PAWS DECEMBER 2009 NEWSLETTER NUMBER 46

DECEMBER 2009 NEWSLETTER NUMBER 46         

 

A WARM welcome to all members of the Paws Abilities family, students, behaviour clients and friends.  Please feel free to forward this publication to anyone who might be interested.

 

We have had a wonderful year with lots of surprises. Our buildings have been revamped, we have added onto our club house, put up fencing and built some wonderful equipment including a full country agility course.

 

The crème de la crème was of course the addition of a doggy swimming pool – which has become a blessing on a hot summer’s day! To see the dogs playing and dashing / splashing in and out of it is a true delight. Definitely need to take more pics!

 

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my wonderful instructors for all their dedication and hard work during 2009. They are truly appreciated. We are very fortunate indeed, to have a fantastic pool of knowledge and experience.

 

I would also like to thank each and every doggy in our school for bringing their owner to training each and every Saturday, rain or shine!  These owners are extremely dedicated to the wellbeing of their dogs and your support makes it all worth while for us instructors!

 

 

The festive season is now truly upon us. Please make sure that if you are going away that your pets are going to be well cared for.

 

KENNEL CARE VS HOME-ALONE CARE

 

HOME-ALONE CARE

It is generally not a good idea to have a friend or neighbour pop in daily to care for your dog when you are away. 

 

For one thing, most people are not experienced enough to be able to spot illness timorously.  For example, Billary fever, a disease presenting with symptoms of anaemia, lethargy and listlessness.  In the latter stages, the dog exhibits a lack of appetite. 

 

Lack of appetite is often confused with the dog pining for his owners!  Billary if left untreated can be fatal! If you decide on home care, a better option would be to get a responsible, full time house sitter, (someone who possesses animal-experience and knowledge).

 

I must add, that dogs suffering from noise phobias, who are thunder phobic, or suffer from sound sensitivity should never be left home alone!  These dogs are more likely to present a danger to themselves and others.  They are the dogs that often escape in panic when their owners are away, get run over on the roads during a storm, and end up as strays in animal shelters.

 

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

The dog should have adequate shelter from the elements.  Ideally, if it is an inside dog, a doggie door with access to a secure room with a safe place/bed should be provided.  It may be necessary to block off an open- plan kitchen, or make some other suitable arrangement.

 

Do not change the dogs’ usual access to the house.  Do not suddenly dump a house-dog in the garage – he will stress!  Stress = noise pollution.  One of the most common problems with dogs left “home – alone” whilst their owners are on holiday is noise pollution.  Noise pollution = neighbour complaints!

 

Clean water must be available at all times in a spill-proof dish.  If all else fails, a washing up bowl wedged into a motor care tyre works well.

 

The dog should be protected from external parasites with a long acting tick and flea preparation (available from your veterinarian).  He should also be protected against biting flies (in the summer months).  All these products are available from your veterinarian.

 

The property and environment where the dog is to be confined should be completely escape proof.

 

Do not leave the dog/s wearing a check chain, or a slip collar.  If it gets stuck on a branch or fence, your dog could strangle himself!  Leave him wearing flat collar, in which you can fit at least three fingers in to ensure it is not too tight.

 

Anything dangerous in the environment must be removed, or made “safe”.  Any poisonous substances need to be locked away.  Contents of the garage need to be made safe.  Spikes on any gates will need to be taped.  Care needs to be taken if you own elderly dogs.  They sometimes get disorientated and if you have a swimming pool, could fall in and drown...

 

You will need to provide the dogs with an abundance of chew items.  Leave an abundance of non-synthetic objects for him to vent on.  Items such as cow hooves, pigs ears, etc.  If you own several dogs, you should also consider any potential aggression that could occur in your absence.  Stress can make aggression worse.  If you are in any doubt, then rather kennel the dogs.

 

Matters of hygiene need to be considered.  Your house sitter must be prepared to “scoop the poop” at least once a day.  This is to prevent an increase in flies for the duration of your absence

 

Make sure that all your dogs have nametags on their collars.  The nametags should clearly state the sitter’s contacts (as you will be away).  Just in case of an accident and he manages to escape – he can be returned and not risk being at a welfare for a week and then being re-homed

 

Lastly provide your sitter with all your relevant veterinarians’ numbers including an emergency hour’s numbers.

 

KENNEL CARE

Before choosing a boarding kennel, you should get plenty of referrals. 

A good place to start is your local veterinarian.  Groomer’s, friends (with good experiences), dog trainers etc.  View the kennels well in advance, preferably NOT in the “off season”, as, when they are busy it will provide you with a better idea of how they cope under pressure.  A visit prior to kennelling will also provide you with insight of their routines and the general care that they provide.

 

If a referral is not possible.  You should look for kennel that is a registered member of the Pet Boarders Association.  The organisation has a Code of Ethics, which provides the public with a certain amount of protection.

 

PREPARING YOUR PUP FOR A KENNEL STAY

Book well in advance.  Good kennels are often booked up long before the holiday season.

 

In an ideal scenario, you should prepare you dog or pup well in advance.  Start to visit the kennel for short social visits.  Do this regularly up to a month or two before leaving your dog there.  Take his favourite toys.  Play games with him.  Play ball, pop treats, etc.  Anything that you can do which will provide the dog/pup with a positive association to the environment.  This will ensure that when he is actually left at the kennels, it will not be such a culture shock.

 

The next step would be to book him in for a morning stay.  Once this is successful, the next step would be to book him in for a one-day stay.  Thereafter, you could then book him in for a trial weekend.  Ensure that you obtain feedback from the owners and staff as to how he coped.

 

Before booking in, protect your dog from any possible parasites by using a long acting tick & flea preparation.  You should also provide the staff with a preparation to repel biting flies.  Both products are available from your veterinarian.

 

Inform staff of any special diet that your dog requires.  Realise that this could affect the price of his stay.

 

Depending on his length of stay, your dog might need additional exercise.  Make sure this service is provided by the establishment.  If you are only going away for a couple of days, it is not an issue.  In addition (for short-term stays), if the dog is stressed, he will probably feel more secure if he is confined to a smaller area. 

 

Only be concerned about adequate exercise if you are away for a longer period.  However, it is important that you confirm this with the staff.  Some kennels provide wonderful escape proof, exercise areas.  If your dog is a “jumper” or expert escape artist, please inform staff.  This could be critical to ensure your dogs safety.

 

TAKE A DOG HOLIDAY PACK for your dog.

Take a piece of your clothing to leave in his kennel.  The clothing should have your scent on it.  This will help your dog/pup to feel less abandoned in the kennel, and aid in providing him with feelings of security.

 

Take lots of stuff for him to chew.  Take along his favourite toys and non-synthetic chews to vent on.  (pigs ears, cow hooves, etc.)  You can even provide the staff with some yummy fillings for them to pack inside the hooves.  Peanut butter, Bovril, whatever … All of this will aid in relieving boredom, reducing stress and providing him with something to occupy himself with in your absence.

 

Do take his own bed and bedding.

 

DON’T FORGET TO LET STAFF KNOW THAT …..  You don’t care if his bedding, toys, or other items are destroyed, chewed up, or peed on.  If you don’t let them know.  Staff will often whisk them away, to make sure they are presented to you when you collect your dog – clean and in one piece.

 

 

CLICKER TRAINING!

We often discuss various training methods and clicker training is one of the methods we use. Clicker training is not for everyone, but it is certainly a wonderful training tool in the right hands, and when applied intelligently!

 

In the new year we will be hosting an “introduction to clicker” workshop if anyone is interested please let me know. Booking will be essential!

 

WHAT IS CLICKER TRAINING?

Clicker Training is basically about re-enforcing Behaviour that you want. It works on the principles of giving reward for correct behaviour rather than using corrections and aversives for unwanted behaviour. As a result, you can establish true respect from your dog without fear. It’s fun to do, the dogs love it and therefore gain in confidence and you can finally understand why they do the things they do and how your Behaviour and actions influence them daily!

 

NOTE: An aversive is anything the dog doesn’t like! So if you yell at your dog and it likes the attention, it could be that you are actually encouraging the unwanted behaviour!

CLICKER HISTORY AND FACTS. The word "shaping" is scientific slang for building a particular behavior by using a series of small steps to achieve it.  Shaping allows you to create a behavior from scratch without physical control or corrections, but rather by drawing on your animal's natural ability to learn.

Even B.F. Skinner did not start out training animals by capturing and shaping spontaneously offered behavior.  Initially, he taught his laboratory animals to press levers and to accomplish other tasks by making small changes in the environment:  raising the height of a bar in small increments until an animal had to reach higher, or increasing the "stiffness" of a button so a pigeon learned to peck harder. This method was called successive approximation.

In 1943, while waiting for a government grant to come through, Skinner and two of his graduate students decided to see if they could teach one of their experimental pigeons to bowl in a laboratory on the top floor of a building in Minnesota.

They started by putting the pigeon and a wooden ball in a box rigged with an automatic feeder, planning to trip the feeder when the pigeon swiped at the ball with its beak. But the pigeon did not swipe at the ball as they had hoped, and they grew tired of waiting. Skinner decided to reinforce any movement toward the ball, even just one look toward it.  When the pigeon looked in that direction, he clicked the switch, opening the feeder briefly so that the pigeon could get a bit of corn.

Skinner later wrote:  "The result amazed us. In a few moments, the ball was caroming off the walls of the box as if the pigeon had been a champion squash player."  Skinner had made a discovery that astonished even him:  It was much easier to shape behavior by hand than by changing the environment.

Skinner's daughter, behavior analyst Julie Vargas, Ph.D., has told me: "His realization at that moment was that if you could do this, you could shape behavior anywhere, in any environment."  You did not need to manipulate the task or build elaborate apparatus. You could just reinforce moves in the right direction.

Skinner named this newly discovered method shaping, to differentiate it from the mechanical process of successive approximation.

Instant gratification

Shaping depends on reinforcing the desired action instantaneously, as it is happening.  A key factor in Skinner's early research setting was that the feeders made a noise as soon as they were tripped. This click became the conditioned reinforcer that meant food was coming. It was the marker signal that identified the move being reinforced.

Skinner recognized the value of the conditioned reinforcer.  For the cameras of Look magazine, he trained a dog to jump higher and higher up a wall using a sound and some food; in a popular magazine article in 1951, he recommended the toy cricket or clicker as a good conditioned reinforcer for dog training.

Some people in the behavioral and animal communities have taken to using the word "shaping" to describe any training that increases a response in small increments, even though the response may be generated or elicited by luring, force, verbal instruction, environmental manipulation, or other external pressure, rather than being offered spontaneously.

The correct term for these non-spontaneous methods would be successive approximation, however. Many animal trainers and sports coaches have used successive approximation for years, gradually raising the height of jumps, the distance of a race, and the heaviness of weights - all to improve performance.

The terms "free shaping" and "cold shaping" have arisen as additional ways to identify true shaping, when the animal's volunteered or spontaneous behavior is the key factor in the development of the behavior.

Gifted trainers have also used timely praise and play to reinforce spontaneous behavior, and thus develop new kinds of performance without baiting or forcing the movements. The scientific importance of Skinner's discovery was that these principles became generally applicable by any user and in any learning situation, not just by the rare, intuitive or masterful individual.

Sometimes faster is better

An important characteristic of shaping is the speed with which new responses can develop. This is not a method that requires a lot of practice and repetition.

Often, as Skinner reported with his ball-playing pigeon, complex new behavior can develop in a few minutes.  Francis Mechner, Ph.D. suggests that one explanation for this rapid increase in behavioral topographies is that the marker identifies not only a position - the paw is three inches in the air - but a vector, a movement in a direction.  By clicking during the upward movement of the paw, the shaper reinforces not only the current outcome - a three-inch lift - but also the action that is taking place: lifting upward.  Reinforcement quickly leads to stronger paw movements and higher lifts, giving the shaper even more and larger behaviors to select.

 

Birth of clicker training

Keller Breland, one of the graduate students present at the moment of Skinner's discovery, left psychology to develop a business based on animal training. In the 1960s, he was one of several behaviorists who carried shaping by use of a marker signal (usually a whistle) into the relatively new world of marine mammal training. Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, after nearly thirty years of development in oceanariums around the world, marker-based shaping spread further, from the marine mammal world into the zoo world, carried to the management of other species by keepers, curators and consultants, some of whom began their careers as marine mammal trainers.

Over the next decades, however, the behavioral research community largely dismissed the importance of the marker signal, focusing instead on the value to the learner, whether animal or human, of the primary reinforcer, usually food.  In shaping behavior in the modern research setting, cooperation is often still guaranteed in animals by increasing hunger, keeping research animals at 85% of normal body weight.  In humans, as when teaching necessary skills to children with developmental deficits, cooperation is sought by identifying and using highly preferred food items.

Clicker training, a popular method of training dogs, horses and other pets using shaping and a marker signal, the clicker - to replace traditional prompting and correction-based training - dates to two presentations in May of 1992.  One, organized and led by myself, occurred at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis in San Francisco and included dog trainer Gary Wilkes (first to locate and use a commercially available plastic box clicker with dogs), San Diego Zoo curator Gary Priest, and Sea Life Park head trainer Ingrid Kang Shallenberger. That same weekend, Wilkes, Shallenberger, and I presented a seminar for 250 dog trainers outside of San Francisco. The subsequent rapid expansion of the clicker training community was fueled by the widening availability of the internet.

        CLICKER TIPS FOR EXISTING CLICKER HANDLERS

õ  If  you click at the “wrong” time and the dog presents and repeats an unwanted or undesired behaviour

Don’t panic – no one is perfect! If the dog presents an unwanted behaviour, simply ignore it and    

mark (click and treat) another wanted or desired behaviour.

 

õ  If you forget to click in your excitement

Whilst this is not great – again ignore the mistake and repeat the exercise, but with the click.

 

õ  Forgetting to break each exercise down into steps

Especially if the exercise is a combination or sequence. Make it easy for the dog, and then there is less likelihood of failure.        

 

õ  If you click too late

Practice – practice and more practice. Try using the clicker method on a human in your family.    

It can be a great, fun, game for kids and moms. Use small sweets or other kiddie treats – I have 

known parents develop clicking skills by using copper coins whilst practising on their human kids.

 

õ  Only click once

If there is a combination exercise or sequence – initially only click for each portion of the     exercise. For example, if teaching retrieve, where the dog has to go out, fetch and bring back an   

object, you can initially click just for the pick up, then once that is habituated, withhold the click        

until the dog turns and then click for him starting to come towards you with the object in his 

mouth. Then withhold the click until the next step, which would be for him to bring the object to 

you without dropping it. Finally, the click would be withheld until he presents the object to you in 

your hand!

 

õ  Being inconsistent

If you are going to use the clicker method, then EACH AND EVERY TIME the dog presents you

with a desired behaviour, you have to click and treat. Therefore, it is common sense to have the 

clicker on your person, at the ready at all times when you are interacting with your dog! A good

idea is to attach it to a piece of elastic and wear it on your wrist, so you can permanently

capitalise on desired behaviours.

 

õ  Verbal consistency

Once a behaviour has been obtained by means of a lure or just by marking a normal or natural 

behaviour you wish to be repeated, you add a word or command. Make sure that the same word 

or command is always given, using the same tone, inflection and same accompanying body 

language, or the dog will become confused!

 

õ  Toning down the hand signals

Once you have lured the dog into the required position or to do the required exercise/movement

and the dog has successfully repeated the behaviour, begin to reduce the added lure or hand 

movement/signal. Give the dog an opportunity to think it out for him/herself. You can always add  

an extra command/lure if the dog doesn’t “get it,” but ideally this should be eliminated as soon

as possible.

 

õ  For simple behaviours – Give the dog time to think!

 

 

THE DOG OWNER’S GUIDE TO BEING A GOOD DOG AMBASSADOR

Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer open areas where you can walk your dog safely and off leash. There was a time when it was safe to let your dog off leash most of the time. However, with the dramatic increase in modern traffic and the increase in the urban sprawl, there are now few places left for us doggy people to let our dogs run free.

 

CLEAN UP AFTER YOUR DOG! Leave the area you are walking in as clean as possible. Take a couple of plastic packets with you – be considerate of other people and keep South Africa clean! Many parks are currently being closed to our pets! Thoughtless dog owners give the rest of us a bad name. Be a responsible dog owner! Good manners in the park means that you should be considerate of other park users.

 

Do not permit your dog to chase children or bikes, or to interfere with picnickers. Joggers should also be considered.

 

Make sure that you teach your dog a reliable “recall” (to come robotically when she is called). Just because your dog comes when called at home does not mean that she will do so under distractions! 

 

If in doubt, use a long line to give her some freedom, but also to ensure that you have full control and can gently insist on compliance.

 

                WHEN TO USE THE LEASH

·         If you cannot see your dog – she is not under control! It makes sense to call your dog to you when approaching a corner if you cannot see around the bend! When walking in the park, if you see another dog and owner approaching, call your dog to you immediately and put her on leash, until the other person is out of range.

 

• Anywhere near a road, even if it appears to be unused. Many dogs (and horses and their riders) are run over by thoughtless drivers each year. Country roads give us a false sense of security and you should be prepared for the unexpected.

 

• While we encourage puppies to be socialised, this does not mean that your pup should run up to any strange dog that she sees. When your pup sees another dog, call her to you, have a really exciting game and reinforce this with lots of praise and pop her a treat. If the other dog is friendly and the owner is agreeable, you can permit them to greet each other in a sensible manner.

 

• You should then call your puppy/dog to you and have an even more exciting game ready, or a special toy or high-value titbit. At the same time, walk or preferably run in the opposite direction (quick movements will excite her), so that when she has finished with her game/reward, the other dog is out of sight.

 

• In rural or country areas, when you are walking on footpaths, you should  be vigilant for both livestock and workers. If apparent, put your dog on leash.

 

• Care should also be taken if there are growing crops – (and do not forget that grass is also a crop!) In some areas, it is an offence to allow a dog to be “at large” in a field where there is livestock. This means that, even if the dog is not actually chasing the sheep in the same field, you must still play it safe and keep her on leash.

 

• A dog is a natural hunting carnivore, so rather do not give her the opportunity to get into trouble! Remember, if the dog chases the livestock, the farmer has the right to shoot her!  Few people realise that certain kinds of livestock, for example sheep, suffer from severe stress, even if they have not been physically injured. Just the trauma of being chased can cause a sheep to die of shock!

 

• Care should also be taken with regard to wild birds, buck, and any accompanying wildlife.

 

 

DOG OBEDIENCE TRAINING – AN OVERVIEW:

 

Dog Training can be divided into three categories.

 

1.            Restrictive routines

2.            Active routines

3.            Combination routines

 

• The “Sit Stay”, “Down Stay”, & “Stand for Examination” are wholly “Restrictive routines.

 

• Dog jumping and retrieving are “Active Routines.” 

 

• Exercises such as “Heelwork” and “Recalls” are considered “Combination routines.”

 

One of the problems with dog training is that in the beginning the usual sequences of exercises learnt in training are normally “restrictive routines”. As the first year of a dog’s life is the most physically active period of his life, it has two distinct disadvantages!

 

1.            It fails to take into account, and fails to capitalise on the young dogs natural tendencies. The young dogs natural tendencies are to be active and playful. Young dogs also have very short attention spans and need constant direction of their attention.

 

2.            It also introduces exercises that the young dog finds boring and sometimes even unpleasant, which could hinder attempts to build a positive attitude towards working with his handler.

 

The positive association of “play”, can form the beginning of a strong human canine bond, thus develops the positive attitude so desirable in future training. This could be called the “desire to learn” or the “will to please” without which, no learning can take place!

 

To too many people,

“Training” means punishment, yelling and being forceful.

 

It has been proved beyond a shadow of doubt, that positive reinforcement, and reward based learning methods, are far more successful than any negative methods of training!

 

Play and fun in training – especially in the early impressionable age is often totally neglected!  By beginning with play exercises, the handler learns to relax, be happy and encourage his young dog/puppy, thus developing a positive attitude, which is so necessary when training any species of animal.

 

As the young pup matures and develops – the reward of play (combined with any other motivations necessary i.e. treats, toys, ball etc) becomes a wonderful habit. Learning and working is such fun the dog actively looks forward to his training sessions.

 

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our students, behaviour clients, friends and Paws Abilities family for all their support throughout the year of 2009!

 

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas, and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

 

Looking forward to seeing everyone after the holidays!

 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me should you be experiencing any problems with your pet. I will be available right through the “silly” season. Our very own grooming parlour “Gentle Paws” is also open right through – and bookings are available up to 7:00 pm in order to help the working doggy moms and dads

 

Until the next time

 

Louise

082-231-3568 / 082-890-0905 louthomp@mweb.co.za