The Smart Dog U Blog

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.

Baby Steps

There are lots of ways a pup can get his food. He can work for it. He can eat it out of a food stuffed toy. He can find it scattered about the patio. One thing this little guy won't be doing is eating food out of a bowl. That's way too easy.

Teddy needs to keep busy, he needs to problem solve, he needs to take more than 30 seconds to eat his meal.

Food stuffed toys, like the red Kong in the picture, are great food-delivery systems. You stuff your dog's dry food (kibble) into the Kong, drop the Kong on the floor (so some of the kibble drops out and grabs the dog's interest) and let the dog figure out the rest.

To make this task fun and interesting, we make it really easy at first. We put the food into a large Kong - the kibble will fall out easier this way. After a week of feeding Teddy this way, he'll get really good at getting the food out quickly and efficiently.

The next step is to add a little bit of difficulty - enough to challenge his problem solving skills, but not too much that he gives up. Peanut butter or nonfat yogurt is a great "stuffer." Simply line the inside of the toy with the peanut butter (or yogurt), fill with kibble leaving a little room for some more of the goopy stuff. The peanut butter or yogurt is really enticing for the dog, and also slows him down a bit.

The middle portion is relatively easy - it's just kibble, and the hardest part to get out is the part where the food is stuck to the peanut butter way deep into the Kong. If you spent enough time letting the dog learn how to get plain kibble out of the toy, I'll be he'll remain committed to getting the last little bit, especially if there's some gooey goodies in there, too!

After another week of gooping up the contents of the toy, you can make the game even more challenging by gooping the Kong with peanut butter and kibble, described above, and then freeze the whole thing!

The frozen Kong  seems to be a favorite of Teddy's. He seems to really enjoy the challenge of getting the frozen peanut butter and kibble out. He's good at using his paws to help hold the Kong so it doesn't move around. 

Why do we care about stuff like this? The whole idea of "working for dinner" is a nice one - why waste the opportunity to train by simply putting the bowl of food on the floor for the dog to eat? Use your dog's dinner as treats to reward good behavior! Or, teach your dog how to become a problem solver by letting him figure out how to get the kibble out of the food-stuffed toy. The longer it takes the dog to eat his dinner, the more time you'll have to get stuff done without your dog sticking his nose into whatever it is you're doing! You'll keep your dog mentally challenged. You'll tire your dog out. All these things are GOOD things and can help a manic, overactive dog become calmer.

Two Weeks with Teddy

Teddy's been in residence just about two weeks. And what a two weeks it's been! He's learned SO much! Some of the more important lessons:

• It's not polite to barge into the water dish when another dog is drinking.
• It's equally impolite to look and and/or taste another dog's food. This offense is punishable by snarling!
• Running fast on the leash always results in "clotheslining" and it's a smart idea to stay close to your walker. (Note: The person holding the leash walks at a steady pace. If Teddy goes too fast, he winds up clotheslining himself - the leash is not jerked or pulled by the person!!)
• Water is good for drinking and for cooling off.
• Food always shows up in the crate. Therefore the crate is GREAT!
• Sitting usually results in good stuff: petting, throwing the ball, opening the door, opening the crate, etc.
• Jumping always makes good stuff go away!
• Big dogs play with little dogs, and it can be a little scary + exhilarating all at the same time!
• Naps are good.
• This clicker-thing is FABULOUS! I want to hear it more, more, more!!

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!

Dodged A Bullet

When I picked Teddy up from Hero Dogs, I was told the vet discovered a heart murmur earlier that morning. This came as a bit of a surprise, as both his parents had cardiac clearances (they'd been checked and were free of cardiac problems).

I didn't realize that some pups have heart murmurs as puppies and actually outgrow them as they grow. Teddy had an appointment yesterday with a cardiologist to have an echo cardiogram. The vet was looking to see if Teddy's heart had a physical defect or if this was something that Teddy would likely outgrow.

I don't know the particulars, but I do know this: the cardiologist found no problems with the heart, so there's a good chance he'll outgrow the murmur. He'll have to have another exam when he's six months old, but he's got the green light to continue his service dog training.

He had his first puppy class last night with Hero Dogs. Puppy training for a service dog is very similar to pet dog training. All puppies - service pups and pets - need to have good manners. Puppy class teaches all the pups how to greet nicely, how to have some self control, how to play nicely, and of course, the general good manners.

He had a few "time-outs" in puppy play for getting a bit rough, but we'll continue to encourage play with appropriate puppies and adult dogs. Over time, he'll hopefully learn to match his play-time enthusiasm to that of his playmates. If he doesn't, inappropriate behavior with other dogs is enough for a dismissal from the program. He's a long way from that happening, but it's something all service dog trainers and organizations have to keep an eye on. (And everyone else with a dog, for that matter!)

Our dogs here at home are really good at setting boundaries for Teddy. They'll give him a warning growl if he gets too close to them, a snarl if he ignores the growl, and finally an up-close, in-your-face, loud BARK! if he continues. That usually gets the message across and he appropriately modifies his behavior!

Stay tuned, there's always something going on when a new pup comes to live with us...

Life is Tough for a Puppy

So the latest service pup in-training has arrived. Hero Dogs Theodore Roosevelt (Teddy) has been here almost 24 hours and here's a list of the (many) things he's learned already:

• Walking on a dog that's laying down isn't a good idea.
• People go away when you put your paws on them.
• Paws on the floor is a good thing - lots of cooing and petting happens when you do this.
• People really like it when you pee and poop outside.
• The crate takes some getting used to.
• Objects in his reach that aren't dog toys disappear the instant dog teeth touch them.
• Kongs are filled with food. And sometimes even a smear of peanut butter. Kongs are GOOD!
• Being quiet in the crate brings lots of soothing, calm attention.
• Barking in the crate makes people and all the dog friends leave the room.
• 8-week old puppy legs are clumsy.
• Water is useful: it tastes good, it cools you down, and it's fun to be in.
• A mouth can hold all kinds of stuff! Leaves, grass, toys, food, and even a leash!

There will be plenty o' updates daily now that the new guy is here. Maybe even twice daily updates! The rate that pups take in information is staggering - they have so much to learn! And believe it or not, they're learning whether you're teaching them or not. So you might as well spend a little time teaching the pup what you want him to know instead of trying to undo bad habits later.

A quick update on who is excited about the arrival of the new pup: just one dog is happy and that's Talos. The others have all told him very quickly that he's just a puppy and they are not even a little bit impressed. Nor are they wooed by his cuteness. In fact, I think they hold his cuteness against him a little bit. Except Talos, of course, who has always been entranced by the smaller dogs.

To be continued...