Leaving Food is a Choice

One of the most valuable and fun games to play is all about food, and it's all about choices. Do you ever drop food when you're cooking, and then start saying no automatically or even hurry to race your dog to it? Are you concerned that one of these days, some medication is going to be dropped and you're not going to be fast enough? Then maybe it's time to learn about choices.

Teaching your dog to "leave it" can be a long and arduous process, full of negative "no!" and dragging the dog away from a tasty tidbit. And what's more frustrating than working hard only to slip up once and the dog beats you to the goody? Then you have to start all over again! What if I told you that instead of teaching your dog that getting to the food first is bad, you can teach your dog that paying attention around food is more FUN than trying to steal it?

Your biggest priority during this game is to see the DOG make the choice to leave the food...(No leash prompts or luring food.)

Put food on the ground, making sure the dog knows it's there. If you need to, you can toss it away so they don't grab it when you set it on the ground! The dog must be on a leash when you start this game.

1. Make noises!

Your first goal is to be far enough away that the dog is immediately interested in you when you make strange noises and call to them. If you can count to 5 seconds before you can convince your dog to go with you, then you're too close to the food. DON"T SHOW THEM TOYS OR FOOD! Why? Because they're making a choice, they are not being lured. Check out my post on Choice vs Lure to understand more!

2. Run away!

Move quickly away from the food with excitement. Far enough that the dog isn't looking over his shoulder to see where the food is!

3. Party time!

Reward like crazy, praising and petting. By all means, do give a bonus of a round of tug o war. Add a treat on the end as an after thought. This helps create value for playing and interacting with you rather than teaching them to only behave for the promise of food!

Now it's time to slowly move closer and closer to the food. Make sure they still choose to turn to you immediately when you call to them. Repeat the 3 steps each time. This is called "Layering". We are layering the choices they have made, slowly making it harder while at the same time creating a history and habit of choosing you. Now why does that matter? When they choose you, that moment a dopamine release occurs making them feel happy - They are connecting that feeling to focusing on you! Your value is increasing every time they choose you....and decreasing every time they fail. So staying far enough away is vital to your success.

4. Proof it!

Step 4, you need a helper! Now, you will move close to the food, still upholding the rule that 5 seconds to focus is Too Long! Every time they choose you by giving you eye contact, reward with food. If they go for the food on the ground, have your helper cover it with their foot! After a few successes of them focusing on you, do the 3 steps - Make Noises, Run Away, and Party time!

Don't rush to step 4. If the 3 step isn't valuable to your dog, he will fail miserably!!! Take the time to make yourself irresistible...it's worth it.Take the time for play after every correct choice. Remember that even when they don't get the food, if they go after it they still made that choice. Your value decreases EVERY time they choose the food.

 The shorter sessions are actually more beneficial than the long ones...even if your dog can focus for a longer time. Remember to keep sessions short and fun!

The Pivot - Applying C.O.R.E. to Individual Behaviors

Tonight I prepared to train my dogs a fun new trick. Armed with a clicker and cookies, I brought out the taped up phone book to teach my pups how to pivot. The goal was to have a dog who could pivot independently, even away from my body eventually. A wonderful start to a training night - knowing what my goal was. It was also the first step towards the "C" in C.O.R.E.



Connecting with Lyric started with simply knowing what I wanted - that way, I could tell her clearly what I desired. Using the clicker at precise moments and delivering treats purposefully helped us stay "on the same page" about what we were trying to accomplish. That's really what "connected" is all about - having the same purpose in mind which starts with clear communication.

With Rusty, missing this step caused us 10 minutes of frustration. After working with Lyric, I honestly should have had a clue. But when I started with him, I forgot what my goal was. My clicks were in the wrong places, and the treats were lazily delivered more as a lure than as a reward. I just wanted him to get it right after wonderful success with Lyric. I had to back up, and make sure that he understood what I wanted. So rather than jumping into the pivot, I should have started with rewarding him for standing with his front feet on the phone book target. How did I know we weren't "connected"? He was dancing around, offering all sorts of behaviors, was not focused, and wasn't consistently working towards the goal of pivoting.



"Observant" could be my dogs' middle name...especially when dinner is involved! With their part of the team on board, I brought out my own observation skills to compliment them.

With Lyric, it was about observing her confidence through how she approached the trick. With her tail high and mouth in a wide smile, I knew that I was offering rewards close enough together to keep her enthusiasm high. As soon as her tail dropped, even just a notch, I immediately knew that we needed to make the criteria just a bit easier to keep her happy go lucky!

Observing Rusty's body came in handy today as I watched the way his spine moved as he circled his perch. Understanding how dogs' bodies move has been so important and valuable in all of my training. As I watched him bend his body to move his hind feet, I noticed that the position of his head was the ONLY problem that prevented him from spinning comfortably around the phone book! Simply changing the position of the reward completely changed the outcome of our session, giving us the success we desired.



Reliability was also a defining factor of our session for both dogs.

As I worked with Lyric, I had a definite process in mind and I understood what the next step in our shaping process was suppose to look like. I reliably rewarded the next behavior, and was consistent in not rewarding any behavior that would not be a part of the end result. She tried only a few other behaviors on the phone book because I consistently rewarded the foundation of this behavior - I rewarded her standing with both front feet on the phone book, rather than her pawing it or touching it with her nose. By having definite reactions on which behavior was better, it eliminated any guessing that could have slowed down our process.

With Rusty, I had to be conscientious about clearly rewarding the correct behavior. Even one miss placed click can start him down the wrong path. We had so many behaviors happening so close together as he offered one after another. I had to make him pause often to slow him down so that I could click at the appropriate time. Sometimes we have to make adjustments in our training not only for our dogs, but for ourselves. I had to make it easier for myself to be correct! By setting the standard, I corrected our course making it easier for him to decipher which behavior I wanted. 



Energized is the fun part! With food, a clicker, and a happy tone, my dogs were ready to have some fun. Controlling that energy can sometimes be hard, but if you have "C.O.R." already in place, the "E." falls in line fairly well.

Lyric had no trouble bringing an energetic outlook to training today. Often times she deals with having low confidence, so I was pleased to see her working with such enthusiasm. Keeping the other fundamentals in place gave her the confidence she needed to train freely and happily.

Rusty struggles to keep his energy under control. He was bouncing around, trying so many things, anxious to please. I had to continually remind myself to be happy and relaxed to help him relax himself! Rewarding easy behaviors also helped him focus in. Keeping the criteria not too difficult kept the anxiety at bay.



C.O.R.E. can be applied to every behavior - when there's a problem, one of these fundamentals is missing. I will admit - sometimes it's easier at times than others. It's also easier with some dogs than others at times. For Lyric and I, we started with this foundation in place fairly early in her training. It was as she was growing in puppyhood that I formed the vision of C.O.R.E. With Rusty, it's not always as easy. Him and I have trained so many ways. But using C.O.R.E. to find the missing links made all the difference in our training tonight! It may take more effort at times, but it's worth it. So I keep at it...

Applying C.O.R.E. one behavior at a time!

CORE Fundamentals

What is the ideal working relationship to have with our dogs? C.O.R.E was founded to give each team the keys to achieving this goal. First, let's see what our goal is, and then discuss the two components that will help us get there.

The CORE foundation has 4 focuses that make up the wonderful connection we can have with our dogs. I'm sure you've seen the dogs who watch their human's every action, listen to every word, and perform every behavior with gusto and joy. It's a balance of these 4 things that create the fun you see:

 Connected 

whether you plan to have a home companion, therapy dog, or agility team mate, connection is the first thing you need. Having good connection means having an understanding of one another, and communicating clearly. It's being "in sync" that makes the dog WANT to do what we ask.

Observant 

 We all want a dog that focuses on us, watching and listening for every cue. Not only do our dogs need to be observant, but so do we. By observing our dogs, we can learn to understand the language of our dogs - their body language.

Reliable 

Our dogs must be reliable in all situations, on all behaviors. But our dogs also need us to be reliable in our reactions, so that they can trust us and understand what we mean. Our reliability in our reactions towards them, will enable them to be reliable too.

Energized 

 Our dogs must come to training with energy, and so must we. By teaching them how to control the amount of energy they have, we can help them to be a well balanced companion.

You see, it's not only the dogs who must have an understanding of these 4 building blocks, as part of the team so do we. It's a partnership. Think of it as a dance. If one of the dancers does not know the steps, it will ruin the dance for both of them. It's when both dancers understand the beats, and move in sync, that it becomes an art. 

Each time we work with our dogs, our goal should be to build on our "core". This "core" is what will give us the strength and power to do anything with our dogs.

THE TOOLS

Two of the fundamental tools we need to utilize in order to reach our goal are
1.Choice Training,
2. Energy Control.
What are these? And how do they connect to the core we are trying to achieve?

 Most positive reinforcement trainers will either use lure training or choice training. I love choice training because it gives the dog an addiction to the handler instead of treats.

1. set your dog up for success, allowing them to make the decision easily. It must be their choice completely.
2.The moment they make a choice they experience a Dopamine release, which is often called the "feel good chemical". They will connect that feeling to the decision they made, so the success in step one is fundamental. You want that connection to occur with good behaviors not bad ones!
3.We reward the dog with high value rewards to increase the value of the choice and to encourage that choice to reoccur.
4. Stack the choices to create a history of a dopamine release happening when they choose you!

Energy Control: Depicted below are the 5 energy levels of our dogs.

OFF: the dog is extremely calm and at ease. They have no stress. Their body is visibly relaxed - they might be sleeping at your feet or snuggled on the couch.

DEFAULT: This is the energy level that SHOULD be every dog's default. This is day to day activity but not destructive or wild. They might be following you around the house, chewing a bone, or sniffing around the yard.

ON: characterized by high intensity, this is the optimal for working. The dog should be alert and active. When you harness this energy, the dog should be giving you intense and total focus. A dog who is "on" but not in control of his energy becomes destructive, hyper, out of control, and unable to give complete focus.

OVER STIMULATED: The dog becomes too tense. If a dog is reacting poorly to stimulus they are over stimulated. Characterized by a tense body - ears forward, mouth tense, eyes wide, sniffing the ground, yawning excessively, continual licking of lips, foaming at the mouth, avoiding eye contact. They may act stressed by becoming overly hyper or shutting down.

BITE ZONE: The dog is ready to defend itself. Inability to self calm. At this point the dog will either run or fight. Characterized by the stress signals, baring teeth, growling, lunging, barking.

By teaching the dogs to use the first 3 energy levels, we can teach them how to be balanced companions - able to relax, live comfortably in our homes, and answer our commands with gusto!

By controlling the situation, using the energy you want your dog to use, rewarding appropriately, and putting a cue to each energy level, you can help your dog understand the easiest way to thrive in our human culture.


1. CONNECTED - Our dogs will understand exactly what we want, because we will start easy and give them a history of doing the correct choice. They will be rewarded only for the correct choices. Because they connect that positive feeling with us, they will desire to work with us.

2. OBSERVANT -  From the start, we look for and reward behaviors only when they occur with focus. We start with easy exercises to create focus, and then increase the value of focus through the layering of choices.

3. RELIABLE - Because we create a history of good choices and build block upon block, by the time the dog experiences a difficult choice they are addicted to their handler. It becomes their desire to do as asked.

4. ENERGIZED - From the start, we approach training with high energy and reward high energy responses. The dog will learn confidence when they learn to make choices, causing confident and energized reactions to our commands.

Choice or Lure?

When I started positive training, the most popular style was luring. And luring does work. But now, another style is gaining traction - Choice training.

Luring is all about showing the dog a behavior without physically making them do it. It was the very first step away from the traditional way. Luring is a wonderful tool. It is the process of showing a dog a desirable reward to elicit the correct response. For example, putting a treat over the dog's head to make them sit. Shaking the cookie jar and then calling the dog.

 One of the biggest pitfalls that we can have is relying on luring way longer than is necessary or even helpful. By continuing to lure long after the dog knows the behavior, we're teaching them a reliance on that reward. Whenever luring is being used, the goal should be to reward the behavior to create value for the action, and then immediately taking the lure out of the picture. When the lure is not removed from the behavior is when luring causes trouble. We often get the dog that says "Show me the goods, and I'll do what you say." If the dog finds that something else is more rewarding than your "goods", they will have no reason to do as you ask.

That is the very reason that many people ask "Positive is great, but sometimes you just have to use some punishment or they won't do as you ask, right?" With just lure based training, I'd have to answer, yes that's true. With just luring, pretty soon a squirrel is more fun to chase than getting a treat. A smell becomes more interesting than paying attention to you. Because what treat is going to compete with chasing and smelling? But I'd have to say that luring isn't the only tool we have.

Choice training is the most freeing and fun training method you can imagine. Instead of trying to control the choices our dogs make - we let them choose. That sounds silly right? Who would let their dog choose, and expect to like the behavior you end up with? I would.

Choice training is the process of allowing the dog to make choices, while the handler simply controls the consequences. Controlling the rewards your dog gets when making choices puts the power in the dog's paws to choose, and relieves us of a constant battle for control. I don't have to make my dog behave. What a relief! My dog will choose to behave.

For example, Lyric and I train in a field across the street from our home. She knows that the criteria is to wait on the sidewalk, and then walk by my side. It's her choice if she wants to wait on the sidewalk. If she doesn't, I'm not going to yell at her, I'll simply take away the chance to perform that behavior - I'll put her back inside. If she chooses to wait, I'll let her come to me and begin our walk across the street. If she decides that I'm way too slow and runs towards the field, I calmly walk her back to the sidewalk and start again.

See, there's no battle. There's no leash pops, no yelling, no frustration. I'm not going to ask her to do something she hasn't been trained to do. And I'm not going to expect less than what I help her to understand. I don't want a behavior just to have it - for instance, I don't want her to perform a perfect heel across the street just to get us to the field. I want her to really understand it.

Now, why does this choice training make the big difference between having a semi-trained dog, or an amazingly well behaved dog?

Welcome to the power of choice - and to the power of Dopamine release. That feel good chemical happens at what scientists refer to as a "choice point". Meaning that when my dog chooses something, even before they get the treat, they feel the dopamine release of pleasure. Pretty soon, the choice - in and of itself - is going to be enough to make your dog behave.

All that we have to do is stack the choices. We start at easy steps, building a drive to make the right choice. By the time you reach a complicated behavior, your dog has chosen to do what you want so many times that they connect that dopamine release with doing what you ask. You become their addiction because you give them the choices.

So perhaps it's not one or the other...not only luring or only choice...but a beautiful combination. And I can honestly say - it does work. When I see dogs choosing behaviors that I love of their own accord - well that's honestly the most exciting thing to see in training. And what's even more astounding? When you see a dog make a choice that they've never encountered before - and they choose you. And when people ask "wow! How did you get the dog to do that?!" All you say is "I didn't. They chose."

 

When It All Goes Wrong

It was one of those days when it came to training today. I'm sure you know what I mean. Those days when you ask "Do I know anything about training? Haven't I taught my dog anything?" It came on the heels of a great agility training session, and then we decided to do some obedience. It all went down hill from there.

I took Lyric to D&B to work on socialization and focus with distractions. She fell apart. In truth, I think I fell apart worse. So, on the way home, I bought us a deal of french fries to share (Junk food I know! Bad owner....) gave her a kiss, and thought about our time together in the positive light of trying to figure out a lesson from our experience.

Turns out, I really do have a lesson to learn from it. In fact, it's a great lesson to learn and so I see our outing as a wonderful success. All of these things that I know came together, and now it's time to see where I didn't apply them so that next time I can!

I heard Susan Garrett say that one of the biggest mistakes we make as positive trainers is that we don't allow our dogs to fail enough. And I do think she hit it on the nail on that one. I'd like to add that as trainers, we don't like to let our dogs fail because WE don't want to fail. As heartfelt as it would be if we simply didn't like to see our dogs fail, I don't think that's our only motive for not letting them fail. What they do is a reflection of us, or so we seem to think. When in reality, our dogs failures aren't always ours to claim. This drive to keep Lyric from failing caused me to stumble big time today, and poor dog she wouldn't have been failing if I hadn't been failing first!

My plan going to D&B was to have a wonderful success of socializing and training, but what I failed to realize was that I shoved Lyric into attempting a huge success without understanding that she had some little things to work out. By having these huge goals, I lost sight of the fact that dog training is made up of small victories, not big ones.

The moment we walked towards the doors I had a hesitation that I should have acted on. Going towards the doors I felt a discomfort, like neither of us were quite ready. I excused the notion because I did have focus I reasoned. She was looking at me some as we went to the door. But what I settled for wasn't my criteria. When I go into a place like that, I want total focus. Even if that means working the front doors for 75% of our time there. I did not have the 100% focus that I needed outside before facing the numerous distractions inside.

Lesson - Fix the problem of Focus when it starts rather than playing 'patch it up' all through the session.

All the other problems built themselves upon this shaky foundation to our outing. Without that total focus, I started feeling stressed. and where does that stress go? Right down the leash to my dog. The look in her eyes told me she wasn't comfortable. We weren't in our optimal working zone - we'd already gone beyond that. So what did I do? Get frustrated that she wasn't trying as hard as I was to patch up the focus. Instead of going back outside to fix the problem, or finding space away from as many of the distractions as possible, I kept trying unsuccessfully.

Lesson - When you and the dog are stressed, don't try to keep regaining that focus without changing the amount of stimulation. First find a way for both of you to calm down into work mode, then regain the focus before attempting those distractions again.

I kept thinking I was gaining some attention, only to loose it just as quickly.  I would achieve getting her eyes on me but then she'd go back to sniffing. I ignored the displacement behaviors which caused her even more stress. She also was not tugging well, which is one of her favorite games. That's a red flag if there ever were one. Whether it was from the stress, or a sore mouth from playing with Rusty earlier, if she wasn't tugging she was distressed.

Lesson - If you can't achieve your criteria (like focus and tug drive) and your dog is distracting themselves on purpose, then they are too stressed and you are no longer working together - you are surviving apart because there is no connection.

 So, rather than pushing ourselves to achieve focus and awesome behavior even during that stress, I should have reduced the amount of stimulation in order to regain focus and infuse us with confidence. It was a battle that we could not win, and even if we did we would have been sacrificing Lyric's love of working and focus and drive. That's just not worth loosing for one session.

I'm honestly glad we failed because it brought everything back into focus for me. Sometimes we trainers need to have failures, just like our dogs, because when it all goes wrong, the lessons we learn might just make it all go right.

Ball Patrol - Lyric's choice!

My topic for today has to do with 'choices'. This concept is the idea that by allowing the dog to make choices, but controlling the access to the reward, we can teach our dogs to understand what behaviors are acceptable, and which ones aren't.

Lyric has an obsession with balls. This is not a behavior that I like. Previously, I've tried to control the dog - telling her to leave it, calling her away - or by managing the behavior - putting all the balls away. These options have not been working, and there are definite reasons why. I hope that this new approach of getting Lyric to choose will help relieve these problems.

The main complaint with controlling the dog is that it is exhausting. I do not want to continually have to tell Lyric no. It also creates a dog who must be told, rather than thinking for themselves. Long term, controlling Lyric just isn't an option. The issue with managing the behavior is that balls will get left out be someone. There will constantly be error. It also does not teach her self control, and I do not want her obsession to grow.

Now to control the access to the reward. Controlling the balls is not about putting them away but controlling her access to them. So, I have decided to create an "off limits" place for balls, that way neither of us are confused on when balls are okay to play with and when they aren't. I have a basket of toys that are out, but not open for playtime. The requirement for Lyric is that when the balls are in that basket, she is not allowed any access to them. In order for her to learn this, I've been setting firm boundaries, and giving no second chances.

It is a reward for them to be down on her level. So long as she doesn't mess with them, they are left down low.

But what if she starts sniffing the basket and touching the toys? I do not want any gray area about what is expected. She is allowed NO access. The basket is put up if she sits and stares at them or touches them. The last thing I want is a dog who sits by the basket day in and day out. It may seem harmless at first until that obsession grows. It all depends on her focus. Is she really paying attention to them, or did she just walk on by with one sniff because it's an object on the floor?

If she grabs the ball, I simply do not allow her to play with it. Instead of commanding her otherwise (remember the goal is to not have to control the dog) I simply grab her collar, preventing any play to take place. She gets board and drops the ball, and I calmly go put it away.

The big thing with this is that it's her choice. She gets to decide what she's going to do. I'm not going to get after her, or tell her 'uh uh' when she starts towards the basket. Even if I could stop her from going to it, I don't want to. It's her job to make the right choice. I simply control the outcome. By not trying to make her decisions right, she's going to learn a lot faster what the rules of the basket are.

The next step is earning a ball. I only want to give her a ball when she has accepted ignoring them. If she engages me in something else, totally ignoring the ball, then I might tell her to "take it!" as a reward. But that is only when she has completely forgotten about the ball.

Day 1 of ball patrol has started...so far so good. I had to take away the ball only twice after setting the basket down the first time. It has been put up a few more times than that. And for the first time in quite a while, she's laying down taking a nap.

Dancing the Duo

Dancing with La Bamba has always been fun, but dancing the duo, Lyric and Rusty, well that's just a blast.

It's been a while since I last had time to post. With my two crazy herding dogs, I've been trying to really enjoy my time with them. What a special pair they are.

Rusty is still my number one Aussie. He continues to make me laugh at his antics and I never grow weary of the fact that he's excited that I'm home. Whether I've been gone to work for many hours, or simply out to the garage for ten, he'll greet me with a wiggle that just begs to boogie.

Lyric has stolen my heart in a way I never knew she could. Her sweet disposition can melt my heart any time she pleases. The mix of her sweetness and her fire heart drive. Well to say the least, it keeps me hopping! When doing agility she's yelling at me and spinning out, but all snuggled up, she's giving me those eyes...

It's been a challenge having a new addition to the family. It's not because of dynamics. Rikki and Rusty are the perfect pair. The hard part is that I have trained Rusty to do so many things, and quite frankly, Lyric is behind. I know for a fact that she could do much more than she does. But a new lesson I have learned with her, that I need to do with Rusty, is that relationship is more important than any training I could ever do.

I see all these students walking through my door. Their dogs will do anything for a cookie. And that's great, they need a motivator. But so many of them are lacking the connection with their dogs. They hardly know how to engage their dog without a treat. But instead of working on this relationship, I have to spout off what's next to learn...with a treat. So many times I wish I could just stop in my tracks and tell them that the reason they're having trouble is because they only want a robot dog who does everything well, instead of a friendship with their dog that conquers all problems. So I try to help and explain the concept of how to get the dog to want YOU not the treat. And I go home exhausted and come face to face with my dogs and my reality.

My dogs - they're border line robots. They're the dogs I'm trying to save at work. And I'm the owner who has no clue. My little duo, the ones who greet me with wiggling bottoms and wagging tails, they want that friendship. And so do I. And so, I open my mind and heart to the possibility that it's ok that I'm not fixing everything they do. I'm realizing that it's ok that lyric is clueless to what amazing tricks Rusty does. And that gives me the fuel I need...

Now I'm ready to get out the treats and train. The strange thing is, that when you come face to face with the reality that friendship is what you really need, all pressure in training is relieved because all you are ultimately working on is friendship.

You can completely fail during your session. You can completely train the wrong behavior. And guess what's left? Time with your dog. Time building that relationship. Working together.

Take the time with your dog to build that relationship, and you just might find that they become one of the smartest dogs you will ever meet.