Chimps with Wolves

A couple of weeks back I got an email from my friend and CityDog trainer, Liz, asking if I’d be willing to help her train her Border Collie Rose learn how to herd sheep.

“Hang out with my bestest buddy Rose and a bunch of sheep at the same time? Jack pot! Count me in!” *

* Not my exact words, but it might as well been

So this past Friday I drove out to Belmont where apparently there’s a habitat area to help out. My role was that of a “Corn Gent,” as Liz put it; meaning I’d stand in the middle of a field tossing corn while sheep gathered around me to eat said corn. Nothing fancy, but it allows Liz to concentrate on working her dog instead of worrying about the sheep scattering. Also, it’d give me a chance to watch a Border Collie in action and see training work outside of the Sit/Down/Stay/Come taught in class.

It was quite a fun experience and I look forward to helping out again. Both Liz and Rose are new to sheep herding, only really starting this past Spring, but seem to doing well at it. Both are learning to read and communicate with each other better as well as learning to read the sheep and different scenarios better. Sheep are skittish creatures and things can go from calm to woolly chaos very quickly, so trust between Liz and Rose is also building. It’s also interesting to see positive reinforcement being used to train a BC to herd sheep as traditional methods are mostly used. Good to see you can teach your dog to do even complex tasks such as herding by using R+.

And thanks to the power of the iPhone I was able to capture some photos and a video of the event.

Pics and video after the jump…

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We just started a couple of new Puppy 1 training sessions last week and this week was the first week when all the puppies came to class. In other words, it was a tad chaotic. Anytime you get five energetic puppies in a room together (especially for the first time), it’s hard to get (and keep) your dog’s focus. They’re way too excited with new friends and play to be bothered to answered to their owner’s calls. And who can blame them? Recall training isn’t until later on in the sessions and, let’s be honest, puppies are more fun than people. I’d probably have trouble answering to someone’s calling, too, if I was knee deep in puppy fun!

But this furry chaos is one of the reasons we let the little guys run around at the beginning of class. Get them to burn off a little excess energy to help them focus during class, as well as socialize the pups with other dogs, teach their owners what’s proper and improper play, and go over dog body language reading skills.

That first week can also be the most distracting for owners and puppies alike. A new environment, new smells, new humans and dogs to meet means your pup would rather go exploring. Consider this a good thing since they’re obviously confident and interested in the world around them, and not fearful of the new environment.

Of course, this can mean stressful training sessions.

In the classes I’m currently helping out with, there’s a Boxer (known for their aloofness) and an Old English Bulldog (stubborn as a.. well, bull). Both dogs started off fine with training at the beginning of class, but quickly became too distracted in class to be bothered to learn “sit” and “down.” They were focused on the other puppies in class and wanted to play, not learn. The owners were clearly getting frustrated and when that happens, training sessions quickly break down. Good news there are some things you (as an owner and/or trainer) can do:

After the jump, how to keep or regain your puppy’s focus.

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I picked up Patricia B. McConnell Ph.D’s book The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs after my mentor recommended it to me with the review of “you’ll look at dogs completely different after reading this.” She was right. This book is phenomenal.

Whereas a lot of dog books talk about how to train our canine companions and give training advice, The Other End of the Leash compares and contrasts how humans and dogs interact with their own species and with each other. As McConnell points out, as humans part of the primate family, we’re so ingrained with certain behaviors that we easily forget that what we find to be socially acceptable isn’t the same in the dog world. McConnell clearly illustrates all the similarities and differences and where we,, as humans go wrong when interacting with our dogs. And she does all this in a reader-friendly way, mixing in anecdotes with scientific research. It’s a fast read and an informative read.

This isn’t a “how to train your dog” book but a “how to understand your dog better” book. She explains how dogs are expert body language readers, why rough primate play can cause trouble when we do it with dogs, how to get your dog to come to you when called, translating “primate speak” to “dog speak” and much more. How many times have we bent down and said, “Come Fluffy. Come Fluffy. Come Fluffy.” only to have Fluffy stare at you awkwardly and unmoving, or repeat “sit” a hundred times, each verbal command getting louder than the last with no results? McConnell explains why and how we can communicate better with our pups.

My favorite section of the book is her chapter on dominance and how social status relates to the behavior of both humans and dogs.  This topic of dominance and being “alpha” definitely wins the Inigo Montoya’s “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means” Award, and trainers and owners a like will benefit from reading the chapter. McConnell explains why dogs prefer a benevolent leader over a status seeking “alpha-wananbe” and why “getting dominant” over your pup can make things worse.

If you really want to understand your dog better — and when we expect our pups to understand English, we should take the time to understand them — pick up The Other End of the Leash. You, and your dog, will be glad you did.

Free come-when-called clinic: January 17th, 1-2pm

For those in the Somerville, MA area (or don’t mind traveling to the city):

City Dog Training in partnership with the City of Somerville will be hosting a free come-when-called clinic at Powder House Park (by Tufts) on Sunday, January 17th from 1-2pm. I’ll be there helping out, so if you’re free come on down and get some free dog training help. Remember, it’s Train Your Dog Month!

Check City Dog Training’s website for weather cancellations.

Note: Staying and coming-when-called are two very important bits of dog training every dog and dog owner should know. Not only does it make the owner’s life a bit easier but it can save the dog’s. So, if you don’t have a strong stay and come-when-called, want to work on it some more or have your dog meet other pups, mark your calendars and come on down

As noted in a previous post, the Associate of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) has named January “Train Your Dog Month.” They’ve set up a nice website with some puppy and dog training tips, including “The Benefits of Training,” “The Importance of Socialization,” and “Teach Your Dog to Play with Toys” as well as different uses for every day commands: sit, down, wait/stay, come when called, and walking without pulling.

Training is very important for dogs. Not only can get you more control over what your dog is doing, but by training and working with your pets you build a connection and trust with your dogs. You learn what to expect from your dog and how they’ll react in certain situations and, at the same time, your dog trusts you that when you give a command they do it.

Positive reinforcement or the traditional method?
One decision you’ll have to make will be what method of dog training you’ll want to use with your pup. The two main theories are the old-school/”Cesar Millan” style training and positive reinforcement. There’s heated debate in the training world of which method is best. I prefer positive reinforcement as it uses classical and operant training which is very simple and easy to use. It’s also, in my opinion, more effective as it teaches your puppy how you want him to act, as well as what not to do. I also find it a bit more humane than the older methods but, as in all things in life, it’s important to make sure you’re educated before making a choice one way or the other. You make the decision on what you think is best for you, your family and your dog, but feel free to contact me and pick my brains on the matter if you wish. Here are some blogs and articles I recently found supporting both sides.

Positive Reinforcement
What is Positive Reinforcement Dog Training?
Dogs: Positive Reinforcement Training
Dismantling Cesar’s House of Dominance

“Cesar Millan”/Traditional method
Traditional Dog Training Methods
Cesar Millan vs. Positive Reinforcement with Treats: Must it be All or Nothing?
Treat Training Creates Aggressive Dogs! Cesar Millan is Right!

After the jump, more useful dog training web sites and articles. Get going on “Train Your Dog Month!”

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Welcome to the first installment of “The Weekly Bark” where you’ll find some of the best news, videos, blog posts and features on dogs and dog training. Why sniff through the endless and ever exapanding universe that is the Internet when I’ve done it all for you?

This weeks Top News…

Greyhound chasing rabbit for last time in Massachusetts
Greyhound/dog lovers and animal rights activists won a huge battle in Massachusetts last year when the commonwealth voted to ban dog racing, ending the state’s 75-year tradition. December 26th will mark the final dog race at Raynham Park. Massachusetts’ other dog track, Wonderland, closed down earlier in the fall. I know several people who own rescued/retired greyhounds and I know that they (unlike the fellas in the AP story) are stoked to see dog racing come to an end in the Bay State. As am I.

Sled-dog races go from dream to reality; three new events in Michigan 2010
Speaking of dog racing, Michigan will have three new sled-dog races next year — Copper Dog 150 (150 miles), Seney 400 (420 miles) and Thunder Bay Classic (distance varies per event). Check the story for more details. For my fellow New Englanders, there are several sled-dog racing events coming up over the winter, the next one being a Sprint & Skijor event in South Hamilton, MA. Details of that event and other upcoming New England events can be found at the New England Sled Dog Club’s website.

The debate over the Dog Whisperer
Story published by the Boston Globe this weekend debating positive reinforcement vs. “tough-love” training. Great article and features some local dog trainers from City Dog Training. While some “experts” and celebs swear by Cesar Millan’s “tough-love” approach  (’cause celebs are 100% correct, all the time, right?), those in the positive reinformcent camp feel it does more harm than good. I’m just starting my dog training apprenticeship via Zen Dog Training, which uses learning positive reinformcen, and can tell you that it gets great results and makes for a happy puppy and happy owners. I can’t imagine using force or “tough-love” to curb behaviors or train a dog. A lot of the time the dog doesn’t know what he’s doing is wrong or bad, so punishing him only confuses him. Showing our dog how we want him to behave and reinforcing it via positive reinforcement is, in my humble opinion, a more effective and humane way of teaching our dogs how we want them to act.

More headlines after the jump, including why positive reinforcement is better than “demanding” behaviors from your pup.

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