or coloured and keep a close eye on your dog as he chews them.

If in doubt, ask your qualified veterinary healthcare team before allowing your pet to chew!

Dissecting:

Snuffle ball –

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Busy box –

Fill a box with crumpled paper, add treats and close up the box. To make an even busier box, you can add that box to another box too.

Stalking & Chasing:

Energising food dispensing toys –

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Flirtpole –

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Fetch –

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Give the Treat Launcher a go, especially for those dogs less inclined to chase a ball – they might chase this though!

Grabbing & Biting

Tug is one of our favourite doggy games because if it’s played with appropriate rules we can teach dogs so much with this game, all dressed up in pure fun!

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And for the DIY inclined why not consider building a springpole for your tug-addict: How to make a springpole

Enrichment comes in all shapes & sizes

We can give our dogs all sorts of jobs that challenge them in different ways. Giving them outlets for natural behaviour might include providing them with :

  • sensory challenges
  • physical challenges
  • cognitive challenges
  • social challenges

Stay tuned for more…

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Top Training Tips

Think Outside the Food Bowl!

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Part 1: We Really Don’t Like Food Bowls

Feeding time is an exciting and important part of your dog’s daily routine but just because it’s routine doesn’t mean it needs to be boring.

The key is enrichment; protocols that you can put in place, simply, to provide your dog more appropriate outlets for natural, doggie behaviour.

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Why enrichment for pet dogs?

‘Natural’ behaviour

The “wild”, that idyllic place that’s considered the model we should mimic even though in actuality it is a dangerous, dog-eat-dog place, has nonetheless caused the evolution of a wide range of feeding behaviours that take up plenty of an animal’s energy and keep them busy.

Animals will naturally work for their food, with or without your help (or knowledge!):

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Contrafreeloading

Animals  are compelled to carry out behaviours, even if the goal of those behaviours e.g. food, is freely available.

This is referred to as contrafreeloading – animals often prefer to work for access to food, even when food is freely available.

Sounds counter-productive, but perhaps not!

Check out this smart pup, passing by a bowl of free food to activate a food dispenser:

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Natural Puzzlers

Dogs also appear to experience that ‘eureka’ feeling when working on challenges – working on a puzzle is rewarding to dogs, even if they don’t solve the puzzle successfully (i.e. get the tangible reward such as a food treat).

Dogs are natural-born-puzzle-addicts!

Ian & Irene work on puzzles for the first time, in puppy class; they work harder relative to the value of the food reward – they are in it just for the fun:

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“Problem” Behaviours

When animals don’t get the opportunity to engage in enrichment and are lacking outlets of natural behaviour, they can develop all sorts of difficulties.

At the very least, those behaviours that dogs are compelled to carry out will become a problem for us – dogs need to chew, dogs need to chase, dogs need to sniff and track.
And you might not like the outlets they choose for those behaviours.

All the puppies learn to settle themselves in a busy class with the help of a food puzzle and lapping & chewing, which helps dogs to chill:

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Think of all the things your pup can’t do if he is chilling out, working on a food toy?!

Dogs that are unemployed, become self-employed…

With all that free time on his paws, your dog may also engage in other behaviours that become a problem for you such as barking, digging, escaping, jumping up, being obnoxious.

It is not easy to live with a self-employed dog because the jobs they choose for themselves are usually not particularly preferred by humans…

First step, ditch the food bowls.

Why do we HATE food bowls?

  • food bowls do very little to encourage interaction between dog and owner
  • food bowls do little to teach the dog that good things come through their owner
  • feeding from a food bowl wastes hundreds of reward opportunities by presenting them for free all in one go
  • your dog would probably prefer to work for his food than get it for free
  • modern pet feeding practices encourage a sedentary way of life for our pets
  • there is a limited range of behaviours demonstrated so dogs will need to display them in other ways (which may cause problems for people)
  • chasing, chewing, tracking and using their brains are important for dogs and modern feeding practices often don’t encourage any or much of that

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Food bowls are human convenience devices – toss food in bowl, leave on floor, dog eats….dog is fed and my job is done.

But feeding your pet can be soooo much more…

Dogs come with  predatory behaviour, built-in

Dave Mech, the wolf guru, outlines canid predatory behaviour in a sequence of behaviours called, not-surprisingly, a predatory sequence. These are behaviours that are innate in all dogs and to greater or lesser extents in different types of dogs and individuals.

The dog predatory sequence might look something like this:

track – stalk – chase – grab – hold – bite – chew – dissect

These are the behaviours that your predatory pet needs to do – provide acceptable outlets otherwise he will find his own, and you might not like that.

Watching dogs play with pals gives you an insight into just how relevant these behaviours are for even modern, pet dogs. A good proportion of normal play behaviour will be feeding related with games of stalking, chasing, take downs, neck biting, and of course enjoying being chased too!

You will see your dog practicing these behaviours in other non-real-life scenarios too – give your dog a tissue or soft toy and watch him chew and dissect it, throw a tennis ball or play tug and flip the switch, turning on those in-built behaviours.

But feeding behaviour isn’t just about feeding…

Dogs engage in all sorts of feeding related behaviour, and many activities revolve around feeding.

Dogs enjoy actively scavenging for food and, let’s face it, non-food items – they will devote plenty of time to this sort of activity and often learn to do it when their owners are not watching…!

Although dogs prefer their own space when eating (not big on sharing!) they have evolved plenty of behaviour for negotiating social contact around food.
For the most part, this can cause trouble for us living with modern dogs, but it can be easily managed, with the right guidance.

Competitive interactions, that may lead to resource guarding and even social facilitation have been shaped over millions of years and generations, and despite a few hundred years of pretty intense selective breeding modern dogs still show these behaviours strongly today.

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Digging/burying and hoarding behaviour may be employed by many dogs, often much to their owner’s disgust (especially the green-fingered owners). Some dogs appear really bothered when they get something quite special, carrying it from place to place, vocalising, difficulty settling…
This may be frustration related at not having a safe place to work on their treat or indeed at not being able to stash it away for a rainy day.

Grass and plant eating can cause concern for many owners. But for the most part where this behaviour isn’t excessive or too intense, it’s probably nothing to worry about and a normal part of canine behaviour.
However, where dogs do this a lot, or try to, and/or where there has been any changes to this behaviour have a chat with your vet as soon as possible.
Intense eating of grass, plants or other non-food items (behaviour called pica) may be linked with gastrointestinal upset and stress.

And you thought feeding was just about putting- food-in-a-bowl…

 

In Part 2 we will be looking at things to get started enriching your dog’s life!

Top Training Tips

Just be

What ever happened to doing nothing?

I can’t remember what I used to do when there was any sort of lull in the action before I had a smartphone.
Anything other than constant stimulation and I am reaching for my iPhone…

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The movie Bolt struck a cord when I saw it a few years ago.

It’s about a canine star of a TV show, Bolt, who plays a dog with super-powers saving his person Penny from the Green Eyed Man, week in, week out.
Except, that nobody told Bolt it was just a work of fiction and that he isn’t really a super-dog.

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When the cameras stop rolling Bolt is kept in a permanent state of readiness, to fend off attacks by his enemies.

What about pet dogs? 

We certainly invest lots in teaching them to do lots of stuff, to increase their responsiveness, to build their love of learning and interaction.
And we put lots of energy into keeping them active, getting them moving, in the hope that a tired dog is a good dog (but is it?).

When do they get to just be?

‘Just being’ doesn’t necessarily come easily

Pretty much every type of dog was developed for some sort of job and in modern pet-dom most dogs are unemployed.

Our efforts in guiding dogs from wild to pet, whether intentional or not, selected for characteristics such as wariness, reactivity, inquisitiveness, attachment and activity.

Our pets’ lives, just like our’s, continue to become more and more sedentary with us substituting real-life pursuits for those that are easier to participate from a seated position – even sport is a less serious outlet for pretty serious behaviour.

Without outlets for our behaviour, it is channelled somewhere else – I have a Smartphone but what do our dogs have?

Would we know a dog ‘just being’ if we saw one?

It can be tricky to spot a calm, chilled out dog.

With great access to knowledge you might think we have a better handle on canine signalling, but unfortunately our awareness (or lack thereof) is affected by popular media’s interpretation of “calmness”.

Shutdown is not the same as calmness

A dog who is overwhelmed by a situation and can’t use behaviour to escape something they find unpleasant, will often show signs of ‘shutting down’.

This happens because the dog is unable to escape and his requests for relief have gone unheard/unanswered. This is typified by a very still dog – the absence of behaviour is not calmness.

Shut down dogs interact minimally with their environment, their body may be still and tense, if they are moving their posture may be low slung, they will often be frozen, you may see them yawn, lick their lips, and squint and blink (outside of normal contexts for these behaviours).

Eileen Anderson’s clip gives you a run down of some examples, mistaken for calmness:

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Calmness myths and mistakes:

  • The absence of behaviour is not calmness (nor ideal)
  • Stillness because there’s no way out, ain’t calmness
  • Stillness through restraint ain’t calmness
  • Lying down through uncomfortable handling or contact ain’t calmness
  • Compliance because they can’t escape ain’t calmness
  • Compliance due to the application of training equipment or techniques (that the individual finds aversive) ain’t calmness
  • “Settling” due to exhaustion, ain’t calmness (is a tired dog, a good dog?)
  • Less behaviour is not necessarily better than more behaviour
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If you want less behaviour, maybe the one in the middle ain’t for you…

What does a ‘just being’ dog look like?

A chilled dog is loose, breathing deeply, he may still be monitoring the environment but not really on his tip-toes, he may still be responsive but not in an overly enthusiastic way – but the biggest difference?

The chilled out, calm, ‘just being’ dog is choosing to chill, be calm and be.

Back to Eileen Anderson for her ying to the yang clip:

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Teaching a dog to just be

Start by helping your dog to learn that settling, and being calm is excellent!
Check out Week 2 training games from our Train Your Dog Month here.

From ‘excited-by-everything’ to just-be

This dog needs help coming down from the highs, and to better control his swings from up to down.

  • play games with rules:

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  • make play training and training play

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  • play jazz up/settle down

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From ‘let’s go go go’ to just-be

This dog needs help learning that they don’t need to be ‘on’ all the time – good things happen when you’re doing nothing too.

Both in training sessions, and in life, mark and reward doing nothing – even if it’s only a split second – the more you reinforce nothing, the less frantic behaviour you will see.

  • make sure to put behaviours on stimulus control – this means that the dog learns to offer behaviours when you cue them only, rather than as soon as he thinks there might be a reward or he thinks it might be time to work

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  • teach calm-focus exercises rather than laser-focus-on-the-task activities

Week 4 of our Train Your Dog Month program

  • make doing-nothing your new job

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  • take a break/breath

https://aniedireland.wordpress.com/2016/01/16/training-game-2-5/

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Hanging out

When we might only have limited time with a dog, whether that be because we are visiting, working long hours or the dog is in a rescue/kennel environment, of course we want to make the most of our time together.

But, a dog who hasn’t been getting too much human attention will be pretty wound up and anticipatory waiting for it. Sometimes, it’s better just to hang out with them – this gives them the opportunity to calm down, bond and be.

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Just be…a dog

Don’t forget, that before the dog can just be, he must have an outlet to just be a dog too.

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Top Training Tips

The Joy of Boring Rewards

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Do you, your dog and your training a favour and teach your dog to work for, to love and to get excited about more boring rewards.

Many pet owners describe how they ask their dog to wait for their food, before putting the bowl on the floor.
Take that a step further – don’t be uncomfortable with the idea of having your dog offer desired behaviours for each piece of that food rather than the whole meal in one go.

One major benefit to teaching your dog to work for their food, is that their regular food takes on extra significance and extra value.

When it’s harder to get, all of a sudden we want it more…just like these dogs:

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This means that your dog is learning to use behaviours to get things that he wants, even though this stuff may not be steak or roast chicken.

Now transfer that to when you want and need behaviours from your dog, when you need your dog to reign it in, when you need your dog to pay attention, you want to teach him a new behaviour  or you just want to divert your dog for a couple of minutes.

If we use our big guns for the most mundane situations, what happens when we really need better ammo?

Here’s Decker and I playing with kibble when out and about – in the first bit there are other dogs, walkers, joggers around us in the park and in the second bit we are walking near the wild deer – not too close because I don’t want them to approach us either!

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The most boring of boring kibble is what has his attention here – it’s fun to hang out with me and cardboard-kibble!

Catching and searching are favourite games – by pairing this fun with kibble, the kibble gains more value.

If I wanted to do something really special or tricky or use food to help Decker better cope with a fear or concern I have lots of bigger and better guns in my arsenal such as cheese, chicken, salami, tug toys or tennis balls.

Before you reach for the big guns…

…make boring rewards more fun:
  • make a training mix

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Don’t worry if you don’t feed kibble; lots of ideas for other foods here too. 

  • get rid of those food bowls (you knew we were going to say that, right?!)

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  • play with your food

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  • turn sniffing out food into a brilliant game

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  • teach your dog to sniff out food on cue

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  • use sniffing games as a reward

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  • pair other more valuable rewards with lower value rewards

This works by teaching your dog that every time they accept a boring reward, something they love even more is coming. With enough pairings, in the right sequence, the more boring reward takes on greater value to your dog.

Here Lottie learns that eating kibble makes a tug game happen:

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  • check your dog’s stress or worry levels

Dogs who are feeling under pressure, are concerned about something in the environment or are exposed to stressors will be less likely to eat. They may not even want higher value rewards.

Here’s a great outline of signs that your dog may be experiencing some stress and may be overwhelmed, from 4PawsU.

If it’s all too much for your dog, take them somewhere else, bring them away from the hustle and bustle and just let them be – remove the social pressure.

Pain is a major stressor so always be sure to check in with your vet if you are concerned about your dog’s stress levels.

  • check how much food your dog really needs

Something that’s so easy to forget is that dogs are incredibly efficient when it comes to using and taking in energy.

That means that they probably need much less food than they would have you believe.

Check your dog’s body condition:

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And have a look at the body condition scoring system and weight management here.

Have a chat with your vet if you have any concerns about your pet’s weight or body condition.

Boring Rewards ROCK!

Soon you will have a dog who is working hard to earn even the most boring rewards, while you still have some ammo in your arsenal for the real training challenges.

Top Training Tips

Training Game 3.4

Doggie Zen Level 3

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So yesterday we achieved zen with only one or two treats on the floor, today it’s a whole bowl of treats on the floor…and you thought Level 2 was a challenge!

Today’s Games

Time Allowance:
Practice for 1-2 minute sessions and then take a break. Have a few  sessions today.

Try fitting  each short session into your routine; for example, while you wait for the kettle to boil, during the ad break of your TV show or while you wait for the computer to start up.

Really do keep sessions short on these exercises! The self-control bank account depletes fast and your dog will need some time to recuperate so make sure to give them a good break too.

Family Participation:
This exercise is for adults only!

Top Tip for Today’s Training Games:
Notice that we don’t ask our dog to do anything here at all – no talking!

This is about self-control – we are working on a default here so you never need to ask for polite behaviour when you have things your dog wants – he just does it!

Remember, if your dog gets stuck with any of our exercises this week, think of ways that you can make it easier for him to succeed and then build again more gradually.

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Zen Level 3

  • add some food rewards to a small bowl or container (make sure you can cover the container with one hand)
  • begin to lower the container toward the floor, if your dog moves toward the container of food, bring the food back up to your lap or onto a chair or table
  • if your dog offers behaviours from his polite list continue to lower the container until you can get it on the floor
  • if your dog approaches the container cover it with your hand
  • if your dog paws or bites at your hand lift the container up off the floor for a couple of seconds and try to lower gradually again
  • cover the container until your dog shows at least one behaviour from your polite list
  • once uncovered, if your dog stays back from the container of food offer him a food reward

Work on this one until your dog can stay back off the container full of treats!

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Top Training Tips, Train Your Dog Month 2016

Pay the Dog

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So you’ve seen how much your dog wants to, needs to and enjoys working for his food with last week’s games – think of all the behaviours he has had to carry out to earn his keep…

Just like people, dogs don’t work for free and if we want them to do behaviours for us, we gotta make it worth their while.

Because some behaviours can be trickier than others, the rate we pay will also need to vary appropriately.

Here Jean Donaldson discusses motivation in dog training:

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Lower value rewards work best for easier behaviours and higher value rewards work best for harder behaviours.

Is it just about food rewards?

Nope, it’s about motivation!

We want our dogs to want to carry out the behaviours we want them to do – to achieve that we need to work out what motivates them, and then teach them how to get those things.

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By teaching our dog to be a good human-trainer, they will learn to carry out behaviours that cause us to release motivators.

Dogs do what works!

Food rewards are handy because…
  • your dog has to eat – that’s why teaching your dog to work for his regular food is so valuable
  • animals will readily carry out behaviour that earns them food – all animals are biologically motivated by food (if a dog isn’t eating there may be something else going on…)
  • food rewards that are small enough are quick rewards allowing you to practice another repetition quickly – this allows dogs to learn most effectively
  • anticipation of food rewards causes the release of pleasant feelings in the brain
  • seeking out food is incompatible with feelings of fear, anxiety or panic

Following our program will help you to use food rewards in training most effectively; more here too:

How to train a dog with food rewards

Training dogs with food

Beyond food rewards

Motivators come in all shapes and sizes, and are often individual to each dog and sometimes to breeds or types of dog.

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Anything your dog likes access to or likes to escape from can reward their behaviour.
Out of these things, ones that you can control are most useful in training.

Make a list of the things that your dog likes.
This might include certain foods, toys, activities, praise & attention, other individuals or places such as:

  • eating
  • playing
  • tugging
  • fetching
  • sniffing
  • swimming
  • splashing
  • rolling
  • meeting
  • greeting
  • humping
  • barking
  • chasing

Grade the value of the rewards in your list. This way you will have a better idea of higher or lower value rewards that your dog will work for.

It’s often best to use the lowest value rewards that your dog will work for in a given scenario – keep your big guns for when the going really gets tough!

Think of rewarding your dog as a quid-pro-quo deal – “you do this behaviour for me, and I will give you access to the things you like!”

Competition

I am sure you have noticed that sometimes your dog isn’t interested in the things you have to offer…distractions will compete for your dog’s behaviour, making training harder.

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Distractions might include:

  • eating
  • playing
  • tugging
  • fetching
  • sniffing
  • swimming
  • splashing
  • rolling
  • meeting
  • greeting
  • humping
  • barking
  • chasing

Notice anything…?

Distractions are just rewards that your dog wants more than whatever you have to offer, right now.

Make another list:

  • what is your dog distracted by?
  • what would your dog rather be doing when you would like him to do something else?

Just as you did with your rewards list, grade these distractions – just how distracting are they?

Now you have lists that allow you to balance rewards and distractions. Something high on the distraction end of the list will require rewards high on the rewarding end too!

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What do your dog’s lists look like?

Top Training Tips, Train Your Dog Month 2016

Is a tired dog really a good dog?

Well, yes and no….

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Dogs need a balance of physical and mental exercise to keep them healthy and so that they continue to be easy to live with. If we don’t provide both and in balanced proportions we could run into trouble…

Physical exercise causes stress on the body – not necessarily bad stress, but the body needs to adjust to compensate for activity, for example, increased heart rate, increased breathing rate and so on.

Please note that mental exercise can cause this too so we must be aware of balancing this within each physical or mental activity, not just broadly balancing physical and mental challenges.

Stress, at a body chemical level, causes the body to become wound up, to prepare for this exertion, to cope with the stressors.

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Look at your dog when they are physically exerting themselves…panting, tongue lolling, enlarged pupils, keenly focused on the ball (or whatever is the subject of their exertion)…maybe they jump up a little more than usual, maybe they mouth a little harder than normal…

When we push that physical exertion we can cause the dog to become more and more wound up – you may have made the observation that even after running around like a lunatic, your dog is still up for more even when you have had enough activity.

Where we might run into problems is with the excitement-addict…

Ever heard of the marathon runner who has become ‘addicted’ to the highs produced by exertion?
You will have certainly heard of so-called adrenaline junkies; canine excitement-addicts may experience this and want to put themselves in situations where they will hit those highs, over and over.

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Don’t despair – you’re in the right place…

A few things can help here:

  • introduce lots and lots and lots of calming breaks during activity to help bring your dog ‘down’ from the highs – once he’s calmer, reward with the opportunity for more fun
  • increase mental exercise to achieve better balance
  • teaching the dog to settle calmly by rewarding calm behaviour
  • look at the type, amount and suitability of physical exercise provided

A dog that is relaxing peacefully, can calm himself and bring himself down from the highs will have had lots of practice and guidance in this and will be living a balance of mental and physical challenges.

(Is your dog getting up to 18 hours of sleep each day?)

Too much of a good thing…?

How do we strike that balance between physical exercise and mental challenge to ensure our dog’s happiness and health?

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The amount of physical and mental exercise that is healthy, will depend on many factors, including:

  • the dog’s age and neuter status
  • the dog’s breed, type and conformation
  • the dog’s current fitness and overall health
  • the dog’s temperament and abilities, both physical and cognitive
  • the dog’s current ability to cope with excitement and stress
  • the season and weather
  • availability of suitable facilities for exercise
  • local laws and restrictions relating to dogs
  • the owner’s ability to exercise the dog
  • the owner’s goals for the dog, for example, is he to become a competitive sports dog?

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Considerations for the challenges we present to puppies and young dogs are some of the most important.

Generally the rule for young and growing dogs is to allow them to decide how much exercise they take – allow them to potter, to sniff and to wander.

We often recommend to provide about 5 minutes per month (age) of structured exercise, such as leash walks.
Therefore for example, a 12 week old puppy should have about 15-20 minutes of structured exercise per day.

On top of those important concerns, mental exercise, downtime and appropriate challenges are vital for puppies and young dogs. Adolescent dogs particularly will benefit from extra attention to teaching them how to calm themselves and cope with excitement.

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Puppy Culture from trainer and breeder Jane Messineo Lindquist has some really great resources on all aspects of puppy rearing, and this fantastic area on Appropriate Exercise.

It’s often the case that most petslive too sedentary a lifestyle so in many situations more and better physical exercise is required. But, if we bring in physical exercise we also need to put lots of effort into mental exercise too.

For some great ideas on introducing lots of mental challenges, without adding too much more physical exertion check out the book No Walks, No Worries (available from Amazon.co.uk) by Sian Ryan.

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Look no further, you’re in the right place – our Train Your Dog Month 2016 program offers lots of ideas and guidance so that you can help your dog develop skills vital to becoming a pleasure to share your life with.