Affective Dog Behavior is new – it’s educational – it’s engaging for humans and dogs alike and best of all it’s a relationship game changer. Scott Stauffer, behavior consultant from San Francisco and creator of the Affective Dog Behavior program will be leading this conference.
Whether you are a trainer, owner, rescue partner or just a dog lover everyone can benefit from this conference.
ADB is not based on force and it is not reliant on treats. ADB is not a technique. It will not replace the training techniques you already know. ADB is based on science that goes beyond Pavlov and Skinner – all the way to the brain to explain:
-How the primary emotional systems and neurochemicals affect behavior
-How moderate non-chronic stress can actually be beneficial
-Why social and emotional connections aren’t just something we fancy but something we literally need to survive and thrive; and how these connections apply to inter-species relationships
-How learning and memories are built and shape the brain
*Of course everyone’s safety, during this year of the great pandemic, is our biggest concern. Social distancing will be in effect during the conference if you choose to attend in person. Masks, hand sanitizer, and temperature checks will be provided. You can also choose to attend this conference online via zoom. Seating is limited. Should you be experiencing any flu-like symptoms we advise you to join us via zoom.
Friday November 13th
Saturday November 14th
Sunday November 15th
1 day only $125
All 3 days $299
Scott will be available for two hour private in-home sessions, for anyone who attended the conference, for $150 the following week. Don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity as the new ADB program kicks off across America.
*Because the conference is held at the doggy daycare, our system will require you to register with a dog. You can bring one of your own dogs if you like, though we recommend not bringing a dog until the 3rd day. To sign up, create an account at www.dakotahsdoggydaycare.com than click on Book Now. Select a dog, and scroll down to the bottom of the classes menu and you will see the option for the Emotions in Dogs conference.
We’ve all experienced that dog. You’re ready to go, you put the leash on, and the second the leash clicks Fido is talking you for a walk. He determines where you go, what he will sniff, who he will say hello to (or scare away), and you’re dragging along behind him wondering who is walking who here?
Teaching a dog to walk nicely on a leash is a challenge and it takes work. A lot of work. Many people opt to buy devices such as pinch, prong, and choke collars to help them find solutions. But by using these short cut devices you may actually be doing more harm than good.
If we want to treat a behavior, we have to ask why the behavior is happening. When you slap a device on a behavior it doesn’t address the why. We often find these behaviors, such as pulling, suppressed but suppression is not training. And suppression often leads to the development of other problem behaviors – such as aggression and reactivity – as a means of coping.
Dogs pull for a variety of reasons. They pull out of excitement, they pull because they haven’t been taught any other way, they pull because they naturally walk faster than us. Whatever the reason, the solution is always to use positive reinforcement for teach an alternate behavior to pulling and make walking a partnership activity between the two of you.
The first mistake most people make when they are trying to learn how to walk a dog is expecting the dog to learn when they are already outside the house. Training works in stages. And in the first stage of learning, the environment must be quiet and distraction free.
To train a dog to walk on a leash I start without the leash on in my living room. I begin by teaching the dog to follow my hand. I extend my pointer and middle finger (of my left hand) out toward the dog’s nose and I wait. The dog will naturally come toward me and when the dog’s nose, or muzzle, makes contact with my hand I say “yes” and treat. I repeat this several times, each time taking a step backwards to allow the dog to come toward me. And I eventually increase to three or four steps back. Each time the dog touches his nose to my fingers I mark it with that word, “yes” and I treat. When this behavior is consistent, I switch up the game on my dog. This time I extend my two fing
ers out toward him and when he comes toward me I turn my back on him so that my two fingers are next to my side. When the dog now comes to my side I mark it with that word, “yes” and I treat. I take a step forward. The dog will follow my hand. Again, I say, “yes” and treat. When the dog begins to follow me, I can start to mark it with the words “with me” or “walk with me”. As the dog continues to follow that cue and follows me around the room I increase the amount of steps I take in between when I give the treat.
Now add the leash.
As we begin to walk on the leash I am now going to start rewarding the dog for what I call “automatic check ins”. Each time the dog looks up at me and makes eye contact I will say “yes” and reward. When the dog is consistently walking with me on a leash in the living room I can move to the back yard, or the driveway.
Now comes the difficult part. Getting out the door.
Loose leash walking involves many steps and many different cues. If you have not trained your dog to “leave it” I would recommend checking out the Zak George version of this cue (here) and take a moment to teach your dog how to leave things alone.
Once you get outside the house your dog will be inclined to immediately pull forward in anticipation of the walk. It is important in this moment that you do nothing. Don’t walk forward, don’t yell at the dog, don’t pull. They can pull against you, but it is important that you never be the one doing the pulling. If they pull, you turn into a statue. Let your dog stand there and pull against you all day if they want. You just don’t move.
Eventually your dog will look at you. It will happen for half a second, you might miss it so watch closely. When your dog looks back at you it is critical that you catch it and say “yes” and reward. They will probably start pulling again. That’s ok. Just wait. When they look back at you again say “yes” and reward. You are building connection with your dogs in these moments and encouraging your dog to stick close to you. Just keep doing it.
When your dog continues to look at you, keep rewarding. Eventually your dog will ignore what is out there and refocus on you. Don’t walk yet. Just keep encouraging your dog to hang out with you and make eye contact with you. Too often we think of a walk as a long exercise session and we expect the dog to do 100% of the work when in reality dog walking is an engagement activity between the two of you and the work is 50/50. Your dog engages with you, and you engage back and reward.
Now you can begin to walk. Use the cue “with me” here, and reward immediately when your dog begins to walk with you. If your dog pulls ahead, freeze and wait. Begin the “automatic check in” exercise again and continue encouraging them to refocus on you.
This kind of training takes significant time. It is critical that your dog never be allowed to pull you on walks or they will continue doing so. If you are also having problems with your dog reacting and barking at people, neighbors, and other dogs on the walk it may be helpful to you to contact a behavior consultant about setting up a private session.
For large breed dogs that already have intense pulling issues, I occasionally use a gentle leader – or face harness. I recommend the gentle leader and not the halti. The gentle leader does not tighten around the dog’s muzzle or cause pain, unlike the Halti. A gentle leader will not teach a dog to walk nicely on a leash but it will discourage them from dragging you across the ice and down the street. It will make it difficult for the dog to pull if you have a dog who enjoys pulling you and knows their own strength because they naturally have less strength in their head and neck. I’ve found this helpful with Great Danes, Rottweilers and Pit Bulls. If you choose to use a gentle leader, do so with the help of a qualified trainer because there is an adjustment period for the dog and if it isn’t introduced carefully and acclimated the dog may learn to resent it which can make walking miserable. We never want a dog to feel forced and suppressed in training. Training and learning should always be safe, fun, and positive reinforcement based.
On your first few walks out of the house, don’t expect to walk far. 10-15 feet, maybe to the end of the block. The goal here is to get your dog engaging with you and keeping that leash walk. As your dog gets better at walking with you in the driveway and up and down the sidewalk in front of the house
If you are looking for help learning to walk your dog ask about our loose leash walking classes. We also work a lot of these skills in levels 2 and 3 obedience class.
To learn more about your training options, call our trainer at Dakotah’s today – 612-564-3165
Can you imagine the audacity of that neighbor? Standing on the lawn or in the window screaming at all the passerby’s and the mailman and… oh wait! That’s the dog. And that’s exactly what he is doing! He’s yelling.
There is nothing worse than a dog that does this. The canine screaming machine.
I have both good and bad news for you. The good news is that a majority of the time we can fix it. The bad news about this one is that is will take quite a bit of work.
As with any behavior issue, it all starts with the why. Why do dogs bark at strangers?
When our dogs bark at strangers, there can be dozens of reasons. But of the most common we have dogs that bark out of territory aggression, dogs that bark out of excitement, and dogs that bark out of fear.
Sometimes dogs can feel extremely protective of their home and their humans. Dogs may see strangers as a threat to their territory, causing them to bark at unfamiliar faces. If your dog only barks at others when they approach their home or come close to you on your walks, they are likely to be territorial.
And some dogs bark because they are rude! That’s right, you read that correctly. Dogs that were not socialized properly from early puppyhood often just lack manners.
What about Bark Collars?
There are a host of issues associated with a bark collar and you won’t find a good trainer out there who advocates for the use of them. Barking isn’t the issue – the trigger that the dog is responding to is the issue. And the problem with a bark collar is that while we expect the zap to be associated with the barking it is often associated with the thing the dog is barking at. So we end up with a dog that learns that every time a dog walks by his house, or the mailman comes to the door, or the neighbor visits, he gets zapped and he learns to hate those things. In addition to that, many bark collars go off not only when a dog is barking but when any other dog barks and sometimes even when other sounds trigger them such as a door slamming or a loud noise. The use of a bark collar more often than not leads to the development of aggression and anxiety disorders which are much harder in the long run to treat than the barking itself.
So what can we do to fix it?
In this scenario the dog will be called “Max”.
This is for the dog that barks at the doorbell, people walking by on the street, passing dogs, etc.
You need to set up a scenario that will cause your dog to bark. Ring the doorbell, knock on a wall, have a friend visit, ask a neighbor to walk their dog past – whatever will set your dog off. Get yourself ready with a lot of very yummy, high value treats such as rotisserie chicken or bacon. When the dog begins to bark, acknowledge it. Say, “Max, alert” and give a treat. The dog will continue barking. Say, “Max, Alert” and give a treat. Do this several times.
When you have done this several times, put a yummy treat directly under the dog’s nose. It is impossible for a dog to bark and sniff at the same time. When the dog quiets down, wait 2-3 seconds minimum and say, “quiet”. Practice this controlled scenario with several different triggers.
Now apply it to every day. Once you have practiced it several times over a few weeks, it should be much easier for your dog to respond when you say, “quiet”. You do not need to say “alert”. Just quiet. If the dog does not respond, return to controlled scenarios and continue the work.
Once your dog has learned this quiet cue, you can begin to test this out in every scenario – on a walk, with stranger danger, when they bark at other dogs.
Remember that two of the most important things to take into account in training are the d’s – distance and duration. Dogs work on a threshold. So when our dog training isn’t working are we too close to the trigger? Are we expecting too much of our dog? Our we waiting too long before we reward which sets the dog up for failure? Are we training too long and the dog is getting overwhelmed? If dog training isn’t working, it is always the result of human error. It’s never the dog.
For fear based behaviors in which a dog will not take treats the treatment should be tailored to the situation. It is important in these situations to bring in a certified animal behavior consultant who can help you.
If you are looking for help with your chronic barker, give our trainer Heidi a call today at Dakotah’s. 612-564-3165
Having a new puppy is fun and exciting. But it can be stressful. Much like having a human baby, expect long nights, lots of poop and pee, heavy management and lots of snuggles.
It can be challenging trying to navigate the ups and downs of being a new puppy parent. But understanding that puppies go through stages of development, and what those stages are, can be helpful.
Stage one: Newborn to 3 weeks old
During the first three weeks of life, a puppy has very limited senses. Its eyes, ears and nose do not work properly until about three weeks in so interactions with humans should be limited. Expect them to sleep most of the time. Just like a human baby, this which is vital for a newborn’s development. But around 3 weeks old they will become more aware of what is happening around them. And we can help their senses begin to develop by doing something called “tactile stimulation.”
“There are actually studies that show that a few minutes of stimulation and handling the puppies favors development. It makes the puppy more resistant to stress. Whether this is the fact that the puppies are touched, or another hypothesis is that touching puppies stimulates the mom’s licking of them. Whatever it is, handling puppies is important.” – Dr. Carlo Siracusa, DVM, Ph.D., MS, associate professor of Clinical Behavior Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine [source]. “They should gradually be exposed to the stimuli that will be part of their life. For example, we see that if a dog is born in a very quiet environment, like the countryside or the suburbs, and then moves to the city, then there are problems adapting to the environment.”
Stage two: 3 to 8 weeks old — Learning Bite Inhibition
At around 4 weeks old your puppy is learning to walk. During this time, the relationship a puppy has with it’s mother and litter is crucial. The mother will start to teach her puppy the rules and weaning begins to take place. As the puppy plays and socializes and plays with it’s litter it begins to develop bite inhibition – an important life skill that helps the puppy learn restraint and healthy play with other dogs and people.
This period is critical. During this time the senses are just starting to develop and puppy’s can become hyper-sensitive. Caution is key here, because without knowledge of the world around them a puppy this age will throw caution to the wind and go running toward anything and everything they are interested in. Their mother will guide them during this period so keeping them in close proximity is crucial.
Stage three: 8 to 16 weeks old — The Fear Period
I cannot stress enough the importance of this period in a puppy’s life. During this period the puppy is a sponge. They often are adopted at 8-10 weeks and make their way into the world. It is crucial during this period that the puppy be safely exposed to as much as possible.
Learning is permanent during this phase. A puppy will remember that people are fun to play with, and can also remember that big scary dog that pinned them or growled at them at the park. One bad memory can tarnish their experience with all associated with that memory for the rest of their life. So it is important to control introductions and promote healthy play. Avoid dog parks for socialization and opt for things like supervised puppy social hours and doggy daycares that keep the puppies separated until 3-4 months for their own safety. This is not the time to begin leaving a puppy home alone for long periods of time. Encourage play that is gentle and appropriate. Do not encourage any form of play that lets puppy teeth on skin, as this can escalate. Redirect the puppy onto a toy. Do not use harsh corrections or punishments during this period.
“Many people think that having guests come in and having everybody handling the puppy and picking up the puppy, we make the puppy good around people, [but] it’s not true,” Dr. Siracusa says. “If someone handles the puppy and he gets scared, for example, because we pick him up too quickly and he loses contact with the floor — or inadvertently while handling him, a young child causes some pain — these are not positive experiences. The same way positive experiences leave a long-term mark, negative experiences do. Negative experiences might even leave a more profound impression. So this is very, very important in stage three.” [source]
Housebreaking can begin at 8 weeks old, and training by 9 weeks old. Puppy kindergartens and obedience classes can be great places for socialization because the puppy will be exposed to other dogs without needing to engage endlessly with them. Enrolling your puppy in obedience classes will also begin to build impulse control and manners around other dogs.
During this phase your puppy is exploring the world around them with their teeth. Expect them to want to chew everything in sight. It may be important to teach them an alternate behavior such as “kiss” when they want to chew on people or clothing. This is an excellent age to start training.
Begin teaching your dogs focus cues and playing name games to build a solid recall. Do not ever call them to punish them or when they have done something wrong. It is important to create positive associations with their name and with coming to you when called.
For potty training during this peroiod, take your puppy out every 3-4 hours. When they go potty, mark it with the word potty and give them a treat. Never punish accidents in the house – they won’t be able to make the association.
If you choose to pursue crate training, it can be very helpful for potty training and management. As a trainer, I do not recommend leaving a dog in a crate for more than a few hours or they can begin to develop kennel anxiety and separation anxiety. When you are home, opt for a puppy play pen or supervised, gated off area full of toys instead of a crate.
Stage five: 6 months to 8 months — Flight Period
Congratulations! You’ve reached the period of puppy puberty. During this stage, puppies will test their wings. It is critical to praise the positive and minimize the negative behavior during this time. Expect them to rebel a little bit.
This is the period where many new owners feel lost and unfortunately give it. It can seem that all the hard work you put in has gone out the window. But it does pass so don’t give up. This period can lest anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.
Recall. Recall. Recall. This period stems from the primal instinct to leave the den and venture into the world so building relationship skills and bonding is important. It is not recommended to do any off leash training during this period.
Stage six: 6 months to 14 Months – Second Fear impact period
Puppies who didn’t experience their 2nd fear-impact period as juveniles will experience it during adolescence. The 2nd fear-impact period is similar to the 1st and lasts approximately 3 weeks.
This critical age may depend on the size of the dog. Small dogs tend to experience these periods earlier than large dogs. Great care must be taken not to reinforce negative behavior. Force can frighten the puppy. Fear should be handled with patience and kindness. Training during this period puts the dog in a position of success while allowing him to build self confidence.
There may be no words that raise more controversy in modern dog training than the words “shock collar”.
The reasons for this are endless. To the force free trainer these words evoke emotions of empathy, frustration and rage, and the device is seen as cruel. To the balanced trainer, a shock collar is an must have training tool that will achieve results quickly. To the average pet parent it can be a whirlwind of mixed articles and feelings when they are trying to determine what method will be best for their dog. After nearly 10 years around the dog training arena, I’ve learned to check emotion at the door and approach this subject with caution and facts.
First, let’s talk about what an electronic collar is and what it is used for in dog training.
The first electronic collar was invented in the 1960s as an aid for training hunting dogs. These first generation electronic dog collars could only deliver one level of stimulation to the dog. The first e-collars required the trainer to select the level of correction and this was done by inserting various intensity plugs into the collar before putting the collar on the dog. Each plug had its own intensity level and once the e-collar was on the dog the trainer could not change it. It wasn’t until the release of the second generation collars that the trainer could vary the level of intensity from the hand-held transmitter. With the adaptation of the second collar, dog trainers could now select from one of three levels of intensity – high, medium and low. The disadvantage was that the lowest level of stimulation was unsuitable for simple corrections. The technology of the last decade introduced collars that gave the trainer the ability to select multiple levels of intensity from the transmitter. It was this singular distinctive advancement together with customer education that has led to the universal acceptance of the modern electronic collar. Today, these collars are used for everything from training recall to electronic fencing geared to keep a dog in the yard to curbing barking and so on. Some apartment complexes have even put stipulations in their lease that owners are required to use an electronic collar if their dog’s barking becomes a problem.
As a modern, science based trainer I do not like to think of any dog training method as good or bad. There was a time when I had strong emotions about one method or another but I have learned to empathize with the owner struggle to find something that works when they have a difficult dog. The cold fact is that some methods are effective while others are ineffective and every method comes with pros and cons.
So let’s look at the good.
THE GOOD
The dog does a behavior. You hit the beep which the dog has never heard before. Within seconds you follow it up with a jolt of electricity. In theory, the dog very quickly learns that the beep means a jolt will follow if he does not look to you for instruction. Again, this works theoretically, if all goes according to plan.
To break down the “why” as to how this works in the brain you need to understand how associations are formed to begin with.
To answer those questions look no further than Ivan Pavlov, the founder of Pavlovian psychology. Ivan Pavlov ran a series of experiments in which he fed a dog dinner. Whenever he fed the dog dinner, he rang a bell, and the dog learned to expect food when he heard the bell.
Associations are how all of us learn. We form associations from the time we are born. We learn that red equals stop because of the subconscious association with fire, flame, and hot stoves. We associated the smell of coffee with waking up in the morning. We may learn to associate the smell of a parent’s cologne with love and affection or we may learn to opposite in a home where the upbringing was unpleasant
. Learning based on what we experience in our environment, also known as operant conditioning, is completely natural. What Pavlov did was he took environmental learning and he added a controlled stimuli – the bell.
The dog already knows that food is good. By adding a neutral stimulus the dog had neither positive or negative associations with Pavolv was able to manipulate the dog’s behavior. And thus was born our modern understanding of classical conditioning.
But what happens when we pair a neutral stimulus with an unpleasant result?
Well then we look at the work of another researcher by the name of B.F. Skinner.
Skinner wanted to further build on the basics of classical conditioning by using a series of experiments involving both humans and rats. The most famous of these experiments was called the “Skinner Box”. Skinner showed how a combination of positive punishment and negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in his Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current. As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever and the electric current would stop. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box to end the shock. The consequence of escaping the electric current ensured that they would repeat the action again and again. In fact Skinner even taught the rats to avoid the electric current by turning on a light just before the electric current came on. The rats soon learned to press the lever when the light came on because they knew that this would stop the electric current before it hit.
These two learned responses are known as Escape Learning and Avoidance Learning.
And this is essentially how and why a shock collar works. The dog is learning – it learns through avoidance.
Punishment is defined as the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or eliminate a behavior rather than increase it. It is an aversive event that decreases the behavior that it follows. Like reinforcement, punishment can work either by directly applying an unpleasant stimulus like a shock after a response or by removing a potentially rewarding stimulus, for instance, deducting someone’s pocket money to punish undesirable behavior.
When the dog jumps on a counter, I hit the zap. The dog learns not to jump on the counter. This was achieved through positive punishment.
When the dog runs away from me, I hold down the shock. The dog continues receiving the stimulus until they turn and come toward me and then the electronic stimulus stops. This is achieved through negative reinforcement.
You Don’t Have To Be Present For The Collar To Do Its Job
Electronic collars that work in association with electric fencing are designed to function even when you aren’t around. If the dog gets too close to the boundary in the yard, it will get the initial warning signal. A shock will only be administered if it continues heading towards and past the boundary. Remember, though, a shock collar may keep your dog from leaving the yard, but it will not stop humans or other animals from entering.
They can be used as a positive
The beep function on the collar can also be used as a marker that means “come find the owner for a treat”. When used correctly, with good time, the collars are not just good for positive punishment. They can in fact be used to take the dog out of the moment. They can also be used to deter a dog from a situation that could be life threatening such as rattlesnake avoidance training, recall in potentially dangerous situation (running into the street) etc.
THE BAD
Let’s go back to the rat in the “Skinner box.” Skinner taught the rats to press a lever to get food. However, if no food pellet was delivered immediately after the lever was pressed then after several attempts the rat would stop pressing the lever. The behavior the rat had learned became extinguished.
The downside of using devices in training is that the dog/rat/human being doesn’t necessarily learn to do a behavior. They learn to do a behavior to avoid pain (i.e. avoidance learning). Learning through avoidance will become quickly extinguished and must be continually reinforced. So these collars/fences/devices usually need to be used for the duration of the dog’s life. Your dog learns to live in a suppressive device rather than developing good habits and learning to make healthy, rewarding choices.
THE UGLY
There are many problems with using punishment that have been studied for decades and have shown us that:
Punished behavior is not forgotten, it’s only suppressed – the unwanted behavior returns when punishment is no longer present.
It causes increased aggression – aggression becomes a way to cope with problems.
It creates fear that can generalize into undesirable behaviors, e.g., reactivity toward other dogs, cats, people, etc.
It does not necessarily guide toward desired behavior – reinforcement tells you what to do, punishment only tells you what not to do.
(For further studies on this subject, see studies by Richard Polsky here and here)
Let’s break this down.
Suppressed behavior eventually returns. Remember the dog who lives in a permanent collar?
Suppression causes aggression. This is born out of associations. Many of the associations we make with the world are subconscious. We know that trauma works in a strange way on the brain. A person who smelled coffee a few moments before a traumatic event in their life may forever become ill when they smell coffee. They may not have even been aware they were smelling coffee at the time, but their brain was gathering information. We are born gathering information about the world around us and learning from the moment we take our first breath. When dogs are trained using primarily positive punishment and negative reinforcement we are taking a risk that they may also form negative associations where we never intended.
Suppression generates other problems. If my dog is barking at a school bus full of children outside of the window because he loves children and wants to see them and he is greeted with a painful zap he may subconsciously associate the zap with the children. If this happens to the dog every day at 3 pm when he sees those children getting off the bus he may even learn to fear of hate children. When we think about the ways in which shock collars are most commonly used – bark collars and electronic fences – this can be a risk we have to take into consideration. When your dog wants to run out of the yard to greet another dog and he gets zapped, he may associate the stimulus with leaving the yard or he may associate the stimulus with the other dog that passes the house every day. Or the mailman. Or the neighbor’s cat. Or friends coming over for dinner.
Punishment versus reinforcement. Imagine stepping into a world you do not understand full of beings who do not speak your language. And their only means of communicating with you is through zaps and yells, slaps, and suppression. You might develop some anxiety issues and struggle to feel safe. You would eventually learn to feel your way around but if no one has ever taken the time to show you what they want, you will have learned to survive but you will not thrive. Imagine if every time we see a spider you receive a painful pinch. You will learn to avoid them but you won’t learn to like them. You may even begin to hate them. And you may also build resentment toward the person who is pinching you. Now imagine if every time we see a spider I give you a $100 bill. The results would change completely. Suddenly spiders become exciting, and you may turn you attention to me instead of the spider. Because now we have started to build a relationship. The nice thing about training using positive reinforcement and relationship building skills is that there isn’t a risk. Even if our timing is a little off, it may slow down learning but there is no risk of misplaced associations and aggression or anxiety issues.
And there is one heartbreaking reality that we in the rescue community see all too often as the result of electronic fences. When your dog gets excited and goes into flight or chase mode they may just run right through the fence and not even feel the stimulations. In that moment, the chase of that dog, rabbit, squirrel, or whatever it may be holds their attention. However, when their adrenaline comes down they often can’t get back over the fence and they wander. And a significant number of dogs end up lost and in shelters as a result of this sad reality. And then there is the risk that a predator or a human could enter your yard but your dog cannot get out. This can be dangerous for the dog in the long run.
My Personal Opinion
“In one of my dogs, all of the training that was done on the collar not only disappeared but the behavior returned stronger after I took the collar off of my dog and we ended up having to start training over from scratch. He knew how to avoid a shock. He had never learned how to behave without the collar on.”
As a trainer I try to keep my emotions out of the training arena. I run a business called “Force Free Paws” and I’ve considered changing the name at times because I fully understand and have experienced that what is too forceful or too aversive is determined by the dog not by us. I have seen a happy, thriving excited dog come running upon hearing the beep of an electronic collar. I have also seen a dog cower and hide, shaking, when the collar vibrated. I’ve seen a dog walk perfectly fine on a pinch collar and I’ve seen a dog refuse to walk on a regular leash. When my clients come to me for advice about their e-collar training I approach it with the good, the bad, and the ugly. In the end, the most important thing on the table at every dog training session is always the safety of the dog. Mentally, emotionally, physically, and beyond. I am also a trainer who at one time did use electronic collars and I veered away from them after time because I started to see the positives and negatives. In one of my dogs, all of the training that was done on the collar not only disappeared but the behavior returned stronger after I took the collar off of my dog and we ended up having to start training over from scratch. He knew how to avoid a shock. He had never learned how to behave without the collar on. I have since then become a member of the Shock Free Coalition, an organization that works behind the scenes in the dog training industry to provide alternative training solutions and remove the easy access to electronic collars on store shelves. The Shock Free Coalition was involved in Petco’s recent decision to stop selling the devices. I believe that the easy access the public has to these devices has done more damage to dogs and dog training in America than any other tool in the toolbox. My heart breaks for the dogs I have had to see euthanized because of anxiety and fear issues that developed after the use of an electronic collar.
To me, the potential negatives outweigh the positives in most circumstances. As a trainer who specializes in reactivity and aggression I can tell you that in more than half of the cases I am called into there is a history of aversive training that has been used on the dogs, whether that training was done with the use of a pinch collar, shock collar, choke collar, etc. The correlation between positive punishment and aggression is very high.
I will share with you a very sad story. This is not a story about an electronic collar, but it is a story about the downside of using aversive training. In this situation the aversive was something called “bopping” which is essentially a spanking using a lightweight object. I was once brought onto the scene for a very large Great Dane/Mastiff (280 pounds) that had a dangerous aggression and control issue. The dog stood shoulder high next to me. He was by far one of the largest dogs I have ever encountered. The owner was not upfront with me about the dog’s history of training methods used but eventually disclosed to me that the dog had been “spanked” with an empty water bottle for every behavior that was perceived to be “bad”. Once the dog’s history had been disclosed I was able to deduce that the dog was heavily suppressed and potentially very dangerous. A dog who’s personality and behavior is suppressed through aversives is not a well behaved dog, though it may appear that way. It is a time bomb. I leveled with the client that the dog was just that – a time bomb – and that given their refusal to change the training methods, the dogs aggression issues, and the dog’s size that the prognosis for the dog was not good.
Out of both inexperience and compassion I continued working with the client until one day the dog turned on me as I had predicted. The dog bit down on my shoulder. It was an intentional potentially level 4 bite and shake but my clothing was loose and the dog ripped my shirt sleeve off instead of my arm. I was able to get to safety but it took two humans to restrain the dog. I recommended after that that the dog be euthanized. I have never followed up with the client to find out what choice they made – in situations like this I sometimes find it easier not to know.
In the end, I have personally found much more success with positive reinforcement, systematic desensitization and counter conditioning, relationship building skills, and affective dog behavior training (need based training). But while I don’t personally endorse e-collar training I also understand the challenges that can come with owning a difficult dog. My personal recommendation to anyone with questions would be to reach out to a qualified behavior consultant through the PPG, the IAABC, of the APDT. However, should you choose to go the direction of e-collar training I implore you to do so with the assistance of an experienced trainer. The most common issue with these devices falls on owner misuse and the stimulation being used at the wrong time. A good trainer will know the tools and can help avoid any potential mistakes and mishaps that could stall your progress.
Written by Heidi Clem, animal behavior college certified trainer and behavior consultant, AKC evaluator, and member of the Pet Professional Guild, the Shock Free Coalition, and the Association of Professional Dog Trainers.
If you would like to discuss training options and need help and guidance with a dog please reach out Heidi at Dakotah’s Doggy Daycare. We currently offer private sessions, board and training, obedience classes level 1 – 4, reactivity rehab in both private and class settings, along with STAR puppy, CGC, CGC Urban Canine, AKC Community Canine and AKC Trick dog training.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could teach your dog to sit, stay, lay down, play dead, roll over, and shake all in one session? Amazing, sure. Possible? Probably not. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could learn to speak a foreign language in just one course? It’s the same concept for dogs. Dogs aren’t born speaking our language. We bring them in
to our homes, our lives, our culture, and it is crucial that we teach them what we expect of them slowly, and at a pace they can handle. This is why my sessions are never longer than one hour. It is so important to make sure your dog is really understanding each concept before moving on to the next. Some dogs can learn “sit” immediately, and some might take awhile. Don’t move on to training a new behavior until your dog can perform the current behavior with distractions and without fail every single time. Start slow. When training “stay”, I start by having the dog stay for one second, and immediately rewarding. I add 5 seconds at a time. I don’t leave the room. I don’t turn my back on the dog. It’s a slow process. When the dog can stay for up to 30 seconds with me facing him than I’ll have him do the same thing with me turning my back and walking around the room. Set your dog up for success by rewarding the small things. And never repeat commands. As I said, your dog wasn’t born speaking English. Imagine that you are visiting a foreign country where you don’t speak the language and someone on the street asks you to do something. You are trying to process the request when they continue to yell the same command at you, over and over again. Now imagine again that the same person says the command once, slowly, and gives you a moment to really process it. Imagine that they add hand signals or perhaps a drawing and give you a chance to understand. Wouldn’t you feel much more comfortable doing what was asked when you were given a moment to process the request? Your dog isn’t much different.
2. Lack of Consistency
Dogs, and all animals for that matter, learn based on instinct and association. If Action “A” leads to Result “B” than the dog will either repeat action A or refrain from doing action A again. However, if Action “A” produces a different result every time than the dog is going to have a hard time deciding what the result is supposed to be and if the action should be repeated or not.
One of the biggest setbacks for dogs is when their handler lacks consistency. It is crucial that when you are training, the dog’s actions lead to the same result every single time. If a dog gets a treat every time he is asked to sit than he is going to sit every time he is asked. If a dog gets attention every time he jumps up on you, even if it’s negative attention, he will keep doing it. Hey! It worked once! If every time the dog barks at the mailman, the mailman gets in his car and drives away, the dog will always bark at the mailman. He has no way of understanding that the mailman is going to get in his car and leave anyway. He barked. The mailman left. It works every time so why not keep doing it! So when we are working on adding new behaviors and changing problems behaviors it is crucial that the reward or consequence be consistent. Otherwise we run into a common training problem called “extinction” – meaning that behavior that worked once doesn’t yield the same result anymore so the dog doesn’t see the point in doing it.
3. Timing
Dogs learn by association. If you say sit and your dog gets a “good sit” with a treat the second his butt hits the ground, his butt hitting the ground will be associated with the cue word “sit”. However, if you say “sit” and your dog gets a reward 2 minutes after his butt hits the ground while he is starting to get up he isn’t going to have any idea what the reward is for. And the same applies to consequences. Punishing a dog for peeing on the floor after he has peed on the floor is about as effective as seeing someone on the street and punching them in the face for a comment they made last year to a family member. The dog will be confused by the actions, and probably will feel resentful and frustrated. And in the worst case the dog will now associate seeing pee on the floor with getting yelled at which will cause the dog to hide every time there is pee on the floor. This is often misinterpreted as guilt. But the dog doesn’t hide because he feels guilty. The dog hides because someone peed on the floor and he is knows that he will be yelled at for it. That pee is bad (not him). In reality, he likely has no idea the pee actually came from him. This can create a very anxious and stressed out dog.
When giving rewards, or consequences it is vital that the reward, or correction, be administered at the exact second of the action or the dog may not make a correct association. And remember – when it comes to corrections, these are designed to create a negative association. Negative associations create fear. A correction that is off by even half a second can create a negative association with things you may not want the dog to be afraid of, such as other dogs, kids, or people. This is why LIMA (least intrusive method available) and FF (force free/fear free) trainers opt to use redirection instead of corrections..
4. Accidentally reinforcing bad behavior
A dog is likely to repeat any action the produces a positive result. One common mistake is when owners treat puppies different than they would treat a big dog. Golden retrievers are adorable puppies but you certainly don’t want an adult golden jumping all over someone. It is important that bad behaviors be ignored or redirected from day one, with consistency. If you pick the 10 lb. puppy up and pet him when he jumps on you he is going to expect the same result as an 80 lb. dog. If the dog is jumping up on people and they laugh and pet him he will continue to jump up on people.
5. Adopting a dog without understanding the breed’s specific needs.
Many people get lost in the idea that dog is a dog. And this may be true. But a Chihuahua will never be a Doberman and a French Bulldog will never be a Labrador Retriever. Different breeds were created through special breeding to enhance specific traits and drives. Sight Hounds are driven to chase and that means they can and will chase anything that catches their attention. They need a strong recall, impulse control exercises, and a solid stay. They also probably love to chase a ball or a Frisbee. Scent hounds are driven to track. These dogs have incredibly strong olfactory receptors in their nose and once they get on a trail it can be hard to pull them off which means it’s going to be very important to focus on training a strong recall and work on building impulse control. It also means you may want to put their strong nose to use and train them to track to enrich their natural instincts rather than punish. Terriers are rodent dogs and they may dig, bark, and can be high energy. Shepherds will herd anything they can, including children. Many east asian breeds like the Akita or Chow Chow are bred to guard and do best with strong leadership or they may just take over. Knowing your dog’s breed (or breeds if mixed) gives you ways to work with your dog on enriching his natural instincts and improve his overall quality of life. But it also may prevent you from falling into the sad fate that too many owners eventually meet – winding up with a dog that is completely wrong for your lifestyle who becomes more of a burden than a copmpanion.
6. Calling the dog when he is in trouble
Never call your dog to come to you when he is going to be punished. It just might teach him to do the opposite. Dogs do everything they do for a reason, even if that reason is to avoid being punished. I have had to rename dogs in the past because even their own name was poisoned from only being used when the dog was being called for a correction. Save the dogs name, and words like “come” and “here”, for when the dog is going to get a reward. Never call the dog with negative intentions.
7. Your dog is under exercised and bored.
Think of your dog as a child. Your dog needs toys, chews, activities, and exercise. Dog’s get bored too! Imagine how you would feel if you never got to really leave the house or do anything exciting. A bored dog is NOT a trainable dog. It goes back to knowing your dogs breed. A great dane needs to run for about 2 hours a day, and does not do well in a small house or an apartment. A pug or english bulldog should not be allowed to over exercise, and should be protected from overheating due to complications in breathing from their flat face. And size doesn’t necessarily equal exercise needs. A Jack Russell Terrier needs a good hour to run around and burn out every single day, while a mastiff may do fine with limited exercise, as these are lower energy dogs. If your dog isn’t getting an opportunity to run around and get their “zoomies” out than those same zoomies may work their way out in other ways.
As a trainer, when I go into a house the first part of my job is going to be making sure that all of a dog’s needs have been met from the ground up.
So if we can take a moment to step back and look at this we have to address the things that keep a dog breathing and physically healthy. When a dog is not picking up potty training we have to first look for something that could be wrong in their basic needs. I first check the dog’s food and outside schedules. Please remember that a new puppy will have to pee constantly, and the younger the dog, the more frequently they need to go out. I typically tell my client’s to expect their dog to hold it the same number of hours as their age in months minus 1, up to 9 months. So an 8 week old puppy (roughly 2 months) needs to be taken outside every hour for the first few weeks they are with you. You will also need to take into account your dog’s feeding schedule along with their outside time. Whenever your puppy eats, set them up for success by taking them outside about 30 minutes after (this includes training sessions where they get a lot of treats).
Check the nutritional quality of the food they are eating. Poor quality foods can cause digestive upset and make it difficult for the dog to regulate their elimination cycles, in the same way it does humans. Please do not be fooled by pet food companies advertising strategies. Pedigree is not a “balance and complete” dog food. As a matter of fact, both Pedigree and Purina have been sued in the past for cross contamination issues showing everything from unhealthy filler ingredients to metal shards in the food. And the label “high protein” means nothing if the proteins are not pulled from digestible sources. When checking the ingredients, look for a food where the first ingredients come from real meat: Chicken, Beef, Liver, Lamb, Kidney, Heart, Fish, Venison. Egg Whites are a completely digestible source of protein. The first three ingredients are the most important. If the first three ingredients contain wheat, corn, soy, rice, etc than throw it out! Also, look for an AAFCO label on the food bag. Dogfoodadvisor.com offers AAFCO ratings on food based on their nutritional quality and ingredients.
We need to make sure the dog is getting enough exercise and mental stimulation. When dogs suffer from stress and anxiety their cortisol levels rise. Cortisol leaves the body through fluid, whether that be urine, drool, sweat, etc. Exercise and mental stimulation can help relieve stress. Regular obedience training helps the world become more predictable to your dog and raises their confidence levels. Avoid forceful, aversive methods that can raise stress levels in a dog and focus on positive, reward based training.
If the dog suffers from anxiety it can be helpful to talk with their vet about the possibility of temporarily using a medication such as prozac or trazadone. Medications often get a bad reputation but they can actually be quite beneficial. Much like a human, a dog that lives in a state of anxiety will learn slower and struggle to retain information. If we can lower their stress levels we often see much better progress in training.
For puppies, what happens at night? Is the dog allowed to roam the house? A puppy will usually do best at night in a bed in a covered crate until they have learned to control their bladder. A crate should be no bigger than double the size of the dog – big enough for them to walk in, stand all the way up, and turn around in a full circle. I do not encourage using the crate as a long term solution while you go to work. There are other options, like a patio, an x-pen, a baby gate in a kitchen or bathroom, or even doggie daycare. However, a crate at night while you sleep will help create good sleep habits and teach the dog to hold it through the night – puppies usually won’t pee near their bed. The younger your dog the shorter they can be expected to hold it. Much like a newborn baby, those first few weeks might be a bit sleepless for you. To really set your puppy up for success you may need to take them outside every few hours at night.
When your puppy eliminates, mark the behavior with the word “potty” and immediately give them a treat. This will help them associate peeing outside with good things and they will start to save up their urine to get those treats. The word must be used (and the treat must be given) while the dog is eliminating. Even a 3 second delay can cause a dog to fail in making that connection. Timing is critical in training.
I do not recommend using potty pads. Instead I recommend taking the dog out as often as possible and giving them a treat every time the dog eliminates outside. However, potty pads can be very helpful when a dog has a regular spot they continue peeing in the house. On these situations, you can set a potty pad over the spot and wait for the dog to pee there. Every day, move the potty pad a half inch closer to the door. It must move so slowly the dog doesn’t realize it is moving. When the potty pad gets to the door, leave it there for a week or so and then move it to the other side of the door. Your dog will hang out around the door looking for it. That is your chance quickly get a leash on the dog and get them outside. Adding a bell to the door is a great way to set the dog up for success. Simply ring the bell every time you go outside with the dog with the cue “outside”. The dog will eventually start ringing the bell when they need to go outside.
There is a cardinal rule that people often break in potty training a dog. It is crucial to remember this.
NEVER PUNISH ACCIDENTS. Let me say it again. NEVER PUNISH HOUSE ACCIDENTS. EVER.
When your dog eliminates in the house they are not trying to be bad. There are a million reasons they may have gone in the house and the most common reason is because they needed to go to the bathroom. It’s that simple. The dog isn’t being naughty, the dog just has to go. A dog is incapable of connecting the mess on the floor with the act of urinating. They understand the feeling of elimination, but they may not understand the end result. Dog’s function on association. When you yell at them, or worse, rub their nose in it, for the pee on the floor you are creating a negative association with pee on the floor – NOT the act of peeing on the floor. They don’t understand. If you want to correct the behavior you have to catch them in the act. But remember that dogs function on association. When they are yelled at for peeing in front of you they have now been taught that peeing is bad. NOT that peeing in the house is bad. This simply teaches them to hide when they have to pee and will make your issue worse. The best thing you can do if your dog has an accident is interrupt it with a loud noise, handclap, or interrupter and immediately tale them up and carry them outside. Give them the “go potty” cue – reward them when they do. If you are not able to interrupt the act of peeing than ignore it. Yelling at them will just harm their relationship with you in the long run.
For male dogs that have marking issues, belly bands can be very helpful. When the dog urinates they will urinate in the band (or diaper) which makes marking uncomfortable and helps train them to hold it until they get outside.
If the dog is NOT picking up the peeing outside, than it’s time to get a vet check to make sure the dog does not have a medical issue. Also, dogs will eliminate in their crate is the crate is too big. If you believe you have taken all these steps and you are still having a hard time with the potty training a session or two with a behavior consult can be extremely helpful.
Affective Dog Behavior is new – it’s educational – it’s engaging for humans and dogs alike and best of all it’s a relationship game changer. Scott Stauffer, behavior consultant from San Francisco and creator of the Affective Dog Behavior program will be leading this conference.
As the puppy plays and socializes and plays with it’s litter it begins to develop bite inhibition – an important life skill that helps the puppy learn restraint and healthy play with other dogs and people.
remember that big scary dog that pinned them or growled at them at the park. One bad memory can tarnish their experience with all associated with that memory for the rest of their life. So it is important to control introductions and promote healthy play. Avoid dog parks for socialization and opt for things like supervised puppy social hours and doggy daycares that keep the puppies separated until 3-4 months for their own safety. This is not the time to begin leaving a puppy home alone for long periods of time. Encourage play that is gentle and appropriate. Do not encourage any form of play that lets puppy teeth on skin, as this can escalate. Redirect the puppy onto a toy. Do not use harsh corrections or punishments during this period.
This is the period where many new owners feel lost and unfortunately give it. It can seem that all the hard work you put in has gone out the window. But it does pass so don’t give up. This period can lest anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.
The first electronic collar was invented in the 1960s as an aid for training hunting dogs. These first generation electronic dog collars could only deliver one level of stimulation to the dog. The first e-collars required the trainer to select the level of correction and this was done by inserting various intensity plugs into the collar before putting the collar on the dog. Each plug had its own intensity level and once the e-collar was on the dog the trainer could not change it. It wasn’t until the release of the second generation collars that the trainer could vary the level of intensity from the hand-held transmitter. With the adaptation of the second collar, dog trainers could now select from one of three levels of intensity – high, medium and low. The disadvantage was that the lowest level of stimulation was unsuitable for simple corrections. The technology of the last decade introduced collars that gave the trainer the ability to select multiple levels of intensity from the transmitter. It was this singular distinctive advancement together with customer education that has led to the universal acceptance of the modern electronic collar. Today, these collars are used for everything from training recall to electronic fencing geared to keep a dog in the yard to curbing barking and so on. Some apartment complexes have even put stipulations in their lease that owners are required to use an electronic collar if their dog’s barking becomes a problem.
Skinner wanted to further build on the basics of classical conditioning by using a series of experiments involving both humans and rats. The most famous of these experiments was called the “Skinner Box”. Skinner showed how a combination of positive punishment and negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in his Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current. As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever and the electric current would stop. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box to end the shock. The consequence of escaping the electric current ensured that they would repeat the action again and again. In fact Skinner even taught the rats to avoid the electric current by turning on a light just before the electric current came on. The rats soon learned to press the lever when the light came on because they knew that this would stop the electric current before it hit.
