Positive Reinforcement is a technical term. It is often used as a general term to describe a philosophy of training --like Xerox is commonly used to mean photocopy.
Despite its common usage, Positive Reinforcement DOES have a true, scientific meaning. This meaning is NOT something that can be substituted for other terms. You wouldn't want a doctor that said, "Benign, malignant, whatever basically they mean cancer..."
Positive Reinforcement means something specific as do the cancer terms. But is it nerdy to argue semantics? Perhaps, but if semantics aren't your bag, baby the good news is:
There is also an art to Positive Reinforcement Training. I feel that the best trainers are BOTH Artisits & Scientists.
First things first. Positive does NOT mean, easy-going, always happy with dog or never gives consequences for bad behavior or performance. Positive Reinforcement MEANS:
Positive: Something given or added to the equation.
EX: Dog sees leash, dog SITS, owner walks dog.
Reinforcement: Something was given that the performer (your dog) liked enough that they will be willing (when asked again) to repeat their previous performance.
EX: Dog lays on bed while people eat dinner, dog gets to lick plates. Dog lays on bed again during the next meal.
One way that good trainers include ART in their science is to vary the rewards they give their dogs.
Because REWARDS will always be COMPETING with MOTIVATION it is important to pay your dog's accordingly.
Rate the following tasks according to difficulty for your dog.
Called away from un-known dog at park.
Called away from dog that they play with sometimes.
Called away from food.
Called away from sniffing pee-spot.
Called away from people.
Called away from chasing squirrel.
Should each of these tasks be rewarded the same?
Definitely NOT!
The art is to keep your dog gambling that your pay-outs are better than the rewards they are likely to find/get on their own. This is one argument that speaks to the importance of crating, confining, or supervising puppies 100% or the time. This curbs their outlook on the odds of helping themselves to the counter, closet, garbage, etc...
Below I have rated the re-call (come when called) jobs for my Hound-Mix, Eddie. And, I have told you how I would pay various performances.
Scale:
1 (easy) 5 (hard, not imposible) 10 (insanely difficult)
*Called away from un-known dog at park. (7)
Reward: cheese & immediate release to greet dog until satisfied (not called again).
*Called away from dog that they play with sometimes. (4)
Reward: Called and released immediately if Eddie's head turns to look at me right after I call him. Made to do full re-call (no food/release only) if he takes time deciding to acknowledge I called him.
Called away from food. (3)
Reward: Cheese, dried liver, chicken (something good always so that I don't ever have to pull gross-stuff like bones or dead things out of his throat by hand.
Called away from sniffing pee-spot. (5)
Reward: Access to pee-spot until he is done sniffing if he comes immediately. Denied sniffing privileges if he ignores me.
Called away from people. (5-7 depending on person)
Reward: Depends on person (hat, funny-looking silhouette, jogging). If so, Huge Rewards of cheese & meat.
Called away from chasing squirrel. (10)
Reward: Everything I have for food, plus when he gets to me and sits we chase the squirrel up the telephone-pole together. If not safe to chase, we play tug.
Do your dogs really KNOW what you want?
...OR, are the just good at guessing?
Thank you Gary Larson.
Most of you have seen this The Far Side cartoon. Most of you laugh. Most of your dogs would not.
I talk to my dogs A LOT. Only about 90% of what I say a day is directed at them, and only 1% of that is actually a request for them to do something. Still, they manage to: 1) Know I am talking to them 2) Give the right response most of the time. If you think about this, it is kind of amazing! How do they do it?
Dogs are incredible at noticing details and tremendous at solving puzzles. Sadly this seems to get them in trouble. One thing that causes a tremendous amount of FRUSTRATION for PEOPLE & ANXIETY for DOGS is compliance with basic obedience commands like sit, down & stay.
As a trainer I frequently see dogs that perform all of these commands well, but fail to do so when asked. This invariable makes owners mad and assume that their dog is spiteful, vengeful or stubborn.
Your dogs are NOT trying to make you mad! SO what is the deal, how come when you need it most (holding a hot coffee, talking on the phone, putting money in the parking meter) your dog won't sit?
The truth is sometimes painful.
Your dog may NOT really KNOW the words you think they know. Or, they may only know them as partial pieces of a puzzle.
Humans are multi-taskers & most of us talk & gesticulate at the same time.
Dog brains are not wired for verbal language acquisition; dogs are visual artists -they love body language.
I know, I know... so how come they do it sometimes? Multiple choise my friend. Dogs are really good at taking multiple choice tests and at putting together pieces of the puzzle.
Example: While holding a leash and grabbing a poop bag from the holder on the back of the door the human says something while looking at the dog. Dog guesses: sit. Human is both please and satisfied that dog knows sit.
Human says something else while reaching for the doorknob. Dog calculates: "Sit, no I just did that. Down -no, that sometimes comes after sit but only when I am on my bed. Stay, that works sometimes at doors." Dog chooses to stay as human opens door.
By contrast: Human grabs coffee mug from counter, while talking on phone. Human says, Down and dog does nothing. Human feels dog KNEW they were on the phone and unable to reprimand them, so chose to be naughty.
Dog thinks: "Was she talking to me? Nah. She would have pointed to the ground."
The problem is often that we say commands at the SAME TIME as giving hand-signals. Our dogs (already use to ignoring 99% of what we say) learn the hand-signal and NOT the word!
The SOLUTION: Teach the meaning of the word
- Say your dog's name.
- When your dog looks at you, say the command (sit).
- ....PAUSE....give your dog time to think!
- THEN, give them a hint with your hand-signal.
- Reward the performance with priase and other good stuff, walks, cookies, play.
- REALLY LAY ON THE REWARDS if they get it right just when you say it :)
There's almost 400 Pounds of dog in my house right now!
This would be OK if I had two Neapolitan Mastiffs that were sleeping like rugs.
BUT, I have a 1000 sq. ft. California Cottage and, one German Shepherd under the age of 10 months, 1 Border Collie just over a year, a Hound Mix, an AussieX, a Chow/PitX and a 6mo Pittie, plus one very old, slow moving Schnauzer.
Keeping play tame, furniture standing, and knees from being blown out is NOT OPTIONAL! ...BUT it is simple.
When a new dog is thrown into the mix they get a quick lesson on home-manners. The rules are as simple. There are 3 obedience phrases and 2 consequences. I NEVER yell any of these. I never threaten (everything has a consequence). I am always right.
Commands:
Yellow Warning Light: "__dog's name__, Cool-it."
Red Light: "Too-bad."
Green Light: "Thank You."
Consequences:
Errors earn a dog a 10-15 second time-out in a crate, bathroom, or tied to leash.
Compliance earns the dogs Praise & Freedom, maybe a toy tossed to them, perhaps a cookie.
THE RULES:
- Bump into Kelley, get an automatic time-out: "Too-bad."
- Bump into grandma (schnauzer), get an automatic time-out: "Too-bad."
- Bump into furniture, get an automatic time-out: "Too-bad."
- Get TOO LOUD, get a warning.
- Head the warning, and become quiet, get a green light to keep playing.
- Ignore warning, get a time-out: "Too-bad."
- Play with anything but a dog toy, get an automatic time-out: "Too-bad."
- Go in the no-dog-zone, get an automatic time-out: "Too-bad."
BONUS: "PLAY BREAK"
IS FUN & EDUCATIONAL!
I have never seen a dog that didn't benefit from a well-coached game of tug.
Why play tug?
*Burn energy.
*Practice obedience.
*Teach a dog DROP or OUT.
*Teach a dog to control their teeth and jaws.
*Teach a dog to tug only when invited.
Behaviors that are aided by Tug.
NO. Tug will NOT teach your dog to be aggressive.
YES. People CAN & SHOULD play tug with their dogs.
How To Teach Manners for Tugging
- Select a sturdy tug toy that your dog will enjoy.
- Hold the toy behind your back & give the command for Tug. I like "Take-it." or "Gentle."
- Present the toy to your dog AFTER you have given the command. Later you can present the toy first. If your dog grabs the toy, drop it (this is a game of Simon-Says for your dog. if you didn't give the command, they Lose (see notes below).
- TUG for a few seconds (less time when first learning) with your dog.
- Grab a tasty treat ( I use soft, stinky high-value dog treats for the first few lessons).
- Say, DROP or OUT (trainers choice).
- Show the dog that you have a yummy treat. Place it right under their nose AFTER you say the command (OUT/DROP).
- WAIT! Don't tug, but don't drop the toy. Keep wiggling the treat and making yummy noises (a hungry dog helps).
- As soon as your dog splits the toy out, PRAISE & Drop the treat on the ground.
- Re-hide the toy behind your back.
- Repeat this each session until the dog dogs the toy immediately.
- Begin using the re-take command as the reward. (Say, "TAKE-IT" right away if your dog spits out the toy.
SOME RULES
- If your dog's teeth touch your skin, they LOSE!
- If your dog grabs or re-takes the toy before an invitation, they LOSE.
- If your dog does not spit out the toy when asked, they LOSE.
- If your dog does not ___________ (sit, down, stay), they LOSE: you walk away and do not offer the tug command.
***IMPORTANT CONCEPT************
TUG is NOT about Possession!
- WINNING = Having A Tug-Buddy.
- LOSING = Your Game-Partner Quits.
THE TOY THIEF!
WHY DO THEY DO IT? Because it works. 90% of the time stealing toys is a good way to get chased by either a dog or person.
Is it appropriate? That depends. There are lots of ways for play to go badly. Some things like toy stealing are HUGE GREY AREA.
In the photo above...
1. The blue-pit ran up to the black pit shook her orange toy and tried to get the black-pittie to chase her.
2. When it didn't work, she came back, dropped her toy (the orange octopus). This still did not work, the black-pittie did not drop her toy.
3. The blue-pit grabbed the black-pittie's toy.
4. They tugged and ran parallel to each other each holding on to the red toy. This happened over and over again for about 20-minutes with the dogs changing roles of thief and victim.
5. No fights happened and the play did NOT escalate -as play between two bully-breeds often can. Why not?
THEY HAD A REFEREE!
TEACHING BETTER PLAY-SKILLS
First both dogs had an OUT-command. This command was taught previous to the dogs playing together. OUT means that the dogs must spit out the toy.
Second both dogs were TESTED ON THEIR OUTS in play.
There were 2 versions:
a) If the black-pittie's toy was grabbed by the blue-pit, the black-pittie was commanded OUT & RECALLED (come!) to the handler. The black-pittie was learning to avoid a confrontation and run to the handler if a toy was taken. The blue-pit learned that stealing DID NOT ALWAYS earn a game of chase, so she sometimes tried other things (dropping her toy/shaking her toy and running).
b) The stealer was also sometimes commanded to OUT. If this was successful they were released to GO PLAY immediately. If they did not, they were temporarily removed from the play ground (a short time-out).
Once these habits were established the dogs were allowed to steal and play tug for longer periods of time. These little mini-games were frequently interrupted by OUT and then the dogs released back to play. After a few sessions the dogs started to OUT on their own, and look for the other toy instead of stealing their playmates toy and tugging until a fight occurred.
