This Dog Trainer Can Trust Her Own Dog, and the Dog Training

We had a little incident at our home this evening. Yep, I admit, this dog trainer isn't perfect and neither are the rest of the humans in the household. However, Poncho, my inquisitive canine and trusty dog behavior advice column sidekick seemed to be spot on tonight, (although I admit my fast twitch muscle fibers were working well).

What was the issue? We had a cookie malfunction: my darling husband was carrying a cookie and half of it fell out of his hand and flew across the slippery hardwood floor like a hockey puck on the way to the goal. Needless to say, Poncho McQuikie pants was right on its tail!

I was in the other room, watching the whole thing go down, envisioning Poncho consume his entire caloric intake for the week in one bite, but before his soft warm fuzzy lips wrapped themselves around the delectable molasses chew from Trader Joes, I yelled out "Leave it!" as I was flying out of the chair and across the room, while reaching in and grabbing the mouthwatering morsel up off the floor...AND BY GOLLY PONCHO THE DOG DID IT! Poncho actually backed away from it even BEFORE my hand was near it! I was so shocked I did the happy dance, said he was a good boy, then broke off a tiny, Poncho-sized piece for his reward of leaving it alone!

The "Leave it!" behavior is one of the basic cues I teach in many of my dog training classes here in Ventura. And I guess all the practice with him as my demo dog has paid off! During this more emotional time, I allowed all the training practice to kick in and lo and behold it worked! One of my dog training class mantra's is "Train it before you need it!" or "Don't wait to need a behavior to train a behavior!" I always hope I never have to use this type of cue (usually indicates danger), but it's nice to know I have it in my arsenal just in case there is a cookie incident.

Another point I make in my dog training classes is the concept of "trust". The use of food in dog training helps dogs develop trust between themselves and whomever is working with them, or with other humans. For owners, they need to trust that their dogs are actually going to perform the behaviors they are being taught. I guess I'm the prime example of that!

Thank you my darling inquisitive canine Poncho! I hope I won't need to use that cue again, but it's nice to know you're paying attention and that I can trust you know you're stuff - and the cues! What a good boy you are!

The Use of Physical Punishment in Dog Training: The Dark Half

Had a call from a wonderful dog guardian today looking for a dog training class here in Ventura that not only uses "positive reinforcement" but that avoids the use of items such as prong collars and choke chains. Whoo boy did she come to the right place!!! I was happy that this certified professional dog trainer could offer her just what she wanted! I felt like contradicting Mick and telling this person "You CAN always get what you want!"

We had a nice chat about the types of training techniques I use to teach both the dogs and dog training students. She was thankful and relieved that my dog training classes use humane methods - so much so that she has pre-registered for my January 2010 dog training Good Manners class - This is something I find reinforcing!

She then told me that the first class she took her dog to talked about using rewards, but they also used aversives such as those icky collars I mention above. That type of equipment often includes other types of coercive methods such as collar corrections and alpha rolling. Yikes!!! That's like someone slapping you then buying you flowers. Sorry - I wouldn't learn much of anything, except to be afraid for my life.

This lovely person understood why the use of inhumane compulsive methods to teach another animal doesn't make sense, but today I thought it would be useful to help educate those who are still unclear of what these intimidating, bullying, abusive methods can lead to. I have it written out very clearly in my dog training Manners Class workbook, but here is the gist:

• What exactly is an aversive? An aversive is an event, or change in the environment that an animal finds unpleasant, and seeks to avoid.
• Positive punishment is the start of anything the animal finds unpleasant, and negative reinforcement is the termination of anything unpleasant. In other words, something unpleasant either starts or stops. The animals motivation with either of these is prevention or cessation of something unpleasant.

For punishment to be effective, several requirements must be met:

• Punishment must be immediate each and every time! Timing! (Gotta be Johnny on the spot!)
• Punishment must follow each and every time the behavior occurs. Consistency! (Honestly, are you around every time to deliver the punishment for the behavior you're trying to eliminate?)
• Punishment must be severe enough for it to work the first time. (Are you really able to deliver something that severe? It needs to be in order for it to actually work!)
• Punishment should change the dogs behavior. (Hey, if it didn't work after one time it's not working!)
• Punishment must me doable by the owner. (Can you? Really?)

Damaging side-effects of using aversives:

• Dog can begin to associate the aversive with the presence of the owner (or punisher).
• Can lead to learned helplessness - stops trying anything for fear of being punished.
• Punishment only tells the dog what you don’t want.
• Punishment is inappropriate for dogs with underlying fear issues.
• Punishment might not generalize the cessation of the specific behavior. If given the opportunity to perform the behavior in areas where the dog wasn’t punished, they may do just that.
• Punishment tends to generalize the underlying fear towards any similar environmental situations.

Although this type of punishment can work, and often provide an immediate release of anger and frustration of the person delivering the punishment (there are better coping skills), there is often only a temporary toning down of the behavior the person is initially trying to change. Plus, they only focus on what you don’t want, and not the behavior you want the animal to perform.

Why not avoid all of this nasty stuff and stick to the KISS principle of dog training? It works, it's easy, and it's fun...for both the dog and the human! Plus, you end up getting what you want!

Dangerous Outcome Could Come to Tomato Loving Labrador

My trusty sidekick Poncho and I received a dog behavior question for Dear Inquisitive Canine column about a fun-loving lab mix that enjoys eating all of the homegrown tomatoes in his yard. The dog guardian who wrote in was a little annoyed with this hunting activity, I believe more so because she didn't have any to eat herself! Hmm, that would be annoying - especially when you're craving fresh tomatoes for your evening meal, and there aren't any left!

I addressed this inquisitive dog guardian by outlining key management steps such as: Sturdier fencing, barricades, and yard location that would deter (and protect) her dog, while protecting the plants and her morsels of deliciousness. I also included some simple dog training tips including:

• Rewarding her dog whenever he ignored the plants
• Encouraging her to provide other enrichment activities that would redirect him away from the plants, while allowing him to "hunt". Something along the lines of a scavenger hunt for his kibble, or a tomato/kibble stuffed food toy would be fantastic.

Along with the above management and training, there is something even more important about this tomato hunting dilemma: the tomato plant is toxic to dogs! (cats and horses too). The fruit seems to be fine for this dog to eat, and many other dogs, but the leaves and plant itself have been know to cause many health problems.

According to the ASPCA, signs and symptoms of tomato plant toxicity include: Hypersalivation, inappetence, severe gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea, drowsiness, CNS depression, confusion, behavioral change, weakness, dilated pupils, and slow heart rate. For more information on tomato plant toxicity, as well as other common poisonous plants, click here to access the ASPCA website.

To read the full post, please check out our Dear Inquisitive Canine dog behavior advice column - the tomato loving lab will be featured on November 13th 2009 on the Noozhawk website.

Getting All Choked Up Over the Use of Coercion in Dog Training

Maybe it's the latest applied behavior analysis class I've just taken, maybe it's the decongestant and antihistamine stupor I'm in, but it occurred to me, just now, that maybe I need to try a new approach when speaking to those who still prefer to use choke, prong and Citronella collars to train their dogs.

Being of the positive reinforcement, humane, least intrusive approach to training dogs type of dog trainer, this means when I hear or see people go to the dark side, I try to get them to come on over to my camp, usually by explaining and demonstrating all of the wonderful and simple techniques such as shaping, lure and reward, with or without the use of a clicker. This is what I teach in my dog training classes, private dog training clients, and of course all throughout my dog training game!

But sometimes humans don't want to listen; I guess they might find it to be punishing. So instead of all of that, how about if I ask them this: How does it make you feel, deep down inside, when you choke, yank, coerce, yell at, berate, or cause harm to your dog just to get them to do what you want? Do you find it to be fulfilling and reinforcing to yourself? Or, as when one person called me today, do you feel bad inside about doing things like that to your dog?

If you feel bad about it, then I encourage you to dump the aversive techniques and try something different! Simple steps such as:

• Reward behaviors you like and want! Praise, belly rubs, games of fetch and tug, or giving your dog a part of their meal - all will send a message of "I love when you do that!" And you'll get more of that behavior.
• Manage your dogs environment so they're less likely to perform those undesired behaviors.
• Provide outlets for your dog to let all of those doggy behaviors out!

Trust me, these three simple steps will help anyone achieve baby steps to their final goals. If you know someone who prefers the dark side, you might want to take that first step and forward them this information - who knows, you might find helping others to be reinforcing.

Are Dog Breed Biases Really History Repeating Itself?

As a society, isn't it time people use their critical thinking skills and take the time to get educated? The dog picture is of a Pit Bull Terrier - before all of the body altering. Remember: nature, nurture, and above all, a product of our environment. Violence begets violence! Banning breeds isn't going to make people smarter - just more fearful. It's time to educate in order to help prevent fear and ignorance from driving our decision making.

For more information on Pit Bull's including rescue information and how you can help, please visit Pit Bull Rescue website.

Are We Breeding Shelter Dogs?

I've been up in Oakland at the APDT annual conference for the past few days. Yesterdays Fear and Anxiety in Dogs symposium had some good information, but one topic I'm quite passionate about is the issues with dogs ending up in shelters. Whose fault is it? In my professional certified dog trainer opinion, it's certainly not the dogs.

I don't believe it's anyones intention for dogs to end up in shelters, even breeders. Just like when parents have children, I'm sure it's never their intention to breed criminals - but it happens. Unlike humans though, dogs often aren't provided an environment where they can make choices we want them to make. They're left to fend for themselves, then get blamed and in trouble for acting like a dog - humans get frustrated, then they take the dog to the shelter attaching labels like "My dog it aggressive and dominant, I can't deal with him (or her) any more."

What can be done? Prevention and Socialization!!! Sure, puppy training classes and basic dog training classes are great, but it needs to go beyond the basic 6-session dog obedience class. Just like humans go through a multitude of developmental stages, so do our dogs. It doesn't stop at just one class.

• Teach dogs behaviors they need to exist in our human world. And continue reinforcing those skills learned.
• What items to chew on and when.
• How to be alone and entertain themselves through enrichment programs designed for dogs.
• Meet and greet hundreds of humans while they're young pups, and again continue allowing them to meet new people, in different places and in different situations.
• CONTINUE socialization during adolescence so they can continue learning and adapting to their environment.
• Understand what normal behaviors are for dogs.

For many of these dogs it's the environment they are born into, and are raised in, that is often the cause for the issues that land them in the shelters - so again this falls back onto the shoulders of the humans that have the most influence over them and their quality of life. I only wish that some day there are universal training protocols, "Gold Standards" if you will, for dog training. Until then it's wise to be critical thinkers, use common sense, and plan for how to raise a healthy and happy dog in order to keep them out of the shelter.

Holiday Gift Boutique a Benefiting Ventura Humane Society Sunday November 15th

The Inquisitive Canine is happy to report that we will be hosting our second annual Holiday Gift Boutique benefiting our local Ventura County Humane Society. It was such a success last year, we've decided to have it again!

A few details of the event:

• Date: Sunday, November 15, 2009
• Time: 1:00 - 4:00 PM
• Place: The Inquisitive Canine Training Studio 2159 Palma Drive, Suite D, Ventura CA 93003

Each vendor will be donating a percentage of their sales to the Ventura County Humane Society. Participants include:

• Building Bright Minds (children's books)Decorative Gourds
• Custom Wind Chimes
• Passport Pearls
• Pampered Chef with Patti Brown
• Tastefully Simple
• Custom Knitwear
• Mexican Crafts
• Arbonne products
• Home Accessories and Gifts by Mock Orange
• Out of the Box Dog Training Game - the ideal gift for all dogs and their humans!

The Inquisitive Canine store items will also be on sale for this event - great time to purchase holiday gifts for your canine companions! We look forward to seeing you there!