Reinforcement versus punishment

In my experience, people don’t often understand the subtle nuances between dog training associated with operant conditioning—based on the research of B.F. Skinner. (In truth, I’ve struggled with them myself.) So, to clarify, here’s a quick-and-dirty explanation of reinforcement versus punishment:

Reinforcement: Adding or removing something to increase the likelihood of a behavior recurring.

Positive – Adding something pleasant/desirable, like giving a dog a treat for sitting when you ask her to. When the dog sits, she is reinforced by receiving a treat.  

Negative – Decreasing something that is unpleasant/undesirable, like releasing tension on a collar when a dog walks calmly at your side. When the dog walks calmly, she is reinforced by no longer having tension on the leash. 

Punishment: Adding or removing something to decrease the likelihood of a behavior recurring. 

Positive – Adding something that is unpleasant/undesirable, like applying pressure to a head collar when a dog pulls or lunges. When the dog pulls, he experiences pressure around his snout similar to the correction dogs give one another when they play too roughly.

Negative – Decreasing something that is pleasant/desirable, like withholding your dog’s food bowl until he waits calmly for it. When the dog barks or lunges for his food, he doesn’t get fed. 

Of the above, negative reinforcement is the trickiest to understand, I think, and also the one least likely to show up naturally (without following positive punishment). Increasingly, trainers are moving toward methods that motivate the dog to engage in desirable behavior, noticing the behavior they want and reinforcing that. 

Whenever possible, I work with positive or motivational training, and in the rare cases when I’m trying to extinguish a behavior that hasn’t responded to other strategies, I may add positive punishment and with a lot of forethought. For example, I do use head collars, and I make a soft hissing noise when my dog barks excitedly for extended periods of time. Her initial startle reaction allows me to redirect her to a more desirable behavior that I can reward instead.

I wouldn't expect every person working with his or her own family dog(s) to fully grasp all of these concepts, but I do think that grappling with them, engaging in thoughtful conversations, and analyzing your own training methods and beliefs will help you make informed decisions when engaging with desirable and undesirable behaviors in your own home. 

Helping a withdrawn dog acclimate to your home

Sometimes I get requests about helping a dog acclimate to her new home. This is particularly important for dogs that have come from large-scale breeding facilities, but it can also be used for any dogs that tend to withdraw from human contact, cower, crawl under furniture, avert their eyes, engage in lip licking when in the presence of humans, etc.  

First things first: Make sure you take your time. Don't expect the dog to start liking you immediately, even if you do share high-value treats. 

Second, approach your training sessions with a quiet sense of humor. Sometimes working with a dog that doesn't want to be around you can be frustrating. If allow yourself to relax and smile while you're training, chances are good that you won't send the withdrawn dog conflicting messages.  

I also recommend:

1. Giving her time to acclimate without too much interference from you,
2. Keeping your household quiet--with as few outside visitors as possible at the outset,
    (I recommend a 2-week shutdown when bringing new dogs into the home.)

3. Allowing her a place to retreat to for a couple of days, a small, quiet room with a crate in it,

4. Bringing her into your living space gradually, and

    (Typically, I use an x-pen/puppy pen with her "safe" items in it and place it in a room with activity so she can observe me without having to interact.)

5. Praising her calmly and quietly when she does interact, possibly using treats.

There's more, of course, but this is a start.

To increase her confidence around the members of your household, you might want to have them randomly drop small treats and kibble when she's in their vicinity. That is, of course, if she's willing to take treats.

If not, take a deep breath, roll your shoulders, and give yourself and your dog a break. You can always try again later. 

Fireworks, Storms, & Dogs

For those of you in Minnesota who witnessed the ferocious storms of the past two weeks, it goes without saying that storms and dogs don't mix. As the long holiday weekend with the accompanying fireworks approaches, the stress on your dogs is likely to continue.

Over the years, I have observed many dogs exhibiting signs of stress from both storms and fireworks and have developed some strategies for lessening my dogs' tension. While I can't promise a perfect solution that works for all dogs, I have found the following help many:

1. To the best of your ability, remove your dog from the source of stress. Personally, I don't take dogs to see fireworks. Years ago, after watching water birds panicking as fireworks exploded overhead, it occurred to me that many dogs have similar reactions. I realized that I didn't want to subject my dogs to the types of stress they're likely to experience at fireworks displays. If your family attends them, perhaps your dogs will be more comfortable at home.

If you are at home and your dog is still nervous, place him in an interior room, one with no windows and the most sound proofing possible. Often bathrooms work well.

2. Give your dog something small, like a properly-sized crate, to retreat into. If you don't have a crate, create a makeshift structure by placing a blanket over a coffee table or similar piece of furniture that your dog can fit under comfortably. You may also want to put some of your dog's favorite things inside. Do not,however, force your dog into the confined area.

3. Use calming wraps. There is a plethora of calming products on the market today. I like and carry the Anxiety Wrap and Thundershirt. To see if such approaches might work for your dog, search "Tellington TTouch wrap" for instructions on how to make your own body wrap in seconds from a simple ace bandage.

Both Anxiety Wrap and Thundershirt have designed additional products to reduce stress. See, for example, the Quiet Dog Face Wrap and the Calming Cap.

4. Calm your dog through his olfactory sense. Essential oils are a great option, here. I like and carry frankincense and lavender, as well as doTerra's balance and serenity blends and apply them to the pads of my dogs' feet or along their ears.

In addition to essential oils, you can use D.A.P.s, or simulated pheromones that mimic lactating mothers. If you wish to use a diffuser, it will take a couple of weeks to reach full strength in your house. For the short term, try using a spray, instead. I've had good luck with Comfort Zone products.

5. Play soothing music for your dog. It may seem unbelievable, but music can calm dogs. I've begun Canine Lullabies at Giffy dog. If you'd like to sample it for yourself, visit their website for a free song and to see video of dogs calming as they listen to it.
carrying

6. Exhibit calming signals. I talk about these a lot in my training, but they can be particularly useful during periods of stress. When a dog is getting stressed, she will often lick her lips, lift her front paw, yawn, lower her head, etc. to demonstrate that she's getting nervous. If you mimic the calming signals back to her, she will probably begin to relax quickly. 
 
The most important thing you can do, though? Be calm yourself. Understand that your dog's anxiety is real and being near you calms her down.

Let's hope we don't have any more storms, and I wish you a happy, healthy, peaceful 4th. 

Inverview with Cathy Menard, Urban Dog

Last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to have another conversation with Cathy Menard of Urban Dog, who kindly allowed me to chat with her for part of the Pet Connections show on AM950 before I trotted off to a consult.

Here's the link.

Enjoy!

Wouldn't it be nice if our pets would do this?

A few months ago, I received an email with the previous subject line and opened it to find a video link to Jesse, an energetic Jack Russell who clearly loves to "work!" And he is, truly, an impressive dog.

But notice that Jesse doesn't seem to view it as work, and I'm betting his person doesn't, either. Everything about their relationship seems based on mutual respect and fun.

If you take some time and review older videos of Jesse, you'll see that, after he completes tasks, Jesse looks up to his person for a treat, an indication that he has been trained using positive reinforcement. When he does something desirable, he looks to his human for a "reward." Chances are, that reward is probably a treat. From what I've read, Jesse was clicker trained, which is a great method for those of you who are prepared to train consistently and reward positive behavior immediately.

So, don't despair. Jesse is not better than your dog; he's just had more training. You'll find that your dog can do amazing things, too, when you work with positive rewards. Rather than correcting your dog when she does something wrong, try praising her lavishly when she does something right, instead.

And you'll quickly find that you can teach your old dog new tricks.

Don't forget: Have fun! And happy training!

Spring has sprung, and with it, gastrointestinal distress . . .

Each spring, I feed my dogs a tasty mixture on top of their meals based on foods that my vet recommends to keep parasites at bay. While it won't work for ticks (to the best of my knowledge--although doTerra does offer some great oils on that front), it does seem to keep my dogs' stomachs relatively calm:

1 quart yogurt (Dannon) or kefir
1/2 lemon squeezed
1/2 c. carrot juice or 2 grated carrots
1/4 c. sunflower or pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped (try a mortar and pestle)
1/2 c. C & H Brown or organic cane sugar

Optional:
1/2 c. blueberries/blueberry juice

Now, I've had complaints that this is a lot. True! But with the number of dogs I have coming and going, it is the perfect quantity for my house.  I simply scoop a tablespoon or two on top of their dog food and watch them enjoy. By the way, I eat it, too, but I do so sans dog food.

And, a confession, I don't measure, so all quantities are estimates!