The Smart Dog U Blog

The Dead Sock

Ike is now a mature 8 months old. [Insert snicker here.] I left Ike in my closed bedroom while I took a shower. Figuring that if I limited his domain to just the bedroom, he'd be ok. 

Big mistake. 

Within ten minutes, Ike found my sock and did his damage. 

Bad Ike? No, this one's on me. I left Ike out. I left the sock out. Together. Ike + sock = chewed sock! Elementary, my dear Watson. 

Ike likes his crate. Runs to it, actually. So since the death of the sock, we've been using the crate religiously. Even if I'm just going to check the mail. 

Ike is safer in the crate. So are my socks. 

Night Freedom

Ike's graduated to sleeping on the floor instead of staying in his crate at night. Funny thing is, he still dives into his crate at bedtime. Habits die hard. Remember that when you're raising your next pup. If you start them out with good habits, chances are you won't have to undo many bad ones. 

Ike's still in his crate when we leave the house, of course. We're not crazy. 

I'm still trying to figure out if Ike prefers the crate or the dog bed on the floor for his night-sleeping preference. I know I like having Ike sleep on the floor. It's a lot quieter when he's not flailing about in the crate. 

I put Ike's dog bed in the exact same spot his crate's been for the past five months. Again, old habits die hard. To Ike, that's his sleeping spot. Only now it's minus the crate. 

By the way, we shut the bedroom door at night to minimize the roaming abilities of this seven-month old adolescent Labrador. Again, we're not crazy...

 

Crate Hate to Crate Tolerate

Ike came to us with the comment "He's kind of noisy in his crate." After easy-peasy Teddy, Ike did indeed seem quite noisy in his crate. He whined. He barked. He shrieked. He gave me a headache. And I think if dogs can get headaches, my three dogs had 'em!

I approached this problem like I would any other behavior problem: find out exactly what I'm dealing with (get a baseline), set goals, develop a training plan, create a management plan, implement both to improve behavior.

I started by getting that baseline. I observed Ike's crate behavior for two days before I started to work on it. I needed to see precisely what I was dealing with, when he'd bark, when he'd stop, IF he'd stop (he did, but it took awhile), and the potential triggers of said barking.

My two days of observation yielded lots of good information I used to develop a training and management plan. First, Ike was perfectly happy going into his crate. He'd leap in, turn around and happily wag his tail, waiting for his treat. So going into the crate was fine and dandy. And he didn't mind staying in the crate, either, as long as there was something in there to do. If his dinner was in a Kibble-Nibble or a Squirrel Dude, he was happy as a clam. The second the dinner was gone, though, he was unhappy. And wasn't shy about it.

I had our trouble narrowed down, then: Ike didn't like staying in the crate if he had nothing to do. I'd also observed that Ike seemed to tolerate the crate a little bit better even after the goodies were gone if he was in the same room as the other dogs. Proximity to people and other dogs was important to him.

Knowing that, I created a training plan that looked like this:

1. Continue feeding all meals (and special treats) in the crate with the door closed. 
2. Monitor Ike in the crate to determine when he was nearing the end of his food. I wanted to capture even one second of silence after the food was gone. I would gradually increase the duration of silence required to earn a click and release from the crate. 
3. If Ike began to bark before I was able to click and release from the crate (example: if I was in the shower when he finished his meal and wasn't able to click him for one second of silence), I waited until he took a breath, calmly praised him (gave him the attention he was so eager to receive), then clicked and released from the crate after a second or two of silence.
4. Send Ike to his crate at random times during the day with a food-stuffed toy so crating didn't become predictable (only at meal times or only as I was preparing to leave). 
5. After Ike was quiet in his crate for 30 - 60 seconds, I changed the criteria a little bit. I started going out of sight while Ike was eating. I'd come back into sight as he was finishing up.
6. I then clicked Ike if he was quiet for one second while I was out of sight. I'd then come back into the room and calmly let him out of his crate.
7. I gradually increased the time Ike needed to be quiet while I was out of the room. 
8. After Ike was able to be quiet for a few minutes, I changed the criteria again. I stayed in the room, but now, for Ike to earn the click and release from the crate, he had to relax in the crate. That meant Ike had be quiet and had to lay down. I didn't ask for a down, I simply kept an eye on him and clicked and released him the instant he laid down.

My management plan looked like this:

1. Move the crate to the room I was in when feeding Ike. (Remember, Ike seemed to do better if he could see me and/or the other dogs.
2. If I had to leave the house after crating Ike, I'd turn the radio or television on. I also made sure Ike was in the same room as the other dogs. (Even though I was pretty sure he gave my dogs a headache with all the barking!)

Ike's crate hate has now turned into crate tolerance. We're at Step 8 at the moment. He's able to be quiet in the crate, even if I'm out of the room, but only for a short period of time. And he's just now started to lay down to wait for his release. I'll gradually extend the amount of time he needs to lay down.

We're not yet at crate love, but we're getting there! I'll keep you updated on his progress. If your dog is a crate screamer, as we so lovingly call them, start using the protocol above and see how it goes. And leave me a comment to let me know your progress. Happy training!

 

Perfecting Teddy's "Kennel" - Video

A lot of people find it interesting to see how much work goes into training. Whether working with a service dog or a pet dog, the training is the same. Clicker training creates an eager dog, a dog who wants to be part of the process. A willing dog makes a great training partner. 

Too often, I hear owners say "He knows how to do this, he's just being stubborn." In my experience, the dog isn't stubborn. He doesn't really know the behavior like you think he does. If you're confident your dog knows what you're asking, put him through the test for stimulus control. Here are the four conditions of stimulus control:

1. Your dog does the behavior when asked. (Your dog goes to his kennel when you ask him.)
2. Your dog doesn't do the behavior if he isn't asked. (Your dog doesn't go to his kennel if you didn't ask him.)
3. Your dog doesn't do some other behavior when you ask. (Your dog doesn't sit when you ask him to kennel.)
4. Your dog doesn't offer the behavior when you ask him to do something else. (Your dog doesn't kennel when you ask him to sit.)

I thought Teddy's kennel behavior was pretty good so I put it to the stimulus control test. And video-taped it. Ugh. We have a lot of work to do! Check out the link at the bottom of this post for the video. (You can see it on YouTube if it looks odd when you watch it through the blog.)

So the next time you swear your dog knows something, give him the test for stimulus control. I'll bet he doesn't really know it. That's ok. You're the teacher - get out there and work with the dog some more. We're working hard and will get all of Teddy's behaviors under stimulus control. It just takes time and training.

 

Teaching Kennel from the Beginning (Video)

 

 

I recently posted a video showing Teddy's progress on learning to run to his kennel on cue. Someone emailed me and asked me how I taught Teddy to go into the kennel. They were interested in the very beginnings of the behavior.

So I thought I'd show you just how you start teaching this behavior (or any behavior).

What you'll see on the video is called shaping. Basically, you mentally slice the behavior into lots of tiny pieces. If I want Teddy to go into the kennel, he'll first have to look at the kennel, then move toward the kennel, then place one foot in, two feet, three feet, and finally all four feet will be in the kennel.

Shaping lets you teach the dog each little tiny piece of the full behavior which makes the training process a whole lot easier (and faster).

The dog needs to know what specific behavior he should repeat. That's where the clicker comes in. The click tells the dog precisely what earned the click (and subsequent treat). Dogs aren't dumb - they'll do that same thing again in order to get the click and treat. The more they're doing the behavior, the more you're clicking and treating, and the more the dog does the behavior -- the cycle begins!

You'll notice in the video I don't do a whole lot of talking or moving. I call shaping the "lazy trainer's dream," because the trainer only has to observe, click, and treat. That's it! In fact, the more you move and talk, the more distracted the dog will be (and the slower the learning).

Watch as Teddy figures out what I want him to do. I click him first for just looking at the crate. I ignore anything else he does (laying down, for instance). I let him figure out what to do, what pays. Also pay attention to his tail - see how happy he is? He really enjoys training and figuring out how to make me click.

This is the first in a series of videos on the basics of clicker training. We'll get into other aspects (cues, fluency, stimulus control, etc.) in future videos. If you don't know what these words mean, don't worry - you will after this series is over. And better yet, you'll be able to use it with your dog to create a beautifully behaved canine friend!   [If the video below is cut off on the right side, double click the video and it will take you directly to YouTube where you can watch [and read] the whole video screen.]

Teddy Learns to "Kennel"

Teddy's twelve weeks old and I wanted to show you some of the things he's learning. He's had this behavior [run to his crate] for a couple weeks now, but we're still working on getting it nice and polished. I'll be putting more video of Teddy up here on the blog in the next week or so, documenting his progress.

This video shows our early progress on teaching Teddy to run to his crate when (and only when) he hears "kennel." He's pretty good! The fat Rottweiler you see at the end is Copper, who belongs to my parents. She was hoping to scavenge any morsel of food she could find.

Cute AND Smart

Forgive the lack of pictures of Teddy. I'm using all my camera's memory to store the last pictures of Talos. I can't get enough of him. He'll be gone in...well, I can't even talk about it.

So let me move on, quickly, to another subject before I can't see the computer screen anymore. I've been working with our new little prodigy, Teddy, the Golden Retriever. He's now 10.5 weeks old and one smart cookie.

He knows: sit, down, touch, kennel, leave it, and just today we introduced shaping in the form of paw targeting. You don't know paw targeting? It's where the dog learns to do stuff with his feet. In Teddy's case, this will be a key skill for a service dog.

But your dog can have fun with paw targeting, too. I'll do another post all about paw targeting, I just want to talk a little bit about Teddy's training in this post.

I'm always skeptical about how much the dog knows. Teddy's been running to his crate (kennel) at mealtimes for the last two weeks. But does he really know "kennel?" Not necessarily.

Here are the clues that he didn't really know "kennel." He ran when he saw the food, not when I said "kennel." He ran to the same spot every time, regardless of whether his crate was there or not. He wasn't very good at finding his kennel if it was out of sight.

So I started working on all those different variables. For two days. And don't you know that little stinker now knows "kennel." Two days.

I can have the food in my hand and ask him to sit. And he will. I can ask him to down and he will. When I call out "kennel," he makes a bee line for the kennel!

So I moved the kennel. Let's see if the little smartie pants can get it now!

Yep! The little smartie DID get it! I said "kennel!" and he ran to where the kennel was last. Uh oh! Not there! His face was priceless!

He searched for the kennel (it was in plain sight) and when he found it, ran in, turned around and sat like a champ right there in the kennel.

Click and treat!! Yay Teddy! You'll never be as cute and lovey at Talos, but you're pretty darn smart, little guy.

Crate Love

Crates and puppies go hand-in-hand. There's no easier way to keep a pup out of trouble than a crate. The crate is also essential for speedy housetraining.

When Teddy came to us, he'd only spent one night in the crate. Needless to say, that first night with us was a little rough - he cried for awhile in the crate that night, and woke up frequently.

It's crucial for Teddy (and all dogs, really) to be able to relax in the crate for several reasons:

1. As I mentioned earlier, the crate provides the pup with a safe place. It's really hard for the pup to get in trouble or get hurt while he's in the crate.
2. Housetraining is a breeze if the pup is crate trained. Generally, a pup doesn't like to pee or poop where he'll be sleeping (smart pup!), so he'll hold it, vocalize to alert you to the fact that he's gotta go, and then you take him immediately outside to do his business. Easy peasy!
3. At some point in a dog's life, he'll be at the veterinarian for a procedure that will involve crating. It may be something routine such as a spay or neuter, or it could be something long-term like an injury requiring strict crate rest. If your injured dog has never been in a crate and suddenly finds himself locked away, it's going to be a long recovery process -- for you and the dog!
4. If you plan to do dog-sports with your dog like agility, lure coursing, nose work, tracking, Rally obedience (just to name a few), it's a pretty good bet that your dog will need to be crated. If your dog isn't comfortable in the crate, it's going to be a lot harder - and not nearly as fun - to participate.

How can you teach your dog to like the crate? Easy: feed your pup every meal in the crate. Keep the door open the first four or five feedings, then close (but don't latch) the door. Let him push the door open when he's done.  Let him push the door open and exit the crate after his meals for another few days. Then begin to close (and latch) the door while he's eating. Have some really tasty morsels of chicken ready. When the pup is done with his meal, give him a piece of chicken. Wait a few seconds and give him another morsel of chicken. Continue to feed him chicken at four- or five-second intervals. Then you can open the crate door and let him out.

How can you ruin the crate experience for your dog? Using the crate as punishment is a sure-fire way to make the crate a drag for your pup. Also, don't bang on the crate to try to quiet your pup if he's barking. (A client told me their shelter adoption-coordinator gave her this advice as she was preparing to take her puppy home!) Don't put your pup in the crate ONLY when you're leaving the house. Get your pup used to being in the crate: when you're home and in another room, at home and in the same room, when there's activity going on, when it's quiet, when you're leaving the house...in short: get your pup used to being in the crate any time, any where, and for any reason.

What if your pup cries in the crate? That first night, Teddy cried quite a bit. I completely ignored him when he was making noise. When he quieted to take a breath, I very calmly said "Good boy, Teddy" in my most soothing, sing-song, calm voice. The instant he started to make noise, I shut up. He quieted, I talked. He barked, I got silent. Within five minutes, he was quieter already. I kept that up for about 10 minutes. Gradually there was much more of me talking and a whole lot less of Teddy talking!

Teddy's crate behavior has improved dramatically over the past few days. The first night he cried quite a bit, the second night he cried for only a minute or two, and last night he cried only briefly. I put him in his crate after his mid-day feeding and he whimpered once and went right to sleep. We're on the right track!

Crates are Great

I hated "Marley and Me" because much of the chaos could have been prevented if Marley had been crated.

In an earlier blog post, I produced evidence of the damage Talos did today while I was away from the house. If a client complained because their dog ate a book while they were gone, I would definitely suggest a crate to avoid future disasters.

Talos has been crate trained. He likes crating. Trouble is, he's too big for his crate now! We have Labrador-sized crates, not Dane-sized. Talos is here temporarily - he's not going to be a permanent member of our house (much to my disappointment). The Dane crates are too big for the Labradors, so I'm trying to avoid buying a giant Dane crate that won't be used once Talos goes "off to college" in less than a year.

I made a couple of mistakes today.

Mistake #1: I was unprepared. Normally, if I've got to be gone more than four hours, I'll set the dogs up with a Kong-Time - a machine that dispenses four filled Kongs over either a four- or eight-hour period. It keeps the dogs busy, gives them something appropriate to chew. However, I didn't have 20 Kongs stuffed this morning, so I ran out the door and gave the dogs just one Kong each.

Mistake #2: I didn't dog-proof the room Talos was in. He's not normally a chewer or ripper-upper. I saw the books on the coffee table, but I pooh-poohed the idea that he'd bother them. In the past, he's always eaten the stuffed Kong, then taken a nice, long nap.

I know it was my fault the books got chewed. I take full responsibilty and Talos did not bear the brunt of my mistake. His destructiveness is not the norm, however if it becomes a problem, I'll go get a giant crate to ensure the house - and Talos - remain safe!

The Joys of Housetraining

Ahh, housetraining. There's nothing better than a pup heading to the door to let you know he's gotta go. The first couple of weeks with the puppy is tough - you have to be on top of where he is and what he's doing all the time. You've got to make sure he's not getting in trouble, eating an electric cord, being eaten by the cat, or pooping in the house. It's not easy!

From Day One, we've been vigilant in teaching Talos that poops and pees are best done outdoors. Crazy humans that we are, we much prefer that kind of thing to be done outside, as much as we can appreciate the convenience of doing it indoors.

We made good use of the crate (see above) which helps a lot. We've also taken him in and out the same door every time. He doesn't get a choice of which door. Nope, he's got one option (which technically, isn't even an option). It makes it a lot easier for him - just head to The Door, and magically a person appears and invites him outdoors. Once out, that same person acts as a cheerleader, telling him what a fabulous puppy he is when he pees or poops. What a life.

This morning, all our hard work paid off. Talos ate his breakfast and went immediately to the door. Hurray! He'd done this before, but I thought it was just chance. Nope, he's really got it. Will he still make mistakes? Sure, if I'm not on my game and don't notice his signals. Thankfully, he's got feet that weigh 100 pounds each and you can't help but hear where he is in our all-hardwood-floor house. So if you're in the middle of housetraining, take heart. Just remain vigilant, use the crate, and use the Same Door every time. Your pup will get it. And then life is good.