Train Your Dog Month - Group Classes versus Private Training

One of the most frequent questions I get from potential clients is whether group training or private training is better for their new dog.  Here are some of the factors that can help determine whether private or group training is the best option for you:


1)  Puppies - if your vet has not cleared your puppy for puppy classes, it can be helpful for an initial, in-home private session to help you and your puppy learn some basic skills and start off on the right foot.  Private lessons can also address issues that specifically relate to behavior in the home such as housetraining, play biting and chewing.  If you are a first-time puppy owner, an in-home meeting with a trainer before your puppy comes home can help get your home set up for the arrival of the puppy.  However, by far, one of the most important things you can do is enroll your puppy in a puppy class to help your puppy socialize with new people and other dogs in a setting other than your home.

2)  Rescues - if you just adopted an adult dog, and your dog just needs basic training, group classes are probably the most economical means of training your dog. With rescues, you may want to wait a week or two before attending a group class so your dog has a chance to settle into his/her new home.  If your dog is confident and settles in quickly, then a group class can help you get your new dog off to a good start. If, after this time, your dog is still very fearful, you may have to delay the start of group class and opt for private training to help build your dog's confidence.  If you find that your dog is having specific behavioral problems, then private lessons are often advisable (see below).

3)  Behavioral issues - some behavioral problems are better addressed in private sessions.  For example, some behaviors, such as separation anxiety, urine marking or housetraining are specific to the home environment and are best dealt with in a private training session.  Other behaviors such as aggression towards humans or other animals are also better addressed in private training.  Many people believe that your basic group class will help leash aggression/reactivity but this is not necessarily the case.  Addressing reactive behavior often involves a different set of exercises and skills that are not covered in a basic obedience class (see my blog about reactive dogs). If you have a reactive dog, your best options are private lessons or enrolling your dog in a class that specifically addresses this type of behavior (often referred to as growly dog classes, reactive dog classes or feisty fido classes).

4)  Lifestyle - some people's lifestyles cannot easily accomodate group classes.  If you have a variable or busy schedule, private training may be a better way go but realize that you will still need to set aside time between sessions to train your dog and you will need to spend the time to train your dog in settings outside your home that are more distracting.  Some people also have physical limitations that make attending a group class more difficult and in such cases private lessons may be a better option.

5)  Your dog just needs the basics - if your dog does not have any behavioral issues and you just want to teach your dog to come when called, walking nicely on a leash and other basic skills, group classes are the most economical way to go.  If you prefer smaller classes with fewer people, make sure you ask how big the classes can get.  If you like more individualized attention or feel you could use more coaching on your own dog handling skills, then private lessons may be preferable for you.

Finally, the trainer you interview will be able to advise you as to what is the best option for you based on your particular goals, your dog and the issues you would like to address.

So, if you are ready to start training and bond with your dog, here are a few good places to start searching for a qualified trainer in your area:

• The Association for Pet Dog Trainers (http://www.apdt.com/ )
• Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (http://www.ccpdt.org/)
• Truly Dog Friendly Trainers (http://www.trulydogfriendly.com/ )

Los Angeles Dog Training : www.pawsitivefeedback.com

Choosing a Dog Trainer

Finding a dog trainer can be a daunting task.  These days there are so many dog trainers (especially in large metropolitan areas) and there are several different training styles or philosophies.  To help promote Train Your Dog Month, here are some tips and questions to ask:

1) What is the trainer’s training philosophy? Are the methods based on positive reinforcement (e.g. lure-reward training or clicker training) or are they more compulsion-based (using collar corrections or other physical prompts)? Most modern dog trainers use methods primarily based on positive reinforcement and it is the method that the Association of Pet Dog Trainers and the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior advocate as a first-line approach. Avoid trainers who use harsh physical corrections such as leash popping/jerking, pinning the dogs to the ground or hanging the dog by the leash. With young puppies you especially want to make sure that the methods used are gentle and non-coercive because this is a formative period for a puppy.  If the person you are interviewing is evasive or overly vague about the techniques they use, move on.

2)  What Kind of Equipment Does the Trainer Use? Most positive reinforcement based trainers use plain buckle/clasp collars, harnesses like the Easy Walk™ or Freedom Harness™ or in some cases head harnesses like the Gentle Leader™ or Halti™.  They do not use slip chains (choke collars), prong collars or shock collars.  For a review of harnesses and collars see my blog at:  http://pawsitivefeedback.blogspot.com/2009/06/harnesses-martingales-gentle-leaders-oh.html

3) Is the trainer certified? There are a few certification organizations out there that try to standardize the level of education and experience a trainer should have. One such organization is the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (http://www.ccpdt.org/). The CCPDT, for example, requires that the applicant have completed a certain number of hours as a head dog trainer and successfully pass an exam that tests the trainer's knowledge of learning theory, animal husbandry, ethology, the use of equipment and instruction skills.    Many of these organizations also require continuing education to ensure that its members keep up with current trends and developments in dog behavior and training. 


4) Experience and Continuing Education - You also want to find out how they received their education and training. Did they apprentice with a dog trainer? How many years have they been training dogs? Does the trainer belong to a professional organization that requires continuing education? A few examples of such organizations are: APDT, IAABC, NADOI and the CCPDT. While it may be impressive that a person has had 30+ years of experience, dog training has changed a lot in the last 10-15 years and if that person does not do continuing education to keep up with the changes, that experience may be limited and antiquated compared to someone who has been in the business for 10 years but has also been keeping up with the science and changes in the field.  Attending seminars and conferences are examples of how many dog trainers keep current.


5) What services do they offer?  Does the trainer offer group training and/or private training?  If you have a young puppy for example, you may want to work with a trainer that does both private training and group socialization and training classes so there is a sense of continuity in the training and your puppy can take advantage of socialization under safe, supervised conditions. If the trainer holds group classes and you are unsure of his/her training methodology, ask if you can observe a class. If the techniques are positive-based and most of the dogs seem happy and are enjoying themselves, then that is a good sign. 


6) Use your gut. If the trainer makes you feel uncomfortable, uses scare tactics to convince you to sign up, if you find the methods overly harsh or if your dog is showing unusual fear or anxiety in response to the trainer’s methods then take your dog out of the situation.   A trainer should not scare you into signing up for his/her services. 


Here are a few good places to start searching for a qualified trainer in your area:

The Association for Pet Dog Trainers (http://www.apdt.com/ )

Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (www.ccpdt.org)

Truly Dog Friendly Trainers (www.trulydogfriendly.com )

Free Music Downloads to Help Calm Your Dog

The company Through a Dog's Ear is offering free music downloads this week.  One new download each day.  This music is designed to help calm and relax your dogs.  With the hectic holiday season, not a bad idea!  http://www.throughadogsear.com/7_days_2010.htm

To Touch or be Touched Part 2

One of the fundamental exercises I teach in my dog training classes is targeting.  Targeting refers to teaching your dog to touch a “target.” It can be an open hand, your fingers or a target stick. It is a simple behavior that has a wide variety of applications and is very versatile. Once you teach your dog to target your hand, it is easy to move on to touching other objects. I like to use the word “touch” as my verbal cue. Teaching your dog to touch a person’s open hand can help with:

1) Overcoming hand shyness and building confidence to approach strangers.  This is great for shy dogs or the fearful dog.

2) Teaching dogs to walk by your side by touching your palm when it is next to your body.

3) Teaching dogs to approach strange objects

4) Teaching dogs to open and shut doors and other objects

5) Teaching dogs to touch or ring a bell to go potty.

6) Teaching dogs to follow your hand to go up ladders, through hoops and other agility props.

7) To help redirect your dog’s attention from something else (barking dog, scary person, etc)

8) Using it as a form of recall (come to you). Many dogs are more responsive to “touch” then the word “come.”

Here is a video explaining how to teach your dog to target and a series of clips showing how the “touch” command can be applied to different circumstances:



Los Angeles Dog Trainer: www.pawsitivefeedback.com

The Akita Greeting - Putting Vocalizations on Cue

Akitas can be very vocal with their owners.  They like to howl, whoo-hoo and even grunt.  I decided to take advantage of this fact and every day when I get up I get a wonderful Akita greeting.



Whenever I hear this I get all warm and fuzzy inside!  Now if your dog tries to use the vocalization when you don't ask her/him to, then ignore the times your dog does it on his/her own and only praise/pet/reward when your dog does it on cue.  For incessant vocalizers, you may need to put "ssshhh" or "hush" on cue as well.

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!

On the benefits of clicker training

In my group classes I give people the option of using a clicker to train their dogs.  Personally, I have found this to be a useful and effective training tool for my own dogs.  Clickers can have many advantages over other methods of training:

1)  The clicker sounds the same every time -  every time we press the clicker, it sounds basically the same.  It is a clear and consistent signal to the dog that he/she did something correctly and will be rewarded for it.  Our human voices, however, can vary especially if we are happy, excited, nervous, frustrated, tired or impatient.

2)  Most animals have only positive associations with clickers - because of the nature of clicker training (i.e. click followed by reward), most animals have positive associations with clickers.  There are a few animals that are scared of clickers when initially introduced to them so it is always best to first muffle the sound of the sound of the clicker to make sure your dog is not is not scared of it.

3) Often helpful with rescues - I have found that clickers often work well with rescues.  Most rescues have no previous association with clickers so they find the experience unique and interesting.  For dogs that may have been exposed to earlier harsh training methods, the clicker does not evoke negative associations with previous training techniques. Again, with fearful dogs, introductions to the clicker should be done carefully. 

4)  Does not require physical prompting or manipulation of dogs - if done correctly, clicker training does not require physical prodding or manipulation of the animal.  

5)  Better focus and clearer communication - because of the unique sound and consistency in the signal, I find that clickers provide better focus.  Sometimes, dogs learn to tune out human voices and certain words (especially when words are repeated over and over again).  Clickers often work well with young puppies and their short attention spans.

6)  Better timing - because the clicker's sound is very precise and requires only a press of a button, we can mark or capture desired behaviors more accurately.  With certain behaviors (e.g. "watch me"), we need precise timing to mark the point when the dog correctly performs the task at hand (i.e. your dog makes eye contact which can be just a fleeting moment).

7)  Works across species- perhaps one of the most amazing aspects of clicker training (or the use of any similar marker) is the fact that it works for species other than dogs.  Think about the dolphin at a marine park (the trainer in this case uses a whistle).  Karen Pryor, who popularized the use of clickers with dogs, was able to train a hermit crab to ring a bell!    Below is a video of me clicker training my cat to perform some of the very same behaviors that I teach in my dog training classes.  Who said cats aren't smart!  This is the same cat that knows how to open food storage containers from my previous blog.



Are there times when I don't have a client use a clicker?  Absolutely.  For families with young children, clickers may be too tempting a toy for the children to play with thus confusing the dog.  In some cases, for the very fearful dog, even a soft clicker may be too much and some dogs are more comfortable with the human voice.  Finally, some people are not comfortable working with a clicker and trying to juggle the leash and treats.  In such cases, I substitute the word, "yes" to mark the desired behavior in place of the clicker.  Some of my clients have also made clucking sounds with their tongues instead of holding a clicker!

If you would like to learn more about clicker training here are a few of my favorite books:

Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor - the book that promoted not only positive reinforcement dog training but the use of clicker training with dogs. 




Reaching the Animal Mind by Karen Pryor - explains the science behind clicker training with entertaining anecdotes and personal stories from the author, Karen Pryor.



Click to Calm by Emma Parsons - one of my favorite books for dealing with the reactive dogs.  Has easy to follow instructions and exercises to address reactivity/aggressive behavior.

Pet Projects - The Vacuum Vigilante Revisited

It has been almost a month since I have been working with my 11-year shiba inu on her vacuum issues.

Last month we used interactive dog toys and training to teach her alternative behaviors to attacking the vacuum cleaner. If you missed this blog, you can follow this link to see how we trained her: http://pawsitivefeedback.blogspot.com/2010/05/vacuum-vigilante.html

In addition to the training shown in these videos, I also used the clicker to reward her for non-reactive behavior. So after a few weeks, I rewarded her whenever the vacuum was running and she either stayed on her bed without me asking or she simply did not react to the vacuum.

Let's see how she is doing so far:



In the video you can see there is still a little temptation to go for the vacuum, but she is much more relaxed and less reactive. So a little more work will help her become more reliable and consistent in her response to the vacuum.

So, for an 11-year old dog with a life-long history of reactivity towards the vacuum, she has come around quite nicely. Being a clicker-trained dog also helps with behavior modification. She is flexible and quick to figure out what behaviors elicit rewards.

http://www.pawsitivefeedback.com

The Vacuum Vigilante

Most dog trainers have several pet projects going on with their own dogs. My 11 year old shiba inu is what you would call a feisty gal. She is the most fearless dog I have ever met. At 6 months old she was part of the Nisei Week parade in Little Tokyo. While we were waiting our turn on the parade route, we were parked next to the Taiko drums. The Taiko drums went off and the other dogs were understandably frightened. Not Mitsu. She looked around as if she was thinking, “hey where’s the party at?” She has been to loud and frenetic places like Las Vegas strip and fireworks do not phase her.

However, she does have one little quirk that I have now made my “pet” project. It is her battles with the dreaded vacuum machine monster. She will attack the machine and will try to bite it and shake it. The loud noise, the lights, the annoying power cord, all of it sets her off. If the vacuum is in another room she does not pay attention. She is not afraid of the machine, she just does not want it in the living room where she hangs out. So how does one deal with the feisty vacuum machine vigilante?

Management: For years, I simply managed the situation. She went into her crate and she calmly waited for the chore to be over with. While in her crate she just fell asleep and did not bark at the vacuum. Sometimes, management is the simplest and easiest way to deal with non-fearful but mildly annoying behavior. However, as you will see in the video below, it did not change my dog's attitude towards the vacuum.

Redirection and Distraction: this year I decided to employ a different strategy; redirection and distraction. My dog has always loved her interactive dog toys so for the last two weeks she has been getting her Kong, Tug-A-Jug or Kibble Nibble when I vacuum. She has been getting these toys only when I vacuum which is very frequent right now because my dogs are blowing their coats. If you missed my review of interactive dog toys, go to: http://pawsitivefeedback.blogspot.com/2010/01/interactive-dog-and-cat-toys.html.

These toys not only distract my dog so I can complete my chores but it also has the effect of associating the vacuum with her fun, interactive toys. Here is a video of my dog before the introduction of her toys (about two weeks ago) and during the process of giving her toys when I need to vacuum the floor:



Note: my dog chose to be around the vacuum cleaner. In the case of the Kong, I kept putting it on her bed and in her crate while the vacuum was running but she preferred to work on it in the middle of the floor. Other dogs may prefer to work on these toys in a far corner, in their pen/crate or in a nearby room.

Teach Your Dog an Incompatible Behavior: another strategy is to teach your dog what you want her to do instead. Ideally, it should be a behavior that is incompatible with what she has been doing. Teaching your dog to go to her bed and stay is an example of a behavior that is incompatible with being on the floor and attacking the vacuum. I also started this training with Mitsu. Make sure your dog is solid with these behaviors before attempting it with a vacuum. In Mitsu's case she has a pretty solid command of "bed" and "stay." Here is an example of the beginnings of this type of training:



Dogs who are afraid of the vacuum: in this case, my dog is not afraid of the vacuum. She views it as an unwelcome, noisy intruder. For some dogs, especially with some young puppies, the vacuum can be a frightening contraption. In such cases, introduction to the vacuum cleaner should be gradual. Let the puppy get used to the vacuum machine being in the room while the engine is off. Let her inspect the machine while it is just sitting in the room. You can even put treats leading up to the vacuum and on top of the vacuum while the engine is off. Leave the machine in the same room for several days and put treats around the machine to encourage your dog to come up to it. Simulate the movement of the vacuum by moving it around in the same room with the engine off. You may want to use a crate or play pen so your dog does not get in the way. Let her get used to the noise when it not as intense by vacuuming in another room. When you begin vacuuming in another room, let the puppy work on a Kong or bully stick to distract her. Do this for a few days so your dog gets used to the noise. If your dog is unperturbed by the noise, gradually start working in a room closer to the puppy and repeat the process. When your puppy is ready, work in the same room as the puppy and make sure she has her Kong or chew stick available in her crate/pen.

Next month, we will see how Mitsu is doing with her old nemesis. Who says you can’t teach an old dog something new!