Happy training for happy tails: "Don't Shoot the Dog" discusses the merits of positive reinforcement and clicker-training

If you’re a person who is interested in training, whether it be training your dog or training in general, I recently finished a book that I recommend you read.

It’s called Don’t Shoot the Dog and is written by former dolphin trainer and clicker-training enthusiast Karen Pryor. You might have heard of the book—it’s been out since 1984 with a revised edition in 1999. If you haven’t read it yet, it’s worth checking out.

What’s the book about?
Don’t Shoot the Dog discuses training methods in general, but emphasizes on and argues for positive reinforcement as a more successful training method in most situations. The book also discusses what’s been come to be known as “clicker training” and the methodology behind it.

This book is fun as well as informative due to the many interesting examples described. Did you know that you can train just about any animal using positive reinforcement? Dogs, fish, chickens, horses, cats, and even we, ourselves, respond well to this method.

Some other interesting things I learned from Don’t Shoot the Dog are that people have been known to improve their own squash game just by positively reinforcing themselves whenever they made a good play, and brushing off instances when they made bad plays.  I also learned that you can teach creativity to animals. Positive reinforcement tends to encourage animals to figure out what we want of them, which gets them to think and try new things.

I love the idea of fast and effective training methods, but what really got me excited was when I read that animals trained using positive reinforcement tend to be happier. The author gives an example of a police dog that was clicker-trained and now wags his tail the whole time it’s on patrol and out catching “bad guys”.
When Leopold was in puppy school his teacher talked of clicker training.  Up until I read this book, I dismissed the use of a clicker because I didn’t like the idea of having to always carry around a clicker—it just wouldn’t be possible! This book cleared up that qualm, though, stating that the clicker is only important during the initial training of a behavior. The clicker is basically a tool to help communicate with a dog (or other animal). After the clicker has been “loaded” (you have first teach the dog that the “click” sound means they did something good), it is a very fast and precise way to reinforce your dog’s behavior. And since timing is important to the success of positive reinforcement, the clicker is an ingenious way to maximize both you and your dog’s effort.

What exactly is a clicker?
It’s a small plastic box w/ a piece of metal inside that makes a loud “click” when you push it. It’s a very simple device and you can pick one up at most pet stores for cheap.  You can see one in the photo at the top of this post.

Want to know more?  
Grab a copy of Don’t Shoot the Dog if you want to know more on the ins and outs of how positive reinforcement and clicker training works, or if you just want to read something interesting. Check out your local library to see if they have a copy, or you can always buy your own copy on amazon.com here: Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training.  Or if you live near me, you can just borrow mine ;-)
You can also check out Karen Pryor’s website at www.clickertraining.com

And if you want to give clicker training a try, you can pick up a clicker at most pet stores, or you can just get one from amazon.com: Petco Dog Training Clicker.  (At the time I made my links, the Petco brand was the cheapest option, but prices seem to fluctuate over time, so look over your options!)

Convenient Product Links:

           

Communicating with dogs: making “sense” of things.

Humans tend to largely use sounds when it comes to communicating with each other. One person talks, another listens (ideally, anyway). So it’s no wonder that we often try to verbally communicate with our dogs as well. “No!” “Sit” “Come here” “Don’t eat that!” and so on. And while dogs are smart enough to eventually pick up on some of the sounds we humans make at them, a dog’s primary means of communication is not based in sound. Yes, dogs do bark, but they tend to get their information from other dogs (and their world) by smelling first, seeing second, and hearing third.

It makes sense to me to try to communicate with a dog in a way that they’re most apt to understand. Unfortunately I, just like all humans, have a relatively awful sense of smell and therefore I have absolutely no idea how to communicate with my dog that way.  I’m left with visual and audio means of communication. Dogs, relying more on sight than sound to communicate, actually tend to understand visual commands better than verbal commands.  To help your dog learn a command even better and faster, double up a verbal command with a visual command.

Some common hand signals in the dog world are:
 

SIT—hand flat, palm up	STAY—hand out, palm to dog	DOWN—point down to floor
WAIT—form a sort of “C” with hand and move it from left to right

Of course, you can always make up your own hand signals. I taught Leopold to bark on command using a hand signal—making my hand into a “mouth” and snapping it shut.
I also use a sweeping motion towards me to mean "come", and I hold my hand, palm up, down and out when I want my dog(s) to give me a paw.




You can see me use some of these signals in this video:

Knowing this, adopting deaf dogs isn’t such a daunting task. Because dogs understand hand signals so well, communicating is easy. When I worked at the SPCA back in the fall, we had a deaf dog. Whenever I introduced the dog to interested, potential adopters, I would demonstrate that the dog knew how to sit using the hand-signal; some people thought I was doing magic! But it wasn’t magic at all—just sign language.

Paper towel rolls: a cheap and fun activity you can give your dog!

*** Caution: this is NOT for dogs who tend to eat and swallow things that they shouldn't!! ***

Leopold loves to shred things. When he was little, he would sometimes try to shred things that he shouldn’t, like my file folders and their contents. Yikes! As a way to stop him from shredding my stuff, I tried to keep my shreddable stuff out of reach (a dog can’t get into trouble if there’s not an opportunity to!). When I did catch him shredding something that he shouldn’t, I told him no and then redirected his shredding behavior onto something that was appropriate. I would give him paper towel rolls instead! By redirecting his behavior onto something he was allowed to shred, I kept him from going off to look for other things to do (ie, finding something else of mine he shouldn’t be chewing on) while also encouraging him to be active and have fun! Another perk is that paper towel rolls are one of the cheapest toys I’ve every come across.Paper towel rolls are now one of Leopold’s favorite toys. When I hand him a fresh paper towel roll, he takes the roll from my hand with an excited gleam in his eye and then prances off to his room, tail wagging the whole time. (Sometime Leo accidentally hits the door frame with the tube as he passes by and the sound makes me laugh every time!).

This activity does make a bit of a mess, but I think the pieces aren’t too much of a pain to clean up—I even still recycle the cardboard as I normally would! For me, taking two minutes to clean up a small mess is worth it for Leopold to have a little bit of fun.


This activity is not for every dog. Leopold is very good about spitting out every little piece that he tears off the paper towel roll, so this activity is safe for him. I wouldn’t recommend giving your dog paper towel rolls if they have a tendency to eat things they shouldn’t. I never give Halo paper towel rolls to chew on because she likes consume anything and everything—she’s like a little vacuum sucking up every little piece of paper and plastic on the floor. You know your dog(s) best, so help them play safe! And if you’re unsure of your dog’s eating behaviors, supervise them very closely during activities such as shredding paper towel rolls until you do know. Although, as always, it’s a good idea to supervise your dog regardless.

Happy shredding!

What's in a name? Treats of course! Here are some training tips on how to teach your dog its name!

From my experience, most dogs tend to pick up on their name after a while. But if you want to speed the process along, have a thick dog, or want to change the name of a dog you adopted from a shelter (sometimes starting a new life calls for a new name!), teaching a dog its name is an easy thing to do.

What you need:
- yummy treats
- a name that you want your dog to respond to by giving you its attention
- a dog

The training.
step 1: Say your dog’s name, then immediately put a treat in their mouth.
step 2: repeat step 1 over and over (maybe ten to fifteen-ish times?) per session.
step 3: have a few sessions over the next few days or as long as it takes for your dog to consistently give you their attention when you say their name
step 4: after a while, try some sessions where you say your dog’s name, and then wait for them to give you their attention (chances are it will be quick), then reward with a treat. Move to a new location (just a step away is fine) and repeat.

What’s going on.
Your dog is learning to associate its name with a treat at first. Name = treat. Treats get their attention because they’re yummy and desirable. Then they’re learning that when you say their name and they react by giving you their attention, they get a treat. Eventually you can phase out the treats and the name, itself, will just get their attention.  Though, I still like to reinforce the behavior every now and then, just to make sure.

Putting your dog on a "belt" can be helpful when you need your hands free.

A couple weekends ago Chris, Leopold, Halo and I were at the SPCA Walk for the Animals running the Chesapeake Taste booth. We had a great time, and Leo and Halo had a blast meeting lots of new people and dogs! While Chris and I were setting up and taking down our booth, we needed our hands free but had no where to put the dogs; we did an old trick that I learned when Leopold was a puppy. What were we doing? We were making what Chris and I have termed “dog belts”. We fed the leash through the leash handle, making a loop, and then slipped the loop around our waist like a belt. This way our dogs couldn’t run off, but we could have our hands free. Someone from a nearby booth said that it was clever trick and they would pass on the trick to a friend who had a dog. This made me think that “dog belts” might be a nice thing to do a quick post on!

As I said above, “dog belts” are something I learned when Leopold was a puppy. I read about it somewhere and found that a “Leopold belt” was a great way to keep him close to me so that I could better keep an eye on him to keep him out of trouble or correct a bad behavior when it happened (you can’t correct a behavior that you’re not there to see!). Eventually Leopold learned what he should and should not chew on and play with. I continued to occasionally keep him on a “belt” though, because before he learned that he shouldn’t go to the bathroom in the house at all, he learned that he shouldn’t go to the bathroom in the house when I was around. He would sometimes slip around a corner and do his business out of sight because he knew that I scolded him every time he did it when I was there to see. Clever dog. So if he was in a room where he would be able to slip out of sight, even for a second, I put him on his leash and put the leash around my waist. This was a good way to make sure he couldn’t slip around a corner but still allowed me to have my hands free to do whatever it was I was doing.
Making a “dog belt” has continued to be a useful trick for situations in the house (we made “Halo belts” quite often after Halo moved in with us) and out.

Tips on brushing your dog's teeth.

When Leopold was a little pup and I took him to the vet for the first time, it was recommended to me that I brush my dog’s teeth as often as I could. I was a little taken aback because I don’t remember my family ever brushing our dog’s teeth when I was a kid. We would give Max bones and he had a “dental” tug rope, but that was the extent of it. I was told, again, by Leo’s training instructor that it’s a good idea to brush your dog’s teeth, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to do so. Dogs can get cavities and tooth decay just like humans, so why wouldn’t I want to help keep my dog’s teeth clean?
I have since been brushing my dogs’ teeth as often as I can remember with the goal of brushing them once a day.  Here’s what I’ve learned about brushing a dog’s teeth.

The toothbrush.
There are special doggy toothbrush products out there. The most common brush I’ve seen is one that has a large brush on one end and a small brush on the other, both angled in a way that is supposed to be ideal for your pet’s mouth. I’ve seen three-sided tooth brushes and little rubber brushes that fit on the end of your finger.
I don’t use any of these.

I’ve found that human toothbrushes work just fine and are often cheaper than the special-made, dog toothbrushes. The criteria I use when selecting a toothbrush for my dogs are based on the fact that Leopold likes to chew on the brush while I’m brushing his teeth.
Right off the bat, that means the finger brushes are out. I’d lose my finger for sure if I tried to use one of those things on Leopold! It’s possible that there are dogs out there that the little finger brushes work well on, but I personally don’t want to risk having my finger chomped.
Leopold’s chewing behavior also means that I want his toothbrush to be sturdy, so I look for brushes that have a harder plastic base. Before trying human tooth brushes, I once bought some very inexpensive “dog toothbrushes” only to find that the plastic was way too soft, and they barely lasted through one teeth-brushing session. You get what you pay for, I guess.
Here's a cheap set of three toothbrushes you can get from amazon.com: Colgate Extra Clean Toothbrush, Medium, 3 Count (at the time I made my link this was one of the cheapest options I could find!)

The toothpaste.
Dogs need special toothpaste because they will swallow it. Never use human toothpaste, as human toothpaste can make dogs (and humans!) very sick if swallowed. That’s why we spit our toothpaste out. Dog toothpastes are specially formulated, using enzymes to help remove plaque while being safe to consume.
I’ve tried many different brands and flavors of toothpaste. Leopold has sneered his lip and subbed all but one brand. The brand is C.E.T. I use the poultry flavor and Leopold loves it. So if you’re having trouble finding a toothpaste that your dog likes, try C.E.T. Unfortunately this brand doesn’t seem to be sold in pet stores. I have seen it for sale at a couple vet offices, but I usually just order mine online from amazon.com: Virbac C.E.T. Poultry Toothpaste

	Brushing Leo's teeth is a fun experience for me because its a fun experience for him!

Starting out.
Believe it or not, Leopold loves to have his teeth brushed. I ask him, “Should we brush your teeth?” and his ears perk up and he gets very excited. For him, teeth-brushing is a wonderful treat. So how did that happen? I started slow and kept things positive and fun. The very first time I “brushed” Leopold’s teeth, all I did was dab a little of the toothpaste on his nose so he could be introduced to the taste. He licked it off, I praised him, and that was that. The next time, I dabbed some toothpaste onto his teeth with the toothbrush, and then praised him. Next time, I brushed just a few teeth lightly, keeping the session short, and then praised him. Over time the sessions have gotten longer and he now allows me to actually scrub his teeth with the brush.  I’m still in this beginning stage with Halo. It’s been hard to get her to sit still, but she’s gotten better about that, so I’ve been working more on getting her used to teeth-brushing sessions.

How I brush my dogs’ teeth.

	Gently holding Leo's head.

I never use restraint (this is part of keeping the experience positive!) so I first ask them to sit, because a sitting dog is more likely to be a calm dog. I let them sniff the brush and sniff the toothpaste. At this point Leopold is usually flipping his tongue out like a snake in anticipation of the yummy toothpaste. Then, because the toothpaste doesn’t foam up like human toothpaste, I like to smear it on as many teeth as I can before I start to scrub. I use my other hand to gently guide my dogs’ head into a position that is easy for me to work with the brush. I let them chew on the brush a bit (not too much, because I don’t want to go through toothbrushes too quickly!), but enough that they work the bristles into some of the crevasses in their teeth.  And when we're done, I always tell then what a good doggy they are!


Convenient Product Link:

                

Nylabones: for dogs who love to chew.

What’s the deal with Nylabones?


Nylabones have been around for a long time and have sort of been a doggy staple around my house; I remember my childhood dog, Max, having one, and it was one of the first things I bought when I got Leopold and then Halo. If you’re a dog person, its very possible you're already familiar with Nylabones. But if you're not, then this is the perfect post for you!

Nylabone is a brand name that originally sold only synthetic bones. Though they now have lots of products, their original bone is made of a hard plastic that is supposed to be appealing for dogs to chew. The idea is that as the dog chews the bone, little burs are formed which then scrape the dog’s teeth, helping to keep teeth clean and healthy! For most dogs, the bone is hard enough that they can’t chew off more than tiny pieces at a time; the tiny pieces are safe for a dog to swallow and are safe to pass through the digestive system.
I like to keep at least one Nylabone around for my dogs. My dogs love to chew on them (especially Halo!). Not only do Nylabones do a good job of keeping my dogs’ teeth clean, it’s a good activity to keep them busy and happy. Nylabones are good for powerful chewers and last a long time (Leopold and Halo have been working on their most recent bones for a good month now and most of the bone is still intact!).

Think your dog would like a Nylabone?
You should be able to pick one (or more!) up at your local pet store, or you can get them here from amazon.com: Nylabone Dura Chew Giant Original Flavored Bone Dog Chew Toy

Halo and Leo's Nylabone after a month of chewing.

A word of caution.

There is a softer version from Nylabone that are advertised for puppies. These bones are not safe for adult dogs or even older puppies. If your dog or puppy is chewing off chunks of their Nylabone, take it away immediately! (That goes for regular Nylabones, also—I know there are some super powerful chewers out there that could possibly take off large chunks from regular Nylabones, too).
I learned the hard way that puppy Nylabones can make a dog very ill if consumed:
Halo was still young when we brought her home—I considered her a “puppy”. So naturally I bought a puppy Nylabone. I gave her the bone and let her chew on it a while; she was thrilled with her chew toy. When I went to check on Halo (I like to keep an eye on my dogs when they’re chewing things), I discovered that Halo was annihilating her new bone. There were chunks and bits of Nylabone all over the floor. It seemed that Halo was eating some of the pieces, too, so I took the bone away. I instead gave it to Leopold, who loves to chew things, but tends to spit the pieces out instead of ingesting them. I assumed he’d do the same with this chew toy. I was wrong. Apparently the synthetic bone tasted too much like food and Leopold instead consumed the pieces he was chewing off. I didn’t realize this until Leopold had consumed at least half of the bone. He became very ill and spent the next two days vomiting up pieces of Nylabone. Halo was also ill, though less so because she consumed less pieces. It was awful and I felt horrible for letting this happen to my dogs!
So learn from my mistake and be very careful when letting your puppy chew on a puppy version of Nylabone.

Happy chewing!

Convenient Product Link: