Tug - Part Two

In my last post I yapped about the ills that often arise when people tug with their dogs. If not the cause for permanent hyper-arousal, mouthing, competition and even aggression, it is often a major contributor, and that statement is based on my professional experiences. For most of my career I circled in like-minded company. Neither people I learned from, nor my friends, including a few agility buffs, were tuggers. That changed a few years ago when, as a result of our move across country, I connected with a number of new colleagues who do tug - and have a wonderful cooperative relationship with their well-behaved, well-rounded canine sidekicks. Especially Adina MacRae jogged my brain and got me to rethink.

So, why is it that dogs with similar backgrounds can play the same game, with the same intensity, and some turn out better than okay, while others develop a number of nuisance behaviors problematic enough that their owners seek professional help?

A fundamental difference is that my tugging friends entertain their dogs with a variety of physically and mentally stimulating activities. Tracking and other nose games, herding, fetch, agility, learning tricks, hanging out together, going for a walk, and obedience are some of the things their dogs are, at least equally to tug, motivated by - and yours should be, too. If your pooch is fixated on the toy, and only interested in tugging, eliminate it, get him keened on a number of fun activities you do together, and then introduce the toy again. Hopefully it won’t be most sought after interaction any longer, just one of many he likes.

Another thing that all pro-tuggers have in common is that their dogs know and obey commands. The ones particularly important in relation to tug are: tug, give and settle.

“Settle” means that the dog, after you convey that you are done attending to him, is able to chill. My command word is “all-done”, not settle, and serves as general information that I am about to return to human-only stuff.

If the pooch stays aroused and scans the environment who he could pester next, don’t tug, or interrupt the game often with calmer activities, for example finding the toy you hid while he obeyed a down-stay position.

“Give” and “tug” put the game under your control, and that is a crucial, possibly the most important aspect of playing tug the right way.

“Tug” starts the interaction, and it should never start without that command.

With “give”, your dog must instantly release the toy, and not re-grab unless prompted with another “tug”. Lay-tuggers rarely have a give command that actually works, and pro-tuggers characteristically have a solid one in all kinds of situations.

The dog should never snatch for the toy unless he gets verbal permission. You should be able to dangle a leash, the toy, or a rope in front of your dog’s nose without him grabbing it, and you should be able to run without your dog hanging on to your pants legs, or even the toy you’re dragging behind you.

To recap: the word “tug” serves as a clear invitation that the game begins; “give” interrupts it and you absolutely can, in fact should, reward your dog with continued play, and “settle” or “all-done”, whatever word you like better, ends it and the dog is expected to chill and leave you, and others, in peace. Those are the rules, and my tugging colleagues have them and most of my clients, well, don’t, and that’s why they have wild dogs and my friends good dogs. That is not to say that theirs don’t get quite excited during play. There is nothing wrong with that. It is unrealistic to expect that a living, feeling being is always in the same, calm mood. That is not natural, so be prepared to hear some fierce growls coming from your little darling, but as long as tug is cooperative play and not a power struggle, the growls are happy sounds and not warnings.

If played by those rules, it doesn’t matter who ends up with the toy. No, your dog won’t transform into the alpha if he gets to keep it after you disengage, but he will be dominant, at least in that context, if the game is a competition over the toy and he always comes out on top. Dogs should be more driven to interact with you than possessing a toy, and then who wins in the end is irrelevant.

Even with rules, tug is still not my favorite, first choice activity with a dog. I like to channel his mouth in a work-oriented way – retrieve, carry things, open things, but I can also, now, appreciate its usefulness for certain dogs, in certain circumstances:

~ You can redirect a leash, sleeve, and pant-leg grabbing puppy to have an appropriate object between his teeth.

~ Agility and flyball aficionados energize their dogs with a tug toy before a run, and distract them from darting into the crowd after.

~ Tug is great to train a dog who rudely, or very exuberantly uses his arms and paws naturally, boxers come to mind, to use their mouth more.

~ It can be a great distraction for the canine worrier who reacts to environmental triggers, for example other people or dogs. The tugging dog’s focus is with you, and while the environment is still on his radar, it is not a big deal.

~ Every playful interaction with the owner increases the bond, and raises confidence and security, and thereby helps a timid and shutdown pooch come out of his shell.

If you must tug, if you can’t help yourself, at least do it right. Done wrong, you foster instinctive, competitive mouth games your dog inherently is already good at. When you bring rules into it, you teach obedience and train the thinking brain. Not from the top down, but as a collaborator. You convey that you are a wonderful playmate as long as he keeps his senses and stays responsive while excited. And that’s a good thing.

Tug - Part One

People can call me opinionated, but I am not close-minded.

A little more than a year ago I published a post about the popular, and controversial, dog-human activity tug. I am against tugging, and the reasons why I explained then, and again today. Said that I, well, let’s say broadened my mind a bit on that topic. The “no tug ever” changed to “no tug, but”, and that was catalyzed by discussions I had with sublime local trainer Adina MacRae and video clips Rob Van Tassel, another superb local trainer, made and generously forwarded.

So, here is the revised post against tug, which will be followed with a pro-tug with rules post I’ll publish in a week or so.

There are two chief reasons why frustrated, sometimes desperate, dog owners ask for my help. Anxiety/fear is one, and aggression the other. The latter is typically owner-diagnosed, spoken in the same sentence as dominance, and solely based on popular media information. Thus, I always take a layperson’s behavior evaluation with a grain of salt. Reality is that most dogs aren’t hostile and ambitious challengers for the pack’s head honcho position, but misbehave because they are pumped and outta control. Both can involve the inappropriate and hurtful use of teeth, but the motivation is different. Compared to the truly aggressive dog who aims to change a situation: wants distance to or get rid of a real or perceived threat, the boisterous pooch misbehaves because he is emotionally over-aroused. Contrary to needing more space, or eliminating an opponent, he’s seeking interaction.

Whenever I meet a dog with behavioral issues, I investigate where his humans blundered. With out-of-control ones, I found a common denominator: the dog playing tug-of-war, and other contact sports, with his humans.

Many dog pros of all fields of thought and method: compulsion, positive reinforcement, and trainers that straddle the middle, warn against it. Interestingly, it is the opposite with the public. Especially male owners love rough physical contests with their dog, and sometimes it is the primary way they entertain him. Some quit when the juvenile becomes more and more brutish and unruly, but others don’t see the correlation between training the mouth and the dog using it, and are perplexed when I point it out.

Dogs love mouth games. Holding on and pulling with teeth is how a pup interacts with his littermates and buddies. It is inherent, programmed into the beast, fun. When a person initiates tug, he is teaching the pup that such peer games are okay to play with humans also. Because it is so natural, the dog learns that eagerly and quickly, and henceforth instigates it whenever he is bored, with whoever is nearest. After all, that is how he’d relate with a canine friend.

And it doesn’t have to be a rope or appropriate toy, either. He’ll tug with whatever is available: a stick he finds and shoves against a person’s legs, the ball or Frisbee he doesn’t let go of during fetch, pants, a sleeve or flowing coat, and especially the leash will do nicely. Furthermore, any person will do. Particularly the ones closest to his size, children, are targets. Children are especially rewarding for another reason: they become very animated when a dog’s teeth latch onto them, make high-pitched sounds, resist, maybe run, or flail their arms, all of which is a lot of fun for the dog and charges him up more.

The man of the house might be able to physically overpower rowdy Rover, but his child, or female partner can’t, and so Rover treats them like he would another dog of same, or weaker, size and strength. On walks, he grabs the leash and happily play-growling pulls back, which puts the person in a dilemma cause she can’t just let go of it, but when she holds on there is automatically resistance, and that’s a tug game, and that reinforces the leash grabbing. The leash, like a rope or tug toy, can become a cue that turns the dog on the moment he sees it. Eventually he is labeled bad, hyper, disobedient, aggressive and dominant - unjustly so cause often he’s none of it. He’s a dog playing fun dog games with people who invited him to do so at one point.

Said that, ongoing physical contests train and foster competitiveness, and there is a risk that some dogs, indeed, become aggressive.

Play is injury free practice for real life. Humans play sports to test their strength, and to gain or establish superiority over other humans, at least for the moment. Dogs play with other dogs to test and boost their strength and agility to increase the chance that they, if there is a dispute over a resource, come out on top. Even a dog who self-handicaps when he interacts with a physically weaker friend, might do so to practice in a safe context how to get out of a future compromising situation.

The relationship your dog has with you, and all humans in your family, should be cooperative, never competitive with daily battles to determine who is the strongest. With each physical game, your dog becomes brawnier and mouthier, and possibly permanently pumped and ready for action. Like chronically adrenalized humans, they too have the tendency to be aggressive outside of play.

In addition to aggression, tug can train inattentiveness. When the person has had enough and disengages, he leaves the dog physiologically aroused with no release. The still pumped pooch will scan the environment for another outlet and if he finds it, maybe in form of another dog, he learns that the environment fulfills his needs, and that tuning the owner out is rewarding. Roughhousing with another dog is hard to top with pretty much anything a person can offer, and next time when both are out and about, the dog’s focus is not with his human, but his surroundings. If he finds entertainment there again, owner inattention and independence quickly become a habit. Plus he always anticipates canine playtime, which not only raises arousal even more, but if it doesn’t manifest leads to frustration with barking and lunging on the leash, or the pestering of every dog in the park, oblivious to its back off signals.

One of my early teachers said something that is still stuck in my mind: “Don’t teach what you don’t want in any other context.” A tugging dog practices the use of mouth and teeth in a competitive way. Practices holding on to something that wriggles in his mouth. Is building jaw strength by not letting go. Skills he might need to survive amongst dogs, and that is debatable, but certainly not for a life in the midst of humans.

Stay tuned to Part Two, when I’ll discuss how you can not only enjoy tugging with your dog, but when it can actually be beneficial.

Changed Pack Dynamics

The only fault dogs have is that they never live as long as we would want them to. When they pass away, they take a chunk of our hearts with them and cause a kind of sorrow everyone who ever loved a dog understands, but that is incomprehensible to non-dog people.

Last week, an era ended in our family when our Australian shepherd Davie decided that her cancer-filled and arthritic body wouldn’t do any longer. I say decided, because the morning of her death I asked her if she wanted to see her brother Baywolf, our Newfy who died in 2003, and she looked at me, and then blinked with one eye the moment I finished my question. Baywolf and Davie were tight, and we often still mention his name, so both “brother” and “Baywolf” were words Davie comprehended. Although I very strongly felt his presence that day, as I do from time to time, maybe I am just imagining how it all unfolded because my emotions were in overdrive. I don’t really care. Believing that they are together again; picturing Davie happily hanging off his lip as she did when she was an obnoxious puppy, is very comforting for us, and that’s all that matters.

Davie walked into our lives suddenly and unannounced, but dreamt up and therefore somewhat expected, as a 16-week-old pup in need of a place to live because her owners were overwhelmed with her exuberant confidence. The facts that she limped when we got her, and that she was a tad reactive and wanted to bite, caused me to think that the real reason her humans were giving her up might have been that their, at the time 18-month-old son, roughed her up and she snapped in defense.

In any case, Davie was their loss and our gain and turned into a motherly, fun-loving, biddable and so obedient companion. She was easy on the eye, too. Something very special about her many people fell in love with. And she was my defining who, despite her behavioral problems, was the first of ours trained and treated completely positively. Davie didn’t even know the word “no”.

Now she’s gone. When Davie was diagnosed with late stage lymphoma a few weeks ago we realized that one of our saddest days was approaching fast. The last week of her life she would often stop on the little walks we took around our property, not because she was out of breath or fatigued, but to look around, gaze into the distance as if to absorb the place she so enjoyed. And often she startled out of a deep sleep and looked at us for a moment as if she was surprised that we were there, and methinks that her essence was transitioning and already spending time away from her body.

The day before she died she dug up her most favorite toy: the Airdog Football, and tossed it at us soliciting for play, something she hadn’t done for weeks. We played until she didn’t want to any longer, and after that she deteriorated almost by the hour. For both Mike and I, preventing suffering is priority. We believe in euthanasia, and although I was pretty sure that Davie was ready to leave her sick body, I wasn’t 100% certain, and that’s why I asked her, and she answered with a blink. I thanked her for letting me know, called Mike to leave work and the vet to come to our home, and then thought of something we could do to make her last few hours enjoyable ones. The day Baywolf died, we all shared a beer at nine in the morning. Bay loved to split a bottle of Guinness with Mike every so often – male bonding, and that’s what we did. Davie liked food and always loved to supervise us whenever we prepared some, so for two hours I sat on the living room floor with her and Will and cut up dried green tripe. Many pieces landed her way, which she was really excited about and gobbled up with gusto. Then she died so peacefully on her favorite bed; no resistance, no gasping, which is to us is another sign that her spirit said “that’ll have to do for this round”.

As a dog ages, there are many lasts. The last time she chased a squirrel, the last time she jumped easily in the car, the last time she initiated play with another dog. And there are firsts, like the first time I took Will to help me with my work, and not Davie. Then suddenly there is one last, and many firsts: The last hug and kiss; the first walk without a dog on the other side, the first time nobody hogging the bed, the first time homecoming is not greeted with crazy barks and an excitedly swinging, bobby-tailed butt.

A dog with that much presence leaves a huge void felt not just by humans, but also other animals left behind. A change in pack dynamics takes place. With pack I don’t mean the commonly understood dominance pack, but family. The fact is that we are not isolated entities occupying the same space, but a bonded social group sharing life’s journey for a while, and when one member disappears, it has an impact.

Our biggest concern was Will, who never lived without another dog and lost her steady, magnetic focal point companion she took directions from for most of her life. Not that Will doesn’t pay attention to our cues, but following another dog is natural and easier for most dogs, and even more so for her because she was feral born and not imprinted by humans. She, I am sure, still perceives some of our behaviors as strange and alien.

I tried to prepare Will by taking only her on a few consultations and she did great, even showed some of Davie’s characteristics, namely the level of obedience went up few notches. Will always listened to us nicely, but never as unquestioningly as Davie. It is not that she has to behave like her, has to fill her shoes - our dogs are allowed their identity – but the changes pleased me. Who knows, if Will keeps it up maybe we’ll take Adina MacRae’s agility foundation course together. I think we both could have fun.

Of course, despite my efforts I fully expected that Davie’s death would confuse Will, and that she’d be searching for her. Indeed, for the first couple of days Will asked to be let out often, sniffed where Davie walked and voided, and then peed small amounts at various places, perhaps to leave scent markers in case she was merely lost.

Will also became hyper vigilant to sounds and motion – not reactive, just alert and hesitant. I’ll make sure, for the next little while, that I give her more information when she is concerned about something she hears or sees. Bus, person, dog, car are all words Will knows and I can use to convey that what she senses is familiar, and by telling her what she can do about it: forward, over, behind, say hello, come, I give her a command she understands and has experienced in the past, again and again, is a roadmap to safety.

All in all, Will is coping better with the changed dynamics than we anticipated. She goes through her daily routine, didn’t fall to pieces with new events like visiting a car dealership or being left all by herself in the house for a few hours, and enjoys the things she’s always enjoyed: that is going for walks. Such are the blessings of a dog who trusts and feels secure where and with whom she lives. Neither the move across country, nor suddenly being the solo dog, had much of a lasting effect. Perhaps the fact that Will came to a rather substantial inheritance of several Original Beef Chews, a couple of tartar busters, the Nina Ottosson Tornado toy, and a few bags of Northern Biscuit cookies helped some. Plus, she now has lone rights to the back seat of the car; the preferred spot on road trips Will vacated whenever Davie told her to. Will moved without ever arguing, even as Davie became increasingly weaker. So much for the pack leader having to be the physically strongest.

I always marveled at how bonded the girls were. They played with each other, slept in close proximity, synchronized activities, and never fought, but let's face it: Davie was a bossy and controlling Aussie, and Will maybe more inhibited than we realized.

Time will tell, but I think she will be more than okay; think she will be happy with human only companionship. I mean, there isn’t really an option. One just can’t replace one dog with another, a stranger with one she was bonded with for 9 years. And Will is finicky anyway; there are only certain foods she likes, and certain people, and certain dogs, and she easily gets annoyed with goofy adolescents, so unless we come across the perfect adult match, adding a new dog won’t improve her life, or ours.

Believing that Davie is fancy-free roaming with Baywolf was only one thing that was comforting the day she died; the other that she has 12 wonderful years with us. I became acutely aware why I am doing what I am doing professionally and will continue to do it until every dog is treated kindly, humanely, compassionately. The life Davie had, every dog deserves. One either does right by a dog, or not. Black or white. There is no grey zone for the dog.

Life will go on because that is what life does, and the three of us will miss Davie but also find our groove together. I am innately someone who embraces life; consciously chooses to dissolve in my work and not in my drama. On blue days, I take inspiration from Davie who relished in every waking moment and boldly turned every novel experience into a “good time”.

I want to end this post reminiscing about one of those good times we had together. Davie was 7 and in her prime, and we spent the weekend on a ranch in Alberta learning how to control sheep. Davie had never seen sheep before, yet was inquisitively trying to figure out what our purpose was for being there, and after passively observing the instructor’s outstanding Border collie to learn more, she enthusiastically joined in and couldn’t be stopped.

Davie showed us how to live life to the fullest, and that is her ever-lasting gift, imprinted in our souls forever.

Warning Sounds and Non-Reward Marking

In my last post I discussed reward marking. How telling your dog with sound, word or body that what he does at the moment will be reinforced can expedite training success.

Do we have an opposite to that? An equally helpful… non-reward marker? The good news is that, indeed, we do. The bad news, that it is not as simple as merely vocalizing disapproval with our dog’s action.

Expressing disagreement with someone’s actions is a deep-seated behavior, and the human choice word in English is “no”. I have a T-shirt with a print of a smiling, goofy looking, tongue-lolling-out dog, with its voice bubble saying: “Hi, my name is No-No Bad Dog. What’s yours?” Sadly that comes close to what I hear regularly in my line of work: many “nos” and a lot of very popular “tssts”. Articulations meant to warn the pooch that his behavior will surely be disciplined, corrected, punished – you choose your word cause it is all the same, so he’d better knock it off. NOW.

Even though the “no” and “tsst” are clearly indicating that unruly Rover is certainly NOT getting a reward, they are not considered NRMs, non-reward markers, precisely because the intent is to threaten the dog with a punitive consequence. Unlike NRMs, such warning sounds, other than perhaps giving the owner the illusion that he’s the pack’s leader, are useless. Useless, because typically an action that impresses the dog does not follow the warning, and if there is no consequence the dog doesn't change his behavior, learns to ignore the warning, and eventually will tune you out. The fact that most people “no” or “tsst” all the time, day in and day out, for the same misbehaviors, for the lifetime of the dog, is evidence that they’re ineffectively nagging.

Warnings do work when backed up with something that hurts or frightens the dog in a big way. Then, indeed, a verbal sound or shock collar tone might be all it takes to remind him to toe the line. But aversive consequences intense enough that it stops an unwanted action permanently is abuse, and has fallouts most owners don’t bargain for. The dog avoids the misbehavior, and by extension you and where he lives, or where the punishment took place. Your companionship is in the ditch; your dog resists you, might attack you, or if too intimidated redirect aggression against someone weaker. A dog who fears the power of hands, who feels conflicted and uncertain when his person approaches him, reaches and touches him, or whenever he opens his mouth cause it announces possible imminent pain, will not want to be a human’s faithful friend and working partner, and the owner is missing out on something beautiful he could have had.

The purpose of a NRM is not to warn the dog that something unpleasant will happen, but like the reward marker is meant to strengthen your relationship. It does that by giving the dog clarity with a precise piece of sound information, many trainers like “oops”, that tells him that what he is doing at the moment will not yield a payoff and he’d better think of an alternate behavior to gain access to the resource he is after. So, the fundamental difference between “no” or “tsst” and “oops” is that the end result is not a punishment, but a reward, and with the NRM you’re helping your dog get it.

The Law of Operant Conditioning states that any behavior ignored will become extinct, so couldn’t we just ignore the dog’s unwanted behavior and wait till he comes up with the right one on his own? Patiently let him self-learn what pleases us; what causes us to release the resource he wants and we have control over? We could, and in fact some trainers argue that ignoring is better than non-reward marking, but in my opinion, a clear directional when the dog needs it can decrease frustration and increase attention. To understand when your dog really needs information and then give it, or when self-learning is better, can be a bit tricky and takes practice, but is the fine nuance between good, and fabulous dog training.

Ideally, be attuned to your pooch and apply both, with the caveat not to overuse reward and non-reward marking. Micromanaging can lead to a dog who becomes perpetually dependent on some sort of sound that tells him how to function; he operates purely mechanically and might disconnect from you.

In addition, non-stop noise is annoying. A friend and colleague shared with me a story she heard at a lecture with Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist Kathy Sdao. During a training session with dolphins, in which she used a NRM as information, one of the aquatic mammals became so irritated that he threw the speaker out of the water. He knew exactly where the constant clatter came from, and so does your dog, and you never want to be perceived as an irritant to be avoided or get rid of.

If the dolphin was that frustrated with simply getting information, can you imagine the impact constant warning sounds have on an animal? If you decide to give non-reward marking a go, ensure that you don’t use a word that was a threat in the past your dog has learned to ignore or fear. That word is spoiled and you need a new one. “Ah” works for me, but if you used “ah”, or a sound close in tone as a warning before, try “oops”, or “oh-oh”, or whatever falls naturally on your tongue. It doesn’t matter what you say, important is how your dog perceives it. How he should perceive an NRM is: “Mom says I’m barking up the wrong tree – better do something else to secure the loot.”

Trainer and author Gail Fisher, who calls the NRM Lost Opportunity Marker or LOM, uses a visual signal. She turns her head. Averting the head is also part of a dog’s natural communication and signals that he’d rather not deal with the situation; that he is worried, or not granting audience. Although I really like the subtleness of body language, the head turn obviously only works if the dog is watching you while being baaad. And I see another problem. Because it is dog-speak and expresses avoidance, I wonder how he’d perceive my head turn? Disengagement, displeasure, disinterest in further interactions? If that is the case, the LOM changes from informative to aversive – back to a warning. Even though no real punishment ever follows, but a reward once the dog changes his behavior, a sensitive pooch, for example one who was treated harshly and is shell-shocked, or a very timid one like our Will, could lose the courage to work and connect with that person right away. For that reason, I rather stick to my neutral “ah”, and if I want to add a visual signal I shake my head, cause that is not natural to dogs and my intention can’t be misconstrued.

After you tell your dog with an NRM that he’s strutting the wrong trail, should you use a command that tells him what he should be doing instead?

Gail Fisher gives the dog a second chance right away and cues the desired behavior. She explained that she does so because she aims for immediate command response, but also because she wants to keep the dog in the game; prevent that he gives up if he feels that the window of opportunity to earn the reward closes for good.

For the most part, I like to give my dog some 20-30 seconds to think of a way to get the booty, thereby combining information with self-learning.

You can play around with cuing or waiting, verbal or visual, as long as you remember the two fixed and crucial aspects: the information you give your dog should never be threatening but assisting, and your dog’s next best behavior has to be reinforced, rewarded, and ideally with what he wants at the moment. Then the NRM becomes one more tool that helps make you and your dog an awesome team.

Clicker and Reward Marking

If you’ve been following my posts, you might have noticed that I believe that positive reinforcement done right, combined with non-punitive, brainy leadership is the fasted way to a reliably well-behaved dog – regardless of dog or problem behaviors. I don’t compromise on that, and luckily don’t have to even when my clients want to pursue group training I don’t offer anymore, cause in my neck of the woods are several like-minded trainers whose philosophy latch hand-in-paw with mine - and if you want to know who they are, email me.

Most of them are clicker trainers, and the common believe is that we all are; that positive reinforcement is synonymous with clicker training. But that is not so. There are some who apply the method without the clicker. I am one of them.

On that note, one could assume that, because the clicker concept in itself is incompatible with punishments, that all clicker trainers apply the reward-based method exclusively, but that is also not so. Some are incorporating the trendy gadget more as a calculated PR move than authentically shifting away from compulsion and correction training – so something to be aware of.

In case you have no clue what I am talking about, let me explain the clicker briefly. It is a small sound making device that marks the exact moment when the dog performs a desirable behavior, which gives the person a few seconds to hand over the real reward, which, with clicker trainers, is often a food treat. In other words, the clicker is a communication tool, with the sound clarifying to the dog that she’ll be paid for the brilliant thing she just did.

Why is reward marking with a clicker important for the layowner? Or is it? Should he even pay attention to such a technical detail?

In my opinion, reward marking is über-handy when shaping a new fancy trick, capturing a funky body movement, and in the beginning stages of teaching a new task. It can really speed things up, because the dog is not ambiguous what the bulls-eye action is. That is especially true if a frisky dog switches from one behavior to another quickly, or if the human is a tad slow in handing over the paycheck. So, a clicker makes a lot of sense if the correct moment is important but fleeting, cause it helps the dog to understand what exactly it is you are after.

A clicker can also be helpful for an owner eager to change from the traditional choke and jerk training method to positive reinforcement. Habitually used to notice the mistakes a dog makes so he can correct them, a clicker forces him to shift his focus to what his pooch is doing correctly which, of course, is the idea behind positive reinforcement training: teaching the dog a repertoire of behaviors that please us she can use to elicit what pleases her.

But in day-to-day life, or whenever you want prolonged connection and behavior duration, the clicker can actually present a hurdle.

For example, what I regularly see is an owner sending the pooch to her mat with the intent that she chills for a bit. The dog typically complies and lies on the mat alright, but instead of relaxing, tensely expects to be clicked and rewarded and, because she’s learned that the sound ends the exercise, self-releases right after. Not every trainer teaches that the click signals the end of the exercise, many of my friends don’t, but others do, and when they do, position duration stays with a dog who anticipates instant gratification can become difficult. If the click doesn’t manifest when expected, the dog becomes frustrated and fidgety, barky or whiny, and if it does, it is the dog’s cue that she can leave the mat and do what she wants, which often is returning to the behavior the owner sent her to the mat for in the first place.

We have similar problems regarding coming when called and eye contact. The recalled dog typically returns to her person, but doesn’t hang close for long and splits as soon as she’s received the click‘n’cookie, and rather than prolonged eye contact and true connection, the owner gets an automated quick glimpse. Eye contact attention is such a natural behavior for dogs that can so easily be fostered, that it is a shame to teach it as a trick, an artificial exercise.

I am also not convinced that a clicker is particularly useful in behavior modification. Here is my thing: if my imaginary three-year-old child is hyped to watch her favorite TV show, and I tell her to do something else first, and she does, and then I click her, fetch cookies and milk and then turn on the TV, would that decrease her anxiety, or would she be annoyed with the delay? Following that thought, if my fearful of dogs pooch stays calm and attentive to me when she sees another dog, the sensible and effective reward is to increase the distance to the other dog immediately, not to click, treat and then walk away.

Because kids are humans, it is easy for us to get what they want; with dogs that can be a little harder to figure out, especially for the more inexperienced rookie owner. There is a risk that the beginner clickerer focuses too much on the device, and not enough on what the dog’s motivators are. Yet, taking the time and interest to find out what drives the dog pays off, cause if she associates her person as the facilitator, her bond and connection increases, and with it obedience. The best behaved dogs are the ones whose individual and species-specific needs are understood and met.

Dogs, by virtue of their species, are very attuned to us and expert readers of our body and verbal communication signals. Dog owners, since forever, inadvertently or deliberately convey with a “good dog”, or a nod, when they’re pleased with their pooch’s behavior. The problem that delays training success is that many people stop with the praise, believing that to be good enough a reward. But if you follow it with a for your dog desirable consequence, your verbal “attaboy” or “yes”, your smile and gooey way you look at her, becomes a natural reward marker.

Clicker proponents argue that consistency is lost when we use our self to tell our dog that exactly this or that is what we want to see again, and yes, that is possible. And yes again, consistency is crucial in scientific studies, and important in our relationship with dogs and really anything we do in life, but I doubt that when I tell my dog with emotion, words and gestures how happy I am with her performance, that I adversely impact her future behavior. In addition, non-clicker reward marking might not be inconsistent at all. We all have an intrinsic and subconscious, yet habitual way in which we express ourselves that our dogs are, or at least should be, able to interpret.

A clicker-conditioned dog doesn’t have to observe the owner. I want my dogs to observe me. Our dogs connect the dots between their behavior, our human-typical responses, and what happens next. If we involve ourselves in a positive way, they’ll be wanting more of us. It is that voluntary, deeper connection I want to foster, and not an artificial approval signal.

Before clicker aficionados jump me, if you are successful with it, of course continue. If you and your dog are a team, and everything is cool, don’t change. And if you are looking for trainer, don’t rule her out because she clicks.

But if you feel that you and your pooch are stuck somewhere, it is not because you’re not correcting enough, or because she is dumb, defiant or dominant, but perhaps because she is on autopilot like a Skinner rat, and you might wanna rethink some aspects how you relate with her.

And you owners who embrace positive reinforcement but not the clicker, don’t worry that you're doing things wrong. Think KISS and Keep It Simple, Stupid. Use your voice and body to tell her how brilliant she is, and how happy you are that you partnered up; but do tell, and reinforce the desired actions with something she really wants, and you’ll be applying the reward marking concept very effectively.

Maybe, by promoting the clicker as one of the wonderful tools available to us, instead of the only or best one, more people might embrace positive reinforcement as the sole way to raise, teach and live with their canine companion.

Voice-4-Dogs Group and Beating Winter Boredom

I am one of those lucky people who live their passion, and believe me, I am grateful. Each morning I release a non-denominational thank you into the universe for being able to create a life I love.

When I work with dogs, I never have a bad day. Dogs enthrall me, even when their behaviors are challenging. I also take pleasure working with their humans. They, at least most of them, are genuinely devoted to their pooch and want to include and enjoy him as a member of the family. My job is to help them achieve that.

Typically I meet with dog and his social group in their home, sort out what underlies the behaviors that are problematic, and then counsel how to improve and change them. A little like the guy on TV, except my method is opposite to his. I whisper. And I listen to what the dog needs, cause when the situation works for the dog he’s happy, and happy dogs make their owners happy. Anyway, what I really want to talk about in this post is my on-line group, a question one member posted recently, and the feedback she received.

As any therapist will attest, and above-mentioned TV guy now concedes, there are no quick fix solutions for deep-seated problems and relationship hiccups. Knowing that, I want to stay in touch with my clients after a consultation to offer continuous support. Once I evaluated dog and situation, effective support can happen in many ways, one of which is via computer. For that reason I created, a few years ago, a clients’ exclusive, by invitation only, on-line group. It’s a win-win venue: my clients get free-of-charge help, and I can stay connected without investing more time than I have. My vision is that it evolves into a forum where every person who ever booked a consultation with me joins, finds it welcoming, and uses it to have questions answered and concerns addressed, or yap about their successes, or start a discussion about a dog-related topic that interests them, or maybe feel less alone when they realize that others have dog issues, too.

I want it to be a place where everyone feels respected and respects others, where they look for valuable information, or sometimes just for confirmation that sticking to positive reinforcement is the right thing to do. That is important in an environment flooded with autocratic and punitive advice. Some of my clients feel downright pressured to defend their method against friends and neighbors that, although meaning to he helpful, suggest that all their dog needs is a good whack with the garden hose across the snout.

We’re getting there. A number of my clients joined up, and even if not actively participating, read the discussions and then email me privately, but several others are quite active and share their thoughts and insights.

Normally I don’t blog about stuff that’s happening in the group, but one member posted a question recently I think will resonate with many owners who, like her and I, are not winter outdoorsy enthusiasts, but are owned by an industrious canine used to a certain level of entertainment.

I’d be perfectly fine caved in between December and April with good books, my laptop, fatty dairy foods and Mexican hot chocolate, but, especially Will whose favorite pastime is going for long hikes that include trailing, is not agreeable to that. So, like in any good relationship, we compromise. The winter common ground that works for all of us is spending about an hour outside, and increasing fun activities inside.

And that’s what the group member was inquiring about: what to do with her, what else, Border collie on days when walks are rather short.

Of course, if she’d be really keen, she could teach him 1,022 proper nouns and a little grammar, like John W. Pilley did with his dog Chaser (http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/01/18/science/1248069571561/a-dog-nouns-and-verbs.html).

Considering that 82-year-old Mr. Pilley, a retired psychologist, still spends 4-5 hours each day working with Chaser, a more realistic variation that probably works better for most owners is to teach the pooch the names of the toys in her toy box. Your dog has a toy box, right? If she brings the correct one, you play with her for a little bit, if not, you send her back to try again. A notch up is to teach her to clean up at end of your interaction together; to bring all toys back to the box.

You can also hide a toy somewhere in the house for your dog to find. That’s what a member who commented did to entertain her frisky terrier cross. She asked her dog into a sit stay, and yes, practicing position stays is a nice side effect of find-games, and hid the toy in another room. In the beginning, she said, at a fairly obvious place, which is key, cause if the task is too difficult the dog loses interest and disengages, or becomes frustrated and acts frantically, instead of methodically. In typical terrier fashion her dog progressed quickly, and soon even tracked her person’s position by sound, which induced her to incorporate double backing and diversions into the game to keep it challenging enough. That’s one of the reasons why I am fascinated by dogs – they are teaching as much as they are learning.

The terrier owner would always accompany her pooch after she released her to search for the toy, in case she needed little hints. That is also something we do. When I hide Davie and Will’s ball or treats, I give them cues similar to the hot-and-cold ones young children might get. “Wrong”, when they are off course, educes eye contact, and when I have their attention I signal with my hand, arm and eyes in which direction they should be heading. Although they don't comprehend left and right, they do know the verbal cues forward, over and halt, which I apply if they're really lost. As they zone in, I staccato-like repeat find-find-find in a higher pitched voice, which keeps them nosing in that area until they find the loot.

Finding hidden objects seems to be the common theme for indoor fun. World-renowned behaviorist Dr. Ian Dunbar plays scent games with his dogs, explained in Cesar Millan’s newest book “Cesar’s Rules”. No need to run out to buy a copy though. In my opinion, there isn’t much in it that’ll better behavior and strengthen the human/dog relationship. But Dunbar’s section in the book is great. He says that it is important, when you start up, to let the dog find something he is motivated by. Then, once he is hooked on the game, one can incorporate other scents the dog feels indifferent about. But first the game has to make sense for him.

Another thing that Dunbar said is to be careful not to overload on the scent, to prevent that it lingers everywhere and confuses the dog. That means that if you plant a Kong, you might not want to stuff it with last week’s leftover fish scraps. But I wouldn’t use kibble either. I am all for the “work-for-meals” program, but also believe that food is a basic need a dog has a right to. So, at least half of his daily amount should be free. My recommendation is to fill Kongs and other interactive toys with delectable, nutritious treats, including good-for-the-dog human food, and then deduct that from his kibble ration to avoid that Fido becomes pudgy.

Food is a great motivator for most dogs, and for some more desired than toys. That’s the case with another group member who replied. She hands her pooch a stuffed Kong each day, but, to make it more challenging and entertaining, ties it tightly into an old T-shirt. A variation of that is tying small treats into the clothy shell of a squeaky the dog massacred, and then hiding it. Or you could put a cookie underneath a cup towel and see if your dog can figure out where it is. Do it right in front of her. You might be surprised that she has no clue where the booty is, even if she watched you place it under the towel a second ago. Neither one mine figured it out - and gave me a rare moment when I felt intellectually superior to them.

That food-driven dog, although not interested in toys, is motivated by social closeness, which means that the humans in her family are a reward in their own right. That is fabulous - being with her people should be high on every dog’s wish list. During an off-leash outing, the owner periodically sidesteps off the path and plays people search. Interestingly, our first tracking instructor starts rookie dogs on people as well, not objects or scents, because finding the owner drives dogs most, sets them up for success, and gets them keened on the game. Tracking was what tired our ever-ready Davie out more than herding, and Will, an incredible scout, still loves it more than any other activity. As a variant, I often let a mitten fall, carry on walking for some 40-50 feet, alert Will and ask her to find it. Regardless how absorbed she is in animal tracks or whiffs in the environment, a high-pitched “oh-oh”, short for: oh-oh-I-am-such-a-fool-and-lost-something-again, never fails to veer her focus instantaneously to me, and then I show her the other mitten, name it, and she darts off in an attempt to locate the lost one. So you see, one way to make shortened outside time more tiring is to make it more meaningful and stimulating. On that note, we do follow animal tracks in the snow as well; the three of us explore where they lead us, see where the bunny lives.

That same dog still, the one who receives a Kong tied in a towel and whose person plays people search, is 10 years old and was adopted from the Metro SPCA. Seemingly not treated kindly by her previous humans, she really lucked out with her present family. Not only does she have caring and committed adult persons, but also kids that take an interest in her, practice obedience commands and teach her new tricks. Teaching tricks is a wonderful way for children to interact with a dog. It is a calm, brainy activity, yet stimulating and tiring, and the dog learns playfully that young humans are in charge, too. The on-line stores www.dogwise.com and www.mungosbooks.com have a great selection of tricks books, some specifically targeted to children.

Not so brainy a game is “chase and catch prey”, something another group member came up with to busy her young Australian shepherd.

Australian shepherds are dogs that I wouldn’t categorize as the couch potato kind. They are clever and full of zip, especially when they are young, but for a long, long time into adulthood as well. And they’re not of the aloof kind either; not disconnected from their humans happily amusing themselves. They don’t exist well in the periphery of their human’s life, but, on the contrary, perpetually seek to take center stage. That group member’s pup was no exception, and when boredom became unbearable she would shove a toy underneath a piece of furniture and scratch, paw and bark at it, desperately trying to get her person’s attention. Luckily, her owner interpreted the nuisance behavior accurately and didn’t scold, but played with her.

Instead of hiding the toy, she tied it at the end of a long, light rope and dragged it, encouraging the pooch to chase and pounce, and letting her catch it every so often. I like it. Chase ‘n’ catch is physical and instinctual, yet structures and channels that natural drive and puts it under human control. The dog gets to do something very satisfying, but at the same time learns to release what’s between her teeth into her person’s hand - and she learns that willingly and eagerly because only giving it up will continue the interaction. Because there is an actual object to be caught, it is not mindless like the idiotic laser chase that often turns a dog into a light addict who obsessively fixates and attacks anything that flickers, including the TV and light sparkling through blinds.

Besides the toy, this owner also dragged an empty water bottle tied in a sports sock. She said that her Aussie liked to crunch plastic, and the sock made the noise tolerable for human ears. Plus I’d worry about splitting plastic injuring the dog’s gums, so tied in a sock prevents that, too.

More by chance than intent, she did once discover something that kept her young Australian self-entertained for about an hour. It was a lemon that fell out of the fridge that mesmerized the cavorting canine enough that she forgot to pester her human for a while. Brilliant. A lemon is cheap, soft so won’t mark furniture, and a dog likely won’t eat it. Just in case, I’d still get an organic one.

Methinks the reason why the lemon worked was because it was a completely novel item, and it came from the typically forbidden human food storage place, which made it doubly interesting for the dog to explore, and possibly walk away with. Temple Grandin, in “Animals Make us Human”, explains that one new toy or stimulus each day activates an animal’s seeking system, decreases anxiety and increases wellbeing. A new stimulus a day doesn’t mean you have to buy a new toy every day. You could rotate the ones you already have, “accidentally” drop a lemon, or sneak one surprise treat somewhere in your dog’s toy box.

When a dog gives me signals that she is bored, I much rather interact with her right away, instead of waiting until she is a total pain in the you know where. Often a few minutes of quality interaction will do, and I hope you found a few useful ideas here. Even though almost every North American groundhog predicted an early spring, I am sure there’ll be a few weeks of winter left for you and your hairy sidekick to have some inside fun.

How to Prevent That Your Dog Gets Lost

Sparked by two lost dogs whose owners reached out, a few of my friends, realizing that there is very little, easy accessible information available, recently formed a Lost Dog Networking Group. It is an open group and you can find it at NSLDN@groups.facebook.com. Unfortunately, the group is growing at an incredible pace, even spreading to other provinces, and I say unfortunately because the reason that it grows so fast is because so many dogs bolt or wander away, and don’t find their way back home. Their owners now have a wonderful resource they can approach, and that is great, but ideally dogs shouldn't be lost in the first place.

Below tips hopefully prevent that you find yourself needing help to reunite with your canine companion.

- Walk your dog in your neighborhood, daily, and take different routes. Your dog should be very familiar with his surroundings and, from any direction, know where his home is. Put “find home” on command and test your dog. Make going home when you’re heading back a tracking game and let him lead you, and, by the way, do the same if you frequently visit parks and trails. Instead of "finding home", have your dog find the car in the parking lot. If something were to scare him, chances are he'll "flee" to the car and wait for you.

- If you own a wanderer, introduce yourself and your dog to your neighbors. Bring them a bottle of wine and attach a card to it with your phone number and instructions what do to if they spot Spot. Our very amiable Newf Baywolf, who rarely missed an opportunity to go socializing, was gone on rare occasions, but never lost, because our neighbors knew and enjoyed him, and knew us, and either brought him home or called. Having a collar and tag on your dog is a given, but if your neighbors know that your dog is friendly, and that you are too, they'll likely be more accommodating and helpful.

- If your dog has testicles, be extra careful of open doors and yard gate latches. I don’t share the popular opinion that everything on four paws needs to be neutered, but the fact is that intact dogs tend to have itchy feet – and a nose for a ready-to-mate girl dog.

- Be also extra careful with a new dog. DO NOT let your newly adopted dog off the leash the next day. He doesn’t know you yet, and has not formed a grateful bond to you in 24 hours just because you rescued him and gave him one bowl of kibble. From your dog’s point of view, you might be nothing more than just another transitory pit-stop, and he has no reason to stay put or listen to you. Social belonging isn’t automatic – it comes with time. You also know nothing about the dog. You don’t know what drives him and scares him; what he does when an environmental stimulus motivates him, or which way and how far he’ll run when something spooks him. Invest in a 30-50 tracking leash that allows you to find out more about your new pooch, and practice a really reliable recall, and then give him free reign.

- Don’t take your dog off the leash if she is skittish and timid – no, not even at the dog park. When we lived in Calgary, within a span of a few weeks, three dogs were lost in a popular park we regularly visited. One was scared by a train whistle and ran away, and two were bullied by a couple of out-of-control dogs. Two dogs were eventually found, one was never to be heard of again. All three dogs were described by their owners as timid and skittish by nature, and one was just adopted from an animal shelter a few days prior.

- Train a solid down position stay away from every entrance door, including the yard gate, and practice with the doors opening and staying open. Your dog should not exit the house, or leave his property, without a specific command, and only with his person. Condition that by practicing whenever you have a minute or two, at different times of the day, and always combine a specific word with your exiting the entrance points together. It’s doable. Really, it is. It just takes time and patience. If you are really ambitious, the door opening could become your dog’s cue to run to the toy box, or his crate, instead of outside.

- When you are out, your dog should be in. In the house, or at least in a secure and comfortable dog run, with a warm shelter to retreat to, and toys, and water. Treat a dog run as an outside home, used only when you are not home, and never as a place that isolates, segregates your dog. When you are home, your dog should be with you. I don’t care how many acres you own, your dog should never be roaming unsupervised, cause then roaming unsupervised becomes a habit. Trail your home range together, check the boundaries together, and you establish a solid social bond that increases the chance that your dog wants to stay on home turf voluntarily.

- Build a real fence, if you must, not an invisible one. I met numerous dogs who were so motivated by an environmental stimulus that they took the shock, and escaped the shock collar fence - and got into trouble, or lost. A dog trainer friend and rescuer wrote a fabulous blog post on shock collar confinement you can read at http://blog.gmds.ca. Dogs also escape when the battery goes dead and the warning beep doesn’t happen, and when the owner forgets to put the shock collar on the dog first thing in the morning. If you rely on a tool to keep your dog put, you’re dog will go when you don’t have the tool. Plus, in my opinion and based on my experiences, shocking a dog changes who he is, and the relationship with you, and by extension the place where he lives.

- You, your home, and property should always be perceived as a safe place; a refuge where never anything bad happens. Never. No shocking. No harsh training. No punishments. Escape is extreme avoidance, and I periodically meet dogs who feel, at least, ambiguous about their home base, and the people who live there. If you are, in your dog’s mind, a 100% predictably safe place to seek shelter with, he is more likely to stay put, or run to you, not away from you, when frightened.

Said all that, accidents happen. Even with all precautions taken, even with the nicest owners, and the best home, a dog might spook and bolt, or is enticed by a scent, sight or sound he'll curiously investigate, and then becomes disoriented and gets lost. In that case, it is critical that you get a sighting. You gotta know where your dog is before you have a chance to reunite with him. How to go about it is exactly the kind of information the Lost Dog Network can help you with, and is also available at www.lostdogsearch.com.

When you have a sighting, you need to be very careful that you don’t frighten your dog into bolting again, cause then you have to start from scratch. You might assume that your dog is as happy to see you as you are to see him, but that is not necessarily so. He could be confused, scared, panicked, suspicious, hurt or sore, and in that frame of mind is very sensitive to the slightest trigger, including you. He will continue to run away if someone, even you, is encroaching into his flight zone. The threshold how far you can safely approach is easy to determine. If your dog has you on his radar, but doesn’t increase the distance, you are good. Don’t try to get closer, but entice your dog to come to you. Say familiar words that elicit a positive emotion. Familiarity alone doesn't cut it; what you say has to feel good to your dog. Stuff like: “Wanna go for a car ride?” or “Wanna play with… (fill in the name if he has a favorite dog friend)”, are examples. Speak with your calm and casual voice, not a panicked one. Breath normally and keep your body loose, and don’t fixate on your dog or he’ll feel targeted and might, yup, run.

I know that is tough to do for an emotionally devastated owner, who, maybe after days of searching, finally sees his dog. But it is said that humans have a cerebral cortex that can overrule emotions, and convincing a confused dog to trust is a good time to apply that skill. Remember, one wrong step can cause him to bolt again, and then you have once more no idea where he is.

Other than familiar words and gestures, have your dog's favorite toy or blanket with you to trigger memory. And leave food, small pieces of delectable people food, and your smell, stinky socks, and retreat, so increase the distance to give your dog enough space to safely sniff and eat. Repeat leaving and retreating as often as you need to, and slowly, patiently, you'll trigger his curiosity and reestablish trust.

Any of the above can trigger your dog’s memory, and make him feel secure with you again, and then he’ll come to you, and you are reunited – a happy-end story everyone wants to see, and keeps the people with the Lost Dog Network motivated and in the game.