Two Tails: A real life training comparison

Have you ever wanted to know what the same situation would look like on dogs trained using different methods?

What happens when a shock collar doesn’t work?

How does food prevent unwanted behaviors?

We’ll explore these questions below.

The Long Line
I was walking Calvin, a sweet and exuberant little Cocker Spaniel, on a 15 long line. He loves people and will jump on
anyone within reach. I saw a family with small children taking a walk together, making their way towards us. I walk Calvin on a 15-foot long line, so I reeled in the leash to make it shorter. We played “Look at That!” while the family passed us. Calvin wanted to interact with the children, but we were working on being okay with letting people walk by without rushing up and interrupting their day. As soon as the family
passed us, Calvin and I were able to happily continue our walk like nothing happened.

The Shock Collar
About two blocks behind me, I saw the family approach a man walking his sweet and exuberant German Shorthair Pointer. Instead of a leash or a long line, this dog was wearing an electronic collar (a shock collar) with no physical control. The dog forged ahead of his owner, excited to interact with the children. The man called his dog back, but the dog ignored the commands. The man pulled out a remote and pushed the button. The dog shook his head, but continued moving toward the children. The man fiddled with the remote, I assume to turn the stimulus up. He called the dog and was ignored again. He pushed the button and the dog shook his head more forcefully, and this time, the dog stopped forward movement.

I noted that the dog didn’t make any attempt to move toward his owner, and instead chose to wait for his owner to catch up. The dog walked near his owner for a few seconds, but when the family was close enough, he just couldn’t handle it, and jumped on all of the children. The family didn’t seem to mind, but the owner was visibly frustrated and angry. He pushed the button again when he wanted to keep moving but his dog wanted to play. The dog reluctantly complied, but was immediately confronted with a new challenge.

The human-dog pair was very close to an intersection at this point, when a pickup came through. The dog, still coming down from the excitement of meeting the children, ran out into the intersection, ignoring his owner’s distressed cries. I saw the owner desperately push buttons on the remote, and he pushed the big button again, after which his dog yelped and whimpered. While this did stop his dog from getting run over,
his dog still made no attempts to go back to his owner. Instead, the dog just stood in the middle of the street, uncomfortably waiting for his owner to come to him. The man stormed out of sight, visibly upset. I have no idea what happened after the man and dog left my field of vision, but I know from its body language and facial expressions that the dog was confused and scared.

The Result
The shock collar did not prevent this dog from reaching its target (the family), and the shock collar did not prevent this dog from running into the street. What if this dog was not just overly eager and friendly? What if this dog was intent on harming the family? What if, in his attempt to control his dog by using pain, the owner tipped his dog over from eager to aggressive by applying pain? Does the owner even know that “tipping” is a thing that can happen? What if, the fear and pain from the collar had caused the dog to run fast and far away in an attempt to escape the aversive stimulus? Does the owner know that this is a possible outcome? There are so many risks associated with using a device like a shock collar, and most dog owners do not even know what those risks are.

This example is in no way reflective of how a highly skilled “balanced” or punishment-based trainer would use the tool, but it highlights some of the reasons that it is dangerous for most people to use this tool. The International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) recently released a statement on the use of shock.

“The use of shock in training and behavior is not considered a best practice by the IAABC or the Joint  Standards of Practice, and is strongly discouraged.

Our goal is to eliminate the use of shock devices from training and behavior work, and to do so by modeling, educating, and providing members with effective alternatives.

We focus on reinforcing desired behaviors, and always ask the question, “What do you want the animal to do?” Relying on punishment in training does not answer this question, and therefore offers no acceptable behavior for the animal to learn to replace the unwanted behavior. These LIMA guidelines do not justify the use of aversive methods and tools including, but not limited to, the use of electronic, choke or prong collars in lieu of other effective positive reinforcement interventions and strategies.

Members found failing to follow these requirements are subject to Ethics Committee recommendations for education, suspension of membership, or revocation of certification.”

Members of the IAABC are top-rated behavior consultants across the world. They are held to high educational and ethical standards. The IAABC is telling its highly skilled and educated certificants that shock is unhelpful at best, harmful at worst, and should be eliminated. Imagine the damage that a pet owner with fewer skills and less education can do.

Ethics aside, research shows, time and again, that rewards-based training is safer, faster, and more effective.
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To find a skilled, ethical and certified trainer, check the directory of Certified Professional Dog Trainers at www.ccpdt.org, the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants at www.iaabc.org, or reach out to The Laughing Dog at www.LaughingDogFM.com.

Clickers Galore! Which One is Right for You?

There are so many clicker choices! Where is a person supposed to start? 

If you are looking at all of the options available to you, and feeling overwhelmed, I hope this post can be of help.

The classic box clicker produces the loudest, most crisp-sounding click. It is super-cheap and readily available. You can find it at any pet store. I think I’ve even seen a box clicker at Walmart. I will say that the downside to these clickers – they are difficult to use while wearing mittens or thick gloves. This may not not the best choice for pets that are sensitive to loud noises.

Then there is the the I-Click. It is popular among professional trainers, and for good reason! It is easier to use while wearing mittens or gloves, and it is easy to click with your foot. If you’re ever working on something that requires both of your hands, but you can use your toe/heel to mark the behavior, this is probably the clicker you want to use. 

There are some fancier clickers that fill a niche. The Clicinco Clicker Ring is a clicker that is worn on a finger like a ring. I have not yet used one. I’ve heard mixed reviews on this clicker. Some people love it, and others have been less impressed. I’m told it is not a loud click, but if you are looking for something to wear like a ring, this may be the right clicker for you. 

This PetSafe clicker is another one that you can wear on your finger. I have two of these! One for my car and one for my living room. I like it a lot. It produces a softer click. It is fairly easy to use when wearing thin-medium weight gloves, which is great when you live on the Minnesota-North Dakota boarder like me. I typically wear this one when I am training all day and my hand gets fatigued from holding a box clicker all day. 

Then we have the Click Stick! I also have one of these. This is great for teaching a targeting behavior to animals that don’t like to have their space invaded, are uncomfortable getting close to your body, or are too dangerous to work closely with.

Finally, we have this ingenious clicker that attaches to the leash! I have one of these and LOVE it. Fairly easy to use with gloves or mittens, but not as easy as the I-Click clicker. It is a softer click than the box clicker. 

The industry is constantly evolving and experiencing innovations, so there may be more clicker styles than I have listed here. But I hope that this list can help my readers choose a clicker that will function well in their daily lives!

Car Trouble

Mason had a lot of trouble in the car. For the first two years of his life, riding in the car with him was incredibly stressful. He would whine and drool the entire trip, no matter how long the ride was. He’d scream so loud, it made me dizzy. He would try to attack the cars around us. He threw his body against the windshield so hard, it cracked. At one point, he even threw himself out of a moving vehicle.

If a client came to me with these problems, the first thing I’d suggest is using a crate to confine the dog and a blanket to block their view. I tried this with Mason, but he broke out and was somehow even more agitated than if I just let him ride loose. It was awful. If you’re reading this, odds are you’re dealing with something similar. I have good news; he’s better now; almost normal! Here’s what I did:

Chapter One: Stationary Work
Week One: I put a moratorium on going places until the dog was ready. Fed all meals in the stationary car. I fed out of a Kong or other food puzzle to make the training sessions longer and more interesting. I sat in the driver’s seat while he was eating. During Week One, I’d get out of the car and release the dog before he finished eating, leaving him wanting more, and wanting to get back in to finish (I wouldn’t recommend this for a heavy resource guarder. My dog has very little guarding behavior).

Weeks Two and Three: I’d have us sit in the stationary car for a few minutes, sometimes at mealtime, sometimes with just a quick little snack. I always brought him out before he got worked up. I varied the amount of time we were in the stationary car so that he didn’t learn to count the seconds/minutes. My protocol here is based on Dr. Karen Overall’s Relaxation Protocol.

Chapter 2: Add Some Motion

Note: Weeks 4, 5,6 and 7 I used the highest value reinforcer for my dog. After that, I switched back to his kibble because he demonstrated that he slightly more comfortable, and would accept the kibble as a reinforcer at 8 weeks.

Week Four: I spent this week starting the ignition and letting the car run while I fed the highest value reinforcer for my dog – rotisserie chicken. Again, I varied the amount of time we spent in the car. Sometimes it was 2 seconds, sometimes it was 3 minutes.

Week 5: Now I began putting the car in drive or reverse but not taking my foot off the brake. This was just to get him used to hearing the gears.

Weeks 6 through 14: I would drive for a quarter of a block for a week (randomly alternating reverse driving), half a block, around the block. After a few weeks I really randomized the length of drives. Sometimes we’d go back to a quarter of a block (again, keeping Relaxation Protocol in mind). I always had treats/kibble at the ready to throw into the backseat to help maintain control. After about two months, I thought the difference was noticeable. We made slow but steady progress weekly.

We stayed at this stage for about three years, mostly because I was comfortable at this level, and didn’t do more to advance, and partly because it is tricky to keep the dog under threshold while you’re driving. I did this with no helpers. I think if I’d had helpers to do the driving it would have cut down the training time. An alternative would be some sort of remote trainer like the Treat and Train or the Pet Tutor.

Chapter 3: Refinement
We maintained at a level of “if we have enough kibble to provide him with near-constant reinforcement, we can go anywhere.” It was exhausting, and we’d have setbacks all the time. He’s also dog reactive, so every time we saw a dog while in the car, we’d have to go back to the protocol for weeks 6-14. After about three years of this, he was doing quite well on the freeway. I was super happy with the improvement. But he was still struggling in town, getting especially worked up when we’d stop at stop lights or make turns. I learned to toss treats in the back when I start slowing down. After a few months of that added practice, he became pretty decent to drive around with.

He still has trouble when we see other dogs. I’m not sure this will ever go away completely, but I started driving by dog parks at a far-away distance with our highest value reinforcer, and after 6 months, I was able to reduce our distance and that reinforcer to regular kibble again. After roughly 2 more years of this added practice, for the first time, I drove by a dog and he didn’t freak out. He saw the dog, got excited, and looked to me for a piece of well-earned kibble. It’s been a long time coming, but I feel like we have finally arrived.

If you made it this far, please enjoy this boring video showcasing how our car rides are going these days!

If you’d like more personal help, please call or email The Laughing Dog to set up a consultation.