Teacher's Pet Training - What is a Therapy Dog

What is a Therapy Dog?

By Brianne Statz, CPDT-KA 

Dogs can be a great source of happiness – think about the way your face lights up when you see your dog at the end of a long work day.  They can improve mood and reduce stress.  A therapy dog is a pet with a stable temperament that can provide affection, comfort and stress reduction for people in settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, schools and disaster areas.  A therapy dog needs to have basic obedience skills, and to become certified, the dog must pass an evaluation along with his or her owner.  (Hint, hint – dropping in to a beginner doggy school or doggy high school week 4 class is a great way to brush up on the key skills of leash walking and polite greetings!). 

Dogs are not the only animals that can help people – there are therapy cats, bunnies and horses too!  Recently I began volunteering my time with a local organization, the “I Am Magic Foundation” (http://www.immagicfoundation.org/).  While the primary focus has been on horses helping people, we have also started working on training several dogs to make therapy visits (it’s a bit easier to travel with a dog than a horse).  Nikki the lab mix made her first visit to a long term care facility recently, and the residents (and Nikki!) were delighted with the visit.  Our goal is to certify several rescue dogs through the “Love on a Leash” organization (http://www.loveonaleash.org/).  Eventually we hope to start a local chapter of this organization to complement and help support the work with horses. 

Do you think your dog might make a good therapy dog?  We would like to build a group of therapy teams that can make visits to assisted living facilities, schools, or any facilities that may benefit from a dog visit.  If you are interested, we can help support your goal by providing training tips and helping with the certification process. 

If your dog is not a good fit for a therapy dog, but you are interested in helping out, we are also looking for volunteers to help coordinate visits with facilities, work with the rescue dogs living on the farm toward certification, or volunteer with the horses as well.  For more information, contact brianne@teacherspettraing.com or discoveryourmagic@immagicfoundation.org. 

Happy Training!

Teacher's Pet Training Academy - Pets for Vets

Pets for Vets – Healing Vets and Saving Pets

 

By Sarah Miller

 

All across the world, dogs are waiting to find their forever homes and our own nation’s veterans have fought to protect us.  Both the dogs and our active duty just want to go home.

 

Many veterans come home wounded but not all wounds are visible.  These invisible wounds are no less painful than the visible wounds and can make it difficult for our veterans to transition back into life at home.  Such invisible wounds can include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, hypervigilance, panic disorders, and depression.

 

Not only do the dogs need the veterans, the veterans need their dogs.  Pets for Vets is a national program whose goal is to give back to those who have served our country, thanking them for their service.  To do so, they aim to lessen the emotional wounds of veterans by matching them with a shelter or rescue dog that has been specifically selected to match their personality.  While not intended to be service dogs, the dogs help provide a sense of comfort for the veterans.

 

Before the trainers can complete a match, they meet with the veteran multiple times to get a sense of who they are, what they’re looking for, and if a dog would be a good fit for them.  Then, they evaluate dogs from rescues or shelters to find the best match.  These dogs are evaluated for their sociability, energy level, patience, and tolerance.  Once the trainer has selected the dog, they train the dog for 6-8 weeks for rehabilitation and good manners in order to fit their veteran’s lifestyle.  After the training is complete, the dogs are placed with their veterans.  The specific dogs have been kept a secret from the veteran and, on this day, both the veteran and the dog are introduced to their new best friends.

 

Pets for Vets has many chapters throughout the country.  Madison, WI has a local chapter that works to serve the veterans of Wisconsin.  I volunteer my time as a trainer for Pets for Vets – Madison, WI.  The local chapter is looking to place two dogs with two veterans before the holiday season in the Madison area.  Keep an eye out for their story this coming December.

 

Both the animals and the veterans have been through traumatic events in their lives, and together they can help each other heal. For more on how to get involved, please navigate to the Pets for Vets website: www.petsforvets.com

Teacher's Pet Training Academy: Creating a Visual or Tactile Marker

Creating a Visual  or Tactile Marker

By Brianne Statz, CPDT-KA

If you’ve been in our classes, you probably know that the first thing we talk about is teaching your dog a marker word.  “Good”, “Good dog”, “Yes” – you pick a word and then repeat the sequence of word followed by treat. In your dog’s brain, this creates a connection between the word and excited feelings of eating yummy treats. Then, we use that marker word to communicate to our dog when his behavior is going to result in a yummy treat, making those good behaviors go up in frequency – yay!

But, let’s say your dog can’t hear you. Sometimes, dogs lose their hearing as they age, or sometimes, your dog is at a distance or there is lots of other noise to interfere. If your dog makes a really excellent behavior choice in this situation, you still want to be able to provide feedback. Here’s an example: Aussie Payton is looking out the picture window while I’m outside mowing the front lawn.  His neighborhood nemesis Chocolate lab goes bounding by on a leash. Payton watches calmly without barking. Hooray! But how do I communicate how much I loved his behavior when he can’t hear me? A visual marker. 


Teaching a visual marker is the same process as teaching a marker word. Pick a visual marker. A thumbs up, a peace sign, an OK sign – it can be whatever you want as long as it doesn’t look like a signal your dog already knows (e.g. don’t use a flat palm if that’s what your stay signal looks like).  Show your dog the marker, then feed a treat.  Repeat until, eventually, you show your dog the marker and he starts to look excited. In trainer speak, we call that a CER – conditioned emotional response.  Basically your dog knows something good is on the way when he sees that signal. 

You might also want to consider teaching a tactile marker. Dogs can lose vision with age, or some dogs are born with both visual and auditory impairments (“double merle” dogs often have these issues). These dogs might benefit from learning a specific touch as a marker.  Choose a touch that your dog doesn’t find aversive (for example, many dogs dislike being patted on top of the head), and follow it with a treat. For example, touch the dog on the shoulder, then treat. Repeat until you get that CER (the “where’s my treat?” response), and you’ve taught a tactile marker.

Now you can communicate that you liked your dog’s behavior in any situation! Happy training!

Teacher's Pet Training Academy - What's The Word?

by Brianne Statz, CPDT-KA

When I start teaching a new skill in class, a question I often hear from clients is “What word do I say?”  My answer is pretty much always “Whatever word you want!”  Dogs do not come preloaded with a dictionary, so we can teach them to associate whatever word we choose with any particular behavior.  Of course, there are some general guidelines that might be helpful when building your dog’s vocabulary.

·          Don’t use the same word for more than one behavior.  For example, if you want to say “down” when your dog is jumping up on someone, use a different word such as “lay” when you want your dog to go into a belly on the ground position.

·         Your word should come out of your mouth easily.  If “gentle” doesn’t roll off your tongue, use “easy” or “nicely” to ask your dog to take treats politely from fingers.

·         Have a clear picture of what exactly your dog should be doing when you say the word.  For example, for my dogs, “leave it” means move your head away from that interesting thing, and “drop it” means open your jaws.  These are two separate muscle movements, so they have different verbal cues.  If you ask your dog to “leave it” when he already has it in his mouth, it may be confusing. 

·         Have everyone in your family use the same words.  While dogs can learn multiple words for the same behavior, it’s better to stick to one word during the early stages of learning a new behavior.

The other thing to keep in mind is that a verbal cue is not always the best way to get your dog to do what you want.  Dogs tend to learn visual cues more quickly (and often more reliably) than verbal cues.  So if your dog is struggling to respond to you saying “Sit!  Sit!  Sit!” help him out by following the word cue with a hand signal.   We also often give our dog visual signals without realizing it.  When we say “sit”, we might lean forward slightly, or move our hands up slightly, and while we think the dog is responding to the word, it’s actually the slight body movement.  If you want to give your dog’s verbal cues a test, check out this video:  https://youtu.be/pLHEf4wuDGI

Another wonderful way to get good behavior from your dog is to not use any word cue at all.  Letting the environment or situation be the cue is a great way to train!  For example, standing near the door to go outside and just waiting for your dog to offer a sit (without saying the word or giving the hand signal) will teach your dog to offer a sit to go outside.  Or say your dog wants to pull to greet another dog when on a walk.  You can certainly use a “leave it” cue, or a “watch me” cue, but wouldn’t it be nice if your dog saw the other dog and looked back to you without even being asked?  When your dog first sees another dog, offer your dog a treat by your side.  Over time, when your dog sees another dog, he will immediately come to your side, expecting a treat, instead of pulling forward.  The other dog becomes the cue to go to your side, and you don’t have to say a word!

Happy Training!

Teacher's Pet Training: Building a Solid Recall

by Brianne Statz, CPDT-KA

Ever heard someone say that the key to getting your dog to come when called is to be more exciting than the rest of the environment?  Um, that’s all well and good in theory, but I am sadly lacking the squirrel skills of running vertically up trees and then back and forth across the telephone lines.  Pretty sure I cannot match that level of excitement.  The good news is that you can still teach your dog to come reliably when called without being a ninja squirrel.


The real way to get a solid recall is to build a strong “reinforcement history” for responding to the recall cue.  I like to think of it as a bank account.  Calling my dog away from something really exciting is like making a big withdrawal from the account.  In order to do that, I have to have made enough small deposits (rewarded easier recalls) along the way.  A great way to make those small deposits is to incorporate them into your daily routine.  Think about your day from your dog’s perspective.  What are the things that your dog gets most excited about?  Here are some examples from my household:

• Payton:  Breakfast, go outside to chase those squirrels, a new bully stick, a yogurt container to lick, a visit from Grandma, dinner
• Pepper:  Breakfast, go outside to chase Payton, a squeaky toy, tug of war, dinner
• Finley:  Breakfast, go for a walk, special snack closet opening, dinner

So even if I’m feeling particularly lazy about training, I can still build up my reinforcement history for the recall by simply inserting it in front of these exciting things that are going to happen anyways.  Right before I open the snack closet, I can call “Here!”  Guess what?  Finley was going to come anyways as soon as she heard that door, but by calling her first, I make good use of classical conditioning (learning through association) and make a small deposit in my recall bank.  If I want to start a play session with Pepper, I can call her first, then start squeaking the toy.  Again, I’m conditioning her that “Here!” means something really fun is about to happen.  I want “Here!” to mean start running to me right now.  If I call “Here!” right before I set down food bowls, I am pretty much guaranteed some very motivated (and fast!) dogs, and it was not a lengthy training session – it actually required very little effort from me.  Think about what gets your dog excited, and then just find a way to stick your recall practice in front of it.


Once you have made lots of small deposits, try out your recall in a more distracting setting.  If your dog doesn’t come, you need to build up your account more.  In the meantime, try not to use your special recall word in situations your dog will fail in.  Either go get your dog, or keep your dog on a leash or long line until he is ready for that big withdrawal.  And one last hint – sometimes the best reward is to send your dog back to the fun thing you called him away from.  Check out this VIDEO of Payton and Finley practicing being called away from foraging for kibble in the yard.


Happy Training!

Teacher's Pet Training - Changing Unwanted Behavior

by Brianne Statz, CPDT-KA

The cold temperatures and snow are here early this year (nooooo!), and along with them comes a very unwanted canine behavior at my household – poopsicle eating.  Pepper the Pomeranian mix has the lovely habit of snacking on other dogs’ frozen poo (luckily she only tends to do this with frozen deposits, so I get a seasonal reprieve).  As I witnessed this behavior in the yard today, it started me thinking on all the ways we can influence our dogs’ behavior.  I’m going to run through some of the options for this particular behavior, but really, you can ask yourself some of the same questions with any undesirable behavior:

1.       Is there potentially a medical concern?  While there are many debates on the causes of coprophagia (eating of stool), some involving dietary deficiencies, Pepper seems to be in very good health otherwise.

2.       Can I live with this behavior?  Yes.  She does not eat poo to the point of making herself sick, so occasional snacking is really not doing any harm, although I do find it unpleasant.  I would like the behavior to stop, but if it doesn’t, life will still go on.

3.       Can I manage the environment to prevent it from happening?  Yes.  I could immediately pick up after the other dogs (she is especially fond of husky poo).  However, I am unlikely to comply fully with this strategy, especially when it is very cold outside.

4.       Can I remove the reinforcement?  I could use one of several food additives on the market designed to make the husky stool taste bad (ridiculous as it sounds it must currently taste good to Pepper). 

5.       Can I reinforce an incompatible behavior?  Yes, Pepper does have a “leave it” cue, as well as a good recall, so as long as I am supervising, I can reward her for staying away from it (and I can supervise from inside the house, making my compliance better in the cold).  I could also give her better things to do outside, like chasing snowballs or searching for bits of dog food.

For this particular behavior, I will likely combine a bit from each strategy.  I will try to pick up the yard as often as I can, and failing that, I will supervise Pepper when she is out, and use her “leave it” cue or her recall to reinforce her for resisting the poopsicles.  One thing I will try not to do is yell her name in an irritated manner.  It’s a bad habit of mine (despite warning all my students in training classes about it), and while it may work to get her to stop eating the poo, it may also make her more likely to avoid me when I am calling her name to get her attention.  It also doesn’t give her any direction as to what to do next.  Instead, I can use a “leave it” cue, which tells her that she will be rewarded for backing away from the snack. 

Do you have a problem behavior you’re trying to eliminate?  Excellent resources for thinking through your options include “Don’t Shoot the Dog” by Karen Pryor, and “The Toolbox for Remodeling Your Problem Dog” by Terry Ryan.

Happy Training!

Loose Leash Walking: The Agony & The Joy

by Ana Grimh, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA

SQUIRREL!! DOG!! RABBIT!! GARBAGE!! Like most other dogs, this is what my Husky, Jisa, is pondering during our walks. And MAN, can she PULL! When we first brought her home (and even now, on a smaller scale), you would’ve thought she was trying out for a sled team! In our classes and private work, we frequently hear pulling to be an issue, and we do our best to teach you the best methods of managing and working on this. We provide you as many tools as we can, and then you head out into this world of distractions to practice! YOWZA! Here is a brief overview of how one goes about developing walking nicely on leash / loose leash walking.
 

1.      To begin, you should start working on loose leash walking in an environment with few distractions, such as inside your home (perhaps even a quiet room, no kids or other pets present). To establish superb eye contact / attention and the loose leash, we typically recommend a backwards walking method (most methods are simply variations of each other), and eventually, we have you graduate to more forwards walking.

a.       “Backwards” means that you are walking backwards, and your dog is following you, eyes on you and the leash slack. In case you are not sure what we mean, here is a video showing the method in action: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfiNFtembDA. Note that, at first, we reinforce behavior we want to see as much as possible. As your dog seems to be catching on (looking at you more frequently, leash loose most of time, rarely gets distracted), you can start to fade out the food – if you were feeding for every step, perhaps go to every other step…or, preferably, a more randomized way, such as walk-walk-kibble-walk-kibble-walk-walk-walk-kibble and so on.

b.      While in a less distracting environment, you should be able to get away with a mixture of your dog’s regular kibble (maybe use part of his meal?) and yummier treats! Make sure treats are appropriately sized for your dog – many of the treats on the market can be broken down into 3-5 smaller sized portions. Much better for your dog’s digestive system AND waistline! If you are doing a lot of training, you should connect with your veterinarian – s/he might recommend reducing your dog’s daily kibble intake.

2.      Once you and your dog are utilizing more forward walking than backwards inside, it is time to venture into the backyard! Start at the beginning, and gradually work up to walking forwards majority of the time.

a.       Remember: Just because you start walking forwards, it does not mean the reinforcement stops! You want to reinforce desired behavior as much as possible! This enables your dog to learn what you are looking for, or in other words, what behaviors PAY!

b.      Finding that your dog is more distracted, and thus, there is more tension on the leash? Well, we have a video for that! See this example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QawGibMta54. Yes, in this video, tension on the leash does happen as the dog pulls towards the desired item. As soon as the handler feels tension, though, she immediately turns, calls the dog / gets the dog’s attention, and moves in the opposite direction. We are teaching the dog that pulling will move him farther from what he wants. They reset, and then try again. Eventually, the dog can walk all the way to the distraction on a loose leash.

3.      After seeing progress in the backyard, it is time for the ever exciting WALK! Again, start from the beginning, and slowly move through the steps. This is going to take time, and it is so worth the effort! Note, if your dog gets very distracted by this environment, you may need higher value reinforcers along – such as kibble mixed with tiny pieces of hot dogs / chicken. Follow the guidelines for using and fading out reinforcers above.

 

We understand that walking backwards on your regular walking routine could look silly, and we do not expect you to do this every day (though, it would provide consistency and help you reach your goal faster!). However, please be mindful of what you are reinforcing on walks. If your dog is pulling, moving forward could be reinforcing the behavior (UGH!). Instead of continuing to walk forward, you can either (1) stop moving and wait for your dog to orient to you (and thus, establish a loose lead), or (2) turn, call dog / get dog’s attention, and as soon as you feel the leash is loose and dog is attentive, start walking forwards again. This takes seconds, and will be helpful on your journey to a nice walking experience!

 

Here is a video of one of our clients practicing loose leash walking in our classroom: http://youtu.be/W-E9acawbXE?list=UUBYRalYD2Erl5CcK9BCZKIg. Keep in mind, this client has been through numerous classes, so they are at the point of walking forwards and starting to fade out food reinforcement.

 

Ultimately, be patient with this process. The environment surrounding our dogs, especially outside, is VERY distracting and stimulating, and this takes time to overcome. Impossible? No. Difficult? Absolutely! Keep at it, and eventually, you and your dog will be enjoying your time more outside. If you’d like more assistance with doing these exercises, enroll in one of our Puppy or Beginner Schools (or Doggy High School / College, if you are more advanced) to get started!

 

Happy training!