The Smart Dog U Blog

Reward Your Dog with Play!

Have you ever wanted to reward your dog for a job well done, but you didn't have any food with you? I'm spending the week at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, IL watching the trainers use play to pay their animals for good behavior.

A big part of Shedd's plan to use play as a reward is the building of strong relationships between trainer and animal. The trainers spend considerable time with each animal, finding out the different things that each animal really enjoys.

The video below shows Ken Ramirez, Shedd Aquarium's VP of Animal Collections and Training, with four Beluga whales. Notice that at no point in the video does he use any food with the Belugas. He doesn't even use a clicker or any kind of marker. He's just working with the animals using play and "fun stuff" the Beluga's find reinforcing. Using this type of interaction is fun for both the person and the animal, and it build a strong relationship between the two.

That's not to say he never uses food as a reinforcer, but he also spends time working with the animals without food. You can see from the video how much the Beluga's (and the people) enjoy their training regardless of whether food is present! [Double-click the video below to see it on YouTube if the right-side of the video isn't viewable.]

 

 

 

He's Untrainable

I was in Denver, CO recently with the faculty of Karen Pryor Academy. We're all animal trainers and most of us work primarily with dogs. ALL of us are training junkies - we refer to ourselves as behavior geeks.

Imagine our delight when we got to go behind-the-scenes at the Denver Zoo. The handsome fella you see on the left is a gerenuk, a type of antelope. He's cooler than cool - check out his hips - they're jointed just like a human. Another cool fact: he never needs to drink water. Ever.

He's also untrainable.

Can't you tell? Doesn't he look untrained? At least, that's what the zookeepers all around the world thought.

This is the ONLY trained Gerenuk in the world. Gerenuks are very flighty. See those itty bitty skinny legs? They break very easily. Because the Gerenuk is  so prone to panic and run into anything in their way, zookeepers have left these animals alone.

Well, that is until this zookeeper came along. Thank goodness she either didn't know Gerenuks were untrainable or didn't believe it -- this guy is VERY well trained and not the least bit flighty!

Check out some of the video here (double click the video if you can't see the right-hand part of the video here on the blog.

 

 The trainer was patient and had a detailed training plan before she started with the Gerenuk. In the beginning, he really was quite frightened and couldn't handle having full view of his keeper or what was going on in his area. The ingenious trainer built a wooden door to fit over the stall door and initially interacted with the Gerenuk this way - so he couldn't see her.

Eventually she cut a small hole in the wooden door so he had a view, but it was strictly limited. She worked with him with that small hole until he was comfortable and relaxed with her presence and his very limited view. Over time, she was able to make the hole larger and larger until he was able to finally handle having a full view.

She worked incrementally with the Gerenuk, gaining his confidence and working only within his comfort level -- allowing him to dictate the speed of the training process. What she has today is an unflappable Gerenuk! We were able to feed him grapes, take pictures and videos, and he never once looked startled or frightened.

So the next time you think your dog is untrainable, remember the Gerenuk! Nothing is untrainable if you have patience and time...and the right reinforcer. This Gerenuk's favorite food is green (not red!) seedless grapes! [Don't feed your dog grapes - they're toxic!]

My Traveling Dog

I've been traveling a lot lately. Every time I travel, no matter how short the visit, I always carry Puppy. Puppy was given to me way back in 1983. That makes him oh, about 27 years old.

Did I mention that I'm almost 42 years old?

Yeah, that's a little pathetic isn't it? A 42-year old woman traveling with a stuffed animal?

I don't go anywhere without Puppy. He's been on camping trips to Assateague Island, he's been to Germany (and will be going again very soon), he's been on a cruise -- in short, if I go, Puppy goes.

I don't -- can't and won't -- sleep without him. No matter if I'm home, in a sleeping bag, on a ship, or in my very own bed, Puppy's with me.

He's my "dog away from dogs." He's my security blanket. He's my comfort.

I can't take my dogs on the plane with me. So Puppy is a terrific stand-in. I had to warn my then-boyfriend (now husband) that I, the woman he loved, slept with a dog. Not just slept with, but HAD TO sleep with.

Oh, thank god for understanding husbands. And for understanding and accepting friends, too. When I travel with my dog-training friends, they get the same warning. I sheepishly mention that, oh, by the way, I have this stuffed animal that sleeps with me. So far, everyone's been cool about it.

You know what they say about dogs and people: if your dog doesn't like someone, you probably shouldn't either. I feel the same way about Puppy: if people have a problem with Puppy, I should probably take a closer look at them.

Next week, Puppy will travel to Chicago with me. And then after that, Puppy and I are headed to Italy, then Germany. Puppy always travels in my carry-on luggage just in case my luggage ever gets lost... Puppy and I are a team. And quite a good one, I must say. I'm glad to have a stand-in for my real dogs - it makes business trips (or any kind of trip, really) much easier.

Another Notch In Teddy's Belt

In the short time we've had Teddy, he's been to:

• the post office
• Tractor Supply
• SuperFresh grocery store
• Luncheon at Holly Hills Country Club
• Wal*Mart
• a freight elevator
• a variety of steps including all glass, no risers, concrete, metal, and circular
• cafeteria
• Federal government building
• restaurant and
• The UPS Store.

He's heard applause, amplified voices over a p.a. system, microphone feedback, loud cars, big trucks, and motorcycles.

Teddy's also gotten quite used to bouncing around from house to house, spending the night here and there.

I'm going on three back-to-back trips and won't be around for an entire month. Teddy's going to put another "experience" notch in his belt: he's going to spend a month at yet another person's house while I'm gone. All this change is very good for Teddy. He's learning to be flexible and to go with the flow. He has a good time no matter where he is -  an important attribute for a service dog.

While I won't have any Teddy updates until my return, keep an eye on the blog. I will be blogging about my business trips (going behind the scenes at the Denver Zoo, participating in an animal training seminar with Ken Ramirez at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago) and all the excitement that goes with travel. And I hope to have some Talos updates as well!

 

Set the Bar High

It's interesting having a puppy in public training as a service dog. People are so eager to excuse Teddy's jumping or general silliness beause "he's just a puppy."

As if THAT'S a good excuse to allow a puppy to greet people inappropriately or pull on the leash!

Puppyhood is the perfect time to teach appropriate greeting behavior. If Teddy learns to sit in order to be petted, I'll never have the headache of trying to fix a jumping dog.

Teddy's young, but he's not dumb. And he's very capable of the self control needed to greet people in a polite fashion. He's also smart enough to learn that when he pulls on the leash, all forward motion stops.

If I don't teach Teddy these things now, how fair is of me to expect a full-grown, adult dog to understand that jumping and pulling is NOT what I want. Especially since those very things have been working so well for him in the past?

A little extra time, training, and patience while Teddy's still young is exactly how Teddy will learn good manners and self control. If I were to subscribe to the "but he's just a puppy" philosopy, my job would be much harder, and Teddy wouldn't understand why the rules had changed. It's better for both Teddy and I if the expectations were clear and consistent and were in place as soon as he became a service pup in training. 

So have patience with us if it takes Teddy an extra second or two to gather his wits about him and sit nicely for you to give him a scratch. Your patience helps Teddy learn!

 

Brush with Fame

We're all in it for the dogs. I recently spent time at the American Veterinary Medical Association's (AVMA) 147th convention in Atlanta, GA, representing Karen Pryor Academy. We were there to talk to veterinarians and veterinary technicians about behavior and dog-friendly
training.

While we were there, we had the opportunity to talk to lots of interesting people. I talked with Dr. Kathy Meyer, outgoing president of the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior, as well as many other veterinary behaviorists and technicians.

I, along with Karen Pryor and Tia Guest also had the good fortune of having dinner with Victoria Stilwell of "It's Me or the Dog" on Animal Planet.

We talked of dogs, life, and well, dogs! It was an enjoyable evening spent amongst people -- whether in the public spotlight or behind the scenes -- who not only enjoyed dogs, but who were also intent on making the lives of dogs better. What was so gratifying is that everyone had the best interest of the dogs at heart.

In the time we spent with Victoria Stilwell, it was very clear that dogs -- and their well-being -- was top priority. It was quite refreshing. We talked about how she got into dogs and dog training -- all the while I was getting my "doggie fix" with her very lovable Labrador, Sadie. It's clear that dogs, not ratings, are a top priority for her. You never quite know what goes on behind the scenes of a tv show -- it could be all good, or it could be something very different. Thankfully, in this case, it was all good.

How lovely!

In the end, what it all came back to was dogs. Dogs, dogs, dogs. Which was fine and dandy with me - my life revolves around dogs. And I'm happiest in the company of them.

Life is good. Here's to having fun with your dogs!!

Teddy Takes on the Federal Government

It's not nearly as serious as it sounds. My husband works for the Federal government and it's a terrific place to socialize the service dogs in training. The campus is huge, there are long, shiny corridors, gigantic cafeterias, a bazillion different types of staircases, and two very different types of elevators: regular passenger elevators and big, bulky, noisy freight elevators.

You might remember Talos' experience (and video) with the very same freight elevator. I took video of Teddy's experience, too. But I need to figure out how to convert 3gp format to something my Mac recognizes. (I took the video on my Droid, not the Flip.)

I will get the video posted as soon as I figure it out, but in the meantime the report on Teddy is good: he noticed the loud bangs and ducked at the outset, but recovered super-quickly and pranced right into the vast elevator. Once he was on, he very curiously looked around like he was at Disney World!

It becomes clearer and clearer that I'm not doing enough polite walking exercises with him. He's at the end of his leash and pulling hard very often. I stop everytime the leash gets tight - and that makes for slow going. I also carry treats with me so I can reward him when he's in the right position. He gets it for a little while then is distracted quickly. Did you see the movie "Up?" He's like the main doggie character who's having an intelligent conversation and then is instantly sidetracked: "SQUIRREL!"

All in all, a good socializing experience for Teddy today.

Go, Go, Go and Slow, Slow, Slow

Teddy's public debut focused mainly on getting in and getting out of locations and situations rather quickly. We stayed just long enough to expose Teddy to a new situation, make it fun, and then we're outta there.

Today, we worked on settle-in-and-relax scenarios. The life of a service dog is varied - there are times when they're in and out of places lickety-split, and there are other times when they're in it for the long haul -- they might as well get comfortable.

Teddy debuted today at the Frederick Chamber's lunch event with former Governor Robert Ehrlich. This was a good opportunity for Teddy for several reasons:

• Many of the attendees are service-dog-savvy. Talos did a great job of breaking them in so they'd know what to expect when a woman with a young dog walks into the room. Friendly, but not exuberant greetings are the norm with most of the Chamber folks. They make for excellent and knowledgeable distractors!
• I could leave if Teddy wasn't ready for the situation or if he became unruly.
• The luncheon would require that Teddy be still for a considerable period of time. We've worked on this skill at home - it was time to measure our progress in the real world.
• There would be manageable distractions. Lunch being served! Delicious, hot lunches! Again, if Teddy couldn't manage, I could very easily leave.
• New sounds, surfaces, people to experience. Applause, carpet, draping table cloths, microphones, hustle and bustle, noisy crowds.
• Lastly, this was a "quiet" event. Quiet meaning Teddy needed to settle in, relax, and take a nap.

I went well armed: clicker and treats were at the ready! Teddy's loose leash walking skills leave a lot to be desired, but we practices stopping and starting every time the leash got tight. He's still a young dog, he has self control issues - his desire is to jump and say Hi to people, but he's starting to try to maintain his decorum and restrain himself from putting paws on people. It takes a lot of work on his part, but with lots of practice, it's becoming less of an impulse and more under control.

Applause was a little startling to him. He sat bolt upright and looked curiously around the room. He didn't appear frightened, but the noise took him by surprise. After realizing that, I had my treats ready and they magically appeared immediately after any applause started. He ate the treats greedily, which means he wasn't particularly stressed.

It's important that potentially scary things (and applause can definitely be scary) be paired with very good things from the outset. By the end of the luncheon, we'd paired applause with treats appearing out of thin air about 15 times. He's beginning to look forward to applause now!

Teddy responded perfectly to his down cue (the word "down") in the midst of a crowd of people. He also took it upon himself to curl up under my chair when he really settled in. The service dogs will be taught a "go in" cue which means: tuck yourself under the table or chair and chill until I tell you otherwise. It's basically a "you're off the clock, but don't go anywhere" message. We haven't started teaching that to Teddy yet, so I was doubly pleased to see him make that choice of his own accord today. Especially when there were so many delicious smells and interesting things to check out.

He got a chance to meet Bob Ehrlich (a dog lover) and many other people today. He didn't jump or put his paws on anyone - that's an accomplishment.

One thing people don't think about very often - Teddy also had his first experience accompanying me into the ladies room. Service dogs need to learn to accompany their person everywhere. Public restrooms are one of those things that a dog needs to be introduced to early on in his training. They're small little cubes with panels that make voices sound echo-y and loud. They obscure 90% of the person in the neighboring stall -- except the feet! Of course, most dogs want to duck their head under the stall to see who those feet belong to. It's a bit disconcerting to be on the other side of the stall, minding your own business, and have a dog head suddenly join you in your stall! So not only do the dogs need to get used to going into the stalls, but they have to get very good at minding their own business when they're in there!

Both of Teddy's outings have been good experiences for both of us. He's a smart little guy who seems to enjoy this new life in public.