Stop and Smell the Hydrants

There are many notions in the dog training world that are out-dated, based on outmoded dog training philosophies or are simply not based on what we currently know and understand about domestic canine behavior.  This month I want to explore some of the "rules" that involve taking your dog for a walk: 

1) Myth - If your dog exits the doorway ahead of you, he/she is being dominant.

The Reality - This idea started with the notion that the alpha wolves led the pack and if you wanted to be a "pack leader" you need to walk ahead of your dog. The alpha dog concept has been questioned in recent years as scholars have argued that the old studies on captive wolves do not reflect what goes on in wild populations.  Moreover, dog social structures seem to be more fluid and less hierarchical than wolf populations. For a more detailed explanation and list scientific sources, read my article on the alpha dog theory.  The simple explanation for dogs wanting to run out the door is that what is outside is much more interesting than what they see inside the house day after day.  Walks are really rewarding for dogs, mentally and physcially, so it is no surprise that they want to run out the door. 

The main reason to train a dog to wait behind a door before you release them for the walk is for safety not to show your "dominance" over the dog. You don't want a dog make a habit of charging out of a door, especially if the leash has not been securely fastened. 

Because going for a walk is what I call a "life reward,"  I use this fact to my advantage and ask the dog to perform a behavior such as a "sit" or "wait" before I open the door and let them outside.  By doing this,  I reinforce their training (sit and wait) and the great thing is that the reward is not food, but the walk itself. 

2) Myth - A dog that walks ahead of you on a walk is being dominant.

The Reality - again, this notion has its roots in dominance or alpha dog theories and like the doorway myth, the studies do not support this idea.  I think the simplest explanation as to why dogs like to forge ahead on walks is because they usually can walk faster than us and what is in front of us is much more interesting.  It is not so much about controlling you as it is excitement and trying to burn off some mental and physical energy.  Walks are very exciting for dogs and are often the highlight of a dog's day.  I advocate the notion of walking with a loose leash which is comfortable for both the dog and owner.  A dog that is pulling you with a taut leash or a dog that zig zags is simply an untrained dog.

If you have a leash aggressive dog, however, you may want to train your dog to walk closer to you because giving an aggressive dog too much space ahead of you makes it harder for you to control and work with your dog if he/she becomes reactive when he/she sees another dog or person.  Again, keeping a dog closer to you in this scenario is more for safety and training purposes rather than rooted in notions of your dog trying to dominate you. 

3)  Myth - Your dog should not  be allowed sniff the ground on walks.

The Reality - this one makes me sad and I am not sure how this idea got started. It causes owners (and the dog) a lot of undue stress  and owners often end up jerking the dog around in frustration. The highlight of a dog's day is to be able to smell the "calling card" left by other dogs and leave one himself/herself.  A dog's sense of smell is so sharp compared to ours that there is a lot of information picked up by smelling the ground.  It is also good mental stimulation as your dog is processing information about the neighborhood.  When dogs are young puppies, I feel that smelling the world is vitally important for their development and learning not to fear the world outside the home.  Jerking on a puppy's collar every time he/she tried to investigate the world is very stressful and makes a walk unpleasant for the dog. 

In a casual walk, I allow my dogs to smells things and they manage to keep walking with me in a straight line and on a loose lead. Akitas and shibas were bred for hunting and I am not going to deny them the pleasure of smelling things. Moreover, my dogs do not need to look up at me adoringly for our entire 45 minute walk.  I am not training them for competitive obedience and neither are 99% of average dog owners.  If my dog lingers too long at a spot or if we need to keep moving, I have a verbal cue "let's go" and she knows that we need to move on.  If I need to her to go to a heel position and focus on staying close to me I have a verbal cue "heel." But, the bulk of my walks are leisurely, loose leash walks and keeping a strict heel for the entire walk is not necessary.  My view is that when I attach a leash to my dog, the walk around the neighborhood is for her pleasure just as much as mine.  Would you go on a hike without admiring the scenery?  Well, going on a walk without being able to smell things would be the equivalent deprivation for a dog. 

Now if your dog is zig zagging back and forth or pulling you around to smell something, that is an issue of training your dog to walk in a straight line without pulling.  This is a separate issue from letting your dog smell things once in awhile on a walk. 

So, next time you go for a walk, enjoy the sights and sounds.  Stop and smell the roses (or in the case of your dog, the hydrant).

Los Angeles Dog Trainer
www.pawsitivefeedback.com

Train Your Dog Month - Even Trainers Get Training!

This last weekend, I attended the Clicker Expo in Newport Beach. The meeting was inspiring, educational and a treasure trove of information. I feel that any dog trainer worth one’s salt should attend seminars and meetings to keep up with current trends and studies in dog behavior as well as brush up on their skills. Going to conferences like this reminds me of skills I need to refine, provides an opportunity for me to meet others in my field and I am always learning something new that will help me tweak and improve my classes. The speakers at this conference were also excellent and one cannot help but be in awe of their animal training skills and expertise.

What was also rewarding was seeing some of my former clients at the expo with their dogs. The Clicker Expo is unique in that it is open to professionals, people who compete in dog sports, hobbyists and dog owners. It is so nice to see dog owners motivated and excited by positive methods of training and using these methods with their dogs. Some of my clients attended the event to improve their dog training skills and others are engaged in competitive sports such as agility. It was really inspiring to see so many dedicated dog owners.

Since this is National Train Your Dog Month, I thought I would share some observations and pearls of wisdom gleaned from the presentations and workshops I attended that have relevance to the average pet dog owner:

1) Positive Dog Training and Punishment – one of the goals of Train Your Dog Month is to promote positive dog training methods. Positive dog training whether it be clicker training or some form of lure and reward training, involves reinforcing wanted or desired behaviors.

Punishment as the word is commonly used in by the average person (an aversive that is applied in response to an unwanted behavior that is aimed at decreasing that behavior from happening in the future) , is not the “go to” strategy in a positive trainer’s toolbox and if used at all is used in very limited and sharply defined circumstances. Resorting to punitive methods of dog training raises the risk of fallout from such efforts such as anxiety, distrust, increased aggression, fearful behavior that may not have previously existed or cause an animal to simply shut down. From a training point of view, punishment is not an efficient form of training as it is usually applied inconsistently and imprecisely by the average person and does not show the animal an appropriate alternative behavior. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior has published a very good statement on the risks of using punishment on animals: http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/Combined_Punishment_Statements.pdf

During the meeting I saw several videos of how positive training methods were used to train large, wild animals. Many of the people who gave talks during this meeting use clicker training to work with large sea mammals.  There was an amazing video of a clicker-trained Rhinoceros who can sit and lie down on cue to make it easier for veterinarian to work on him. If you don’t need a choke chain, shock collar or prong collar to work with these huge beasts, why would you want to use one for domesticated canine that has coexisted with humans for thousands of years and is much more attuned to our body language and gestures than any other animal?

2) If you don’t like what your dog is doing, what would you like him/her to do instead? - an important element of positive dog training involves teaching the dog to perform an alternative or incompatible behavior to what he/she was doing previously. If we don’t want a dog to do something, it is only fair that we teach the dog an acceptable alternative. Positive dog training involves rewarding the dog when they perform this alternative behavior. Positive reinforcement with the use of rewards whether it be food, play, a walk or chasing a squirrel, increases the likelihood that the desired behavior will be repeated in the future. I dislike using the word “No” because it is often overused and is used in so many contexts that it seems like it is just the dog’s middle name. Often people are unable to say the word without becoming very emotional and agitated and in such cases, the word itself becomes an aversive. More importantly, the word “No” does not show the dog what he/she should do instead. For example, if you don’t want your dog to jump on you, what do you want instead? Is a sit acceptable? All 4 feet on the ground? Having reactive dogs, I know that teaching my dogs an alternative to barking and lunging is critical to reducing this behavior. In my case, I reward seemingly small but significant behaviors like a head turn or body turn away from the other dog. If my dog sniffs the ground in the presence of another dog, that is rewarded too! If the other dog is too close, I have a pre-rehearsed “get out of Dodge” cue so my dog learns that retreat is a viable option to standing her ground (which is not easy for an Akita to do).

3) Management is a part of dog training – what was a common thread in every lecture I attended was a discussion on the use of management. Some dog owners feel that training should be enough and that management is not part of the equation. However, effective management can prevent bad habits from forming in the first place and prevents the dog from rehearsing undesired behaviors while you are gone. For example, if your dog barks at people passing by, training alone will not help if you allow your dog access to a front window or gate to practice barking while you are away from home. Leashes, fences, pet gates and crates all function to keep your pet safe or if your dog is aggressive, keep others safe. Management should not be seen as a cop out, it is an integral part of responsible dog ownership.

4) Behavior Chains – dogs are very good at making connections and can readily lump together two or more separate behaviors into a single chain or sequence. Sometimes this is intentional on our parts such as teaching a dog to tackle obstacles on an agility course or teaching a dog to retrieve and drop an object. But, sometimes we unintentionally reinforce a sequence of behaviors that we do not want the dog to repeat. For example, when a dog jumps on the couch, we often tell the dog to jump off the couch and then reward the dog for jumping off. Then the dog repeats the behavior and we reward the dog again for jumping off. Pretty soon for some dogs the behavior becomes the following sequence of events, jump on the couch, owner says “off,” dog jumps off the couch, dog gets a treat, dog jumps on the couch again to eventually get a treat. So, before we reward a dog we have to analyze whether we are reinforcing a desired behavior or are we actually reinforcing a sequence of behaviors one or more of which are unwanted? In the couch example, it would be helpful to be proactive and teach the dog an alternate behavior such as lying down in front of the couch on a doggie bed as a separate and distinct piece when the dog is calm and not in couch-jumping mode and reinforcing those times when the dog goes to the doggie bed on his own. Having a break in time between the unwanted behavior and the behavior you are trying to reinforce can also help prevent an unwanted sequence of events from being reinforced.


5) Pay attention to what behavior(s) you are reinforcing – in one of the workshops I attended, I observed people clicking and treating for certain behaviors that were being offered by the dog (the technique is called shaping). On occasion, a dog would offer several behaviors simultaneously and an unrelated behavior was inadvertently reinforced. In one case, a dog was rewarded for putting his head down but he also happened to be scooting his butt when the trainer clicked and rewarded him. While the target behavior was pointing the head down, he repeated the behavior of scooting his butt because he thought that he was also being reinforced for that behavior. Sometimes in my classes when we teach a dog to target or touch the hand, dogs that have been taught to shake may also raise their paw as they touch the open palm with their nose. My dog will sometimes do this and I have to be very careful to ignore the instances where my dog simultaneously raises her paw and touches my hand and only reward the instances where she only targets my hand with her nose so that the raised paw does not become part of the targeting behavior. So, it is important to look everything the dog is offering at that moment to make sure we are not also rewarding an awkward or unwanted “tag-along” behavior. Timing is also something to keep in mind when marking the desired behavior with a click to make sure other behaviors do not sneak in.


These are but a few of the many common themes and observations from the conference. Right now my brain is overloaded with all the information I took in. I am sure that in the coming months, other tidbits will come to mind which will inspire future blogs.

To Touch and Be Touched Part I

In my classes there are two fundamental lessons I like to teach. The first, is teaching your dog to tolerate being touched by humans and grabbed by the collar. The second is teaching a dog to target.  For those of you who have taken my classes, this is the verbal cue "touch."  In this two part series, I will discuss why each skill is important.

Tolerating touches from humans is an important skill, especially for puppies. It is important for puppies to get used to being handled by humans because there are many situations where they will be touched or examined by strangers. Therefore it is important that they get used to:


• Having their ears, paws and toes touched so that they will be used to it when they go to the vet or groomer.


• Being grabbed by the collar or led by the collar because many people instinctively grab dogs by the collar without first considering whether it is safe to do so.


• Being petted on different parts of the body, having their tails touched and pats on the head because that’s what children tend to do when they meet a dog.


• Having their body examined because you may have to remove a tick or remove a foxtail from their fur/paw.


For these reasons and many others, it is important to desensitize a dog to these sensations. It is important to do it in baby steps and not rush things so that your dog considers this a pleasant experience. Below is a video showing some steps on getting your dog used to being handled in general:



Some dogs dislike or are startled when they are grabbed by the collar. My Shiba Inu, Mitsu, like many Shiba Inus is sensitive and prickly about having certain body parts handled. So it is important to teach them that being grabbed by the collar is a good thing. Here is a video showing some ways to get your dog used to having a collar/harness taken on and off and being grabbed and led by the collar:


 Next time we will cover the versatility of targeting. In the meantime, happy training!

Who’s the Boss? The Complexity of Relationships in Multi-dog Households.

Here is a scenario for you to ponder:

Three dogs live in a multi-dog household:

• Dog A is a 1.5 year old female
• Dog B is a 10 year old female
• Dog C is a 12 year old male

Each of the dogs exhibits the following behaviors.

Dog B – claims the sofa and that is where she sleeps. The other dogs never disturb her nor do they ever try to take her spot. She sometimes sleeps in the bedroom. Dog B usually sleeps at a higher elevation from the other dogs.

Dog C – claims the bedroom where the owner sleeps almost every night. Dog B will also sleep in the bedroom on occasion.

Dog A - sleeps in the kitchen most nights but will sometimes sleep in the bedroom if Dog C or Dog B do not get there first.

Dog A – usually tries to muscle her way out of doorways and hallways first. However, none of the dogs will attempt to walk over or around another dog if a dog is blocking a hallway or doorway.

Dog A will claim the chew toys such as deer antlers and nylabones. Sometimes Dog C will take it from her and successfully keep it away from Dog A. Dog B will not steal chew toys from Dog A. Dog A will take chew toys from Dog B.

Dog B can stare down Dog C, until he drops whatever food he has in his mouth. She will then take the food that was in his mouth.

Dog A will try to take toys from Dog B. Dog B will drop toys and allow Dog A to have them.

Dog A is the most likely to initiate physical skirmishes, Dog B rarely initiates physical fights. Dog C never initiates fights.

Dog B receives the most face-licking from the other dogs, followed by Dog A. Dog C initiates most face-licking and even licks the cat’s face. Dog B rarely licks the faces of the other dogs.

All dogs initiate play with each other. Dog A initiates the most rounds of play followed by Dog C.


Which dog do you think is the “alpha”?



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The scenario above depicts the real-life group dynamics of my three dogs. Dog A is my 70 pound female Akita, Dog B is my 25 pound female Shiba Inu and Dog C is my 90 pound male Akita. Does knowing these size differences change your analysis of the scenario? Does it surprise you that a 25 pound shiba can stare down an 90 pound male Akita to the point where he will drop the food already in his mouth?

Dominance in the animal behavior world is typically defined as a relationship between individual animals to determine who has priority access to resources such as food, preferred resting spots, and mates. So the term applies to the dynamics between two animals rather than an attribute or trait of a single animal. And, these mostly ritualized interactions determine access to resources whether it be food, space or even proximity to the owner. Often, the relationship between two animals can vary depending on context and degree of motivation as seen in the scenario above. For example, a younger dog may be more motivated to possess toys than a senior dog. Moreover relationships between the dogs in the same household can sometimes be quite complex as context, age, size and gender can factor into how dogs interact with each other.

So where did all this alpha stuff come from?

The alpha dog concept has its roots in early captive wolf studies. These studies focused on the interactions of unrelated, captive wolf packs. From these studies developed the notion that since dogs were descended from wolves and that wolves had an alpha-male and alpha-female pack leaders, domesticated dogs operated the same way. Based on this theory of canine social dynamics developed training techniques such as the “alpha-roll,” pinning the dog on the ground, and scruff-shaking, which were supposed to mimic what a dominant wolf did to a subordinate wolf. Other notions such as walking ahead of your dog through doorways, not letting your dog on the bed and eating before your dog can be traced to early perceptions of how wolf packs operated. Recent studies have shown that the basis for adopting such practices is flawed and physical corrections such as scruff shaking and alpha rolls can have detrimental effects. See my previous post regarding the risks of punishment for reactive dogs.

Canid researchers have debunked the alpha theory on several grounds. First, David Mech, a respected authority of wolf behavior, noted that the term “alpha” is outdated. Mech points out that the terminology is based on older studies of captive wolf populations. More recent studies have shown that wild wolf populations consist of family units with the parents acting as the breeding pair. (1) Thus, the “alpha pair” being the parents and the “subordinates” are the offspring.

Moreover, studies of feral dog populations suggest that dog pack dynamics are fluid and less rigid than wild wolf populations.(2) Scientists believe that dogs have been domesticated as long as 12,000 to 14,000 years based on fossil evidence(3) and perhaps as long as 100,000 years based on genetic comparisons between wolves and dogs.(4) Given that mammalian social structures can be strongly affected by the external environment, it is not surprising that the social dynamics of dogs have diverged from their wolf ancestors. Living with humans has had a profound influence on the evolution of canine social systems. Canine expert Raymond Coppinger theorizes that early dogs adapted to a scavenging lifestyle by living off the food scraps and waste left near human settlements. (5) The evolutionary pressure to be a large, highly organized group hunter became less significant and the two species diverged into two separate niches. The AVSAB position statement highlights other aspects of dominance theory which are not supported by observations of canine or wolf social dynamics. See AVSAB Statement.

For these reasons, characterizing an individual dog as an “alpha dog” is not scientifically accurate nor is it very productive. For example, in situations where dogs are fighting in a household, there is a line of thought that the owner should support the “alpha or “dominant” dog. However, in a multi-dog household, relationships between dogs are not always a simple, linear hierarchy. Such approaches can result in a misinterpretation of who is the dominant dog and inadvertently reward inappropriate behavior. For example, in the scenario above, supporting Dog A during skirmishes could easily result in an adolescent dog being rewarded for her bullying behavior which could translate to other undesirable behaviors outside of the home.

Therefore, when dealing with inter-dog dynamics within a household, caution should be exercised and owners should consult professional trainers who are well-versed in animal learning theory and behavior modification techniques relying mainly on reward-based approaches to animal training.

www.pawsitivefeedback.com


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1) Mech, L.D. 2008. What every happened to the term alpha wolf? International Wolf.
(http://www.wolf.org/wolves/news/iwmag/2008/winter/winter2008.asp).

2) Van Kerkhove, Wendy , A Fresh Look at the Wolf-Pack Theory of Companion-Animal Dog Social Behavior, JOURNAL OF APPLIED ANIMAL WELFARE SCIENCE, Volume 7, Issue 4 January 2004 , pages 279 – 285.

3) Lindsay, Steven, Applied Dog Behavior and Training, Volume 1, pgs. 4-5, Blackwell Publishing (2000).

4) Vila, Carles, Savolainen, Peter, Maldonado, Jesus E., Amorim, Isabel, Multiple and Ancient Origins of the Domestic Dog, SCIENCE, Vol. 276, No. 5319: 1687-1689 (13 June 1997).

5) Coppinger, Raymond and Coppiner, Lorna, Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution. University of Chicago Press (2001) pgs. 58-67.