Denise Fenzi's Blog, page 11

Be Crisp!

Good training is much more than teaching specific skills or developing your dog’s emotional comfort. You also need a plan for what you will do after you finish one exercise and before you start another, a plan for unsuccessful repetitions, and a plan for unexpected results.  In combination, these lead to “crisp” training sessions.  Today I’ll discuss the first one.

There are times when your dog will be with you but you are not actively training even though you are within a training session. You might be moving equipment, speaking with an instructor or another person, or maybe adjusting a video camera or simply deciding what you want to do next.

What is your dog doing during that time? If you’re not sure, go back and look at a prior video and then you will know.

Here’s what I want you to look for.

If your dog is offering behaviors, something is wrong. Why does your dog think they might be able to earn a reward? How can you make a plan to make it more clear to your dog that nothing is happening at that moment?

If your dog is staring at you, and then moving away, and then staring at you, and then moving away, etc., something is wrong. Why is your dog unsure of whether or not they should be working at that moment?  How can you provide more clarity to your dog?

If your dog is struggling to engage when you re-start, why is that? Done well, working opportunities should be specific, discrete, easily recognizable by your dog, and a chance to earned a desired reinforcer, so your dog should be extremely enthusiastic when they appear!  And if your dog is not, ask yourself…why is that?  Is it possible that you manage your time in between work with free cookies, so there’s no real difference between working time and simply being alive?

The time in between training repetitions is important.  Strive to be “crisp” in your training sessions; the entire session, not just when you’re teaching a behavior!

If you’re not so sure about this, take a moment to visualize some of your favorite trainers. What do they do with their dogs when they are talking to you or talking to the camera or in between training repetitions?   I think you will find that their dogs almost never offer behaviors or look unsure; the dog knows exactly when they are working, when they are on their own time, and when they have been asked to perform a mild endurance behavior like a relaxed stay while they wait for their handler to be ready again.

You have a variety of options for handling this time, but let’s start with an assessment.  If your dog is offering behaviors, or checking in and out with you (and the environment), or if you are not pleased with the way your dog comes back to work when you are ready to restart, there’s a good chance you will be able to trace the root of the issue to the “spaces in between.”  Take a close look and see what you can do to improve the matter.

If people express interest, I can discuss options in my next blog. Go ahead and comment if this would be useful to you.

On another note, the new Fenzi Dog Sports Academy Pet Professionals Program (FDSA-PPP) has released its website! Registration for PPP workshops will begin June 22, and instruction will start in July. If you’d like to learn more about how that program will operate, please visit the website:  FDSA Pet Professionals.

And…we are finally on Instagram! If you are a fan of FDSA or the new PPP program, please follow us on Instagram! To make it a little more fun, we are currently offering contests to encourage you –  Follow us! Tag us in your photos when you train your happy FDSA dogs! Excited to see you there –  Look for…. @fdsapetprofessionals.

And lest you think we’ve abandoned FDSA, you would be absolutely wrong. Registration is currently underway for classes, workshops and webinars.   Find what works best for you and get registered.

 

Reactivity and a loose leash – Chicken or the Egg?

A Predictable sequence of reactivity looks like this…

Dog sees a trigger – let’s say another dog.  He moves forward, hits the end of the leash, and now he escalates rapidly; up on his toes barking and lunging. That causes the other dog to look and see what the fuss is about. The eye contact causes the reactive dog to work himself up into a froth at about which time the distressed owner is dragging their hysterical dog away, with or without verbal harassment and collar corrections, which is making things entirely worse and most certainly not better. And in terms of future reactions? The dog has practiced another round of problematic behavior which makes it more likely to occur next time.

Here is the question I want you to consider. Did the tight leash cause the overreaction or did the overreaction cause the dog to tighten the leash?

I would argue it’s both – those behaviors feed off each other and when you’re looking at a cyclical pattern, you want to break the cycle.  Somewhere. Anywhere!

Clearly the trigger appeared.  That got the dog’s attention.   But in most cases, the vocalizing and complete loss of control occur when the dog is at the end of the leash facing the trigger.   That is why I am focused on keeping a loose leash when a dog has a tendency to overreact in public – either from aggression or excitement or frustration or fear or much of anything else.

If I can keep the dog thinking about his body in relation to the leash then I have a much better chance of keeping his emotions from overrunning his brain.  Remember that as soon as your dog is pulling on the end of the leash, opposition reflex will kick in and will skyrocket your dog’s problematic behavior, and the more hysterical your dog’s behavior becomes, the harder it is to stop the spiral.

In a perfect world the reactive behavior is not allowed to start because the handler sees the trigger well before the dog and makes decisions to avoid it. But in real life, that’s not how it goes.

So here’s my rule of managing and preventing reactivity:

Train your dog to walk on a loose leash and have a way to make that happen if the dog’s behavior threatens to tighten the leash.  The dog must keep the leash loose. There are many ways to do that but that is the goal to hold and to help your clients understand. Keep the leash loose.  Make that your focus over all other things.  Dog on his toes looking ahead?  Tell your client – don’t let the leash tighten and if it does, react immediately to get it loose again.

You can do that with greater distance (go the other way), cookies, prior training, equipment (front clip harness or head halters), verbal interaction, circling- whatever you find to be most valuable.  But make that piece happen.  A loose leash.

If you doubt this, watch a video of reactive dogs and notice how often the behavior escalates as soon as the dog feels tension on their collar.  A lot!  Prevent that tension from starting and a whole lot of reactivity dissolves.

When my dog tightens the leash we circle, and since circling is not punishing we circle at lots of other times too – it’s a familiar pattern.  We circle when we see horses and squirrels and chickens and sheep and people and dogs and most anything.  And you know what?  It works.   My dogs see something interesting, and while they might initially lunge forward, as soon as they feel the leash tension they remember their job and they stop pulling.  They might stand and stare, which is fine IF the leash is loose.  But they do not vocalize or lunge because those things are not compatible with a loose leash.  And if they forget?  Or are too excited to make a good choice?  Then we circle as long as necessary, which prevents additional escalation and get them back into their head.  And then I wait – when they are ready we can continue on.  With a loose leash.

Try it and tell me how it goes for you.

 

Handling training sabotage

You’re working on your dog’s polite greetings and your neighbor encourages your dog to jump enthusiastically on her chest.  You want your dog to wait politely at the door but your spouse allows them to rush out willy-nilly.  Your reactive dog is struggling with greetings in public, and yet well-meaning neighbors keep rushing up to you with their “friendly” dogs.

How do you handle these situations?

The good news – dogs are contextual.  What that means is that if your husband lets the dog rush out the door and you ask your dog to wait, then when it’s your turn your dog will almost certainly wait. Dogs figure stuff like that out quickly.  Actually so do children, which is why kids choose which parent to go to when they want something –  they stack the odds in their favor! So if your neighbor allows your dog to jump on her chest, but no one else does, you dog will figure that out as well.

Don’t get me wrong. Varied rules are not ideal, especially when you are talking about things that you absolutely positively never want to happen. Because if you can set it in the dog’s head that a given behavior is never going to happen, then habit takes over and that is easier on everyone. Regardless, your dog is very likely to figure out your rules vs another person’s rules eventually, if imperfectly.

If something is really important to you, and I mean really important? Pick a totally different time and talk to the person. Explain your interest, ask for their cooperation and go from there. If they refuse to cooperate with you then you don’t have a dog training problem. You have an interpersonal problem with that individual. Address that as you see fit depending on your relationship with the person.

And if it’s not that important to you? If it’s okay if your dog behaves one way with you and another with your family member? Pick your battles. Just let it go! The less you fuss about in general, the more cooperation you’ll get when you really need it.

How about on a walk? You are trying to teach your dog not to bark and lunge at dogs that come too close, and people come barreling up anyway. What can you do about that?

This almost never happens to me. It’s so rare that I can count out every example over the last year. And the reason is simple.  I am pleasant, assertive and aware of my environment, and I have a plan that takes place automatically when I need it.

Here’s what that looks like – “Hi, I’m trying to work my dog through some challenges right now. It would be super helpful if you could bring your dog to you and put your leash on or hold the collar. I’ll cross the street to make it easier for you. I really appreciate your help.”  This request for cooperation should be yelled ahead at 25 yards or whenever it is appropriate so the person can hear, process, and respond – before they have lost control of their dog.

It works surprisingly well. I’ve noticed that when people consistently struggle with other people and their dogs, it’s often because they are not paying very close attention to the environment, so by the time they see a problem coming it’s too late to intervene, or they simply haven’t practiced the words that they need to say in advance so the lack of early communication makes it too late to intervene.  Develop your friendly-assertive language in advance! It is much easier to intercede when another person is involved if you’ve already decided what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it.

Don’t waste your time yelling things like “There’s a leash law!” I have yet to hear a person respond “You are so right!  I totally forgot. Thank you for telling me.” That’s ineffective language which did not advance my goal of changing their behavior.  I used to say things like that until I got some perspective (See my blog, “The weed people“).  Work to get the person on your side.

Finally, sometimes you might find that changing your own behavior is a whole lot easier than changing other people.  I suppose I could try to change their behavior but sometimes that’s too much work and effort, so I change my own.

For example, if I know my neighbor is going to allow my dog to jump on her chest and I don’t want that? Well, when I’m around that person my dog will remain on leash or will stay in the house altogether. I don’t even have to explain if I don’t feel like it. I just change my behavior and life goes on.

I hope something in there helps you. Good luck!

The freedom to choose: A blessing or a curse?

Imagine this.

You’ve got a young woman preparing for a party. It’s her first one. She’s incredibly nervous, so rather than doing productive things to prepare, she’s moving around the house, a little wild eyed, picking things up to start one project but then putting it down as she thinks of another thing that needs to happen, etc. She’s anxious! And she’s working herself up into a tizzy.

You want to help this lady. You can either ask her what she would like to do and give her a couple of choices, or you could direct her. For example, you could say to her, what would you like to do? Do you want to fold napkins at the table or do you want to make the signs for the cars? Or you could tell her, sit here at the table. Do you see these 20 napkins? Fold them into squares. And then put them here in this pile. Then I will bring you another pile.

Stop and think about that for a minute. An anxious person whose brain is working too fast and she’s getting nothing done.

Structure is the better answer. Of course, either one of the above is better than doing nothing but at the end of the day? Specific and concrete direction is the better answer.  Then give her another task.  Maybe at a future party she will be able to handle some choice. Maybe not!   Some people are temperamentally better off being told what to do –  they like it! They do not want to make choices!

Now, there’s a child in the same house. The child has never experienced a party, and is very excited! As a result, the child is running around the house, inconveniencing other people, and making mischief! What should you do?

Tell the child sit here and fold napkins, and then place them in a pile? Or asked the child…what would you like to do, make signs for cars or help with the napkins?

In that case, odds are pretty good that the child is going to be more receptive if you give them choice.   That’s because excitement and enthusiasm are driving the child’s behavior rather than anxiety.

And a dog?

You are in a new place with your dog and the dog is anxious. Now stop and think about this for a second. You could tell your dog to stay on a mat where they have to exercise a degree of self-control and thinking, and you can feed them constantly to try and keep them there. Or you can place them in a crate, take choice off the table, and get on with your life.

Really think about this. Which is in the dog’s best interest?

I’m a fan of choice. I really am! Within training I always give my dog a choice if I think that is in their best interest. But sometimes it is not in the dog’s best interest! Sometimes the kindest thing you can do for a dog is to step up, tell the dog what you need them to do, and then make it happen. The dog knows that you will take care of the situation, and of course you need to do so!

It’s that simple.  Direction is the kind answer.

Choice is both a blessing and a curse. Choice is an awesome motivator when the animal in question is in a place to be motivated and positively involved in the game. When the dog’s head is clear and they are engaged in a positive interaction with you. When they are actively working and thinking and doing something.

But direction is the correct answer when the animal in front of you is anxious and distressed. They are not in a good frame of mind to make choices. It adds to their distress!  And direction is also the correct answer when you simply want the dog to relax. Nothing is happening! They are NOT working!

The pendulum is swinging! I love choice. I also love direction.  Look at the dog in front of you and choose wisely.   And if you don’t like the result? Change something!

When you add a behavioral intervention you should see progress quickly in the majority of cases.  If not, then something went wrong. Re-evaluate the situation and try again.

 

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

In a nutshell, the Dunning-Kruger effect says that experts tend to overestimate the ability of others to do what they can do, and novices tend to overestimate their ability to do what they really can do.

For dog trainers, this is bad news because it means that the experts teaching assume that the students can correctly execute what they were taught, and the novices learning think they can do it too – and both are wrong!  No one’s got much perspective here.

So what’s the end result?

Student thinks they did “it” perfectly – just as they were taught!  Yet the dog is not performing correctly, therefore it’s the dog’s fault for not trying or their dog is just weird. The student gets frustrated with the dog, and things go poorly from there.

And the instructor? The instructor thinks they “it” explained perfectly!   And yet the student is not performing correctly! Therefore it’s the student’s fault.  Either the student is not trying or the student is just weird.  The instructor gets frustrated with the student, and things go poorly from there.

What a mess.

What we have is a recipe for no one taking responsibility or recognizing how hard it is to learn new things. Not because the other does not want to or is not trying, but because our psychology is wired such that those who know very little think they know a lot and those who think they know a lot assume others do as well – and that sets the basis for misery all around

When it comes to dog training, this is really quite a problem. Honestly, it might be the crux of why so many dog trainers get burned out and frustrated with their students, and why so many students get frustrated and give up on their dogs.

If there’s one thing that does not aid learning, it’s frustration. So what can we do about this?

Simply knowing about this effect is a big deal! For example, if I am an instructor and I am aware of the Dunning Kruger effect, then I am also aware that I probably need to repeat the same instructions many more times than I might think necessary, and I need to assume that large elements of what I communicate are going to be misunderstood. Not because the student is a bad person or doesn’t want to try harder, but because I am overestimating what they are capable of.  They are trying!  But the mind and body aren’t quite ready to get it right.  Yet!

And if I am the student? Knowing about the Dunning Kruger effect, I can safely assume that I am going to believe that I am a better trainer than I really am. True, that’s sort of painful to acknowledge, but knowing that it’s part of my psychology means that I can be patient with myself and my dog.  I need to really look twice! Three times!  When things aren’t working out the way I want.  Because – sadly enough – odds are pretty darned good that my execution leaves something to be desired, no matter how convinced I am that I am doing it exactly right.

I’m a pretty big fan of taking responsibility for my own behavior, whether I am the instructor or the student. If I am the instructor, I am responsible for making my students successful. Teaching them what they need to do is a waste of time if they cannot do it. I need to take responsibility for communicating in a way that can be executed! I need to offer training advice and ideas that are reasonable, realistic and attainable by the average student with “that” level of experience, whatever that might be.

And as a student? I need to take responsibility there as well. I need to recognize that I’m probably not as good as I think I am, communicate my needs as effectively as possible to my instructor, and hope they are willing to meet me in the middle.

If you are a dog trainer and you are not familiar with the Dunning Kruger effect, at least in principle if not in name, then you should be! Because if you’re finding yourself frustrated with your students, maybe you’re simply overestimating what they can do for you. Maybe instead of being frustrated and expecting more, you can do the same thing you would for a dog.  Namely:

Break things down into smaller pieces.  2. Assume that your learners are trying. 3. Listen to what they need. 4. Judge success against the end result, because that is what tells you if you have been effective, not your intentions.

And while you are judging your effectiveness, it probably doesn’t hurt to point out that you’re not going to win every time.  Some student-instructor matches simply where not made in heaven.  And that’s okay too.

 

The art of integration

Some time ago I started experimenting with incorporating circles into loose leash walking training.   I asked everyone I could get my hands on to try it, tell me what happened, and to show me videos whenever possible. When I felt confident about what I was seeing then I pulled together a more formal method, created a webinar, and started teaching the circling method of loose leash walking online.   Excellent!   If you want to learn about circles for LLW, you can join me for my webinar on May 23rd.  It sold out the first two times it was offered, so if you’re seriously interested then I suggest signing up sooner rather than later.

But wait, there’s more!   Dog trainers began to report that as a result of incorporating circles on their walks there was an even bigger change than whether or not the dog pulled on the leash. Specifically, their dog’s reactivity went down.  And not just a little bit down but a lot. And not over weeks and months, but over days.  And it was working for their students too, even people who could barely figure out how to teach their dogs to sit, let alone manage reactivity.

I started to pay careful attention to cause and effect across a wide range of dogs and handlers. I asked questions. I requested videos and watched the results. I gave feedback and I observed changes – for better and for worse!  I created factors to test and often moved two steps forward and one step backward.  Slowly, I am finding my way to better understand working with dogs showing reactive behavior by incorporating circling into their training and walks.

But that’s not what this post is about.

This post is about integrating what I already know about working with reactive dogs.   I am reasonably familiar with Leslie McDevitt’s Control Unleashed, Grisha Stewart’s BAT, Amy Cook’s Play Way, and basic DS/CC (desensitization and counterconditioning) from the traditional behavior model.  All excellent methods with a good deal to offer us as trainers!

Now, as I feel I am getting a better understanding of the circling method and when, why and how it seems to work most effectively, I want to move towards integrating those methods for individual dogs in individual circumstances. Should a given dog be moving or still?  Should the distances be increased or decreased?  How much should the handler be involved anyway?  And…food….always the question of food. To add food to the process or not. And once again – When? Why? How often?

When you learn new things, don’t walk away from what you learned in the past, or soon you’ll be the guy with a hammer where everything looks like a nail. Instead, Integrate! See if you can mold an even better individually tailored approach – for the right dog with the right handler at the right time.

So that’s my plan. Continue to watch reactive and over aroused dogs. What happens if? That is the question to look at and to test against as many factors and across as many dogs as I can create a chance to observe.

This is how I worked through Brito’s over-arousal around horses. It took about a week. The first horse he saw at about 100 yards and he reacted strongly – probably fear and excitement and maybe a bit of Terrier anger too. And over the next week and maybe 10 different horses, I got him to the point where he could stand quietly while I chatted with an equestrian with no reaction at all.

So how did I do it?   Primarily I used my Loose Leash Walking circles – I kept him moving and circling rather than allowing him to stare, because staring leads Brito to bad choices. But that’s not all I did. I used food too; Leslie McDevitt’s “Look at that” game helped me point out the horses before they were too close so that I could add in my circles at the right distances.  I used the BAT principle of self direction – when Brito was calm he was welcome to lead the direction of travel. And I used personal reassurance, light play and calm observation when I thought those were the right answer, from Amy Cook’s social play approach. Now walks are a chance to see new things, play with mom, hunt lizards and eat a few cookies.  What’s not to love?

The art of integration.   Thinking in this manner, you are more likely to learn new things and add dramatically to your skill base, whether dog training, horses, art, gardening, or whatever might interest you. Rarely is there a right or a wrong approach. Instead, look for a good approach for the circumstances, integrate that with all that you know, and recognize that other combinations may well have worked just as well.

 

Risk: Reason or perception?

Do your dogs play fetch?   Do you walk them off leash?   Do they play together unsupervised? What do they eat or get for toys?    Are they crated when you’re not home?

You know there is a one in a thousand chance that your dog will get a given disease or get hurt doing a given activity. What do you choose to do?

Each individual weighs cost-benefit and societal responses to misfortune  differently.  It’s not a matter of being responsible or irresponsible or loving one’s dogs more or less than the next person.  In the above examples, how many people have actual statistics for which of those activities is most risky? Almost no one.  Instead, you are heavily influenced by what happened to your neighbor, or your sister’s cousin living four states over or what a professional told you might happen or the dog you read about who died when he jumped up, caught a ball, and suffocated when it got lodged in his windpipe.   Never mind it was a one in a million event.  It happened.

When you consider cost-benefit analysis, ask yourself, Can you live with the guilt you will place on yourself if you are the unlucky one – regardless of the benefits you perceive? Can you live with the judgement that others will bestow with the luxury of hindsight?

When I hear someone say “if that happened to me I could never forgive myself” I take note. That person is making good use of their knowledge of their own temperament.

When you take the safe and “known” road no one blames you, even if your choices sacrifice quality of life or if freak accidents happen in the pursuit of doing the right thing. You are being responsible! Following the rules of those who know important things!   Keep your dog on leash, safely crated when you are not available to supervise, fully vaccinated and protected from all parasites on a regular basis and for God sakes, don’t use a Flexi!

And when you take the riskier path?  Make decisions that feel “safe enough” to you but go against the common wisdom of risk?  Someone has to be the one in a million. Or one in a thousand.  Or one in a hundred, depending on your initial “rational” cost-benefit analysis.

If you took a risk that went against common knowledge of what is safe and you were the unlucky one, can you remember why you made that decision in the first place?   Because if your dog dies eating his contaminated commercial kibble or chew, the societal response will be quite different than if your dog dies while eating a raw bone – all reasonably unlikely events with no evidence about the relative cost/benefits of each possibility.

Cost-benefit analysis. Rather than projecting the odds forward, I would suggest you look at it completely differently. Project the odds backward, not as a function of true risk but as a function of society’s perceived risk and your own tendency towards guilt – because that is what will fuel your misery if you get unlucky.  If you walked your dog off leash and heaven forbid there was an accident that you did not predict, can you live with that?   Can you live with the shame that others will heap upon you?  Can you remember the hundreds of other walks where you took joy in your dog’s joy and freedom?

I am not prone to guilt, and for that aspect of my temperament I am most grateful because it means that I can make a cost benefit analysis that is as rational as possible, and I can live with unfortunate consequences if I’m the unlucky one who goes against the common wisdom.  But I know that other people have a different temperament, and if anything ever went wrong with their unconventional choice then they would be unable to forgive themselves, no matter how minute the risk might’ve been when they made the decision in the first place.  In that case I would suggest that they take the safer road, even if the odds of being the unlucky one are one in a million.

A cost-benefit analysis only matters if you can accept that an individual rather than a statistic bears the burden of being the one – and that is a function of human temperament and society’s perception of risk, not a real cost-benefit analysis.

Accurate or effective?

Have you ever heard the dog trainer analogy, “Would you work without a paycheck? Why do you expect your dog to work without a paycheck?”

There’s a problem with that analogy because dogs and humans are not the same.  Humans are motivated by a wide range of things such as altruism (volunteer work), a desire for social interaction ( going to work) and, obviously….money (gotta pay the rent!).  And frankly, are we motivated by getting the paycheck, or furious if it doesn’t show up?

How about dogs?   How does our dog feel (or “respond”, if you prefer) when there is no paycheck, or when it is withdrawn when it was anticipated?

The fact is, we do not know how our individual dogs feel in different circumstances.  We guess based on what we would feel.  That is because humans connect emotionally, and trying to identify with our dog’s emotions by putting ourselves in their shoes works for us. Straight up anthropomorphism.

But wait – there is more complexity still. Just because one dog loves it when you scratch them between the ears doesn’t mean another dog loves that.  And since we are training individuals rather than groups, I’m not sure it matters all that much if eight dogs want to be scratched under the chin, the ninth wants to be scratched on top of the head, and the 10th doesn’t want to be touched at all.  Hence, good trainers assume “average” but then train for the individual when the dog’s responses suggests a new approach is required.

So why do we do these things – use analogies,  anthropomorphize, and assume the “common” response when these may lead to inaccuracies across species and wipe out the individual, whether by virtue of individual differences or a total mischaracterization of the species as a whole?  Why do we use analogies and emotional language when sometimes the behavioral result suggests that we went down the wrong path?   That this dog works for a cookie, that one doesn’t care about cookies but loves to be scratched under the chin, and the 10th will do anything for a tennis ball?

Because analogies resonate for people on an emotional level –  we identify.   We know how we feel when we get a paycheck (or probably more accurately, how we would feel if it were withheld), so when we are asked to assume that our dogs feel the same way, it resonates for us!  And when we point out that one dog may be more motivated by chicken while the other prefers beef, that goes over better if we point out that humans also have individual food preferences – more anthropomorphism. Trainers use emotional language because it makes the client identify with the dog, feel sympathy towards the dog and makes the client more likely to willingly change their behavior in relation to the dog. We fall in love with our dog as an emotional response, not a behavioral one, and the language we choose to use can facilitate that process. And all of that leads to increased happiness and acceptance between the dog and the owner – presumably the end goal.  So if people understand motivation better (and are kinder with their dog) when it is couched in terms of a paycheck rather than rate of reinforcement or motivating operations? Run with it.

Humans use the language of emotion to communicate because it works. It is more easily understood and applied than the language of behavior.  We can look at our dog’s behavior and makes some educated guesses about how they feel.  And now we are on a slippery slope because while it often works, it may also take us down a more problematic path, in particular when we attribute undesirable traits to our dogs that are present in our own species.  What do we do when people use analogies or labels that lead to words, conclusions and analogies of generally malicious intent in our dogs?

Dogs and people – are we the same?  Are we different? When do we insist on accurate terminology and when we do we let it slide to serve our own purposes?   If the paycheck analogy is okay, in spite of its lack of recognition of the effects of non-tangible reinforcers on individuals and the fact that the potential loss of a paycheck is probably more keenly salient to a person’s choice to go to work than noting it’s arrival in the bank every two weeks, how do we make the decision to hold the line to behavioral language in other conversations with our pet dog clients?  Or should we eliminate all analogies and strictly speak the language of behavior?

I would argue that we should use analogies and the language of emotion in spite of inaccuracies and assumptions. That by focusing on emotional discussions and reframing negative phrases to positive ones we are more likely to be effective with our clients than by discussing exclusively observable behavior or insisting on more formal scientific language.

Humans relate by putting ourselves in the shoes of others – we apply things that would work for us (or others that we know) and then we watch. What happens?

I feel good when you smile at me, so what happens if I smile at you? And if the next result is that you interact with me in a pleasant fashion, then I draw conclusions about your experience. Not because you told me how you feel when I smile at you, but because I projected my feelings onto you. This is how we raise empathetic children – we encourage projection, even though it may well be inaccurate here and there.

What about our dogs. Should we be projecting?  Encouraging others to do so?

Yes.

On a moment by moment basis, humans  are emotional creatures.  When something happens we “feel” immediately – logic takes time and effort!  We feel what happens around us; flashes of anger or joy!  Sure, we can think about it after the fact but in the moment?  We are emotional.  So why not start there and then work our way to behavior the same way an introspective human does with themselves or each other, via projection?

When trainers interact with average pet people using emotional language, they create connections which are a natural  and easily understood part of the human condition. People don’t think in terms of behavior, they exist in terms of feelings!

If I am asked, “How do I know if my dog is happy?”  My response will be “Well, if a child were doing the same thing in similar circumstances, what conclusion might you draw?” And then I point out details to get them started.

Do you have any idea how effective that is? I can teach people 90% of dog behavior with that phrase alone, and I’m not about to stop.   Is it perfect? Of course not, because the individual matters and so does our ability to interpret another species correctly.  But the phrase? The use of the analogy? It’s my first line of defense and education.    It gets people watching their dogs behavior. Now I’ll work to refine their interpretations.

Isn’t that the goal?    Getting people to observe and interpret their dog’s behavior? And now that I have connected with the client – I have been understood – I can help them with their dog.

The vast majority of human connections rely on understanding their fellow human’s possible emotional reactions to various situations.  When I take advantage of those realities for their dogs, I make it easy to explain complex topics to people.

Use analogies and avoid technical language unless there’s a specific reason for it.

But what about the language of emotion that focuses on negative interpretations? What should we do with that in our clients?

First, it helps to recognize that negative word choices reflect how the owners are feeling and from there, encourage people to reframe their emotional language to recognize both the dog’s point of view and the realities of dogs as dogs. The choice of pejorative language and negative labels are a reflection of the underlying emotional reality – the dog and handler are not in alignment. Here are some examples.

My dog is stubborn!  How about, “Your dog is persistent! People have bred for that trait in your breed for generations and that is why your dog behaves that way. But we can work with your dog’s personality rather than against it so let’s make a plan to do that.”

My dog is manipulative! How about, “Your dog is clever!  He figured out in only a couple of repetitions how to get you to drop the food that you’re holding!  So we have to be a bit more clever as well.  Let’s start with this exercise….”

My dog is hyper!    How about, “Your dog is a typical puppy.  He’s moving because he’s young and that is what young dogs do.  Kind of like two year old children who are into everything.  So what kinds of things do we do with young humans?  Remember, puppies grow up – just like kids.  Let’s get a plan in place to make this work better for both you and your dog and let age take care of the rest.”

As you look at word pairs like “hyper/enthusiastic” or “calm/lazy”  you can see that the negative choice of words is not a description of the behavior as much as a reflection of how that speaker is framing that behavior because of their own feelings about it.  If they like the behavior they select positive words.  Don’t focus on the word choice, focus on what it tells you about how the handler is feeling so that you can begin to make the situation better in a way that recognizes the emotional realities of the situation.

The salient point here is not the choice of negative language, it’s what it says about how the handler feels about their “hyper” dog.  The needs of the dog and handler are not matched and that creates emotional distress, quite likely in both parties.

So why not just focus on the undesirable behavior and create a plan for change?    Remove the language of emotions and human analogies altogether?

Because then the trainer loses the opportunity to reframe the situation in the way that is most easily assimilated by humans – through emotional connection, projection and common, intuitive language.  And anyway, if you won’t let your client speak about their dog being irritable then is it fair to speak about the dog working for a paycheck?

Find the underlying emotion, help the handler understand it from both their own and the dog’s points of view, and then work to put changes in place via management or behavior modification techniques – whatever makes the most sense!

At that point, the conversation can shift to one of behavior and creating a plan for behavior change but always keep in mind the reason the dog’s misbehavior is problematic for that handler – that is the emotional side of the equation.

There is nothing simple about communication, and that is really what we are talking about here. It’s not just a human getting their way via training. It’s not just changing the dog’s behavior. It’s about getting everyone’s needs met. That can be accomplished via communication, and since people communicate by far and away most easily in the language of emotions, don’t ignore it or focus solely on the negative language and emotions that tend to get humans into trouble.

Use analogies, even if they are not 100% accurate.  If it is helpful to talk about working for a paycheck or a dog as if they shared the emotions of a human child, then use it. And if the person attributes thought processes to dogs that are not likely in their repertoire? Tell them that; that’s an opportunity for a little education and empathy building! No, your dog is not plotting to get back at you – dogs don’t think that way. But your dog might be feeling (fill in the blank) which is leading to (fill in the blank).

Spend plenty of energy talking about the expression and behaviors of the dog and relate them to children. If a dog turns away from you when you’re interacting, what would that mean if it were a child? Probably the same as if a child turns away from you when you are interacting.

How do you feel when your boss says kind words to you? How do you feel when your boss yells at you? How does that make you feel about the environment you are in when your boss is present?  How does that make you feel about your boss?

And dogs?  How do they feel when you are yelling at them? How do you think they feel when you speak kind words to them? How do you think that makes them feel about the environment when you are in it with them?

How do you think a shy or more introverted child feels when they are forced into more social situations when their behavior suggests they want to leave?  And a dog showing very similar behaviors?   You can label that as shy or introverted or fearful – use what works best for that handler to develop empathy for that dog.

Those types of questions encourage your client to view their dog as an emotional being – and that is where they will fall in love.

Use all of it!

I am very comfortable using words like leadership, communication, feelings, happy, scared, enthusiastic, shy, etc.   I’m okay with some inaccuracies because I change the lives of people and dogs for the better more easily with our shared language rather than the one I might use with colleagues.   As a trainer, I need to communicate at the level that clients most easily relate to so that they are willing to make things better – for both themselves and their dogs.

And ultimately, that is my goal.

 

Helping a Hypergreeter

A few years ago I developed a simple protocol for dogs who are “hyper greeters.”

Hyper greeters are not just friendly and enthusiastic dogs.  They are dogs who show an extreme lack of impulse control in the presence of people, and as a result they get in a lot of trouble! They inadvertently hurt people, get yelled at a lot, and over time develop worse and worse behavior when they approach.

And while it often looks happy, if you look closely you’ll see plenty of anxiety mixed in with their frantic approach.   These dogs are out of control and not happy at all.

If this sounds like your dog, take a look at this video. Maybe it will help.

A word of warning…this solution is absolutely not appropriate for dogs who approach extremely fast out of fear rather than out of excitement.   If you have a dog who approaches fast and enthusiastically right up into someone’s face and then backs up woowoo’ing, you have a different issue. This is not the solution for you and indeed, could well make the matter worse.

Give it a shot!

 

Are you excellent?

On the way to school this morning, my younger son commented that he knows a lot about driving. He’s got the strategy down. Presumably, this is because my husband normally drives him places and my husband is all about strategic driving.  Making the “best” decisions. The decisions that get him to where he wants to go fastest and with the least amount of headache. What lane to be in, when to change lanes what shortcuts are fastest, etc.

And then my son expressed frustration over the fact that knowing all of these things didn’t seem to be helping him learn to drive a car.  When he actually got behind the wheel, the gas and pedal didn’t operate the way he thought they would – they felt different than he expected.  He would brake too hard and jerk to a stop. Turning the steering wheel didn’t have exactly the effect he expected – and wanted.  The gas pedal was temperamental – too much and he would shoot forwards. Too little and nothing happened at all.

Welcome to the real world. Knowing something in your head, for example, how to drive a car, is a completely different animal than actually doing it.  So my son has knowledge in his head about the rules of the road and how it’s “supposed” to work but no real ability to actually drive.

Now, who is most qualified to teach him to drive the car?

Mario Andretti, the famous racer driver? Obviously Mario knows how to drive a car so that the brakes, gas and steering wheel perform exactly as expected – with excellence! Does that level of excellence make him the most qualified to teach another person how to drive around town?  No.  First we need to know something about his ability to teach!

Is my husband most qualified to teach him?   There’s no doubt that he is competent to get from here to there in the car and he certainly drives more than I do. But his experience is not really relevant here; his capacity to explain to someone else how to drive a car is!

Should I teach my son to drive a car?  When I drive the car, I manage not to hit things most days, and  I am a professional communicator (a teacher!) By profession.   But I don’t teach driving a car; I teach dog training.

How about a professional driving instructor?

Now we’re talking.

A professional driving instructor should have a clear idea of the goal in mind; to communicate to a young person how to drive a car.  A competent professional driving instructor knows the rules of the road and is able to apply those to whatever car he is actually sitting in! He should be able to verbally explain to the young driver how to improve his technique and to help the student feel motivated and confident about his ability to succeed. Maybe he has analogies and quick tips; ways to help the driver figure out how to apply what’s in his head, the basics of the brakes, the gas and the steering wheel, to the experience of driving – to make it automatic for the student to do the right things at the right time.  And a professional driver knows exactly what the goal is –  to help the student develop the skills necessary to obtain a driver’s license – proof (hopefully!) that the individual can drive safely and without supervision.

The one thing the professional driver has over all of us is experience coaching others to drive a car.  Even better, he has a feedback loop. Because a professional driver works with the child several times over weeks or months, he has direct feedback about whether his instructions are progressing the student’s skills.

And if it comes to pass that an individual gets the driver’s license, develops a great passion for driving, and decides they want to become a professional racer driver?   Then they might want to look up Mario Andretti –  hopefully in addition to being a great driver himself he is also a good instructor and motivational communicator –  three different things.

And dog training?

The best professional dog trainer is the one who is able to understand the goals of the student in front of them, and help that student achieve those goals.

I may well be an excellent trainer for a student looking for extremely precise and refined work. That is because not only do I know how to do it, I know how to explain it to other people, and I hang around to make sure that I have been successful.   My ability to effectively communicate to others in a way that allows them to be equally successful is the measure of my excellence.

Am I the best trainer for someone looking for a good house pet? No.  Not because I couldn’t learn. Not because my own dogs aren’t pet dogs. Not because I cannot communicate.  I am not the right trainer because I lack experience with dogs and families and working towards THEIR goals so that all players get their needs met.  And short of actually going into the business of training pet dogs and then observing what does or does to work, I am not likely to get there.   I am not an excellent pet dog trainer.  And that’s fine – I haven’t said otherwise.

If you want to be excellent at teaching, you have to 1) have sufficient skills.  Mario Andretti skills not required – good enough for the audience in question, 2) Listen and understand what is being asked of you. Your clients needs are what matters, not a series of pre-concieved notions that you might have.  3) Communicate! Can you teach someone else in a way that makes sense and allows sufficient progress that they stay vested in the activity?  When beneficial, can you help the student reframe their interests or expectations to allow them to reach a happy end result?  4) Get feedback during and after the training. If your instruction didn’t work because you were not clear in your communication or what you asked was simply too difficult to be attained by the client, then you were not successful with that client. Do you have ideas for changing that?

I have no trouble recognizing great dog trainers who are not teachers and great teachers who are not very good dog trainers.   Where I would like to see growth in our field is a little more recognition (from all sides) of all of the pieces that come together to positively influence our profession. It’s not just applied dog training, or communicating, or listening or learning about research, or refining our most esoteric skills.   It’s okay that we come to the table with different strengths and weaknesses. I’d love to see us more openly appreciate how all of these pieces come together, and to recognize how people with different skill sets can be a critical part of the overall picture.