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Lure versus Reward Training

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

Many people confuse lure with reinforcement training. The confusion might come from the fact that both techniques use food to train animal behaviours. My goal this week is to shed light and expose the differences between the two.

Lure training is a technique by which food, a toy, or any desirable object is used to model the dog into the desired behaviour. the lure is then given to the animal as a reward. When you move a cookie or ball over your dog's head and he sits, you have lured your dog into a sit position. The trainer then gives the dog the cookie or toy. The process is then repeated until the behaviour occurs frequently.

Here's the thing. If you don't remove the lure at the right time, the trainer and behaviour become dependant on the lure. In other words, no food, no behaviour. Plus, if you work in an environment rich with stimuli, the value of the lure decreases tremendously which in turn increases undesirable behaviours. This is definitely not a win-win situation.

Here's an example. You use a treat to teach your dog to sit. In your house, the dog performs the behaviour perfectly. One day, you decide to go to the park and let your dog play with his friends. After a few minutes, Fido gets a little excited so you call him over. You ask him to sit, but Fido has his own agenda and refuses to listen. You pull out a treat, dangle it in his face and ask again. Still, Fido refuses to cooperate. The reason Fido doesn't want to listen is that playtime with his friend is way more rewarding than the treat you have to offer.

With lure training, dogs don't really learn behaviour, they simply follow food or toys. Consequently, when rewards of better importance, like playing with friends, become available, the lure loses its reinforcement power. Plus, the lure is used to teach multiple behaviours that confuse dogs even more. Dogs don't know if the lure (food, toy, touch) is the signal to do the behaviour or is the reward. Add insult to injury, sometimes the lure is used as both. Are you confused? If so, you now know how lure trained dogs feel.

With social-cognitive and reinforcement-based training, dogs learn that sit makes treats appear. Thus, by trial and error, treats will appear if dogs sit or won't appear if they don't sit. Again, luring doesn't teach dogs what to do because in the absence of the lure dogs won't perform the behaviour. Plus, when other more interesting things occur in the environment, the lure loses its power. Consequently, lure trainers get stuck in this habit and cannot break away from it.

If you put those lures aside and let dogs think things through for a moment, you'll be greatly surprised with what they can and do learn. Dogs have the capacity to think, we simply need to trust their cognitive abilities. In summary, a lure is a modelling tool, not a reward. Try it out and tell us what happened when you used a lure to train a behaviour versus reward.

Dog Discoveries Pave The Way

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

This week I want to talk about a subject really close to home, dog training methodologies. You would think dog training evolved since my childhood days, but it seems, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

When I was a kid, we trained dogs in a military fashion. After all, my father was a military man so what else were we supposed to do?! Punishment was in and tools like choke and prong collars were fashionable. If you didn't train your dog with these tools, you weren't training at all.

Today we know better. A decade ago or so, scientists decided to study dogs; as a result, labs were inaugurated and people started to research various aspects of our canine companions. Discoveries are still being made, and new findings reveal information we can incorporate into our training programs. We now know tools of the past are no longer necessary.

Three years ago, one man decided to create an initiative that is changing dog training once more. Every June, SPARCS presents a weekend conference on canine cognition discoveries. The event is presented free online via live-streamed. The science-based discussion allows information to be shared with the world; consequently, dog training and behaviour modification are now on an upsurge.

In 2015, there's no valid reason to use punishment or choke, prong, electric, citronella, or other coercive tools. But, I do understand how people believe punishment is the way. Our entire society is based on punishment. Schools punish, jobs punish, the market punishes, and parents punish; as such, dogs should also be punished.

It'll take time before the inner child of punishment-based trainers can shine through and change their minds. Till then, our job is to teach old school trainers that there's a better way, but ultimately, they themselves need to experience the laws of reinforcement.

The Einstein Dog

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

In 2005, I came across a dog who challenged my outlook on behaviour and approach to training. Her name was Boreal. I wrote an article about her in the French magazine Passionnement Chien spring 2006 issue. To this day, Boreal is the only dog to which I granted the nickname Miss. Einstein.

I'll always remember my initial visit with Boreal and her desperate owner. The black dog was a disorganised Belgium Groenendael who could not walk in a straight line. In my file I wrote: Boreal is bold, fragmented, yet extremely intelligent. She strives to please but doesn't know which direction to go. The first few exercises we designed for her were child's play and did not help one bit. Reinforcing heel was one thing, keeping her from looking and reacting at every single stimuli was another.

It soon became apparent we needed to teach Boreal to focus, and without any literature on dog mental abilities, or a Google web search engine, I had to design my own attention training program. I came up with an original idea; we would teach Boreal to read. I designed a complex program which included object and word recognition. It was a long and strenuous process, but it helped her tremendously.

Boreal was so smart, she learned to recognise twelve objects with a 95% accuracy in one weekend. Within a few months, Boreal knew forty two objects, forty two corresponding words, two verbs (visually & auditory), and could discriminate between five shapes. When this video was taken, Boreal had not yet learned the words associated with the verb touch or take. All this to learn to walk and jog with her human. In the end, and with all our hard work, Boreal became a focused and reliable cognitive and physical athlete.

Take Away
What do I take away from this experience? Miss. Einstein taught me how poor mental stimulation impacts behaviour and just how important it is for dogs to use their brain. Ten years ago, I had to incorporate brain games into my training program because of Boreal. Today, I can say cognitive stimulus yields remarkable results, and not a day goes by without me thinking how one dog changed it all. From Boreal to Miss Einstein, this cognitive canine truly loved to learn.

Thankfully, today we have literature and research on canine cognition, and we have Google to provide us with Brain Games ideas. Brain games are not designed to occupy dogs; they are meant to stimulate the brain, increase attention, and to improve problem-solving skills. Dogs are very smart and when done properly, brain games will help address other undesirable behaviours. I strongly recommend you consider adding mental stimulus to your dog's daily activities.

The Perfect Dog

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

I'm often told it's easy for me to have perfect dogs because I work in the field. This couldn't be further from the truth. My dogs are not perfect, actually, I've never met or owned a perfect dog. Period. My female dog has (through a series of unfortunate attacks from other loose dogs) dog-dog aggression issues. My male, well, let's just say he's shovel crazy.

From the outside, it might look like my dogs are perfect, but in reality, I work hard every day to perfect their skills, just like you do. The perfect dog is a myth. In fact, the definition of the perfect dog is different for everyone. What might be considered acceptable behaviour for one person may be intolerable for another. While I don't like dogs in my bed, you might find it enjoyable, which is perfectly fine.

Picture Perfect
If you're older you'll remember the following television series, Lassie, Littlest Hodo, Fraser, and Wishbone. If your definition of perfect is based on these dog star characters, you must understand that more often than not, dog stars are accompanied by full time trainers. If you wish to have a dog that can make intellectual decisions on his own and pull through with solutions, you'll need to train, train, train, and train some more. In dog training there's no right or wrong answer, there's only what works for you and what you're ready to work for.

Planed Choices
If you want the perfect dog, I suggest you plan out what you expect from your canine companion before you adopt or buy him. These criteria will make your human-dog relationship more enjoyable because you will recognise in advance what works and/or doesn't work for your family. If you need help to make the right choice, you can start with our Getting a Dog; Where to Begin article.

On a final note, your idea of the perfect dog might only present itself once in a lifetime; consequently, I urge you to never compare your dogs to one another. Each animal brings his own set of unique characteristics that make him the perfect pet for you, at that specific moment in time. Remember, their imperfections are what truly makes them perfect.

Human Emotional Management

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

Working with animals is extremely rewarding, but it also yields a dirty secret, people in our line of work burn out. We change bad behaviour into good behaviour, we improve the human-animal bond, we teach, we foster, or rescue dogs, and all his hard work comes with a steep price, we emotionally exhaust ourselves. Today's article touches on human emotional management.

I'm fortunate enough to have learned this very important skill while I was in college. Because of my learning disability, I had to manage my emotions in order to access my memory and train my brain to make a new association between words. I had to manage frustration, sadness, and euphoria all at once, which as you might have guessed, was not an easy task.

Human emotional management is the hardest thing to do because we're super sensitive to the animal's plight and we desperately want to help. Thus, while we address animal issues, we come to realize we are faced with human emotions; consequently, it becomes difficult to manage both humans (ourselves and others) and animal emotions. If professionals can't emotionally disassociate themselves from the situation, they are likely to burn out. To avoid stress which can lead to distress, and eventually burnouts, I want to give you a few ideas on how to manage your emotions. So, please keep an open mind as you read on.

1. You are not the animal you are helping.
2. You can only do your best, beyond that point, let someone else take over.
3. When faced with a difficult situation tell yourself "I'll deal with these emotions later".
4. Don't forget to address emotions as soon as possible; don't sweep your emotions under the proverbial carpet.
5. Your view of a problematic situation is very different than the animal's perception of reality.
6. If you are too emotional, don't get involved and don't train.
7. If you need to address an emergency, use your rational brain, talk yourself through the steps.
8. Voice your emotions when appropriate. Ideally, after an emotionally charged event has occurred.
9. There will always be animals in need, you can't change this fact; you can only change your perception of it.
10. Talk with other professionals, ask them how they cope with their emotions.

There's a fine line between stress, distress, and eustress, and if you don't respect your limits, you will burn out. Working with animals means we accept the challenge of creating a new reality for the human-animal team, beyond that point, you must let go. You're not responsible for other peoples' emotions; you're only responsible for your own inner well-being. I'll end this article with the following quote "The environment is everything that isn't me." - Albert Einstein

How To Train Fearful Dogs The Social-Cognitive Way

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

Fear and anger are emotions expressed through fearful and aggressive behaviours. Of the two, fear proves to be the hardest dog behaviour problem to overcome. Many trainers don't address fear and prefer to refer clients because this is a deeply rooted emotion which is very hard to overcome.

Fear is hard to address with negative methods like the use of choke, citronella, or electric collars because fear cannot make fear go away. Furthermore, we cannot address fearful behaviour because behaviour is the expression of what is occurring within the brain. To address fear we need to identify what triggers the response and work at improving the emotion, not the behaviour.

Social cognitive learning theory is by far the best approach to treat fear. With multiple positive learning methods we can create a secure attachment between the dog and his human, which in turn, will lay the foundation for trust to grow. Once trust is established, the behaviour specialist can teach the owner how to grow a secure attachment which will reduce fearful behaviours.

Ambivalent and Avoidant
How do we change ambivalent or avoidant human-dog attachments into secure ones? You can read the social cognitive article for starters, but let me guide you through a few simple steps. Remember, whatever you do, go slow, fear wasn't created overnight; therefore, it won't disappear in a few days.

1. Identify which form of attachment is the human-dog team experiencing.
2. Use Brain Games to teach the dog how to seek human guidance when faced with complicated tasks.
3. Practice the art of "checking-in" when outside. Make sure you are present mentally (so no cell phones) in order to respond to the dog's request.
4. Once the dog has checked-in, it becomes your responsibility to make sure the dog remains safe throughout the exercise.
5. If the fearful situation cannot be avoided, try to move as far away as possible and practice a few Brain Games like touch, left paw, right paw, sit, down, etc...
6. Offer a secure relationship. Allow your dog to sit with you, but not on you or in your arms. The dog needs to learn how to manage his emotions.
7. Pet your dog only if it soothes him. If touch becomes too overwhelming, trust will be compromised.

Fear is an emotion experienced by dogs; consequently, you cannot remove it from their brain. Only dogs can cease to experience fear when and wherever they want. The only thing we can do is offer opportunities in which dogs can learn to manage their fear through us.

A secure attachment is not about overprotecting dogs, it's about being there when they need guidance. Our responsibility as people is to ensure environment, mental abilities, and attachment are favourable for learning to occur. Once we have a functional triangle, we grow as a human-dog team.

How to Train "Sit", The Social-Cognitive Way.

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

This week's article will focus on one behaviour we believe is an essential component to your dog's behaviour repertoire. We will discuss and teach you how to do a perfect sit. In future weeks, we will address the infamous come behaviour.

At the Dogue Shop, we teach dogs via social-cognitive, behavioural, and attachment approach. That is, your relationship (social) with the dog will allow you to select for the desired behaviour (cognitive) and reward it (behaviourism) in various contexts (attachment). Here is how we do it.

STEP 1. LEARNING - Move around your house and encourage your dog to follow you. When your dog sits, reward it without saying a word and change spots. Go to the kitchen, the bathroom, the closet, and every other place you can think of and wait for the dog to sit. It might take a while at the beginning of the exercise, but your dog will catch on relatively fast. Make sure to count the number of times the behaviour was offered. When you think your dog sits in front of you consistently, it's time to test your dog.

STEP 2. TESTING - Take 10 treats, place them in one spot and leave them there. Now walk around your house and wait for the behaviour to occur. If you dog sits within 10 sec. (count in your head) give the treat; if the dog does not sit, put the treat aside. Repeat this process in various places in your house 10 times. You should walk back and forth to the treats each time. Do NOT carry treats with you. How many treats are left? If you have none, bravo, your dog knows the behaviour 100% of the time; if you have 3 treats left, your dog knows the behaviour 70% of the time. We want the behaviour sit to occur 100% of the time before we move on.

STEP 3. NAMING - Repeat STEP 1, but this time you will say sit when your dog's buttocks immediately touches the floor. Don't forget to give your dog a treat. Repeat this everywhere in your house. It will probably take you as many times as it took you in STEP 1. Expect anywhere between 3 and 20 repetitions depending on the breed and temperament of your dog. When you think your dog knows the word sit, it's time to move to the next step.

STEP 4 - ASKING. Repeat test in STEP 2, but this time ask for sit and wait 10sec. Give the treat if the dog executes the behaviour; if he does not, place the treat aside. The dog should have a 100%. If your dog does not score 10/10, go back to STEP 3, the naming phase.

Dogs should know ten times out of ten, wherever you are, that sit = place your buttocks on the floor. Remember that when you start to train the sit behaviour outside, you might need to go back to STEP 3. Practice makes perfect. Be consistent and patient and you will see progress, that I guarantee you.

This method of training focuses on your dog's ability to listen, focus, and trust you. It depends the bond (attachment) and promotes effective problem-solving skills (social-cognitive). This approach might seems a little long to train at the beginning, but you're teaching your dog to learn how to learn, which is very different from being obedient.

If you tried this technique, leave us a comment on how it went.

Dog Companionship No More.

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

I've written a lot of articles in past years, yet one type of article stands out from the group, relationship articles. People are fascinated with human-dog relationships and strive to understand their companions. Science teaches us about social-cognitive theory, behaviourism, attachment, or emotional projection in order to explain how and why dogs form unique bonds with us. The big picture is hard to grasp in a world where each scientific branch works on one part of the puzzle.

The Big Picture
The reason dogs selected us as useful entities for their survival is astounding, yet what is even more fascinating is humans have answered the call and selected animals in order to create the perfect working companion. Dogs served a purpose and we served them in return. So, why do so many families experience dog behaviour problems? If we look at the big picture, the answer is easy, we took their usefulness away.

Dogs need a job and people should no longer answer companionship to the question why do you own a dog. When you acquire a dog, the big picture should stand out. We have dogs to work for us, be it emotional or physical; consequently, dogs need to be trained to accomplish their work. Simply owning a dog for companionship is no longer the answer.

There are set rules to make perfect dogs: socialise, educate, train, and maintain behaviours, even if behaviours are for emotional support. Attachment and social cognitive theories teach how to train for specific emotional support behaviours, just like service dogs learn how to perform specific tasks through classical or operant conditioning.

The Tool Box
Canines are attuned to people and respond to us without hesitation. So, how do we make our companions the best they can be? We use all the tools we have at our disposal. We implement all the knowledge science and nature have to offer. In essence, we use an inclusive approach to pet ownership, not exclusion. To exclude is to deny parts of the equation which render animals problematic.

I have dogs to learn and teach. My dogs excel at these tasks not because I'm special or have been trained to do so. My dogs work for me because I look at them from the big picture point of view. Emotions, cognition, and physical well being are inseparable, thus, for each problem there are tools at your disposal. If your dog has issues, sit back and ask yourself which part of the big picture am I missing or why do I have a dog because the solution is part of the big picture. Once you have an answer, ask for help and get those missing tools.

Socialisation: Adult Dogs Are Key.

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
While we certainly don't encourage people to buy puppies for Christmas, tis the season for thou new bundle of joy to enrol in puppy class. Puppy socialisation classes aim to teach puppies how to communicate as adult dogs in order to live well-adjusted lives amongst the canine and human population. In essence, socialisation teaches an animal how to communicate and socially conduct itself later on in life. Today, I wish to revisit the nature of these classes in relation to the critical period of development known as socialisation.

Socialisation Period
The critical period of socialisation was discussed thoroughly in Scott and Fuller's (1965) book Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog. The authors explain "By a critical period, we mean a special time in life when a small amount of experience will produce a great effect on later behavior." (p. 117) Puppy socialisation starts approximately on the third week to end roughly around twelve weeks of age. No need to tell you twelve weeks is equivalent to three months old. This means by the time people acquire their puppies, much of the critical period of social development will have gone by; consequently, pet owners have little time to do a lot of work.

Puppy Classes
Traditional puppy classes were designed to teach basic skills such as sit, down, come, stay, no bite, and loose leash walking for young dogs between two and five months old. More recently, kindergarten classes, or socialisation classes, began to pop up. These group classes are offered to puppies between eight and twelve weeks of age. Group size varies between four to eight puppies.

People take these classes to better train or socialise dogs, but one fundamental key is missing in the process, actual adult dogs. The ability to learn one's language and use it in proper context cannot be achieved from one puppy to another. Comparatively, if two-year-old kids were left in a room without adult intervention, how could we expect them to learn to share, not hit one another, be patient, or any other proper behaviour? The answer is, we couldn't.

Two-year-old kids would learn many things, but they probably wouldn't learn how to properly conduct themselves in adult social situations. Kids need adults to teach them the rudiments of social interaction. So do dogs.

New Puppy Class Model
In our opinion, each and every puppy class should be conducted with at least one stable adult dog present for every four puppies present in class. Adult dogs teach puppies how to greet, play, cooperate, and communicate. In essence, adult dogs parent puppies, which is how nature intended it to be. Our job is to make sure socialisation occurs in the most positive way possible when puppies go out into the real world. Young dogs need to learn and practice from a variety of adult dogs how to become awesome canine citizens. As dog owners, we simply need to make sure puppies remain safe during the process.

Reference:
- Scott, J.P. and Fuller, J.L. (1965). Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

Dog Training Prices

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

This post is intended for pet owners and dog training or behaviour professionals alike. It might be a negative read for some, all the while be informative for others. If you are upset about this article, please leave a comment to tell us why.

Today, I want to address the taboo subject of dog training, prices. This article is not about naming names or pointing fingers, it's about instilling professionalism in an unregulated occupation. How do we standardize prices when dog training or behaviour consultation is not a recognised profession? How do clients make sense of the sometimes nonsense fees? I have been secretly debating this topic with many friends and find it necessary to disclose price irregularities and recommend a solution.

What to Charge
When clients contact me, I always discuss the case with them beforehand in order to learn what's the problem and how much I will charge. Without a governing body, it's difficult to assess what our services are worth; furthermore, since professionals tend to conceal their fees, it's very difficult to establish a reference point. In order to figure out my cost, I decided to look at a similar profession who has a governing body. For my profession, I chose the psychology fee and general salary guide.

According to the Ordre des Psychologues du Quebec, Code of Ethics, Professional Code (R.S.Q., c. C-26, s. 87), Chapter III, Division VIII, Fees, Section 52:
Psychologists must charge and accept fair and reasonable fees warranted by the circumstances and the costs of providing the professional services.
To determine their fees, psychologists must consider the following factors:
1) their experience or particular competence;
2) the time required to provide the professional services;
3) the complexity and extent of the professional services;
4) the performance of professional services that are unusual or provided in unusual conditions; and
5) the performance of professional services that require exceptional competence or celerity.

The average national psychologist fee across Canada is 72$ per hour. Although the Ordre des Psychologues du Quebec does not impose a price guideline, psychologists in Quebec tend to charge between 80$ to 120$ per regular 50 minutes sessions (ordrepsy.qc.ca, 2015). Before we continue, let me remind you, psychologists are required to have a doctorate degree to practice their profession.

If you think a visit to the psychologist is pricey, I have seen inexperienced dog trainers charge 150$ per hour for a first time visit. Like you, I'm appalled because dog trainers are not required to have any formal education what so ever. I my opinion, price justification should take education and experience into account. Mind you, most professionals do charge a reasonable amount and do educate themselves, but without some kind of guideline, it's very difficult for people to assess service fees based on education or experience.

The Solution
I propose we base our services on existing professional governing bodies. We could use the Ordre des Psychologues du Quebec as our leading identity till our profession becomes recognised. Personally, I adhere to their ideas and have fixed my prices according to the Order and my experience. I believe prices between 80$ and 120$ per hour are fare and honest rates for most regular dog trainers. Furthermore, reasonable costs make dog training accessible, affordable, but most importantly, professional.

I know some dog trainers and other professionals might be outraged. I respect their opinion. Nevertheless, I believe the time has come for an open discussion about prices and our profession in general. Clients need to discriminate prices based on junior, intermediate, or senior trainer experience. We need to unite and make a change, for, we practice a profession that does cause harm when not exercised appropriately.

References:
- Éditeur officiel du Québec. (2014) Code of ethics of psychologists, chapter C-26, r. 212. Professional Code (chapter C-26, s. 87). Retrieved from: http://www2.publicationsduquebec.gouv.qc.ca/dynamicSearch/telecharge.php?type=2&file=%2F%2FC_26%2FC26R212_A.htm
- Retrieved from : https://www.ordrepsy.qc.ca/en/public/la-psychotherapie/how-much-should-a-psychotherapy-cost.sn
- Retrieved from: http://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Job=Psychologist/Salary

From Yoga to Doga

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
Doga has been around for many years in the United States, and many people claim to have "invented" the human-dog practice. The shift from yoga to Doga was inevitable and if you stop for a moment to think about it, most asanas come from the animal world: upward dog, downward dog, cat, cow, fish, cobra, etc.

Doga has been around for many years in the United States, and many people claim to have "invented" the human-dog practice. The Doga practice we have established at the Dogue Shop was a natural and original approach meant to change your philosophy about dogs. We do not use dogs as accessories, on the contrary, dogs learn to practice yoga with their human.

Yoga is a philosophy, not an exercise routine. According to Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga, the asana practice, or poses, is one part of the enlightenment process. We developed Doga based on philosophy, not the poses. Our Doga practice focuses on doing asanas with your dog as a routine, not as an accessory. The doga approach we teach involves breathing, self-awareness, poses, respect, control of the senses, and concentration. We even guide students through meditation in the presence of dogs.

The Eight Limbs of Yoga
Yama : Universal morality
Niyama : Personal observances
Asanas : Body postures
Pranayama : Breathing exercises, and control of prana
Pratyahara : Control of the senses
Dharana : Concentration and cultivating inner perceptual awareness
Dhyana : Devotion, Meditation on the Divine
Samadhi : Union with the Divine

A New Vision
Because the Dogue Shop likes to Think Outside the Box, we did not want to place dogs in strange positions, nor did we want to exclude certain breeds based on their size. Doga is really about developing and deepening the human-dog relationship based on social cognitive theory. The connection deepens the relationship and the relationship deepens the ability to work and solve problems in a secure and relaxed environment.

The topic of social cognitive theory was discussed in Reinforce Resilience. In the article, we discussed how to reinforce resilience through a different approach. Doga is the ultimate training practice in which a person learns to teach, bond, enjoy, and share an activity meant to keep both participants in the present moment. Doga, just like yoga, is a philosophy. Furthermore, doga is a low-impact training practice available to all. It can be practiced inside or out, and will certainly make participants laugh.

We encourage you to try Doga and start doing yoga with your dog, but most of all we encourage people to try and see their human-dog relationships in a new way. Canis Familiaris has been our working partner for hundreds of years, maybe it's time to step back and acknowledge that, although times have changed, we can still work with them in new creative ways. Give your dog a job. Give your dog a Doga job.

Source
http://www.expressionsofspirit.com/yoga/eight-limbs.htm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2479226/Yoga-dogs-JILLY-JOHNSON-tries-doga--14st-Great-Dane.html
http://www.catherinemann.com/doga-yoga-wa-dog/
http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2009/08/14/doga-yoga-for-dogs/

Think Outside The Box

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

The catch phrase think outside the box means to think in new ways in order to release one's creative potential. In the dog training world, think outside the box means to stop training with traditional punishment based methods and let new positive training ideas develop. Discussions are taking place all over the world about dominance, submission, and the excessive use of punishment in dog training; I urge you to join the discussion.

Traditional punishment based training models stipulate dogs form packs and establish hierarchies based on dominance and submission. At the top of the hierarchy, we find the most dominant subjects followed by their subservient conspecifics. The dominant animal, AKA alpha, controls all the resources. Traditional trainers take this model and apply it to domestic dog training. They claim dogs seek the alpha position within the human family unit, and dogs will do anything to get to the top. In other words, the dog wants to control humans and all available resources. Trainers that believe in dominance also claim dogs must submit to humans, if they do not, dogs must be placed in a submissive position till they surrender (calm down).

If this were true, why do dogs tolerate our presence? Canis Familiaris can exert approximately five hundred pounds of pressure per square inch, so why not just kill us and be done with it? Why display appeasement and avoidance signals towards us? The reason is simple, dogs do not want total domination, if they did, they would avoid humans all together or gang-up and kill us all.

Furthermore, dogs do not live in packs, nor do dominant subjects strive to control other individuals and available resources. Dominance is defined as what an individual wants more than the other at a particular point in time and the want can change, and usually does, at any moment. Dominance is really about confidence, not aggression. To push the discussion further, those who keep thinking within the box have not yet learned that submission (all three types) is always voluntary. You cannot force an individual, especially from another species, to submit because submission is the act of surrendering your Self. No living organism, human or non human, can make another living organism surrender its Self.

Dominance and submission are words that describe a group of behaviours. Anger and fear are emotions expressed as aggression and fearfulness. Behaviour is simply an expression of emotion, so dog training is really about changing emotions, not behaviour. My question to the reader is why does a dog trainer keep thinking in the box? Why not challenge yourself and think outside the box? The dog stopped being a wolf fifteen thousand years ago, so maybe the time has come for us to let go of the romantic idea that dogs are domestic wolves. Maybe the time has come for us to accept that the dog is, in fact, just a dog.

Reinforce Resilience

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT
In the last Blog, I tried to persuade readers to engage in a healthy discussion about what it means to be a dog professional. Today, we will take a look at learning and resilience. Note: to keep this article short, I have included a list of learning theories and people behind them at the end of this article.

In essence, learning theories are regrouped into six main theories: Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, Design-based, Humanism, and Miscellaneous. Out of all the learning theories, most professionals rely on one, behaviourism (classical and operant conditioning). Did you know Albert Bandura, a Canadian, linked behaviourism and cognitivism with his social cognitive theory in the sixties?

In essence, social cognitive theory states "...that all animal action is based on fulfilling the psychological needs of feeling, emotion, and desire”. Social cognitive theory is based on the idea that animals (including people) learn by observing others, and this can only occur when personal, behavioural, and environmental factors are conducive to learning. Dogs can and do learn through social cognitive theory.

Another learning theory comes into play, attachment. Indeed, dogs have pre-set behaviours that allow them to attach to whatever is present during the critical period of social development. After this attachment period, dogs will learn to imitate and solve problems not only through association but also through social and emotional connectedness. Dogs who have formed bonds with humans are more likely to follow pointing gestures and visual cues to problem-solve (Virányi et al., 2008). In fact, when all these learning theories are put together, the side effect is increased resilience.

Reinforced Resilience Reduces Reaction.
Resilience is the capacity of a human or animal to recover quickly from difficulties or difficult situations; therefore, animal professionals should reinforce resilience, not behaviour. You might think this sounds strange, yet I assure you this is not an abstract concept. I introduced other learning theories into my practice fifteen years ago, and believe me, they work wonderfully. Actually, many dog research labs now focus on the social and cognitive capacities of our canine companions.

How does one reinforce resilience you might ask. The answer lies in your ability to place all the pieces of the puzzle together. In other words, the human must set the stage for other theories to interconnect. The first puzzle is the social cognitive learning theory model which looks like the image below.
In the social cognitive learning theory model, behavioural factors influence and are influenced by environmental factors; environmental factors influence and are influenced by personal factors (cognition, emotion, and biology); personal factors influence and are influenced by behaviour. All factors must connect and interact with one another in order for learning to take place (above). When both human and dog models connect through a secure attachment, both individuals can experience learning. Once the human-dog pair functions smoothly, resilience can and will increases. Why? Because the human can plan and set forth the environmental, behavioural, and personal factors required to trigger a response and then reinforce recovery. In other words, the human voluntarily works to decrease the dog's recovery time in any given situation by reinforcing the said recovery. As the dog gains insight and receives multiple levels of reinforcement for quick recovery, resilience will increase (below).The process of placing dogs into social situations in order to trigger personal and behavioural responses is termed situational inducement. Inducement should remain at the dog's threshold, for if the situation is too stressful, the dog will cease to learn. Remember, all three aspects of the social cognitive theory must function together in order to create a favourable learning environment. Furthermore, if situational inducement triggers high stress responses, the human-dog attachment will suffer and start to deteriorate.

The objective of social cognitive and attachment theory is to let your dog know that you are there and that you will provide positive feedback. Your dog should think you are God, not because you have food, but because your relationship says I got your back. A resilient human and dog team is a powerful combination that can be exposed to any situation and bounce back physically, mentally, and emotionally without any long term negative effects.

Cooper, J.J., Ashton, C., Bishop, S., West, R., Mills, D.S. & Young, R.J. (2003). Clever hounds: social cognition in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). Animal Behaviour Science, United-Kingdom 81 229–244.

Holt, E.B. and H.C. (1931). Brown, Animal drive and the learning process, an essay toward radical empiricism. New York: H. Holt and Co.

Frank, H & Frank, M.G. (1982). Applied Animal Ethology. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam 507-525.

McLeod, S. A. (2009). Attachment Theory. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/attachment.html

Virányi, Z., Gácsi. M., Kubinyi, E., Topál, J., Belényi, B., Ujfalussy, D., & Miklósi, A. (2008). Comprehension of human pointing gestures in young human-reared wolves (Canis lupus) and dogs (Canis familiaris). Anim Cogn 11:373–387. DOI 10.1007/s10071-007-0127-y

Emotional Dog Training

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

This article will undoubtedly appear as a controversial piece to many, so be it! I accept the divergence of opinions, for I am open to constructive criticism and capable of objective dialogue. My purpose is to make people think. Think about relationships, beliefs, and ideas. I challenge the reader to sit back and ask themselves this question, where do I find myself in the negative/positive continuum? There is no right or wrong answer. You are where you find yourself.

Punishment (-) _____________________ (?) _____________________________ Reinforcement (+)

I think the line between punishment and abuse is a very thin one and should be discussed. The idea for this article came to me when I read the following statement: "Finding a dog trainer who will not hurt your dog, either physically or EMOTIONALLY, is not easy." The text, written by Paws for Praise, reminds us that human-dog relationships should be based in acceptance, understanding, and love; unfortunately, this is easier said than done.

I have been working with dogs and other species of the canine genus for many, many, years and know the value of the statement; conversely, I find it strange that humans demand of dogs things they do not do, or have great difficulty doing themselves. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe in training animals with force; however, dogs, animals, and people have emotions and it's impossible, not to say ludicrous, to think a living organism can go through life without EVER having its emotions hurt.

Punishment

Punishment is defined as adding something the dog doesn't want in order to reduce or decrease the probability the undesirable behaviour will occur again; therefore, anything that will stop and/or reduce a behaviour, is defined as a punishment.

The punisher can be anything that involves the senses and emotions: auditory (sounds, words, or noises...), physical (touch, poke, kick, electric shock, choke, wind, heat, cold...), visual (rolling, falling, floating, flying things...), olfactory (perfumes, spices, vinegars, urine, faeces...), emotions (fear, anger...). Punishers are an inescapable part of life.

So, where do we draw the line between punishment and abuse? Is it when the punishment becomes physical? Is it when the dog manifests appeasement and avoidance signals? Is it when the dog exhibits fear or aggression? How can we evaluate a dog's emotional state without relying on observable behaviour? By the time dogs exhibit appeasement and avoidance signals, maybe their emotions were already hurt, maybe not. If their emotions were hurt, will the punisher create a long lasting emotional scar?

If parents yell No! at their children as they are about to cross the street, are their emotions hurt? For some children the answer might be yes and for others no. If the child cannot speak, how can we infer his emotions were harmed? Ultimately, who can conclude, without a doubt, that the child or dog is emotionally wounded? These questions are hard to answer as we don't know, beyond exhibited physical behaviours, if the organism is emotionally suffering or not.

As mentioned above, I am not writing this piece to justify or negate punishment, I know where I find myself on the punishment/reinforcement continuum. I simply feel this questions should be discussed further; therefore, I ask you, the reader, where do you find yourself on the continuum and why? How do you know which punisher have a long lasting emotional effect on the dog? Based on what is shown on television, where do you draw the line between punishment and abuse?

Maybe the answer lies in intent...
To be continued.

Backyard Trainers

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

This might come as a surprise for some readers outside the dog profession; therefore, I urge you to brace yourselves for what I am about to say. Dog training is an unrecognised profession with no educational standards or governing body in Quebec, Canada. If you did not know this, please rest assured, you are not alone. With the advent of TV reality shows, this fact places people, trainers and clients alike, in a precarious position. Let us explore why.

Applied animal behaviour is a recognised profession which requires a university degree; furthermore, behaviourists are usually members of a specific professional organisation. In other words, behaviourists are bound by a code of ethics and ave a governing body, depending on their country of origin.

In Quebec, dog trainers are not required to have any educational training. Basically, this means people can read a book or watch a television show and call themselves dog trainers. Although some self-taught trainers use a positive approach to dog training and continue their education via conferences and seminars, some trainers are simply put, bad to the bone.

Backyard Trainers
I call punishment based and forceful dog trainers "backyard" trainers. These backyard trainers have little or no basic understanding of animal behaviour modification; consequently, they create more problems than they solve. Why? Because their training approach focuses on outdated ideas and theories like dominance and pack structure.

Dog Trainer Professionals
Professional dog trainers recognise the need for structured, formal, educational programs and go out of their way to acquire such an education. The training they receive is often given by behaviourists which explains why they have a basic to advanced understanding of animal behaviour and modification protocols. Professional people do not hesitate to refer cases which exceed their qualifications. Professional dog trainers network and strive to keep in touch and discuss training practices, methods, and techniques.

Dog Training Clients
Clients should ask for references from other clients or turn towards sources such as dog parks, veterinarians, videos of trainers, and contact the training school where their potential trainer has taken classes. Social networks are also an excellent source of information. Clients can look at potential trainers' posts, comments, associations, affiliations or liked pages.

Clients can read up on training techniques and interview trainers. Clients should ask questions such as name the four quadrants of conditioning, what is a variable schedule of reinforcement, and what is the difference between positive and negative punishment. Trainers' answers should come without hesitation and match the information previously gathered for the interview. Clients do not need to understand the definitions, they are simply verifying qualifications and knowledge.

The Road Ahead
When the time comes to sort between professional and backyard trainers, I recommend clients trust the information they gathered and their instinct. Finally, clients should hire the person which best fits their expectations and needs. Remember, if it's too good to be true, it normally is!

Brain Games

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

The objective of this article is to teach pet owners how to make and use interactive toys. City dogs spend most of their time alone; as a result, they get bored and destructive. Separation anxiety is often the result of poor mental stimulation and over attachment to owner. This comes as no surprise since dogs get most of their "feel good hormones" directly from human interaction. Guilty pet owners think that this boredom can be alleviated with extended periods of physical activity; unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Dogs need to use their cognitive abilities in order to become well adjusted and happy companions.

Contrary to popular belief, the brain is not a muscle. It is an organ that can generate or regenerate itself in an astonishing fashion. The old saying "use it or lose it" is factual when discussing the brain. Neurons are like fireflies, they come together, make little sparks, and if all is well will reproduce. Regrettably, if the fireflies cannot communicate, they will be unable to make sparks, and the fireflies will die. Interactive toys keep the spark from dying out.

Cognitive games, or enrichment activities, are presented as easy, medium, or hard levels of difficulty. The level itself is referred to as the number of necessary steps the animal must achieve in order to solve the problem. Thus, the easy level requires only one step for the animal to solve the problem, i.e. remove treat from container. The medium level requires two steps: remove lid from container, get treat from container. Level three, which is the hardest level for most dogs, requires three steps in order to solve the problem: remove elastic from container, remove lid from container, remove treat from container. The game can be simple or multiple sensory stimulating. In other words, the games stimulates visual, auditory, olfactory, taste, and/or touch.

The first interactive game I will describe is one that stimulates taste and visual senses. It can be presented in various levels of difficulty as describes blow.

Take a large yogurt container (1kg), fill it with special treats or your pet's meal, and flip it upside down on the floor (no lid). Let the dog investigate and try to flip the container. Encourage your dog if he touches it with his nose or paws. Keep encouraging till he gets to the food. For the medium level, fill the container with food and add the lid to the container but still flip the container upside down (lid facing floor). For the difficult level, add food in the container, and place a strong elastic around the container to close the lid. For a longer lasting activity, mix the food with none salted broth, canned food, raw meat, eggs, or any sticky substance your pet loves and freeze the content before giving him the game.

My favourite interactive game is object recognition. Not only does it increases your dog's mental abilities and tires him out in a few minutes, it will also impress your entourage. Find as many different objects as you can. Garage sales and dollar stores are wonderful places to look for enrichment items.

For this activity, you will need delicious treats and a comfortable sitting position. Take the first object and touch your dog's nose with it while simultaneously naming the object. Say "good dog" or click and give him a treat. Most dogs will start to make the association between the word and the object after five times. Very intelligent dogs will require only two to three tries. You can test the dog by presenting a new object and asking the one he knows. If he

touches the new object keep paring nose-object-treat and ask again. Once the dog recognises the object, introduce a new one in presence of the old. You dog will recognise the familiar object and through discrimination will identify the new one. This makes learning much faster and prevents boredom. The world record for object recognition by name is a thousand plus. The difficulty level will increase when you start to introduce new objects.

For those who do not wish to spend time on the design of complex interactive toys, Nina Ottosson is the answer for you. She has a variety of interactive games ranging from easy to hard. These toys are made of plastic, are extremely sturdy, and dishwasher safe. I personally recommend Magic, Maze, Spinny, Brick, Casino, and Finder. I haven't tried the Miracle, but I am certain dogs love it too.

In any case, be creative, have fun and share your dog's achievements and or enrichment activities with us.

Dog Training Profession - Part 2

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

Before I discuss what a dog trainer does, I must explain what a dog trainer is not. The dog training profession is not a recognized one, in other words the government, via the different ministries of education, does not offer a dog trainer curriculum. No official dog training diploma exists in Canada, this means anyone can give himself or herself the title of dog trainer. Private institutions do offer courses, but no educational standard exists. From one school to another contents change, so titles obtained vary in significance.

Certain people in our profession pretend to be what they are not. They become trainers after reading a book or attending a seminar, while others add behaviourist at the end of their name without having a university degree. Dog training is not guaranteeing the success of your work. Neither is it assuming you can cure undesirable behaviours. Teaching a dog is not a task, and the animal should never be afraid of working. People who say they know it all are usually the ones who need to update their knowledge!

So, what is a dog trainer?
First, let us look at a few definitions in order to clarify terms used in the business. Titles often used are: master-trainer, trainer, instructor, behaviourist, ethologist and cynologists.

• The Master-Trainer: is a person who trains protection, security and/or guard dogs. No schooling required.
• The Dog Trainer: teaches owners how to train their dogs to live in our society. No schooling required.
• The Instructor: is a person who repeats what he was taught, without necessarily understanding the basis of conditioning. No schooling required.
• The Behaviourist: from psychology, studies observable behaviours resulting from a strict relationship with the environment (stimulus-response). University degree.
• The Ethologis: from the theory of evolution, studies causes and consequences from a strict ecologic and physiologic point of view. University degree.
• The Cynologist: trains and works with dogs. Refers to the French military. No schooling required.

The behaviourists and ethologists generally do not train dogs, so we will skip the explanations. The two definitions that retain my attention are: master-trainer and trainer. In French the two are very different.

The master-trainer trains dogs for: protection, guard, security, search and rescue and attack. From the old school they sometimes practice outdated and dangerous techniques. Training techniques are often negative the dog is victim of coercion. A lot of these trainers treat the dog as if it were a wolf, without even knowing the Canis Lupus ethogram. The trainer teaches people how to train their dogs. In French we call them canine educators because they educate people on how to train their dogs. In general they practice more secure and humane techniques based on positive reinforcement, although this is not a pre-requisite for the definition. These trainers usually do obedience and various sports. A good trainer will prevent and/or modify certain minor behaviour problems.

Next on the list is the trainer specialised in behaviour problems, not to be confused with behaviourist. He has the same aptitudes as the regular trainer but his training will be centered on behaviour problems. This type of trainer does not have a university degree, but generally speaking studies the same course content. Curiously, behaviourists teach many trainers specialised in behaviour. These professional trainers are capable of modifying or managing serious behaviour problems with a very high success rate. Note: the university of British-Columbia is the only institution offering a degree in applied behaviour in Canada.

Good trainers are conscientious people when it comes to their schooling, and don’t pretend to be someone they are not. These people attend conferences, seminars and private courses on training and modifying behaviours. They work very hard to perfect their knowledge; it’s not rare to see two trainers exchange information regarding the latest scientific findings. As a reference point, here are some aptitudes a good trainer should possess:

• Master the different characteristics of individual breed of dogs
• Have pertinent experience in his respective domain
• Know the training terminology
• Identify the physical and emotional language of the dog
• Be aware of new scientific discoveries
• Offer himself a continuous education
• Have a basic knowledge of health and nutrition
• For specialists, master the complexity of behaviour problems

Communication Canine

Par Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

Qu’est-ce que la communication? Dans le dictionnaire il est écrit : 1. Fait de communiquer, d’établir une relation avec autrui. Ce qui m’apporte à voir le mot communiquer : 1. Transmettre. 2. Donner connaissance, faire partager à qqn. 3. Être en relation, en rapport, en correspondance (avec qqn). Donc, nous communiquons bel et bien avec nos chiens, mais que leur disons-nous réellement?

Prenons le Alpha Roll[1] comme exemple. Est-ce que rouler Fido sur le dos et lui tenir la poitrine clouée au sol veut dire : Je suis l’alpha, soumet toi, si non! Ou est-ce que cela veut dire : Périodiquement je vais te foutre la trouille, sans raison apparente, en te virer sur le dos jusqu’à ce que tu deviennes inhibé. Si vous avez choisi la deuxième option vous êtes champion. Ce que nous communiquons à Fido est une question de perception et dans ce cas si elle doit être faite à partir du point de vue de l’animal. Mais, pour ce faire nous devons connaître son dictionnaire.

La dominance est un concept intra-spécifique, c’est-à-dire que pour dominer le chien il faut être capable de parler le même langage que lui, ce qui est impossible. Je ne peux pas lever ma queue dans les airs, je ne peux pas relever mes oreilles et je ne peux surtout pas hérisser le poil sur mon dos. La soumission chez le chien ou tout autre animal se fait volontairement ou il y a bagarre. Je n’ai jamais vu un chien ou un loup prendre son adversaire par la peau du coup, le virer et le tenir sur le dos jusqu’à ce qu’il se soumette. Je le répète, l’animal se soumet VOLONTAIREMENT ou il y a un conflit de dominance !

Pour illustrer ce point d’avantage prenons l’exemple d’un éléphant et d’un buffle qui s’affrontent dans la savane. Je vous demande alors qui domine qui ? La réponse est ni un ni l’autre et les deux à la fois, car dans leurs têtes respectives ils exhibent leur comportement de dominance. Dans cette situation il n’y a pas de communication puisque la définition dit : établir une relation avec autrui, être en relation.

Dans cet exemple le Buffle se fait gros et essaie de dominer l’éléphant en baissant la tête et en montrant ces cornes. L’éléphant aussi démontre ses comportements de dominances en ouvrant ses oreilles et en levant sa trompe dans les airs. Il offre les mêmes comportements qu’il offrirait à un autre éléphant s’il voulait le dominer. Nous voyons clairement que dans cette situation la communication n’est pas possible. Le Buffle ne domine pas l’éléphant car ils ne comprennent pas leur langage respectif. Avec cette nouvelle compréhension comment pouvons nous interpréter notre relation avec le chien comme étant dominance et soumission ?

Le chien passe son temps à interpréter nos comportements car il ne comprend pas notre langage. Je vous donne un autre exemple. Vous devez couper les griffes de votre chien et il ne veut pas. Vous l’immobilisez de force jusqu’à ce qu’il cesse de bouger et accepte vos manipulations. Je vous pose la question : l’avez vous dominez ? Bien sûr que non ! Dans sa tête vous lui avez fait peur et ne pouvant pas fuir, il a figé. Rappelez-vous, lorsqu’un chien a peur il a trois réactions possibles ; figer, fuir ou frapper[2]. Bien que la majorité des chiens préfèrent fuir, frapper est souvent l’alternative de choix.

Nous connaissons le langage physique du chien mais malheureusement très peu de gens connaissent son langage émotionnel. Les signaux d’apaisements et d’évitements font partie intégrante de leur vocabulaire et reconnaître ceux-ci est une nécessité pour comprendre ce qu’il nous dit. Cette compréhension permettrait de prévenir les troubles de comportements souvent issus d’un manque de communication.

Revenons à l’exemple ci-haut du chien qui subit une contention pour se faire couper les griffe. Son maître est par-dessus lui et essaie de l’immobiliser, le chien baille, fait aller le bout se sa queue rapidement, pleure et détourne constamment votre regard, bref il essaie de vous dire qu’il panique car il ne comprend pas ce que vous exigez de lui. Rappelez-vous, dans son monde canin aucun chien ne ferait une telle chose ! Dans notre exemple Fido pourrait faire l’association entre vous et douleur et penser que vous êtes un danger potentiel.

Établir une relation saine avec un animal exige une compréhension maximale de son éthogramme[3]. Nous devons comprendre que la communication n’est possible qu’entre deux espèces démontrant les mêmes comportements, langage corporel et émotionnel. Toute autre forme de relation est issue du respect et des associations positives qui résultent de ces échanges. Prévenir un trouble de comportement commence par reconnaître que nous ne sommes ni supérieurs ni inférieurs à nos chiens, nous sommes tout simplement différents. Je vous laisse sur les paroles de Charles Darwin qui en revenant de son tour du monde a dit : les différences créent la diversité!

[1] Roulade dorsale avec maintien de posture jusqu’à ce que le chien se soumette.

[2] Un animal n’a que trois réactions possibles face à un stimulus; figer, fuir ou se battre (traduit de l’anglais feeze, flight or fight). En français nous utilisons le terme frapper afin de respecter le plus fidèlement possible la règle des 3Fs.

[3] L’éthogramme est le répertoire complet des comportements d’une espèce.

The "tsit" Philosophy

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

Things you will probably never encounter or read.

- You will most likely never read a book titled "Using Tsit to Modify Speach." A book on how to use and master the pronunciation of "tsit" to improve speech written by the Russian speech therapist Dr. Vlad Von Talksalote.

- You will probably never find a wolf trainer use "tsit" (combined with poke) to modify C. lupus' dominant-aggressive behaviour towards unfamiliar people.

- You will definitely never see or use a clicker that goes "tsit".

- You will undoubtedly never read or find a scientific book about animal behaviour modification written by Dr. Dog Whisperer on the shelves of your local book store within the next 50 years.

- You will certainly never see an animal behaviourist place an elephant in a calm-submissive position in order to reach a calm-submissive state.

- You will absolutely never see a silver-back gorilla "tsit" his family.

- You will unquestionably never find a psychology university program offering a course entitled "Tsit 101, An Introduction to Behaviour Modification." Given by Dr. Johndoe Noitall.

- You will certainly encounter many people doing many things and telling you many stories; but, most of all you will discover that in the grand scheme of things "The tsit Philosophy" just doesn’t work.

Dog Aggression

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

Most dog owners know about the physical language of dogs; a raised tail and ears mean dominance, while a lowered tail and ears mean submission. However, few know about the emotional language dogs’ exhibit. Physical language presented as appeasement and avoidance signals make up the ethogram, aka canine dictionary. This dictionary must be understood in order to develop a secure relationship with the dog, which in turn will reduce the risks of bites.

Appeasement and avoidance signals are intended for those purposes. Appeasement signals serve to minimize conflict, while avoidance signals are intended at avoiding conflict in the first place. Appeasement signals like stretching, yawning, tongue flicking, pawing, and such, are displayed to the opponent (human, dog or other) in order to avoid stop conflicts before they escalate. Avoidance signals are displayed at an opponent when a dog tries to avoid a conflict. He signals his intentions, turning eyes, turning head, curving, sitting, pretend sniffing, hoping to avoid the escalating conflict.

When confronted with a stressful situation a dog will respond in one of three ways; freeze, flight or fight, in that order. Dogs do not want to be hurt; their survival would be compromised if they wanted to fight all the time. Knowing this changes our perception of aggression and dog bites. Canines want to avoid being hurt and signal their emotional distress through behaviours that owners do not understand and as a result, they may get bitten.

Aggression in dogs is normal; after all, they are predators. It is the lack of understanding that puts people in jeopardy. Owners punish the puppy for showing his teeth at grandmother; they tell him “No” when he growls. For the dog, these are normal signs of distress and people punish them out, leaving the dog with no other option but to bite. Remember freeze, flight or fight! Given the right circumstances, the dog will bite, no questions asked.

Pausing (freeze) behaviour shows the dog is uncomfortable, stress is building up and he must make a decision “Should I stay, or run away? ” In most cases the dog will run away (flight), however, when the environment prevents him from escaping, biting (fight) becomes an option, actually, the only option left!

Here is an example. A dog is playing on the balcony with his favourite toy. The neighbour walks in the yard. The dog pauses, tongue flicks, stands, circles and lies down again. The Neighbour interprets this as the dog being ok (he laid down again). He walks up the stairs and the dog bites his leg as he passes by. The dog gave all the right signals, unfortunately, the person failed to recognize them, and got bitten. Look at the situation from the dog’s point of view. When the person entered the yard, the dog paused (decision-making), tongue flicked (calming signal), circled (curving = 1st avoidance signal) and laid back down (down = 2nd avoidance signal). After reading this information, one can see the situation was preventable.

Through artificial selection, humans have changed the dogs' fixed action patterns (chain of behaviours working towards a specific goal), breeding down certain traits their wild ancestors still exhibit. Such behavioural faults are killed, dismember and eat. One must understand that these genetic traits are not removed, they are simply dormant. Dogs retain their predatory behaviours and under the right conditions, genetics will always over-ride training.

Physically speaking, the consequences of dog bites are different, the size of the dog being the main factor. However, emotionally speaking, the result is the same. Dogs are euthanized and victims are scarred for life. To avoid dog bites, prevention through education remains the best option.

Dog Training Profession - Part 1

By Gaby Dufresne-Cyr, CBT

Dog training needs to become a recognised profession in order to support trainers and pet owners. Professionals and the general public should be able to turn to an organisation for accountability and information. Points to consider are abuse and neglect definitions, acceptable dog trainer conduct, standardise dog training terms, define various training tools and their use, establish ethical training practices, etc.

The following points were taken from a very interesting article which I wish to share with Dogue Shop fans, owners and trainers alike. I believe the time has come where dog trainers and behaviour consultants need to take a serious look at their "profession" in order to establish responsibility. At the Dogue Shop we have framed our mission statement and abide by it, this give clients an idea of what we do and what we do not do.

Please take a few minutes to read the following points and write your feedback. Dogue Shop will define these terms and display them in our establishment. I urge you to do the same.

The nine proposed core ethical principles that can be adapted to animal trainers:
1. Do No Harm - “Do no harm” is the ethical principle that has guided professionals in the medical profession for centuries. As animal trainers begin to look seriously at issues surrounding the use of punishment, the appropriateness of aversive procedures in certain situations, and handling animals with serious behavior problems, “Do no harm” will be a most important ethical principle. Definitions will need to be developed for trainers to specify the meaning of “harm”. Harm is generally thought of as permanent damage or injury. For both humans and animals, harm can be physical or psychological. In animal training, harm to animals would most likely result from the inappropriate use of equipment or procedures or the excessive use of punishment. As we begin to address principles such as “do no harm” we will need to define terms such as “excessive,” “great” as in “great pain and distress,” and “inappropriate”. “Do no harm” is a concept that pertains to cruelty/neglect of animals, practices causing animals great pain or distress, and the need for trainers to take into account the psychological and physical well being of the animals in their care.

2. Respect Autonomy - “Autonomy” means independence or the ability to function without control by others. In human settings, ethical therapists should work hard to have their clients become self-reliant. It is considered unethical for a therapist to tell a client he or she needs to continue sessions simply so the therapist will not lose income if the client is terminated.

When this concept is applied to animal training, trainers who are ethical think about making owners and their animals as independent as possible. The skills we teach the dog should result in the dog being a well-mannered, well-behaved respected community member who is loved in a family and welcome in public settings. Teaching animal owners responsible ownership behaviors will result in all of us who are animal owners having increased independence. We want to be welcome in hotels, public parks, and other public areas and the way to get welcomed is to have all animal owners behave responsibly. Trainers should teach owners the skills they need to manage their dogs effectively in both the home and community. Animal trainers should strive to make owners as self-reliant as possible when it comes to handling their own animal. This requires /that classes and lessons provide a functional curriculum for pet owners. Why focus on teaching a “Figure 8” and “flip-finish” when the dog will not even come to the owner when called?

On a much larger scale related to autonomy (not being controlled by others), many animal owners are affected by legislation that negatively impacts animals and their owners. Legislation in some cities discriminates against certain breeds; some locations restrict the number of dogs people can own, and other places ban dogs from public areas such as local parks. This legislation generally comes following problem incidents where animal owners have not been responsible. Being a part of a society means that we will have rules and we lose autonomy to some extent. The loss of autonomy will be even greater in settings where animal owners are not responsible.

3. Benefiting Others - “Benefiting others” in the animal training context means that decisions made by trainers should have a positive effect on both animal and clients. Clients are the owners of companion animals such as dogs or horses as well as the staff/administration of agencies such as zoos, circuses, or farms. In human settings, ethical issues are applied to the professional to client relationship. Ethical issues also apply to the professional to professional relationship. For example, doctors should not speak badly to their patients about another physician. In animal training, there is an additional element added to the ethics formula - the animal. Animal trainers must address ethical issues regarding trainer-client relationships, trainer-animal relationships, and trainer to trainer relationships. In all of the relationships a trainer has, whether they be with animals, clients, or other trainers, the ethical principle of “benefit others” applies. Trainers should treat all animals with respect, be respectful of colleagues and other professionals, and be respectful of clients. Clients, whether they be the owners of pets or agency administrators, should be able to refuse methods of training with which they feel uncomfortable.

4. Be Just - Actions that are “just” are actions that are fair and impartial. This is the principle that says as animal trainers we should treat animals and clients as we would like to be treated. Another part of being fair to clients is that they are not promised something a trainer can’t deliver. Trainers will take the physical and psychological well being of the animal into account when planning behavior programs. For example, it would not be fair to use punishment with any animal who engages in an undesirable behavior that was caused by a health problem. Ethical trainers will also refrain from giving unreasonable guarantees regarding the outcome of training.

5. Being Faithful - “Being faithful” in both human services and animal training settings relates to being truthful, sincere, and without intent to mislead anyone. Faithfulness with regard to ethics relates to maintaining allegiance. This allegiance can be to animals in general, to an individual animal, or to a client. Being faithful in professional settings also applies to confidentiality, promise keeping, and not violating a trust. An ethical trainer would not discuss one client with another client. The relationship between a trainer and client is a fiduciary relationship, much like the relationship between therapist and client. Whether animal trainers are working for a pet owner or a large agency, confidentiality and the need for trainers to “respect the privacy of clients and hold in confidence all information used in the course of professional services” is an important part of being an ethical trainer.

6. Accord Dignity Professionals in human service settings begin with the assumption that every person is worthy of respect. Expanded to animal training, every client (individual or agency) is worthy of respect and every animal is worthy of respect. Trainers can give clients dignity by giving them strategies and procedures to use with which they can have success with their pet or the animals in their care. Clients are given dignity when trainers understand their problems, needs, and the dynamics of their particular situation at a given time.

With individual pet owners, some clients have physical limitations or learning problems and a trainer who gives a client dignity will make the necessary adaptations to ensure that the client can experience success. In agency settings, it is sometimes necessary for a trainer to take into consideration the limited resources a facility may have.

Animals are given dignity when trainers recognize that each and every one is a unique, remarkable creature. Different animals learn in different ways and ethical trainers will identify training methods for individual animals that results in the animal having an opportunity to be successful and get reinforced for correct behaviours.

7. Treat Others With Care And Compassion - “Treating others with care and compassion” is an ethical principle applied in medical and therapy settings that can also apply to animal training. Being able to imagine one’s self in the place of a frustrated, novice animal owner with a problem is one mark of an ethical trainer. Understanding that an animal is not being noncompliant, instead, he is really just very confused about what you want him to do, is an ability that is related to ethics. Understanding that a minimum wage staff person in a zoo is terrified of this out of control bull elephant will help a trainer work with the staff member in a more caring, effective manner.

8. Pursuit Of Excellence - In professional settings in many areas, the pursuit of excellence relates to becoming a competent professional, supporting other professionals who are trying to become more skilled, and attempting to prevent unprofessional and unethical actions.

Animal trainers who are ethical should be in constant pursuit of excellence. This means improving ones own skills as well as helping colleagues, clients, and animals “be all that they can be”. Ethical animal trainers will do their best to have an impact on the larger training community, but they will not attempt to work out of the range of their own professional limitations. Ethical animal trainers strive to stay informed of the advances in animal training and maintain high standards. Trainers can read relevant material, attend conferences, workshops and seminars, and participate in other relevant forms of continuing education.

9. Accept Accountability - “Accept accountability” relates to considering the potential consequences of one’s actions, taking responsibility for one’s actions, and refraining from shifting the blame to others. In animal training, a person who is accountable has to accept some responsibility for both clients and animals. Owners/clients should be satisfied with the services rendered, trainers should be accountable and only take credit for their own work, and trainers will work within their own professional limits after assessing their own skills.

Source: http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/ethics.html