2012 Rally Information

By sam | Published: December 6, 2011

2012 Rally Information – posted to AKC Rally Web Page

Several items are posted to the AKC web site for Rally at the below link.

http://www.akc.org/events/rally/2012info.cfm

2012 AKC Rally® Information
IMPORTANT AKC RALLY INFORMATION
Recently the AKC Board of Directors, working with AKC team members and representatives from the Rally Sport Fancy, passed a number of regulation changes and new exercises for AKC Rally. These changes are effective April 1, 2012.
In an effort to assist judges and members of the fancy to learn and to educate all about these changes, the Companion Events Department has prepared several documents prior to the regulation implementation date to assist in the transition of the sport.
All AKC Rally Judges should become familiar with these changes and regulations prior to the implementation date of April 1, 2012.
At the below links you will find:
1. DRAFT copy of the AKC Rally Regulations – Effective April 1, 2012
2. A complete set of Rally Signs with new numbering and new signs added
3. Label Template for AKC Rally signs to be used to renumber signs from older sets

Please feel free to share this information with the Rally community and other interested parties.

Posted in AKC obedience trial, AKC Rally Obedience, Rally | Leave a comment

Read the Label!

By sam | Published: November 19, 2011

FDA continues to warn dog owners about the dangers of Chinese-made chicken jerky
Back at least 10 years ago, I remember warnings about rawhide chewies for dogs made in Thailand and China. Apparently some countries use formaldehyde or arsenic in the tanning process, and this was linked to illness and death in some dogs.

Since rawhides aren't good for dogs anyway — they aren't digested well, swell when wet (in the gut), and may become lodged in the intestine, causing dangerous impaction — it was easy to make the decision to stop feeding them.

I usually don't feed any type of processed treat, anyway because the added sugars, smoke flavouring, artificial colours, etc. can't possibly be good for dogs, but now there are safety reasons to avoid feeding them.

In 2007 the American Veterinary Medical Association issued a warning about chicken jerky strips made in China. An unusual increase in dogs with similar presenting complaints including vomiting, lethargy, and anorexia, were traced back to jerky treats from China.

That was followed in December 2008 with a warning from the Food and Drug Administration. The Preliminary Notification warned dog owners about feeding chicken jerky treats from China. Saying that no specific contaminants were found, they still urged consumers to watch their dogs closely after feeding these products and cautioned that jerky treats should be fed in very small amounts, especially for small dogs.

In June of 2011, the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) warned its membership of practicing veterinarians of a potential link between instances of Fanconi syndrome (increased glucose in the urine, leading to kidney failure) and chicken jerky treats made in China.

Now this November the FDA, citing an increase in complaints, has issued a new warning, continuing to caution dog owners about chicken jerky products imported from China.

The FDA advises that if you do continue to feed chicken jerky treats, that you watch your dog for the following signs that may occur anywhere from hours to days after consuming the jerky:

decreased appetite;

decreased activity;

vomiting;

diarrhoea, sometimes with blood;

increased water consumption and/or increased urination.

If the dog shows any of these signs, stop feeding the chicken jerky product and consult your veterinarian if signs are severe or persist for more than 24 hours. “Blood tests may indicate kidney failure (increased urea nitrogen and creatinine). Urine tests may indicate Fanconi syndrome (increased glucose). Although most dogs appear to recover,
some reports to the FDA have involved dogs that have died.”

Better yet, feed a natural USA-made product like bullysticks, raw marrow bones, or make your own liver treats. If you really like feeding rawhide or jerky, give sparingly, and make sure it says “Made in USA” on the label.

Posted in Dog food, Health topics | 3 Comments

Getting the behaviour: shaping

By sam | Published: November 9, 2011

GO TO PLACE: an introduction to shaping behaviour

What is shaping?

Shaping is the process of moving from an unskilled to a skilled performance through a series of closer and closer approximations of the final behaviour. Shaping behaviour is a very effective way of teaching complex actions. Any complex action or series of actions can be broken down into small steps, with those steps rewarded along the way.
In the beginning, almost anything goes as long as the dog is working with you and trying things. Try to reward any action that even suggests what you’re looking for. It’s like the childhood game of “warmer/colder” — you start with a broad base of acceptable actions, rewarding tiny steps and refining as you go along. As the dog gets closer and closer to the “target” behaviour, you no longer reward the same things you did in the beginning, but ask for more. Slowly chain the behaviours together as the performance progresses.

Define the goal or training objective. Have a mental picture of the desired behaviour. What will you reward and what will you ignore?
Design a plan. Break the training down into small steps. Organize and teach the steps in the most easily learned order.
Start easy — reward early successes frequently. You’ll need to reward at a very high rate in the beginnning to keep your dog’s interest.
Reinforce success and ignore failure.
Teach each step individually.
Gradually keep raising the criterion for success. Don’t get stuck at a low performance level.
Teach each step well enough that it becomes a solid foundation for the next step.
Be flexible. If it’s not working, try something different or go back to an easier step.

GO TO PLACE uses a bath mat, piece of carpet or a crate pad as a place for the dog to go and relax. It can be used to help define a DOWN STAY. Eventually you will be able to move the mat to different locations (visiting friends, for instance) and your pup will be able to come along for the visit without getting under foot. Learning PLACE is a chance to practice self control.

We will introduce a GO TO PLACE command as a clicker exercise. We will shape your puppy’s going to the mat on command, where he will lie down and stay there until released. The main steps for shaping this behaviour are:
1. go to the mat;
2. lie down on the mat;
3. stay on the mat.

GO TO THE MAT:

STEP 1: Drop the mat on the floor and watch your dog for any interest in it. It’s natural for him to turn to watch or even step forward to investigate it as you drop it. Click/Mark&reward any interest in it — even just a head turn. Pick up the rug and lay it back down, and again mark&reward any reaction: looking, touching with the nose, or stepping on it.
Reward by tossing your treat onto the mat — this gives you double the reinforcement value: the marker tells him going to the mat is what’s being reinforced, and actually getting the food on the mat again tells him what a great place it is to be!
STEP 2: Stand next to the rug and mark&reward any foot touching the rug. Lure the dog to the rug if necessary, but it’s much better to let him figure it out on his own. At this early step you need to keep your pup’s attention and interest, so help if you have to so you can reward frequently.
STEP 3: Put the food behind your back and lure or move the dog with your body pressure. Mark & reward when a front foot touches the rug.
STEP 4: Put the food behind your back and wait for the dog to figure out what he needs to do to get rewarded. Wait for that “A-HA!” moment as he looks at the rug “is this right?” and mark&treat the look. Reinforce his thinking and problem solving skills.
STEP 5: Now wait for the dog to move to the rug on his own before marking and treating. Begin to throw the cookie off the mat so he has to leave to go get it. This gives him a chance to go back to the mat for another click&cookie.
STEP 6: Wait for the dog to move to the rug on his own and stand on it with all four feet.
STEP 7: Move further away in small increments until you can send the dog from across the room. By now the dog should stand with all four feet on the rug and wait a few moments before you mark& reward.

LIE DOWN ON THE MAT:

STEP 8: Now that you can send your dog to the mat, go back to giving the reward on the mat. Give the treat down low, between the dog’s front legs, to help encourage him to lie down. He will probably figure out that lying down is just as easy as standing, and will lie down to get the rewards.
STEP 9: Add a voice command such as “GO PLACE” or “GO TO BED”. Mark&treat when he lies down.

STAY ON THE MAT:

STEP 10: Begin working on DURATION. You’re no longer going to click/mark&treat (marking ends the exercise, and we want him to stay on the mat, not think the exercise is over), but rather start giving treats continuously as long as the dog stays in a down on the mat. Say “good” (your “keep going” marker) occasionally as you give the treat.

When you’re rewarding movement and speed, give the reward away from the mat — click his feet touching it, then toss the cookie away. This gets him away for a chance to try it again.

When you’re rewarding duration — staying on the mat for longer and longer periods of time — give the reward on the mat. Be a Pez dispenser. Tell your puppy “good” and treat almost continuously. Now when you’re ready for him to get off the mat, use a release word such as OKAY and give the final treat off the mat.

STEP11: Move around the mat as you treat. Pivot in front from one side to the other. Take a step or two away and then return to treat. Continue to say “good” but start treating less and less, with more time in between treats.
If the dog leaves the mat, say “oops” (or whatever your “non-reward marker is), break eye contact, turn your back on the dog and wait for him to initiate going back to the mat on his own. If he doesn’t after a bit, you can give the command GO PLACE to send him back.
STEP 12: Go to rug, lie down, and wait to be released before receiving the reward. Use your release word OKAY every time you want him to leave the mat. Don’t let him decide he’s been there long enough.
STEP 13: Go to the rug, lie down, and stay for a variable length of time before being released. Sometimes release after just a few seconds; sometimes release after a minute or two. Continue to delay the reward for incrementally longer periods of time.
STEP 14: Move rug to different locations. Start with different rooms in the house before taking it to new houses, hotels or classrooms. Every time you go somewhere new, start easy — shorter duration, and more rewards.

Posted in Dog training, learning theory, operant conditioning | Leave a comment

Getting the Behaviour: Luring

By sam | Published: November 2, 2011

Luring is a quick way to teach a new behaviour. Initially, food is used as a lure to help guide the dog into the desired action or position. You can quickly get the dog to SIT or DOWN, practice close and straight FRONTS, lure into HEEL position, and encourage WATCH by luring with food. We trainers like luring because we get fast results!

The main drawback to luring is that the dog is focused on the food and not thinking about the task. When he’s just following the food, you’re doing the thinking for him, and he’s not really learning to problem-solve.

When a new exercise is introduced and the dog is lured into position, the food is visible and available. The dog stares at the food, and is not aware that he is being manipulated into a SIT. He passively follows the food, and somehow ends up in a sit, but he has not been taught to SIT.

Luring shows the dog that an action is possible, but it does not teach the action. The dog is not thinking when he’s following a food lure. He’s merely reacting: “Follow the food follow the food”. This leads to the common complaint “But he only does it when I have food”.

For learning to take place, the dog needs to understand that it’s his behaviour that causes the treat to appear. The dog must learn that there is a connection between his action and the food. If you lure for too long (many repetitions), the lure becomes part of the routine, and without it, the dog doesn’t perform.

Fading the lure.

Only lure with visible food for a few times — just enough to establish that the dog can perform the task. Then put the food out of sight — in your pocket or bait bag, or in a bowl on a table. You can continue to lure without food, using the same hand or body motions used previously with food. This is the physical cue to perform the behaviour.

Now our conditioned reward marker becomes important. As the dog follows the hand signal, mark “YES” (or click) and immediately reinforce. The treat becomes a reward after the dog performs a behaviour rather than a lure to cause the behaviour. The dog’s action causes the treat to appear; the treat does not cause the dog’s action.

Body language always overrides verbal.

Once the dog understands the physical cue and is responding correctly most of the time, it is time to “put the behaviour on cue” or name it.

Because body language always overrides verbal, if we say SIT at the same time we give the physical cue, the dog will only see the physical and not hear the verbal. We need to separate the verbal from the physical. Give the command, pause momentarily, then help with the hand signal.

Again, because body language always overrides verbal, if we say YES at the same time we reach for the reward, the dog will only see the physical movement. The thing he was doing at the moment he heard YES was watching the trainer’s hand reach for the bait pouch, so that’s the behaviour he thinks will be reinforced. The hand movements predict the reward — and he won’t be listening for YES.

You will know if your timing is bad because your dog will flick his eyes back and forth from your face to the bait pouch, waiting for the hand movement to tell him his treat is coming. You MUST say YES without moving your hand to present the treat or toy. YES … pause … then get the treat out and give it.

Posted in Dog training, Obedience training, operant conditioning | Leave a comment

The ABC’s of dog training

By sam | Published: November 1, 2011

The ABC’s — Don’t make food the Antecedent

Antecedent –> Behavior –> Consequence

Correct: Command SIT –> Dog sits –> Dog is rewarded

Wrong: Show food, lure and say SIT –> Dog sits –> Dog is rewarded

One of the criticisms of “positive” dog training is the complaint “My dog only sits when he sees the treat!”

In learning theory, the antecedent is the signal that begins a behaviour and the consequence is the reward that reinforces the behaviour.

When we teach by “luring” the dog into a sit with a treat and then rewarding, we’re building the treat into the “picture” the dog has of the behaviour. The dog becomes dependent on the presence of food as the cue or signal to perform the behavior. Without the visible treat, the dog doesn’t understand the verbal cue “sit”.

For this reason, it is important to move away from luring with food as quickly as possible. And because “physical always overrides verbal”, if you want your dog to learn to respond to the command SIT, then the only thing that should cue the behaviour is the verbal command. If you give a hand signal at the same time as the command, the dog won’t hear (or learn) the command and will react only to the physical cue.

To correctly teach any new behaviour, start by luring the dog into position with food. Once the dog reliably follows the food, get the food off your body (into a bowl on a table nearby, or into a bait bag) and lure with an empty hand. The luring becomes the hand signal for the behaviour. Make your physical motion less and less.

Begin to pair the motion with the verbal command. Give the command, pause briefly, and then lure the dog into position. Imagine the verbal command “hanging alone” for a moment, giving the dog a chance to hear it, before giving the physical signal. Continue to minimize the physical signal. Also be aware of any unintended help you may be giving the dog. Do you bob your head, lean over, raise and lower your shoulders, or reach for the treat bag as you give the command? All of these movements, even if they’re very slight, act as signals to the dog. The only antecedent to the behaviour should be the verbal command.

Posted in Dog training, learning theory, Obedience training, operant conditioning | Leave a comment

Active rewards for active exercises; passive rewards for duration

By sam | Published: October 22, 2011

All the great dog trainers seem to come to the same conclusion independently. My take-home lesson from my last several sessions with Michael Ellis was to use active rewards for active exercises and passive rewards for stability exercises. When rewarding speed and execution, encourage the dog to chase and catch the treat or toy. When practicing duration and stability, go to the dog and reward.

Here is a quote from Silvia Trkman regarding the same concept: “The general rule is to reward away for action and to reward in a position for duration. I like tossing treats for action as it gives you even more action AND most dogs find chasing treats really fun too.”

Posted in Dog training | Leave a comment

Long Distance Learning

By sam | Published: October 16, 2011

I want to recommend Silvia Trkman’s Long Distance Classes. What fun! I just finished her Agility Foundations held over the summer, and signed up for her Puppy/Tricks class. While I don’t have a puppy, I have several dogs eager to learn new tricks, and it’s a great way to practice my timing while shaping new behaviours.

Check out some of her videos on her Youtube channel LoLaBu Land and visit her website at lolabuland.com

Posted in Dog agility, Dog training, Tricks | Leave a comment

Lexi IPO2

By sam | Published: September 20, 2011

Big Sky Working Dogs had their annual Schutzhund / IPO Trial last weekend, and Lexi earned her IPO (Schutzhund) 2 title under USA Judge Al Govednik with scores of 95/90/80p = 265. While the protection showed some weaknesses due to practicing all the exercises with Samie or Anne holding a toy (!), tracking and obedience were nice. There’s always room for improvement, but Warren and Lexi did a great job!

Lexi & Warren’s Obedience

Lexi’s Tracking

Posted in Schutzhund | Leave a comment

The Premack Principle: “You have to DO something to GET something!”

By sam | Published: August 10, 2011

If there’s a “secret” to dog training, the Premack Principle is it.

In psych lingo, the Premack Principle states that the likely-hood of a high-probability behaviour occurring increases when reinforced by a low-probability behaviour. In the vernacular, it’s also known as Gramma’s Law: “You have to eat your peas (low-probability behaviour) before you can have ice cream (high-probability behaviour)”.

I like to think of it in terms of an exchange: If you do something for me, I’ll do something for you. Or think about it as a button: the dog’s behaviour is the “button” that causes the reinforcement. The dog understands how to push those buttons to get what he wants.

Any behaviour the dog finds very motivating — playing with a ball, playing tug, sniffing, chasing a squirrel, greeting another dog — can be used to reinforce a behaviour the dog isn’t all that interested in doing — sit stays, heeling, attention. The dog exchanges one behaviour for another. Dog training is the process of helping the dog understand the behaviour exchange: he knows if he does A, he gets B.

I use Premack all the time in dog training. Heeling in correct position with intense focus wouldn’t be possible without Premack. In other words, heeling is a low probability behaviour. My dogs only do it because they know the high probably behaviour — the chance to play tug or chase a ball — is achieved by performing the low probability behaviour of heeling.

The tricky part of Premack is knowing what is reinforcing. What we think is reinforcing is not necessarily what the dog thinks is reinforcing. In the heirarchy of treats vs squirrels, the squirrel will always win.

But the chance to chase squirrels can be used to reinforce a behaviour such as coming when called. Say for instance you always train in a park with lots of squirrels and have a hard time getting your dog to come back. It’s hard to compete with squirrels. Start by asking for just a moment of attention then mark and release to chase. Call your dog from two steps away, ask for a moment of attention, then release to chase squirrels. Call your dog from four steps away, etc. Eventually your dog will understand that coming when called is the “button” to go chase squirrels.

For competitive dog training, find a high value reward, something your dog finds very motivating. Build drive for that reward. Play until your dog is crazy for it. Now you have a tool to use with Premack.

Doggie Zen is Premack at it’s most basic level. Your dog has to contain himself even when the treat is right in front of his nose. He must remove himself from the treat in order to get the treat.

Once your dog understands Zen, try it with a ball. Hold the ball in front of your dog and ask for a moment of eye contact. Mark and release. Hold the ball on the outside of your dog’s head while in heel position — ask for a moment of eye contact; mark and release. Take a step forward, maintaining eye contact. Mark and release.

You can practice Premack daily while working on self control. Think about the behaviour your dog wants, and the behaviour you want in exchange:

In order to go for a walk the dog must sit quietly while the leash is being put on.
In order to come out of the crate or kennel, the dog must sit and wait while the door is opened until released.
In order to go outside, the dog must sit quietly at the door until invited to go outside.

All of these can be accomplished without using any commands — just use your dog’s behaviour to control the reward. Open the crate door/front door/kennel door slightly and close it the moment the dog starts forward. Open it again and close it. Keep doing this until the dog waits, or even better, sits. Say “good sit — OK!” and let him out. Your dog will quickly understand “what’s in it for him” and become an engaged, thinking and willing partner.

Posted in Dog behaviour, Dog training, learning theory, Obedience training, Premack Principle | Leave a comment

Rusty

By sam | Published: July 28, 2011

Rusty has been here for a week now, and it’s been nothing if not entertaining! He is a bright, active dog with no boundaries who does everything at warp speed. He learns extremely quickly, and it’s heart warming to see him starting to understand!

Milestones: tonight he stuck his head in the kitchen garbage and then went on to find something else to do without stealing anything!

And, he held himself back behind the easily-jumpible kitchen gate while dog food was being prepared downstairs. First time he’s waited behind the barrier!

Here are some pictures I took the other morning. You can see his appeal! He’s just so HAPPY all the time!

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