I ignored both dogs, directing my attention to the owner at the beginning of the appointment. As I did so, one dog actively sniffed me, the other stood behind the owner and barked. I asked the owner not to assign any attention to the barking behavior and focus on talking to me. I began asking the curious dog to do simple behaviors like touch my fingers, sit, and turn in a circle. I rewarded these verbally and with a treat. Funny, he wasn't trying to jump on me anymore, nor was he grabbing my sleeve, two things the owner had hoped to correct but had had little success doing in the past. The other dog was watching this and the second he stopped barking, I tossed a treat behind him. He looked a bit taken aback at first, and then surreptitiously went over to see what I'd tossed. He took the treat off the floor and as his head came up, I tossed another. This went on for about a minute as I gradually tossed the treats closer to me. Everything about this dog changed. He went from anxious to interested. He went from hiding behind his owner to boldly sitting in front of me, waiting to see what I'd do next. I then proceeded to toss treats intermittently as we moved around with the owner showing me where her dogs sleep, eat, etc. When we moved out to the yard, a spot where both dogs normally patrol the fence line barking at the neighbor's dogs, the owner was surprised to see that her dogs could easily be called away from that activity and redirected by simply tossing treats in another direction.
Next, we took each dog separately for a short walk. I often advise owners with multiple dogs to walk their dogs separately, particularly if one or more of the dogs are anxious or reactive when on leash. Working with one dog at a time is easier on the owner AND the dogs. You certainly don't want your calm dog picking up on or reinforcing the anxious dog's behaviors; this is a real risk as dogs do engage in observational learning. It's also true that you want your dogs to enjoy their walks and those pack walks may be less than enjoyable if one or more of the dogs is too anxious to sniff, explore, and do dog stuff.
One of my client's dogs is a puller on leash. She thought this was because he was headstrong. Truly, it wasn't so much that he was headstrong as it was that walks were something to get over with quickly so he could go home and not feel hyper-vigilant and anxious. I had the owner slow her pace, give him a little more leash, and I began dropping treats for him to sniff and find. It was slow going at first as he's so used to never looking down and speeding along at warp 11. Once he figured out that slowing down would pay off, I introduced the go sniff command with treats dropped near things I thought would be good to sniff. Within about 5 minutes, he was walking calmly, not pulling, and looking around/sniffing the ground as we circled the block. He even peed on a pile of leaves, something he's never done on a walk the whole time the owner has had this dog!
We took the barker out next. Normally, he barks intermittently through out the entire walk. He also doesn't sniff or explore. He doesn't pull on leash so much as he darts around, barking and hiding behind the owner. For this dog, I tossed a few treats on the ground at the start of our walk, just as a reminder to pay attention to me. We started walking and as the owner was telling me which houses were most triggering for her dog, I preemptively dropped my hand and her dog took a treat right from my hand. We walked right past dogs barking in the window with her dog giving them one glance and then returning his focus to me and the treats. He only startled once when a UPS truck drove past us; he was able, however, to let it go and return his focus to the "game" of when-will-that-new-lady-drop-a-treat-again.
The power of chicken, you ask? Nah, though that's what the owner thought. She wanted to know what treats I was using so she could get them too. You guys, it's not about the brand of treat per se, it's about the delivery. I never bribed, cajoled, begged, or inadvertently reinforced any behavior I didn't want to see happening again. My focus was on the dog, shaping calm, enjoyable behaviors using treats. I wasn't using those treats to distract her dogs, rather I was using them to motivate her dogs. She sheepishly admitted that she hadn't used treats in a long time and a trainer she'd worked with told her that the dogs were "too old to need treats to be obedient." You already know how I feel about nonsense like that. Everybody likes to get paid regardless of age or capability. Rewards are a fundamental part of any relationship; if the relationship isn't rewarding, why stick around?
Part of the problem with these two dogs was that the owner had made the mistaken assumption that training stopped once her dogs weren't puppies anymore. Learning happens for a lifetime, so you need to be ready to reinforce what you like seeing and redirect from what you don't. While I do love a good training class, these two dogs didn't need classes, they needed structure and consistency and rewards at home. They needed to be gently guided into making better choices. They needed to be separated from each other so that they didn't constantly feed off of each other's anxiety. They also needed to be trained together, particularly in the backyard, so that nuisance barking, digging, etc. could be curbed and that energy could be redirected to more appropriate tasks.
Using treats doesn't have to be bribery or a crutch. Rather, using treats is a form of commerce for our pets. It's a way of capturing their attention and shaping the behaviors you want to see. For example, barking is a normal dog behavior, so it isn't that we don't want them to bark at all, we just want them to bark at the important stuff (important to us, that is) and stop barking when we ask. If you have treats in your pocket when your dog is barking, you are on the right track! Whistle, clap your hands, stomp your feet, whatever it takes for them to stop barking for a millisecond and look at you. Say "Yay!" and toss a treat away from the direction that they are barking (make sure they see you do the toss). As soon as they've picked up that treat, ask for a simple behavior that runs counter to barking and vigilance (sit, down, shake, etc.), and give them another treat. Now that you have their undivided attention, send them off on another task (go find your toy, for example) and you are all set. This doesn't mean they won't bark again at the window when someone walks by, it simply means that they will understand that doing so has consequences. They were good consequences, desirable to the dog and to you.
Now, before anyone comes at me with "this is going to make my dog fat," let's be reasonable here. If you are using treats to reinforce behaviors you like, you can just as easily use their kibble to do so. You can also feed your dog the majority of their food/calories during training. You can also just simply substitute calories in their daily allotment, meaning feed them less to counterbalance the treats you are using for training. It's really not complicated and I don't want anyone to use "too many calories" as an excuse for not having snacks for their dogs in their pocket. Dogs do not need to eat from a bowl; working for their food is a much more natural, brain-challenging, anti-anxiety activity.
Just to be clear. I am NOT saying that food is love. What I am saying is that everyone likes to get paid for a job well-done. Don't bribe your dogs, pay them. Pay them with food, love, and activities they enjoy. You know, the stuff that makes for a good relationship.
As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.
My daughter's smooth collie, Westley, has situational anxiety. There are several ways we keep that anxiety in check, everything from tricks training to nose work. This is him giving me a big dramatic bow as he sees me putting treats in my pocket as I head out the backdoor to work with him. He's ready to work AND ready to get paid!
No comments:
Post a Comment