Eapen's Blog on Pets and Animals

In clicker training dogs, a low quality reinforcement or reward drastically affects the efficiency and speed of training

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 08:44:00 +0000

If you are a clicker dog trainer then you know how important the timing of the click or the rate of reinforcement parameters are to get the maximum out of your dog in less time, but did you know how crucial the quality of reinforcement or reward is? I have some easy to remember points about the quality of reinforcement and the wonders it can do in your clicker training venture.

By choosing better toys or a high quality treat, you can drastically improve the efficiency of your training.
Along with the timing, criteria, and rate of reinforcement, the quality of reinforcement can make or break your training efforts. So higher the quality of reinforcement, more efficient the training.
Did you know if your dog likes toys, balls or tugs or treats, half the job is done and it will be super easy to train such dogs - that has a high drive for such things. No dog is more intelligent or less intelligent or easily trainable or non-trainable; it is the drive for rewards that decides the dog’s trainability.
If you are a dog trainer or planning to train dogs for assistance, search and rescue or other demanding jobs where the dog has to work for a long time without any rewards, then you must choose a dog that has a massive reward drive. You can easily train such dogs and your training sessions will be more fun and a lot more efficient.
During the initial days of your training the focus must be on the rate of reinforcement. The higher the rate of reinforcement the better. When the training demands the dog to work longer without rewards, you must increase the quality of reinforcement.
It is highly essential that you play different kind of games using toys, balls, tugs, kongs etc with your dog right from a young age which will greatly help in developing an interest in different kind of rewards in the dog and will make the whole training process lot more faster and efficient.
A high quality reward or reinforcement will keep the dog highly motivated in different situations where there are a lot of distractions.
If you feel that you are getting unsatisfactory results with your training or the dog is getting unnecessarily distracted then you must first check for the quality of reward or reinforcer.
By using a good quality reward you can cut short the number of repetitions by 20 or 30%.

So if you see your friend or other clicker dog trainers getting almost magical results from their training then you can conclude that, they are using the right blend of timing, criteria, rate of reinforcement along with the best quality reinforcement in their training to get those results.

Best practices and techniques in clicker training that you must adopt in order to become a better clicker dog trainer

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:12:00 +0000

Clicker training is considered as one of the most effective and humane positive reinforcement methods to train dogs and other animals. Clicker training is not about just clicking and treating the dog. It is much more than that and you need to learn this training method in depth in order to become a good clicker trainer. Many people directly link clicker training to just clickers and treats. But you can in fact clicker train your dog without a clicker or treats. Sounds absurd? But that's the fact.

Clicker is only a behavior( or event) marker to let the dog know which behavior you are after. Since clicker produces a unique sound that is different from the common sounds that your dog hears, clicker proved to be a better marker tool than verbal or hand signals. Now the treats - you can use anything to reward your dog that your dog finds rewarding - it can be treats itself, or toys or life treats like greeting people, playing with other dogs and so on. But since treats easily satisfied the natural food drive of the dog, food treats have proved to be the best reward in clicker training which made the training more efficient and quicker.

You can associate a verbal command or cue while clicker training and gradually wean off the treats and eventually the clicker itself. These videos will give you some essential techniques and best practices that you must master to become a good clicker trainer.

Clicker training is a fine motor skill that you must practice in order to perfect it. So watching these videos and learning different techniques and other information shown in them will surely help you to become a better clicker trainer of dogs.

How to teach your dog to open the door or drawer for you using positive reinforcement training?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:50:00 +0000

You must have seen training videos of dogs doing simple tricks like sit, stay or lie down or may be fetching a newspaper or a soda from the fridge. But dog training has gone much more challenging and complex if you didn't know. It has gone to new levels that are unfathomable. Now dogs are widely trained for search and rescue - where the dog assists in fishing out people trapped in an avalanche or under a building debris or rescue a drowning person from a river making the entire search and rescue operation a lot more easier, quicker and efficient for we humans.

Dogs are now being utilized for many duties that are considered impossible for human beings or the most sophisticated gadgets in the world, like bomb, disease & drug detection and even predicting the death of patients in hospitals. Dogs are now widely used as personal protection dogs proving again and again that they are the only loyal friend for human beings.

Here are two great videos that shows you how to train your dog to close a door or a drawer on command using positive reinforcement training method. Clicker training has proven to be the most efficient and the most humane way to train dogs.

These 2 videos will surely inspire you to take on positive reinforcement training to train your dogs from now on. This type of training method can easily help you shape new behaviors in your dog and also eliminate unwanted behaviors.

How to train your dog to call you after hearing the calling bell using clicker training?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:16:00 +0000

If you have been wondering how to train your dog to call you and lead you to the door if the calling bell rings and were searching for some training videos on that, then here you go, I have found some incredible videos that will help you teach your dog just that - using clicker training.

Please watch the first video and then the second one.

Part 1

Part 2

With positive reinforcement training like clicker training you can correct any behavioral problems or shape any new behaviors. It's that powerful. It is the safest, most effective and humane way to train any animal in this world.

Crucial Crate Training Facts | How to Effectively Crate Train Your Dog or Puppy using Positive Reinforcement

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 05:58:00 +0000

It is very crucial to crate train your puppy/dog if you have to leave it un-attended - for certain duration esp. when your house is not doggy proof. Dogs are instinctively den animals, so training a dog to accept the crate as a secure resting place is not that difficult provided you never use the crate as means to punish your dog.

Different Type of crates

There mainly two types of crates available in stores – the wired crates and enclosed plastic crates the most common ones. Though crates come in different sizes and materials the most important thing that you must take care while buying a crate is that your dog can comfortably stand, lie down and turn around in it. A crate must neither be too big, nor too small for your dog. If it’s too big then the dog will start using one portion of it as its toilet.

If you are going to use the crate exclusively for potty training your dog, then aluminum wire crates are the best, as they are designed to collect the excrements of the dog and are easy to clean up. But if you want the crate to be just a resting place for your dog then the den like plastic crates are the best.

Major benefits of crate training your dog

A crate is a great tool for house or potty training your dog or pup.
Crate gives the dog a cozy and safe place to sleep and relax which it can call it as it’s “den”, a place that gives him security and comfort.
You can leave your new dog or pup unattended in the crate while you are away, esp. when your dog has the habit of destructive chewing or if you don’t know your dog or puppy well or how destructive he or she is when you are away.
It is the best and safest way to transport your dog.

Introducing your dog to the crate

The first step towards crate training your pup is to associate all positive things like feeding him inside it, giving a treat, giving his favorite toy to play inside it and so on to the crate, so that the dog will learn that a crate = something good and rewarding and nothing to be frightened of. Initially you must leave the crate with it’s door open for the dog to check it out – to sniff or to get inside.

Some dogs might be a little scared to go inside the crate or even go near the crate. Never force him in. You can drop the treats near and around the crate and see if your dog goes near and eats it. Once it is comfortable eating the treat near the crate, go one step forward and see if your puppy or dog is comfortable eating his food just inside the crate entrance with the door open with his body outside the crate. If you pass this step then you can keep the food at the back of the crate – fully inside. But never force the dog in if he’s not comfortable with it. This process should progress very gradually.

Once the dog is OK to eat inside the crate – with his full body in, you can try closing the crate door and see if the dog wishes to stay inside for a while. Initially he might not be comfortable inside not more than few minutes. You can gradually increase the duration of your dog staying inside the crate with the door closed.

Associating all positive things to the crate and reinforcing it

Treat him for even looking at it, keeping his paw inside it, head inside it, for lying down, staying in for even a single minute etc. If possible use an event marker like clicker to mark each behavior.

Note: It is highly important to reward at each step of this training to teach the dog that crate is something good and positive and not abusive.

Socializing your dog/puppy

It is highly recommended to keep the crate in your living room so that your dog can see the family members and gets a chance to socialize. Remember, dogs are highly social creatures and socializing it is very crucial for molding itself into a well behaved family pet.

Teaching your dog to get in the crate on command using clicker training

Once your dog is comfortable getting in and eating it’s food inside the crate you are ready to teach your dog to get inside the crate using a command or a cue using an event marker training or clicker training by applying the methods of positive reinforcement.

Throw a treat way inside the crate – to the back of the crate
When the dog enters the crate, click it by marking the behavior and say a verbal command like “crate” or “in” – one word commands are better than 2 words. You are reinforcing this behavior when you are sounding the clicker. Normally in positive reinforcement training you would require to give a reward in the form of toy or a high value treat to the dog for offering the desired behavior. But here you need not give a reward as you have already provided that in the form of a treat inside the crate before clicking. (Note: you can use a whistle or a verbal command instead of a clicker to mark a behavior, but clicker is more effective)
You will require practicing this exercise over multiple sessions. Each session should have note more than 10 – 15 repetitions and make sure that you get at least 13 or 14 correct from your dog.
Once the dog is consistent you can start holding back the treats randomly during some repetitions and only use your verbal command to get your dog inside the crate. Once the dog gets inside, immediately mark the behavior by clicking. You shouldn’t suddenly wean your dog off the treat, but instead you should try holding back the treat intermittently in some repetitions in a session, which will keep the dog motivated until he is fully trained. You can then gradually wean him off the treat when he starts entering the crate consistently on cue or the verbal command - without any rewards. (Note: it’s also not necessary that you have to offer your dog only food treats, it can be anything that your dog enjoys, a toy that he enjoys, a Kong or anything that keeps him motivated during the training)

Here are some interesting and useful videos on how to get started with clicker training your dog

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 15:01:00 +0000

Clicker is a small plastic device that produces a loud and distinct "click" sound which is a powerful tool used as part of positive reinforcement training. It is so powerful because it sounds always the same and is absolutely directed towards the dog and precisely marks a behavior. It is an event marker. Clicker training is also known as marker training. By the way, you can use hand signals, verbal sounds or whistles instead of clicker to mark a behavior, but since clicker sounds the same through out, clicker is preferred marker tool amongst dog trainers.

You must remember that clicker training is much more than just clicking and treating the dog and you need to learn a number of things before you start with it. Clicker training can be effectively used to shape new behaviors and correct various behavioral problems in your dog. To get started with this training method you can check out these wonderful videos.

This video will show you how to charge a clicker

In this video you will learn how to teach your dog to touch a target stick using clicker training

In this video you will learn how to teach the spin technique using the clicker

This video teaches you how to teach your dog to take a bow

Marker training is one of the most powerful and safest methods to train your dogs. Marker training can be used to train almost any type of animal and marine animals including dolphins and blue whales.

5 Useful Positive Reinforcement House and Potty Training Tips for Your Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:30:00 +0000

If you have brought in a new puppy or dog home then the first thing that you must start working on is house training or potty training your puppy. It will take anywhere from few days to few weeks to fully house train your dog, but it may vary from dog to dog. Clicker training is the best training method to quickly and efficiently house train your pup. I have some useful tips for you to get started with the house training your dog that will make the entire process faster and easier for you.

Staying alert – If you are having a 5 to 8 weeks old puppy hanging around in your house, then you must be always monitor his movements, esp. if you see any sniffing or circling around then you must quickly take him out to a spot to relieve itself. You will soon get used to your pups relieving signs and the process will get easier day by day. If you can’t monitor your dog continuously, then it is recommended to confine your dog to a crate or a pen or a room preferably bathroom with potty pads and that is doggy proof.

Dealing with accidents – It’s no use punishing your dog for an accident inside the house. It will only help in straining the relationship between you and the dog and will confuse your dog. The training won’t be effective and will take much longer than expected. The dog will be afraid of doing its business in your presence and will hide and start eliminating behind the couch or under your bed. If your dog goes potty inside your house, there is no use yelling at him, just be calm and clean it up with a good cleaner that can completely remove the odor, so that your dog won’t be tempted to eliminate at the same spot.

Fix a Feeding Schedule – Keep a fixed feeding schedule for your pup or dog. Pups need to be fed thrice a day – morning, afternoon and evening, and adult dogs only need to be fed 2 meals per day. This will bring about an easy to predict potty schedule for your dog.

Know the Potty Schedule -You would require taking your pup or dog out 10 or 15 minutes after a meal or after playing or after getting up from a nap. Adult dogs have a good bladder control and can hold their bladder for more than 3 or 4 hours. Pups would need to eliminate itself every hour or two. The bladder control will develop with age.

Marking and reinforcing - If he starts squatting immediately mark that behavior by clicking with a clicker and wait for him to finish his business to reinforce the behavior by rewarding him with a yummy treat. Later on you can add a cue or command like ‘potty’ when your dog starts squatting. Your dog may not do it’s business immediately, so wait for 10 mins, if it doesn’t eliminate then walk him back inside. Repeat this until your dog goes potty outside the house. You will soon get to know your puppy’s potty habit and your puppy will also learn what you expect out of it. Things will start to become much easier in course of time.

Remember, punishing the dog – yelling at it after an accident or other physical punishments is both physically and psychologically dangerous for the dog and can lead to many physical and behavioral problems in your dog. Negative reinforcement training methods are considered to be outdated and are unsafe and unhealthy for the dogs. Positive reinforcement methods, esp. clicker training has been proven to be the most safest, humane and efficient method to train your dog.

How should you set realistic goals while clicker training your dog?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 08:23:00 +0000

In the earlier post we saw the importance of timing in clicker training dogs. Along with the timing parameter, a good clicker trainer will always ensure that the goals that he set are realistic for the dog to achieve. A well experienced Clicker trainer would always carry out the training in different steps or difficulty levels. He would first start off with an easy goal for the dog and gradually steps up the difficulty levels when the training progresses.

This is a relevant video on Loose Leash Training

Correcting the Leash Pulling Behavior
Let’s assume that your dog has the annoying habit of leash pulling while walking and you want to correct this behavior and train your dog to walk on a loose leash. Now, an experienced clicker trainer wouldn’t start the training straight away on a busy street – amidst all the distractions and expect him to walk stop pulling the leash in a day or two. Instead he will set his goals realistic and achievable and start training where there is minimum distraction – say, in a bathroom or a closed room.

Step 1
The dog is initially clicked and treated several times for releasing the tension on the leash. 4 or 5 sessions with 10 or 12 repetitions are done in the room and the trainer expects the dog to get at least 11 or 10 repetitions correct in each session. Once that goal is achieved the trainer moves on to the next step.

Step 2
In the next step the trainer sets a new goal and expects the dog to walk on a loose leash with more distractions – both visual and sound – but this time inside the house, and not in the bathroom. The dog is then clicked and treated for not getting distracted and staying on a loose leash amidst all the temptations while walking. Again, 4 or 5 sessions are done here and the dog is expected to get 80% of the repetitions right in each session. Once this goal is achieved, the trainer introduces the dog to more distractions in the next step.

Step 3
In this step, the trainer sets an even difficult goal and expects the dog to walk on a loose leash in the backyard, with even more distractions. The number of sessions and repetitions remain the same in this step to as in step 1 and 2.

Final Steps
Once this goal is successfully accomplished the trainer trains the dog to walk on a street with fewer distractions - where there is lesser traffic and people and repeats the training sessions and ensures that he is not distracted. In the next step he tries to perfect this behavior on a street with more distractions. And finally he tops off his train on a bustling street or a dog park and fully ensures that the dog is consistent with the behavior.

Clicker training sessions must be carried out in different environments to ensure that the dog behaves consistently in different environments and distraction levels. Refresher training sessions might be required even after the dog is fully trained.

A good clicker trainer will always break the task down into easier steps or goals for the dog - while shaping a behavior or correcting a behavioral problem. This makes the training more efficient and the goals easily achievable – both for the trainer as well as for the dog.

Did you know the importance of timing in clicker training dogs?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 07:20:00 +0000

Timing of the click or the “conditioned reinforcer” is always emphasized repeatedly on any article related to clicker training. You can also say that clicker training is all about precision timing. “You get what you click – not what you want” says renowned animal trainer Bob Bailey . The clicking action in clicker training is like taking a snap immediately when your dog performs a desired behavior. So if you are late by even a second, you will end up reinforcing the wrong behavior in your dog. Total disaster !

Suppose you are teaching your dog to sit down using clicker training, you must click precisely when the dog’s bottom touches the ground and not when he has already sat down or when he’s standing. Then, if you are teaching your dog to stand up, you must click the dog immediately when the dog is in the standing posture and not when he’s lying down or when he has already stood up.

Clicking with precision is a fine motor skill that you must practice and perfect. It’s nothing but a perfect co-ordination between your eyes and your thumb. So before you go ahead and start clicker training your dog, you must practice this skill to perfection. Though you can practice it in many ways, I will tell you 2 easy ways to perfect this skill.

Clicker Timing Practice Exercises

You can try out this simple exercise to perfect your clicking time. Ask your friend to throw a ball on to the wall, and try to click when the ball touches the wall. Practice this until you can click with precision, i.e. at the exact moment when the ball touches the wall.
Or you can ask your friend to do multiple sitting down sessions for you so that you can click at the moment when he sits. Use your imagination and you will find several ways to practice and perfect this skill.

If you are too bad at the timing part, you can also click a bit earlier than late, because it has been observed that when you click a bit early the click will sound exactly at the moment when the dog does the behavior or else your dog would have already started performing a behavior. Either ways you are benefited by clicking early than doing the mistake of clicking late. But precision in timing is highly recommended for clicker training to be efficient.

For the clicker training sessions to be highly efficient you must click and treat your dog when your dog makes an eye contact and avoid calling or luring your dog for a training session. Luring will only help in reinforcing that behavior in your dog while it was being lured. Later on the luring will have less or no effect on the dog since it reinforces the behavior while your dog is being lured.

Charging the clicker

Before you start with clicker training you must click and treat randomly without reinforcing any behavior, which is known as classical conditioning in psychology. This is known as charging the clicker, where the dog associates the sound of clicker to something positive i.e. treat. Eventually the clicking sound itself is enough to switch your dog into training mode and the dog will be all excited by looking at you waiting to learn something.

Carnival of Pets and Animals - July 1, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 13:59:00 +0000

Welcome to the July 1, 2011 edition of carnival of pets and animals.

animals

Juliana Smith presents 10 Pests and Their Life Expectancies posted at Satellite Dish.

behavioral problems

Tania presents 25 Amazing Veterinarian Breakthroughs in the Last 10 Years posted at Vet Tech.

clicker training

Kristena Watts presents 25 Amazing Veterinarian Breakthroughs in the Last 10 Years posted at Vet Tech.

pets

Pepinfo presents Vets In Barnsley posted at Vets In Barnsley.

Lisa Brooks presents 10 Ways to Help Your Dog Get Used to a New Home posted at Movers and Packers.

Vera Lang presents Quilted Pet Bed posted at Fine Craft Guild .com, saying, "Tutorial on how to make a BEAUTIFUL quilted bed for your pet. Both big dogs and little cats (and YOU) will adore the sight of this comfy place to sleep. (Apparently is it really easy to make)"

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of pets and animals using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

blog carnival index page.

Learn these fundamental positive dog training methods for a healthier, happier and well behaved dog

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:13:00 +0000

Dog training has gone through a positive change over the past few years with people avoiding primitive and traditional training methods. Now more and more dog owners and trainers are turning to positive dog training methods like clicker training based on positive reinforcement; because they have realized that it is absolutely safe and at the same time highly effective and quicker than the traditional training methods - that were mostly based on unhealthy aversive techniques. Aversive training techniques only help you in suppressing unwanted behaviors in your dog resulting in other dangerous behavioral and health problems; where as positive reinforcement training methods completely remove them - for good.

To help you reap the miraculous benefits of positive dog training you must know these 6 fundamental concepts of behavioral psychology. Positive dog training is purely based on science and that’s why it is effective, safe and quicker – both for the dogs and trainers. Though Positive training methods like clicker training were in use already to train other animals, marine mammals and birds, its application in dog training is fairly recent. Clicker training in dogs was first introduced by Karen Pryor in the early 90s through a series of seminars.

Positive Reinforcement Training – In positive reinforcement training method you reward a behavior offered by the dog and ignores it’s unwanted behaviors. One of the most popular positive reinforcement methods is Clicker Training.

Clicker Training – Clicker training makes use of only positive reinforcement method. In this training method the trainer makes use of a small device named clicker that produces a unique and loud short sound or a ‘click’ to mark a behavior displayed by the dog and then reinforcing it by offering a treat or reward. Unlike other marking sounds produced by us like – good dog or good boy- the tone and sound of the clicker remains the same always to the dog, which makes this training more quick and effective.

Classical Conditioning – This training method was first discovered by a Russian physiologist named Ivan Pavlov. In classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus is paired with a natural stimulus which originally evokes the response. Then after many repetitions, the neutral stimulus itself evokes the response.

In clicker training, there is an initial phase called “charging the clicker” where in the trainer clicks the clicker and treats the dog randomly without asking for any behavior from the dog. In this process the dog associates the sound of clicker to something positive – treats. Then the sound of the clicker alone is enough to get him excited and switch him into a ‘learning mode’. Here the neutral stimulus is Clicker, natural stimulus is food and response is getting your dog into the right mood.

Operant Conditioning – This training method was first introduced by an American Psychologist named B.F. Skinner in the early 50s. In operant conditioning, the dog offers a behavior intentionally to earn a reward. In positive reinforcement training like clicker training you reinforce a behavior in your dog by first marking it with a clicker and then reinforcing it with a treat or reward. Eventually the behavior gets reinforced and the dog repeats the behavior – intentionally -to earn the reward. Clicker training initially starts as classical conditioning and then soon takes the form of operant conditioning.

Desensitization – This is a behavior modification technique used by positive reinforcement dog trainers to reduce the sensitivity of the dog to a particular trigger or stimulus. For example, if a dog has a behavioral problem of snarling or lunging at other dogs, the trainer exposes the dog to the triggering object (i.e. other dogs) one step at a time and brings it closer to it gradually, taking utmost care that the unwanted behavior (snarling or lunging) is not triggered or keeping it below the threshold. Multiple sessions of this technique are carried out over a period of time until the dog is fully desensitized to the particular trigger and eventually the unwanted behavior just fades away.

Counter Conditioning – Counter Conditioning is also a behavior modification technique utilized by positive reinforcement trainers where is dog is conditioned to offer a behavior that is incompatible to the undesired behavior while the dog is exposed to a trigger. Taking the above example of desensitization:- the dog is gradually taught or conditioned to look at the trainer (counter behavior) while the dog is exposed to the triggering object (the dogs) – without triggering the undesired behavior – and then clicked and treated for it.

Learning these above positive training methods is very crucial if you plan to get started with Positive reinforcement training like clicker training. Unlike traditional training methods, Positive reinforcement training has been proved to make your dog – healthy, happy and well behaved through out its life time.

5 Important Dog Training Terms and Abbreviations That You Must Know Before You Start Training Your Dog

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 06:11:00 +0000

Why shouldn’t you use Negative Reinforcement or Aversive Training Method to train your dog?

If you are planning to train your dog(s), it is very essential to get acquainted with technical terms and abbreviations used in dog training circles. And if you don’t plan to do the training part on your own, that’ OK, but it is still highly recommended to know these terms to get a better understanding of what your dog trainer is talking about.

I must confess that I was a person who had no idea about what positive reinforcement dog training was all about – or what kind of training method is the safest; and subjected my dogs – solely due to ignorance - to those unhealthy negative reinforcement training methods that I remorsefully repent with all my heart now. So I really don’t want any genuine dog lover out there to repent for their irreversible and ignorant actions later on in their lives, that can put their dog's health at risk.

Before you start with dog training, you must definitely learn these 5 most commonly used terms in dog training circles. Dog training is fully based on these - 5 major - behavior conditioning techniques defined in psychology, known as Operant Conditioning.

Positive Reinforcement (also denoted as R+) – Something is added to reinforce a behavior. For e.g. giving a treat to the dog when it sits will reinforces the behavior (sitting) in the dog. Here the treat is added to reinforce the behavior – sit - in the dog.
Negative Reinforcement (also denoted as R-) – Something is taken away to reinforce a behavior. For e.g. A dog is leash popped until it stops barking and leash popping is stopped immediately when the dog stops barking to reinforce that behavior. Here the leash popping is taken away which reinforces the dog to remain silent. This is an aversive technique that is commonly used in traditional dog training. A technique that is unhealthy for the dog and not recommended.
Positive Punishment (also denoted as P+) – Something is added to suppress a behavior. For e.g. – a dog is leash popped in order to stop pulling the leash. In fact there is a very little difference between R- and P+ and they are often used as a pair. This is an aversive technique that is commonly used in traditional dog training. A technique that is unhealthy for the dog and not recommended.
Negative Punishment (also denoted as P-) – Something is taken away to reduce the occurrence of a behavior. For e.g. withholding the treat if the dog is standing and doesn’t sit on a cue. Here the treat is taken away from the dog to suppress the behavior – stand. R+ and P- are used in pair in R+ training method.
Extinction – A behavior fades away due to lack of reinforcement. This means that unwanted behaviors in your dog go away if you only reinforce the desired behaviors.

Usually “positive” and “negative” are used to denote something good or bad in lives, but in a dog training perspective or in operant conditioning they have different meanings; to “add” OR “take away” something. In operant conditioning the word punishment means suppressing or reducing the occurrence of a behavior.

Some of the Best Sites On Learning R+ Dog Training on The Internet

http://www.clickertraining.com/
http://www.clickersolutions.com

http://blog.r-plusdogtraining.info/

http://r-plusdogtraining.info/

My experience has taught me that using aversive methods to train your dog is one of the most merciless and inhumane things that you can ever do in your life, resulting in serious and long lasting health problems – both mental and physical – in your dog and also making you more violent and negative in life. So I highly recommend every dog owner and trainer in this world to only use positive reinforcement training like Clicker Training, if you really want your dog to stay healthy – mentally and physically – through out its life.

5 Major ill effects of mixing positive reinforcement training and aversive method while training your dog?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 05:01:00 +0000

Though these two training methods are entirely contradictory, most people use both the methods to train their dogs – of course unknowingly. But if you want a dog that is calm, relaxed, content, healthy and happy through out its life time, then you must never do the mixing thing or to be more precise, you must never use punishment methods to train your dog. The punishment or aversive training method has been disproved and debunked by international animal organizations and is considered to be dangerous for your dog. You can check out the following link for more information about that.

Why is dominance theory outdated?

But for now we will just look at some of the ill effects of mixing positive reinforcement training and aversive methods.

Training is Less Effective - You can definitely use both methods but the training would be much less effective than to only use Positive Reinforcement training method like Clicker Training. Because when you punish the dog and also reward him at the same time, the dog would try hard to avoid punishment than to get a simple treat or reward. This has to do something with natural psychological phenomenon.
Aversive Methods Take Over Your Dog - For a dog that has been trained using only positive reinforcement knows that if he has done something wrong during training, the trainer withholds the treat. But this wouldn’t work that well with a dog that has been trained using both the methods, because for that dog withholding the treat and inflicting no punishment has one and the same effect, which makes it think that he’s out of danger and he’s doing everything alright.
Have to stay extremely consistent - One of the major disadvantages of using negative reinforcement training or aversive method is that you have to stay highly consistent with your punishments or corrections during the training sessions. Otherwise the dog starts thinking that everything’s going just fine. But with positive reinforcement training or clicker training you need not be that consistent on clicking and treating your dog once the dog has fully learned the behavior. In fact you can fully wean your dog off the clicks and treats when he’s fully trained.
Punishing is highly Reinforcing - Punishing is highly reinforcing for you – the trainer – and there is a good probability that you will try that again on your dog which makes you more violent over a period of time. For example, if you have the habit of leash popping your dog for barking at other dogs while walking to stop the that habit then it is highly satisfying for you when your dog actually stops barking, but even if the dog has stopped barking, it still has that tendency suppressed in it. Eventually this suppression of behavior in your dog develops an aversion for other dogs – in the form of lunging or barking at other dogs. Your dog can also develop a variety of other behavior issues if you use aversive methods extensively, which can affect your dog physically.
Switching is difficult but possible - If your dog has been trained using negative reinforcement all these years it will take sometime for it to switch to Clicker Training or positive reinforcement training and learn that he can earn treats for doings thing voluntarily. Initially it might not accept the treats, but later on it will and would happily take part in training sessions. Eventually your dog will be more confident, happy and content. Soon you will realize that it is easier for you to just mark a behavior – using a clicker - than to correct a bunch of mistakes (while using aversive method) done by your dog.

If you still feel that you want to use both positive reinforcement and aversive methods on your dog, then I think I have done a really bad job. But I am damn sure that once you start reaping the benefits of clicker training or positive reinforcement training you will hardly think of going back to the aversive method. I wish you all the best for your training and happy petting.

Did you know that traditional dog training methods can make your dog aggressive or stressed?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:16:00 +0000

You must be aware that there are mainly two types of dog training methods. One making use of the aversive method or negative reinforcement method or traditional method and the other one based on positive reinforcement like Clicker Training. You can train your dog using any of these methods and both are effective too, there’s no doubt about that, but with the traditional training method you can risk your dog’s mental and physical health. You will understand how only when you know the basic difference between both these methods.

Traditional Training Method

In the traditional training method trainers use aversive or correction methods or negative reinforcement while teaching a behavior or technique and then praise him for getting it right. Here the trainer is forcing the dog to offer a desired behavior and he corrects it every time the dog makes a mistake e.g. shouting, yelling or leash-popping and so on. Here the dog is offering a behavior just to avoid an unpleasant situation (a.k.a. negative reinforcement). And some breeds work hard to calm their trainers down. Eventually the dog develops a fear towards training sessions and the trainer which then gives way to stress and other health problems. Some dogs go into a total shut down.

Positive Reinforcement Training Method

In positive reinforcement training, the trainer waits patiently for the dog to offer a behavior - voluntarily. And when the dog offers that behavior, the trainer marks it (the behavior) with a hand signal or a sound (that of a clicker) or praise and then rewards the dog. This way the trainer is reinforcing a desired behavior. In this training method the dog is motivated towards the training since it is being rewarded for what it does voluntarily. The dog will then love to offer the behavior more frequently to earn the reward and eventually the behavior is reinforced (a.k.a. positive reinforcement). Later on you can associate a cue to that behavior and gradually wean the dog off of the click/treat. Clicker training is the most popular positive training method used on animals and dogs. Where as in negative reinforcement training or traditional training, the trainer has to be always consistent with the corrections or aversive methods or else the dog will make a mistake.

Meaning of ‘Praise’ for the dog in both the training methods

The meaning of praise like “good dog” or “good boy” can mean totally different things for the dogs trained using different methods. Praise or a clicking sound is a conditioned reinforcer in each training method which conveys something specific to the dog.

For a dog that is trained using the traditional method or aversive method, a ‘good dog’ will mean that he’s not going to be yelled or shouted at. Some traditional trainers claim that their dogs work to get praised but in reality they are working hard to avoid an unpleasant action from their handler. Dogs offer a behavior to earn something or to save them from something. So just by praising the dog doesn’t mean that you are training the dog using positive reinforcement.

For a dog that is trained using positive reinforcement, praise has a different meaning. It means that a reward – treat or its favorite toy or a chance to go out for a walk – is on its way. So praising your dog would mean nothing for it if you neither use positive nor negative reinforcement training methods.

Effects of negative reinforcement method or traditional training method on dogs

Improper and extensive use of aversive training method can seriously affect your dog’s health – both mentally and physically. It makes your dog either aggressive or scared or stressed up and can pave way to a number of behavior problems in it. Some dogs just shut down physically and mentally and get wary of trying new things or learning any new techniques or behavior esp. if you want your dog to be a rescue dog or a service dog, negative reinforcement training is highly ineffective.

For e.g. If you are constantly yell or shout at or leash pop your dog for jumping up on strangers then the dog will eventually develop a fear or aggression towards people, and the behavior eventually results aggression which may end up in biting and attacking strangers. This is the end result of your dog associating strangers with something negative with over use of aversive methods.

So it is highly effective, safe and humane to train your dog using positive reinforcement training. And the most popular positive reinforcement training method is Clicker training, which is highly effective and gives quicker results for training as well as corrective behavior problems.

Carnival of Pets And Animals - June 1, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Tue, 31 May 2011 06:12:00 +0000

Welcome to the June 1, 2011 edition of carnival of pets and animals.

The following people submitted their posts to June 1 edition of this carnival. Thanks and welcome to all of you ! Hoping to see more posts and contributors in the following editions to make this carnival a big success.

James presents Why Purchase Online Pet Insurance? posted at Insurance Providers, saying, "A pet is a member of the family so insurance is a must. Where is the best place to purchase it?"

MyMaria presents New Piglet on Our Mini Homestead posted at Frugal Homesteading Blog, saying, "We are expanding our mini homestead and recently added a piglet to our farmette. Post includes pictures of her with our chickens."

KathyHS87 presents Why'd You Cut His Head Off? and Other Awkward Questions posted at Life As I Know It, saying, "About a zoo volunteer"

dog training

Joy Randel presents Crate Expectations: A Dog Crate Training Primer posted at Dazzle Dog Delight Blogs.

Sunnyside Up. presents Canine Good Citizen posted at Sunnyside Up., saying, "a post about canine good citizen certification."

dogs

Patricia Oaklief presents Love Your Dog but Will Your Host? Tips on Traveling with Your Dog posted at Amigram (Free Online Announcements) Blog, saying, "Taking your dog to visit friends? Here are eleven things to keep in mind for a successful visit."

Leineriza presents Solutions: Pet Urine on Grass, and Dog Friendly Shrubs posted at Back to the Roots, saying, "Pets are part of the family, but how do we keep them from ruining our outdoor gardens and landscape?"

pets

Katie presents Shower Cat posted at House of Humble.

presents Viagra For Cats posted at Avalon Cat Cartoons.

AJ R. presents Do You Have Difficulty Keeping Plecos Alive? posted at Fish Problems, saying, "I know this is a nagging issue related to raising plecos in the aquarium for a lot of people!"

Carla Demming presents How To Breed Zebra Finches posted at Guide To Finch Care, saying, "How to Breed Finches, the most beautiful song bird."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of pets and animals using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags:

carnival of pets and animals, blog carnival.

Leash training my Dachshund - Tanny - using clicker training

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Sat, 14 May 2011 05:14:00 +0000

Away from the hustle and bustle of city life, I am enjoying a 2 weeks vacation at my wife’s place – in rustic life style with green trees and vegetation swaying carefree all around the house, the nostalgic chirps of the birds, the moos of the cows, the soothing silence and the refreshing rustic environment leaves me pampered all day and night.

My mother in law has two lovely dogs – a Pomeranian – Fluffy - who’s more than 12 years old and a Dachshund – Tanny - who’s just over one year old. Though both are fantastic pooches, I always have a special place in my heart for the dwarf and intelligent Dachshunds – as they always remind me of my Dachshund – Cuckoo - that I had when I was a teenager.

Tanny is very adorable, gentle, playful, well socialized, black and tan colored Dachshund who loves to be with humans – pampered, and to play with little children. He just goes crazy when he sees my 5 year old son Zach. Though Zach loves to play with Tanny, he’s also very scared of him. Zach yells and runs for his life when Tanny goes running to him, leaving the little pooch all the more confused and scared.

I love to walk all types of dogs – small, big or giants. So today morning I thought of taking little Tanny along with me in my morning walk to check how well he’s leash trained to heel alongside a human. And my guess was right – he’s a terrible leash puller. Despite his small size and body, he’s an incredibly powerful dog when he starts pulling on the leash. But for me, it gave a fantastic opportunity to put all my knowledge of positive reinforcement training – clicker training - to practice, to leash train little Tanny.

I was amazed by the speed at which Tanny picked up things. Tanny is a quick learner. In just one hour I was half way through my training session and little Tanny understood what I wanted out of him. I would break down the steps here that I am using to leash train Tanny.

1.    The initial few minutes of the training were just funny. Tanny would scoot and dart forward as I started walking, so I would stop and walk the opposite direction and when he followed, I would click and treat him immediately. This went on for more than 20 minutes.
2.    Then he got what I wanted from him and started to take few steps without pulling the leash. The moment he pulled on to it, I would stop and walk back. But as and when he released the leash pressure and followed me - willingly, I would click and treat him.
3.    You will be amazed to know that in less than an hour, little Tanny learned to heel few steps with me without pulling the leash at all. But I don’t know how things would turn out tomorrow. I am sure I have to repeat this session for more than 15 to 20 times in week to get him fully leash trained.

I once again wanted to show you the awesome powers of positive reinforcement training – clicker training – through Tanny’s case and how well it works in dogs than any other form of reward based training or negative reinforcement training. The key to successful clicker training is patience, persistence and repetition.

How to get rid of the barking problem in your Labrador using Clicker Training?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Fri, 06 May 2011 12:55:00 +0000

Are you a Labrador retriever owner and fed up of the barking problem of your beloved labby? Then you are not alone, there are thousands of frustrated Labrador owners around the globe who go through this same annoying experience day in and day out.

Have you ever thought why your Labrador turns into a racket sometimes? There are multiple reasons for the unruly and incessant barking behavior in your Labrador.

Your lab is under-exercised and has a lot of pent up energy in it that needs to be used up.
Or may be it is having an underlying medical physical problem that needs to be addressed.
Or it might be just bored of being pent up in the backyard or crate.

No dog will bark without a reason, but some dogs are instinctively less barkers, may be they are genetically designed that way. I have seen most Cocker Spaniels bark very less, and so do Great Danes. I don’t know whether it is true with all Spaniels and Great Danes around the world.

These are some of the most common methods adopted by the owners in order to get rid of the barking problem in their Labradors.

They will yell or shout at the dog or call out it’s name or say ‘shhh’ to get him distracted from barking – But this only helps in reinforcing that behavior and your dog will end up barking more.
Some may use negative or aversive methods like bark collars or shock collars – Using aversive ways are not only inhumane, but unsafe and unhealthy for your dog. Using shock collars are physically and mentally dangerous. The electric shock – no matter how low it is - can develop physical problems as well as fear and anxiety in your dog. And it can also ruin the healthy bond between you and your dog.
And some dog owners play ‘deaf’ and just ignore the problem like an ostrich - Barking is a result of boredom or lack of physical exercise, and it is highly reinforcing for your dog to bark. So if you ignore it, you are unknowingly allowing it to get reinforced and it ultimately aggravates the problem.

No matter how safe the bark collars are - as claimed by the manufacturers – negative reinforcement or punishment based training has a lot of side effects that can ruin the mental and physical health of your dog.

Please watch this video

Clicker Training or Positive Reinforcement Training

The most effective, humane and safest way to train your dog is through Positive Reinforcement, and the most popular method of positive reinforcement training is clicker training. Clicker is a small box like device that produces a distinct loud ‘Clicking’ sound. You can easily find a clicker at your local pet shop.

In clicker training method you click and treat a desired behavior offered by your dog which ultimately reinforces the desired behavior (after many repetitive sessions). You can use clicker training to correct behavior problems as well as use it for regular and advanced training purposes.

How to solve the barking problem in your Labrador retriever using clicker training?

Labradors are not only powerful and energetic dogs but also extremely loud barkers. A lab’s bark is not only annoying but it’s also a tremendous noise pollution for you as well as for your neighbors. But fortunately you can easily correct this problem with clicker training.

If your lab is physically fit and is also properly exercised, then it’s not barking due to an underlying medical condition or unused energy stores.

Quick Exercise Tip for your Lab

By the way you need to take your Labrador for a long walk every day – morning and evening to keep his energy levels under control and also to keep him physically and mentally fit.

But if you feel that your lab is an unruly barker and barks at anything and everything he sees or hears, then probably that behavior had been unknowingly reinforced over a period of time, and you need to start training him at the earliest to get rid of the problem.

Some easy steps to get rid of the barking problem in your Labrador

You can interrupt your lab with a loud abrupt sound when it starts off on an incessant barking session. For this you can use an empty soft drink can and put some pebbles in it and seal off the opening. When your dog starts barking you must give a strong shake with the can which produces a highly distractive noise for the dog which should stop the barking – and when it stops barking you must click and treat him immediately. Your treat must be really tasty and meaty for him to respond to the training. Try to avoid dry treats as much as possible; wet treats work better like chicken or beef or beef liver.
Otherwise you can even give him a ball or a good Kong toy for him when he starts barking, and when he begins to play with it, you must immediately reinforce it by clicking and treating him.
You can wean him off from the treats gradually and replace it with lavish petting and praises, but only when the training has progressed considerably. And gradually your lab will learn that barking is less rewarding for him and your lab’s unwanted barking will finally go away.

This is how you can correct an unwanted barking problem in your Labrador retriever using clicker training or positive reinforcement. The same method can be used for correcting the barking problem in all other breeds as well.

Clicker Training method is not just faster and effective than all other reward based training methods but it also develops a strong bond between you and your dog and you will learn to respect each other. Clicker training is also the most humane and safe way to train dogs and other animals.

How To End The Leash Pulling Behavior In Your Dog Using Clicker Training?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Tue, 03 May 2011 02:41:00 +0000

Are you one of those dog owners who find it unmanageable to walk your dog? Is s/he terribly distracted and pulls on his leash like crazy while walking him on the sidewalks? Then you are not alone, there are thousands of dog owners like you around the globe who go through this ordeal everyday.

It was not long ago when I too was going through the same physical and mental stress every morning and evening while walking my Labrador Diego. Oh boy he was such an awful and powerful leash puller. It was almost impossible for me to hold on to the leash and there was enormous pressure on me that my hands would get numb and stiff after a half an hour walk with him. Huh! It was terrible!

I was foolishly trying to become my dog's pack leader or alpha dog after a reading a training book based on the debunked ‘Dominance Theory’, that has been proven to be wrong, inhumane and unsafe. Please click on this link to read an authentic document that proves it. But soon I was lucky enough to get the most effective solution to this problem as well as a host of other nagging behavior problems of my dog, and train him into a well behaved pooch through Clicker Training, a training method based on positive reinforcement.

What is Clicker Training?

It is the most effective, safe and humane dog training method based on positive reinforcement where you mark a desired behavior offered by your dog by means of producing a short, distinct ‘Click’ sound from a mechanical device called clicker, followed by a treat or praise that reinforces that behavior.

Clicker Training is used not just to train dogs but almost all animals in the world that uses no aversives or punishments. Clicking and marking a desired behavior is like taking a snap shot of a desired behavior and telling the dog that he has done something right and he’s going to get a yummy treat for that. Clicking is known as the bridging signal between the desired behavior and the reward.

Unlike the aversive methods, clicker training strengthens the bond between the owner/trainer and the dog and improves the confidence between the two. Since clicker training only uses rewards, it makes training an ever enjoyable experience for the dog that he would never lose his motivation for training.

How to train your dog not to pull the leash using clicker training?

There are different training methods to correct the leash pulling behavior in dogs. You would also get different types of harnesses in the market that claims to correct this problem without using any training method. But the most effective and safe way to teach your dog not to pull his leash is by ‘silky leash’ method based on clicker training.

This is a training method where you use only a slight leash pressure on the dog. And when the dog releases the pressure and “willingly” comes in the direction of the pull, you click and treat him. Silky Leash training is done in different levels.

Make your treats Tasty enough

During the initial stages of clicker training you need to make sure that the treats are really tasty enough for him to stay motivated during the sessions. Gradually you can wean him off the clicker and treats; and the dog will learn to stop pulling it’s leash without any click or treat.

Level 1

Silky Leash training should first start in a small room, like a toilet where there is very less or no distraction for the dog, and with less or no movement. Put a slight pressure on the leash and wait for the dog to release the pressure and to move in the direction of the pull. When he does that you need to click and treat him immediately. You would need to do at least 5 or 6 half an hour sessions at each level or till the dog doesn’t pull the leash in the small confinement.

Level 2

When your dog learns not to pull the leash in the small room or confinement, you can move on to a bigger room with less distractions, and more movement i.e. walking around with your dog in the room where h/she gets the chance to explore different things. Apply slight pressure when you see him getting distracted. Click and treat him when he releases the pressure and heels with you.

Level 3

Now you can move on to a much bigger room or take your dog to your backyard where there are more distractions, with lot of walking and movements. Repeat the same process as in level 2. When he has fully learned not pull the leash in the backyard environment, you can gradually take him out on the sidewalks emulating a real walking situation and repeat the same process again till he fully learns not to pull the leash.

Please watch these two helpful videos that will make all the levels more clearly to you

Silky Leash training Video 1

Silky Leash training Video 2

If you directly start training your dog on the sidewalks or outdoors, your dog might not respond very well to the clicks or treats, because there are a lots of distractions out there in the outdoors. That’s the reason why it is essential to first start the training in a small room and then move on to bigger spaces by introducing more distractions and movements.

Clicker training is so effective that it can be used to train or correct any behavior problems in dogs. Clicker training has proven to be a very effective training method to train almost any kind of animals and birds.

How to get rid of resource guarding in your dog using clicker training method?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 12:14:00 +0000

Gone are the days when you have to foolishly pretend to be the dog’s pack leader or alpha dog in order to be dominant. This dominance theory has been debunked and proven to be false especially when positive reinforcement training gave faster, effective results in a shorter duration.
The aversive methods or negative reinforcement training has only helped in damaging the healthy relationship between you and your dog. This training method has only resulted in creating a scared pet that would obey your commands in order to avoid a negative consequence or punishment. Do you want your dog to be scared of you and hate the very sight of you? I am sure you will not.

Many pet dog owners mistakenly take resource guarding as aggression and falsely think that the dog is trying to overpower them. Actually there is nothing like that and if you are one of those dog owners, then it’s high time that you correct yourself. The dog is only trying to protect a resource or an object from you, which the dog considers to be very precious. The aggression is only the result of that. In fewer cases this is instinctive.

Since dogs descended from wolves - several tens of thousands of years ago, some pet dogs still exhibit those wild instincts, because in the jungle they had to protect their prey from other wolves or animals and it was a matter of life and death for them. But with most dogs resource guarding is learned and is an outcome of fear, anxiety or lack of confidence.

Please watch this video !

Fortunately we can correct all of types of resource guarding through clicker training i.e. positive reinforcement training. Though there are different types of resource guarding demonstrated by the dogs, the most common ones are

Food bowl guarding
Guarding invaluable objects

How to Get Rid of Food Bowl Guarding: In the earlier post we saw that in order to prevent food bowl guarding you can feed your dog by hand. Apart from this you must also teach him that, if you approach his food bowl there’s nothing to growl about and he’s going to get more food if you do so. Your goal is to easily approach the dog while he’s eating and pick up the food bowl without your dog growling at you. Food bowl guarding is triggered when your dog thinks that you are going to take away the bowl from him when you are approaching and doesn’t understand that you are giving him the food.

In the first step you must gradually approach his food bowl before he starts growling. Click(using a clicker) and throw treats at him for being silent, but if he growls just ignore him and don’t reward him. It might take some time to get closer to him, but be patient and consistent. Repeat this process until you can get close enough to easily throw treats into his bowl.

It’s always recommended to click while you treat him; this clearly marks the desired behavior – for not growling at you – and reinforces it properly. When the dog is absolutely calm while you stand beside his food bowl, try touching his food bowl, then click/treat him immediately if he stays calm. This shows that the dog no longer guarding his food bowl. Now you can try picking up the food bowl. Click/treat him if he still stays calm. Repeat this process until he allows you to easily pick up the food bowl without any treats.

How to get around your dog’s habit of guarding invaluable objects: This is a common resource guarding behavior shown by pet dogs. But the good news is that you can easily get rid of this behavior by using clicker training i.e. positive reinforcement training.

If you see your dog guarding a silly piece of torn cloth or his own chewy toy and keeps protecting it from everyone, then you must try this method, it works. Show him a yummy treat, possibly up to his nose so that he can smell the treat and say ‘drop it’. The dog would definitely drop the cloth/toy in exchange for the yummy treat; click/treat him immediately by firmly saying ‘good dog’ or ‘good boy’ to reinforce the behavior. Repeat this activity until your dog starts dropping the object without getting a treat or asking him to drop it. It might take some time, but never give up and be at it. Finally you will see that he’s dropping the object even before you ask him to.

For training your dog or correcting any behavior problem using positive reinforcement training, you need to be extremely patient and consistent.

What is resource guarding? its reasons, and how to prevent it?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 15:39:00 +0000

Resource Guarding is extremely intimidating and a very common behavior problem in dogs. In this post I will give be sharing my knowledge of what Resource Guarding in dogs is, its causes and how to prevent them. I will be discussing the positive reinforcement training method (to get rid of this behavior) in the next post.

What is Resource Guarding?

A dog is Resource Guarding (RG) when it has an object (resource) in possession that he tries to protect it by means of growling, lip lifting or hard staring if you try to take it away from it. The object might be anything from a torn cloth, bone or even its own chewy toy. Usually this behavior is triggered when the dog gets hold of an object that is of high value to him. There are some dogs that would even guard their couches or beds or even it’s owner from others.

Positive Reinforcement Training

The greatest relief is that with positive reinforcement training you can fully rectify this behavior without intimidating the dog or damaging the relationship with it. Positive Reinforcement training method like Clicker Training is extremely effective in putting an end to all the behavior problems in dogs.

Why is your dog Resource Guarding?

Though dogs have been domesticated by humans since ancient times and have remained his best friend, the ultimate fact remains that they have evolved from wolves and they still carry those wild wolf instincts in them, and resource guarding is one amongst them. But you must note that not all resource guarding are instinctive. Some dogs develop this behavior due to anxiety, fear, under confidence or even boredom.

Please watch this interesting video

How can you make out that your dog has begun Resource Guarding?

Your dog will start showing the warning signals in the beginning stage itself. Usually it starts off with mild signals and then over a period of time it gets stronger. Initially the warning signs might be just mild growling or lifting the lip to bare its teeth when you try to reach out for the resource that it’s guarding, e.g. Food bowl or toy, but these milder signals will give way to stronger ones when the behavior aggravates to the higher levels. In the advanced stages the dog will first snap without breaking your skin, and then it will snap which can break your skin and finally it can end up biting you with full force that can severely harm you. So you must never ignore these signals. But if your dog has learned bite inhibitions during its puppy hood, the intensity of the bite can be much lower.

It is also very important to note that the rate at which a dog advances in this behavior can vary from dog to dog depending on what object triggers it’s guarding nature.

How do you prevent this behavior?

Prevention is the best way to get rid of Resource Guarding. But if you have a dog that you have adopted from a shelter home that is already in the advanced stages of Resource Guarding then you need to start training him using positive reinforcement training method. But it can take some time, so be patient.

Some dog owners take this behavior to be a leadership issue and think that the dog is trying to establish their dominance over them or trying to be their pack leader by displaying aggression. This is a misconception and totally baseless! Sadly they resort to all sorts of negative correction methods which only results in aggravating this problem.

Since this behavior basically develops from anxiety, you must never resort to any negative reinforcement methods like shouting or yelling or other punishments expecting to get it resolved. All those methods can only help in worsening the behavior further which will end up in a strained relationship with your dog. You don’t want a dog that hates seeing you, do you?

The earlier you prevent this problem, the easier it will be to get rid of it. You can try these easy methods to prevent resource guarding behavior in your dog,

Take out all the objects that can trigger resource guarding nature in your dog eg. Clothes, toys, food bowls or whatever that triggers it.
If your dog has the habit of guarding its food bowl, then start feeding your dog by hand until he understands that the food is coming from you.
If your dog has the habit of guarding its couch or bed, then you must not give access to that area. You can block it with a gate or a wire mesh. This will discourage your dog from guarding its couch or bed gradually.

Positive reinforcement training is the best method to correct this problem effectively without harming the dog in any way. But if you are dealing with a dog that is an extreme case of resource guarding and is potentially dangerous, then it is safe to seek professional help at the earliest.

How can you train your dog to accept a new baby in your home with positive reinforcement training?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 05:36:00 +0000

In the earlier posts I discussed 4 different types of dog behavior problems and how to get around them effectively. The first problem that we discussed was how to effectively crate train your dog, then we saw how to tackle the grooming phobia, and then the barking problem while seeing other dogs or strangers and then prior to this post I discussed the phobia in dogs for other dogs and people.

In this post I am going to discuss another quite common behavior problem that the dog owners have to cope up when a baby come into their homes.

Before I share my knowledge on how to train your dog for a new arrival in your home, I will quickly give you a brief explanation of positive reinforcement training and how did it become the most effective means to training different types of animals and dogs.

What is positive reinforcement training and who invented it?

Positive reinforcement training is a training method where you reward the animal for the right behavior or the desired behavior and by ignoring or not rewarding the unwanted behaviors. By doing so, you are reinforcing the behavior that you want and the animal demonstrates it more often. The rewards can be in the form of treats or warm praises and hugs. But treats are much more effective. So in positive reinforcement training method there are no aversives used or no negative reinforcements. This is the reason why positive reinforcement training is so effective and healthy for the animals.

The most popular method of positive reinforcement training is clicker training in which the desired behavior of the animal is rewarded with an abrupt sound from a clicker devise coupled with a treat or praise. Karen Pryor, who is also an expert marine animal trainer, is known as the founder of clicker training in dogs. Almost all renowned clicker trainers around the world use her techniques.

Clicker training method is based on a behavior analysis invented and developed more than 30 years ago by Keller Breland, Marian Breland Bailey, and Bob Bailey and was initially used in training marine animals in which a whistle is used instead of a clicker. Karen Pryor has used this training method successfully to train marine animals like dolphins and killer whales. Clicker training is also an effective training method to train other animals like cats, rabbits, chicken, parrots and horses.

Please watch this video!

How to train your dog for a new arrival into your home

Now let me come back to the behavior problem for this post i.e. “your dog showing resistance (or hostile) to accept a new arrival into the home” and how to get around this problem effectively. You must train your dog long before the baby arrives into your home. There are in fact many simple and proven ways of training your dog to get used to a baby. I will discuss some of those effective methods right here.

Train your dog to have lesser contact with you

If your dog is always used to seeing you around or even sitting on your lap then you need to stop that months before your baby arrives. Instead you should decide the timings when your dog should be around you or on your lap. This way your dog will be OK to stay away from you or to just sit beside you(instead of your lap) when you are feeding or taking care of your baby. You can easily train your dog to do this using clicker training.

1. Click/Treat when your dog sits besides you instead of your lap

2. Click/treat him immediately as soon as he walks away from you.

3. Also associate these behaviors with cues like sit, leave or anything that you like, so that it will become easier for you to make him do these when you want him to do.

4. This way you will reinforce these 2 behaviors and the dog will ultimately learn what you want him to do.

5. You must repeat these methods until he’s fully trained.

6. This way your dog will learn to keep less contact with you which will make your life a lot easier when the baby actually arrives.

Let your dog get used to babies and baby’s stuff

If you have friends or relatives with babies, invite them over to your place and see how your dog reacts to the baby and it’s cries, you can even record the baby's cries and sounds on to a CD and play it out for your dog to hear on a daily basis so that he gets used to it. Also try to introduce your dog to baby stuff like cribs, pacifiers or a stroller and see how he reacts .If he remains calm in that atmosphere, you should immediately reward(click/treat) him for being nice. It is also a good idea to get your dog used to the scents of baby powder and oil. Repeat this as many times as you can till your dog is completely used to babies and baby stuff. If you want you can also see how the dog behaves to a baby's touch. Click/Treat him for staying calm. But make sure you sanitize your baby's hands after touching the animal.

Teach your dog to drop or leave

It is also a good idea to train your dog to drop any baby toys that he might have accidentally gotten hold of and associate them with the cues like “drop it” or “leave it” which will come in handy later on.

You can offer a yummier treat than what the dog is holding on to, so that the dog drops the toy in exchange for the treat, and when he drops it, you must click that behavior and treat it immediately. This way you will train your dog to drop things using positive reinforcement or clicker training.

Important: It is very important to gradually reduce the rate of treats given to the dog while training and gradually associate the behaviors with the appropriate cues. Because you don't want the dog to learn that in order to offer a desired behavior he should be bribed with a treat, no ! you don't want that.

It is also highly recommended, to protect your baby from contracting any kind of infections or diseases, to keep all your baby stuff out of reach of your dog and also make sure that the dog has no access to the baby or make sure that baby cannot go near the dog without your presence. You should also never leave a dog and your baby together unattended no matter how trained your dog might be.

If you can follow these above training tips you will certainly have a well behaved dog ready to give a warm welcome to the new arrival to your home and accept him/her as a family member.

With positive reinforcement training you can get rid of your dog's fear for strangers and other dogs

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:08:00 +0000

We have seen 3 dog behavior problems till now in the last 3 posts. The first one was how to get around the barking problem while alone in a crate, then we saw how to tackle the grooming phobia and in the previous post we saw how to get around the barking problem while walking with positive reinforcement training or clicker training. There is no such behavior problem in dogs that cannot be corrected with positive reinforcement training.

In this post I am going to discuss the story of my close friend John’s dog Vinny, a Dachshund that he adopted from a rescue home. Vinny is under the spell of a behavior problem which is quite common in dogs coming from rescue centers or which has spent it’s initial days of life in a puppy mill. Vinny is pretty normal at home, but the moment it’s on the street, walking, it slips into a state of trance due to unusual fear. This problem is developed as a result of an earlier trauma that it has gone through or due to extreme isolation.

John had adopted Vinny from a rescue center a couple of months ago. She is an adorable little dachshund, very playful and happy at home and loves to be on the laps of her people most of the time. But the moment she’s taken out for a walk and starts seeing other people and dogs on the road pass by near her, she just shuts down and goes into a trance. Even though she walks along with John, she’s in a different world altogether with all her senses shut down. She won’t respond to her name or won’t even take the yummiest treats offered to her. This was due to a complete mental shutdown due to extreme fear and the saddest part is that she has already gone past her fear threshold.

Please watch this interesting video

This is an adverse case of mental trauma caused due to intense isolation or lack of proper socialization in its past life. This is a serious dog behavior problem that needs to be addressed with utmost patience and care. Since I had encountered similar problems before with other dogs, I already knew how to correct this problem using clicker training (positive reinforcement), so I could easily pitch in and guide him properly.

Since Vinny is under the spell of an extreme mental trauma we had to be absolutely careful with her. Any wrong move could permanently push her into an irrevocable state of mental shut down which we could never think of. So it took more than a month to bring her back to normalcy.

The first thing that we did was to let her watch the world go by in a safe distance sitting at the comfort of the front yard. As she watched each human or animal pass by, we clicked and offered her a treat immediately. Though she wouldn’t respond to take the treats during the first few days, we were extremely patient and consistent. But after couple of days she started to accept treats, and we were progressing. This helped in associating her ‘scary’ things(humans and other animals) with something positive like treats or praises.
Though the progress was pretty slow, we didn’t want to force her into anything bad and hurry things up. That would have only worsened the problem.
Then as a next step, we took her on a short walks in front of the house and let her watch the people and other dogs pass by at a much closer distance. We continued to click and treated her as and when she watched them pass by.
Finally after a long 40 days of positive reinforcement training she fully associated humans and dogs on the street with something positive as treats/praises and then gradually started to enjoy the world pass by her as she walked along with her master without the aid of praises or treats.
The key to a successful clicker training is timing, consistency and patience. A clicker trainer must learn to click/treat with accuracy; otherwise you might end up reinforcing a wrong behavior.

Did you see the power of clicker training or positive reinforcement training? It’s extremely powerful. This training method is not only useful for correcting behavior problems but also teaching advanced techniques like search and rescue and bomb detection. Clicker training can also be used for training horses, chickens or even a potentially dangerous killer whale. Isn't that awesome?

Thank you for reading my post ! If you liked it please do not forget to share it with your friends and also leave your valuable feedback as a comment. I will be discussing the remaining behavior problems in the upcoming posts. Till then, Happy Petting !

Why is your dog barking at other dogs while you are walking him?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 06:15:00 +0000

In the earlier posts we saw 2 dog behavior issues. The first one was how to crate train your dog effectively and in the second post we saw how to get rid of your dog's grooming phobia. In this post we will see the next behavior problem i.e. 'My dog is barking at other dogs while taking it for a walk' as a continuation to my earlier post 'Positive reinforcement training to tackle all the nagging dog behavior problems ' and how to get rid of it.

Barking at other dogs while walking on the street is a very common behavior problem amongst dogs. The intensity of this behavior will obviously vary depending on how socialized your dog is with other human beings and animals. One of the major reasons for this behavior problem is lack of proper socialization. Hence it is every essential that you socialize your dog with other dogs and human beings right from it's puppy hood. But if you have an adult dog that you have adopted from a shelter home or elsewhere with this problem then all you can do is correct it through training.

Correcting the Barking problem through Positive Reinforcement Training(Clicker Training)
Positive reinforcement training such as clicker training can work wonders if done right. Since Clicker Training reinforces only the behavior that you want, there is no punishment involved or negative reinforcement, hence no negative feeling or hatred is developed towards the handler or trainer, and you will have an ever happy and content dog always willing to get trained from you. Clicker training method can be applied on any dog irrespective of the it's breed, temperament, size or age.

The barking problem can be corrected in the following way,

When your dog starts barking at other dogs on the street, just IGNORE it (and never try to correct it by leash popping which will only scare the dog and is nothing but negative reinforcement), and immediately walk in a direction where there is minimum distractions, and as soon as it focuses it's attention on you, click and treat him immediately. Never allow the bark to continue for long as it is reinforcing for the dog. You can even reward in the form of praises or with it's favorite toy, but a yummy treat works much better. Repeat the process and be consistent.
By doing this repeatedly your dog will gradually associate the treat/praises(positive reinforcement) with other dogs and you will see the habit faltering over the next few days..
Now when your dog remains silent even for a couple of seconds while looking at another dog on the street, click/treat immediately.
Then in the next step, try to slowly raise the duration in seconds till he's supposed to remain silent and "no treats" for breaking it. But if he remains silent for that set period, click/treat him immediately.
By doing this exercise repeatedly over a period of time you will achieve your goal(may in couple of weeks or more or may be quicker than that), and your dog will finally learn that it is quite natural to see other dogs on the street and there is nothing bark about it.
The key is to remain patient and consistent and never to loose your cool on your dog.

The same training steps can be applied if your dog has the habit of running away at will to play with other dogs in the park if he's off leash. As long as he's not aggressive with other dogs or a troublemaker, wait till he comes back to you. When he's back click/treat him immediately, but if he's not comfortable with the whole park atmosphere and starts barking at other humans and dogs, you should never let him off the leash until he's fully trained using the above steps.

The clicker training method might not always work effectively esp. in the park, since playing with other dogs is equally rewarding for the dog and in some cases far more rewarding than the treats that you offer. So in that case you must be smart enough to give him more yummier treats which can hold the dog in it's spell without running away. But it's always recommended to train him on leash if your dog has never been introduced to the park environment before.

Watch this interesting video

Is your dog scared of being groomed, bathed or clipped ?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:41:00 +0000


My Friend's Lab Jimmy

In the earlier post I tried to give you a brief idea about what positive reinforcement training is all about and how to crate train your dog using that training method. In this post I will cover the next behavior issue as a continuation of my earlier post - Positive reinforcement training to tackle all the nagging dog behavior problems. I would urge you to please read that post before you continue with this one.

The behavior problem that I am going to discuss here is "Grooming Phobia in Dogs"

Many dog owners in the world are annoyed over this nagging behavior problem and keep asking to themselves - Why is my dog scared of being groomed, bathed or clipped? So let's check out how to get around this problem in this post.

Some breeds are instinctively crazy about water. The best example for that are Labradors. They just love to swim and splash in a pool or fetch a toy or ball eagerly from an ice-cold pond. They just love being wet. So I never had any problem giving a bath to my Labradors. But it might not be the case with other breeds. In my experience I had a tough time grooming and bathing my Dalmatian - Ivy. She hated even the very sight of water or anything that had to do with grooming, and I had a real tough time grooming her. It was really a nightmare for her as well as for me until I got her trained to get used to it.

But never take that Dalmatians are instinctively resistant to grooming. Grooming phobia is mostly acquired i.e. it is developed as a result of some traumatic experiences that the dog had in the past associated with grooming or grooming objects. But most dogs are more scared of clipping it's nails than getting bathed.

Watch this video where a dog is being trained to get over his grooming phobia

Here are some positive reinforcement training tips that you can follow in order to get rid of your dog's grooming phobia

The first step towards getting your dog accustomed to the whole grooming process is to get him used to the sight of grooming objects like brushes, soaps or even clippers.
Keep the grooming objects at a place where the dog can easily see. And when he looks at it and has no problem with it, click and treat/praise him immediately. This is to reinforce his behavior - looking at the grooming objects and associate it with something positive - the treats/praise.
Then you must go a step further and increase the interaction with it. Take one of those objects in your hand in your dog's presence but not standing very close to him. When your dog looks at it and if he's OK with it again, click and treat/praise him immediately. You must increase the interactions at a very slow pace and never scare your dog off or intimidate him if things are moving a bit slower than you thought.
Then in the next step you should try holding it out to your dog and see how he/she reacts, if he's still OK, then click and treat/praise him immediately.
Gradually your dog will get used to grooming. But don't expect miracles. It will take some time or it ha may happen pretty fast, so you must be consistent and patient. You will definitely accomplish your goal in the end.

Joining a dog forum is also a great way to find answers to your dog's problems as well as interact with other dog owners around the world. Some of the best dog forums that i recommend are

i-love-dogs.com/forums
dogforums.com
dogforum.com

DogForums.com's dog grooming section has answers to a variety of Dog Grooming problems. Please click the link to check it out - http://www.dogforums.com/dog-grooming-forum/ . You will also find similar information on other forums also.

Thank you for reading my post ! If you liked it please do not forget to share it with your friends and also leave your valuable feedback as a comment. I will be discussing the remaining behavior problems in the upcoming posts. Till then, Happy Petting !

Positive reinforcement training to tackle all the nagging dog behavior problems

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak Eapen) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 04:50:00 +0000

What is positive reinforcement training?

My Lab Diego

May be you already know what positive reinforcement is, but I am sure there are people who have heard this term an awful number of times but still don't know how it actually works, so this is for them. If you know it, you can simply ignore it.There may be a lot of technical definitions for positive reinforcement as it is part of operant conditioning in psychology, but I don't want to sound technical here. I want to keep things simple for you.

Positive Reinforcement training is the act of rewarding a desired behavior offered by your dog in the form of treats, pats or even toys. When you reward a desired behavior your dog is more likely to demonstrate that same behavior more again and again, and since the reward positively reinforces a desired behavior it's known as positive reinforcement training. But as you are rewarding the desired behavior you must also ignore the undesired behaviors offered by the dog and eventually the dog tries to offer only the desired behaviors you want. Do you see the power of positive reinforcement already?Yes, dog training has come a long way and gone are the days when you would spank or hit the dog to get a desired behavior from it. It will do no good than creating a dog that is scared of you and hate seeing you. Do you want that kind of dog as your pet?

Positive reinforcement training has long lasting effects than aversive training method or negative reinforcement where the dog offers a behavior to avoid a negative condition like loud noise or a leash pop from you. Positive reinforcement training is all about rewarding a behavior that you want from your dog and Clicker training is one of the most popular positive reinforcement training method used by dog trainers around the world.

Watch this amazing video on Clicker Training

These are some of the nagging behavior problems that most pet dog owners usually face, including me !

My dog starts to whine, howl or bark as soon as I leave it alone in the crate.
My dog hates being groomed, bathed or clipped
My dog is barking at other dogs while taking it for a walk
My dog is scared of seeing other human beings or animals when I take him out for a walk.
My dog that is jealous of a new arrival(a baby) in the family

I will just discuss the first point here in this post, rest in the upcoming posts.

1. Crate training your dog comes in handy when you don't want your dog to hang around freely in your living room or kitchen when you are not around or when you are sleeping at night. This is good for both the pet owner(you) as well as the dog. Crate is a place where your dog feels secure and safe and can call it's own. No matter how well trained your dog is, it's not a good idea to let him take full control of your home when you are not around.

It will take some time for your dog to get used to the confinement of a crate and it can bark, howl or whine as soon as you leave him alone in the crate. So you might find the initial stages of crate training a bit nagging and challenging. So you must be prepared to show a great deal of patience towards your pooch until he's fully crate trained.

You can make use of a Clicking sound coupled with a treat as reward. This is more effective than just treats or only the clicker. In positive reinforcement training, perfect timing is everything and a clicker is the best device for that. You can get a clicker at any pet store or any other local store nearby.

Here is a video on Crate Training. Please watch it

Follow these easy steps to fully crate train your dog:

Do not leave the dog in the crate for a long time initially. Come back into the room in a few minutes while the dog is silent and click it and offer a treat or praise it immediately.
Then you must gradually increase the duration of your dog's stay in the crate, but never forget to treat/ click the moment you get back into the room. This way you will reinforce that behavior of your dog - staying silent in the crate for the duration that you have set. It will definitely take some time for your dog to get used to long hours. So be patient!
Never slip into a negative reinforcement or aversives after some time when you get annoyed or lose patience. If the dog is inconsistent and doesn't stay silent in the crate for the duration you have set, don't reward and ignore him, but never intimidate it. Because it can do more harm than good.
Over a period of time you will have a fully crate trained dog. That's for sure. It might take weeks or even months sometimes or it might happen even faster than that. It all depends on how consistent and patient you are at the training. So never give up and be at it till you accomplish your goal.

Also do check out this helpful and informative FAQ on Crate Training in one of the dog forums I frequent, you can check it out, it's really informative.

Thank you for reading my post ! If you liked it please do not forget to share it with your friends and also leave your valuable feedback as a comment. I will be discussing the remaining behavior problems in the upcoming posts. Till then, Happy Petting !