How to maintain good behaviour in your dog

The notion of treat training causes many people to shudder. While the differences between treat training and positive reinforcement of desired behaviours may be subtle, the results are polar opposites.

Positive reinforcement is not about the prepackaged synthetic meat in the shape of a fire hydrant that you buy at a grocery store. It’s about rewarding desired behaviours to reinforce good manners.

Redefining Dog Treats

We want our dogs to behave at all times, treat or no treat. To achieve this, we need to shift our perspective on treats. Let’s start by calling the recognition of desired behaviours a “reward”.

A reward can range from a biscuit to a good belly rub or a pat on the head.  Simply put, rewards help build value for good behaviours. For example, asking your dog to sit before giving him his dinner reinforces the sit behaviour. His dinner is the reward.

Like humans, dogs assign value to rewards. Some are highly desirable while others are just nice to have. It all depends on your dog’s motivation. Dogs who are motivated by food assign a high value to edible rewards. Others who prefer play over food will assign a higher value to the play.

Iggy and I at a recent competition.  Results
achieved by the appropriate use of rewards.

Building Behaviours Independent of a Reward

The trick is to make sure the behaviour is not dependent on the reward. Let’s take the case of getting your dog to come when you call his name.

“Mac ... Come!” He ignores you. You call him again, this time, you show him a biscuit and then he comes. He arrives at your feet and you give him the biscuit. Does that sound familiar? This pattern teaches the dog to come only when there’s a biscuit. This is the result of treat training.

Always be prepared to reward your dog for responding to your command. Break free of the tendency of letting him know that there’s a reward for his response. Remember, a reward can be anything that your dog likes and the value of a reward is dependent on your dog’s motivations.

“Mac ... Come!” If he comes quickly, give him with a high-value reward. If he responds slowly, provide him with a lower-value reward like a hearty “good boy”. Regardless of how quickly he comes, he’s being recognized for obeying your command. This positive reinforcement approach teaches him to obey your command independent of a treat.

It’s a Lifetime Commitment

So, do you have to reward your dog forever? Yes! Reinforce the behaviours you want to maintain. Reward him with a healthy balance of affection, food, and the occasional treat.

What’s your dog’s motivation? Share the key to your dog by commenting below.

"Dogs + Winter + Action = Cool Photos " using an SLR Camera

Did you get a fancy new camera for Christmas this year (or for me a few years ago :)) and have no idea how to get those awesome pictures you know are possible.  We are very lucky to have a guest blogger this month, Erika Anderson from Erika A. Photography.  Erika gives us some suggestions to get those great shots of your pets.  If you feel you need to watch a pro in action, then come visit us during one of Erika's ACTION winter photo days at Shake-a-Paw's outside agility field in (3400 Wallace Road) South Mountain on Saturday February 22.  Cost will be $70 for 30 minutes.  That includes 5 images emailed at 8x10 size chosen by you from a online gallery.  To book a spot for the pictures from 1pm to 4pm send us an email at info at dogtraining.ca.  If you have been reading our blog, Erika did all the pictures in our December series Holiday, Company and Dogs.

Now here is Erika

After adopting my first Border Collie mix in 2001 I started photographing dogs and cats. Since then, many people often ask me what camera I use to get the fun shots of dogs outside.  I always laugh because I don't believe its the camera, but your technique and artistic eye.  Of course practice and patience are a key element to photography in general, but understanding your lighting will make or break the image.

So lets take your typical winter day, during a snow storm or right after when it is cloudy and/or dull outside.  Look around you, there are no shadows.. Perfect for photos??!! Yes :) Think of the ground, it is all white, perfect to reflect natural light. Think of the snow as a soft light from below, just like the soft light from above.

 Look into the eyes of Breeze. You can see reflection from below and above.

This creates a soft even lighting for the dog.

Lets check out a photo taken on a winter day but with the sun as a bright bold light!

This is when you have to watch your subject  more closely, checking for shadows and making sure the sun is not behind or directly in front of your dog. Look into Abby's eyes, you can see that the main light source is from above, with a slight reflection from below thanks to the snow. This fills in the shadows under she chest and surrounding areas that with out the reflective snow could end up dark.

Now that you can see how the lighting provides the right contrast and balance to a photo, we will now figure out our shutter speed. Something that every photographer needs to capture the ACTION!

Action is all about speed, so the higher the shutter speed the faster your camera will capture the image. Faster the image is captured the less blur you will get.

So the image above is taken on a sunny day. The sun will definitely make your shutter speed fast. The more light you have, the faster your shutter speed can capture the image. Take note where their shadows are, this tells you where the light source (the sun) is coming from. In having the light in front of your subjects (Abby and Fae) it creates a darker backdrop, enhancing the blue sky. Everyone loves a blue sky :) Plus it add's more details to the snow.

And then you ask, well what if its not sunny... How do you get a high shutter speed on a cloudy/dull day?

Your ISO option now comes into play as an important roll.. 

This is like when you would buy film and the options were, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600.  All digital SLR's have the option of many different ISO's. The down side to pumping them up to 1600+ is you tend to get what looks like grain or no usually sharp images. Most of the time if you are shooting during a cloudy snow day you should be fine at 400 ISO. On a sunny day 100 ISO

Now get bundled up, bring some toys and get shooting!  Practice, practice practice, with digital there are endless possibilities.  The way to learn is to experiment until you reach your snowy photographic goals.

Thank you Erica.  

We would love to see how your pictures turn out.  Send them in and we will add them to our picture gallery on the website.

Holidays, Company and Dogs - Part 3

Old habits die hard. Once you’ve had a dog a number of years, he (and you) will have established some habits. Save yourself from the frustration that comes with retraining and manage his habits instead! In this third blog of a three-part series on surviving the holidays with your dog, we will explore a few strategies for dealing with dogs with well-established habits.

Easiest Management Option: Separation

Don’t feel badly about separating your dog from the company. Separation will make your evening much less stressful. Bottom line, separation is all about protecting your dog. If your dog isn’t uncomfortable in a situation, he will be happier being separated.

Separation can be achieved in a variety of ways: a crate, an X-pen, an outdoor kennel, a bedroom or a basement. Whatever the space is, make sure:

1.      Your dog is relatively comfortable (outside won't work in the Canadian winters with a short-coated breed)

2.      No one can enter unless you allow it (sometimes, a bedroom may be too easy for someone to walk into without your knowledge)

3.      The space is sound proof (protect your dog and your guests from excessive noise)

4.      You give him a bone (separation anxiety can be easily rectified if your dog has something else to focus on)

If such a space is not possible, consider keeping the dog with a neighbour or at a kennel.

To Separate or Not To Separate … That is the Question

Protecting your dog is the main goal. Be realistic with your expectations. No one knows your dog better than you. If your dog appears uncomfortable in a situation, get him out of it! Don’t expect your dog to “deal with it” because chances are, he will deal with it in a way that is not satisfactory to you.

Here are a couple of common occasions when you may wish to consider separating your dog:

• when people arrive
• if your dog is uncomfortable with people (it will depend on how many people are coming, sometimes bringing him out later in the evening might work best)
• if your dog steals food (he only comes out after the food is put away)
• if your dog is not great with kids (he can come out when you can pay attention, keep him close on a leash, reward lying quietly with you)

The cardinal rule for when dealing with dogs and company: Be aware of what is going on and be prepared to remove your dog from the situation

Holidays, Company and Dogs Part 2

In this second part of a three-part series on surviving the holidays with your dogs, we will explore a few strategies for dealing with puppies.

by Erika A. Photography 

Everyone loves puppies, but it's amazing how many bad habits a puppy can learn at one family gathering. Yes, you will tell everyone "don't pet him if he is jumping" or "don't feed him from the table" but company, especially family, will ignore you completely. Don't expect your company to train your dog; it never works out.

This is your opportunity to establish some great habits in your puppy or dog (no matter how old) about how to behave when there new people in your home. The ability to roam around when the company is around is a privilege, not a right. Your dog has to earn that privilege through good behaviour.

Setting the Scene

(1) Make sure the dog is well-exercised before your guests arrive.
(2) Set a timer for bathroom breaks if there's a lot going on.
(3) Contain the dog until you are able to give him your full attention (or a member of your family). Try a crate in the party area so he gets to be part of the action but not in the action to misbehave or to steal food.

Introducing your puppy to guests

by Erika A. Photography 

Before you make your rounds with your puppy, keep the following in mind:

• Use a leash when the puppy is out of his containment area.
• Have some good treats on you.

Now that you're equipped, wait until your puppy is calm. As you make your way around:

1. Step on the leash at each guest to prevent jumping, rewarding any and all good behaviour.
2. When you are done making the rounds, have a seat with a dog pillow beside it.
3. Have him lie on it and again rewarding generously for lying there quietly.
4. When you want to go back to enjoying the party take him out to potty and put him away.

As the dog gets older, allow a little more freedom each time. Do the rounds, sit him on his pillow and if he has settled for a few minutes, take the leash off and let him wander around. Does he behave as you had hoped? If so, leave him loose the rest of the night, always keeping an eye on him. If not, go back to basics.

Watch next week for strategies on how to deal with company and an adult dog.

Holidays, Company and Dogs Part 1

The holiday season is a joyful time full of gatherings and occasions. It’s easy to forget the effect all this can have on your dog. Everyone has the picture of the perfect dog: one who walks calmly over to the company, gets a little pet, and then lies in the corner until the company leaves. He never jumps, never steals food, and never gets uncomfortable when people touch or corner him. This is rarely the case. Let’s be realistic. If you’re busy cooking dinner and playing host, you may not have time to constantly monitor the dog with your company.

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Keeping your dog and company safe begins with protecting the dog at all times. What can your dog truly handle? Remember, your dog is used to sleeping all day. All of a sudden, everyone is home for a week and then you add company. All this activity can lead to an overtired dog which can be a recipe for disaster. Protect your dog.

This is the first of a three part series on strategies to make your holiday gatherings go smoothly. This week, we're going to prepare for the arrival of company.

Preparing for the Arrival of Company

Before the company arrives, take the dog for a huge run. The 60 minutes you spend here will make the rest of the day much more peaceful.

Have a plan for the dog when the company arrives. Here are a few tricks to try:

1. Put the dog outside, in a crate or in a room until everyone is in and settled. This avoids the dog getting out or jumping and licking while people are trying to get their boots and coats off.
2. Throw a handful of kibble in the backyard before you answer the door. This will keep your dog busy hunting so he doesn't bark the whole time when the guests arrive. Do this regularly enough and when the doorbell rings your dog will run to the backdoor to be let out instead of running to the front door to greet the company. 
3. If your guests are arriving close to feeding time, feed the dog before they arrive. Not only does this get it out of the way, full dogs settle easier.
4. Create a safe space for your dog. Make sure there is somewhere he can go when he has had enough. Keep a bedroom or a basement door open where the dog can go and be alone. This will allow your dog to make the right choice of leaving when he has had enough. Once he has left the party, respect his choice. Leave him alone.  

Remember, not everyone loves your dog like you do. You may allow your dog to do things like curl up next to you on the couch but your company may not be comfortable that. Rather than constantly harassing the dog for behaving the way he is usually allowed, give him a big juicy bone and put him away until the company leaves.

Next week, we'll explore some strategies for puppies and company.

Changing A Behaviour

Everyone has at least one behaviour that there dog does on a regular basis that drives them nuts.  No matter how often you correct the dog the dog just keeps doing it.  Some dogs get really smart and wait for you not to be paying attention or be out of the house but they still do it and now they are sneaky about it.

The first step is finding an incompatible behaviour.  If you just stop the inappropriate behaviour you are left with a vacuum and nature hates a vacuum.  For the dog the easiest thing is to go back to the behaviour that has already been heavily reinforced (any behaviour that is constantly repeated has value somewhere).  The incompatible behaviour fills that vacuum giving your dog something else to do when faced with that cue.

For an example we are going to use the dog that counter surfs the minute you leave the room.  This is the dog that is perfectly well behaved but the second you leave the kitchen they will clear the counters.  First step is to identify the cue.  The cue in this situation is you walking out of the kitchen.  Second the inappropriate behaviour that you never want to see again.  For this example I have decided to teach the dog to follow me when I leave the kitchen.  This is usually the easy question, going on the counters.  Third is the hardest question; what incompatible behaviour do you want to train.

NOTE:  While you are training the incompatible behaviour you have to prevent the inappropriate behaviour from happening.  In this case you could use a baby gate to prevent the dog from going into the kitchen when someone else was in the kitchen.  Ideally everyone in the family would participate.  This will make the changes happen quicker and be generalized to everyone.  Make it easy keep an easily accessible bowl of treats on the way out of the kitchen.

NOTE #2:  The alternate behaviour needs to be rewarded until it becomes a habit.  Meaning the dog always follows you when you leave the kitchen.  Eventually you will stop rewarding this behaviour and it may fade but by this time you have erased the original incompatible behaviour.

Now you are ready to start the training.  At first I would call my dog as I was

leaving the training and reward her when she reached me.  After the first 3 or so repetitions I would start waiting to give her the reward somewhere away from the kitchen.  Make sure that you don't end up rewarding some other inappropriate behaviour such as jumping for the food or barking at you.  If the dog does any of these just keep walking until the behave politely and then reward.

After a few days of this you are going to do the first test.  You are going to leave the kitchen but you are not going to call you are just going to keep moving away and have the treat ready.  Will your dog choose the kitchen or choose to follow you?  If your dog chooses you awesome give her the reward as soon as she reaches you.  If your dog chooses the kitchen you are going to calmly and happily go get her in the kitchen by her collar and guide her out.  When she chooses to follow you reward.  I would then be ready to try it again as soon as my dog has gone and settled down.  If after three attempts she goes into the kitchen every time I would go back to calling her as soon as I left the kitchen for another 3 days and then try again.

You are now well on your way of teaching an incompatible behaviour.  Remember this won't get rid of counter surfing just that running into the kitchen as soon as you leave the room.  Depending on the dog this will go a long way into getting rid of counter surfing because dogs learn that when we leave the kitchen the chances of food being left around is very high.

I would keep this up for at least a month.  At that time I would start assessing the what stage my dog is at.  Does she always follow me without hesitation or does she kinda wander towards the kitchen and take a quick peek before following?  If without hesitation you can start reducing the food to about half the time and then a week later about a 1/4 of the time and so on.  If while reducing the food she starts to go back towards the kitchen you have to quickly and deliberately go and get her out of the kitchen.  Take her out let her go and see her choice.  If your dog still checks out the kitchen every time then I would continue rewarding making sure I was calling a earlier before she had a chance to check out the kitchen.  If my dog was only checking out the kitchen sometimes she would only get rewarded for the times she didn't even look at the kitchen.

What and How Much To Feed Your Dog?

Please keep in mind that I am not a vet.  This article is written from my experience and accumulated knowledge.

This is a very important question that will affect our dogs quality and length of life.  Our first step is to figure out what we want.  I want a dog who has a gleaming coat and healthy skin (no smell), who is the appropriate weight (more on that in a minute), good muscle tone and is not achy.  There is a lot of ways to reach this dog.  What might work great for one dog does not work for another.  What might work great for one dog as a young dog may not be the best thing as a senior. At the very beginning when I started searching for what to feed my dogs I received a lot of information from a lot of sources some of it contradictory.  Eventually I took all that information and made the decisions that led me where I am today.  I did a lot of experimenting through the years and am still open to change if I feel something interesting should be tried.  That's one thing about feeding you never know when a change will make your dog even better.

The first main question is do you want to feed kibble or do you want to feed a homemade diet.  There are many options on the market that allow you to pick either extreme or anything in between.

There are so many kibbles on the market that it is a bit overwhelming especially nowadays in the age of the recall.  I always recommend checking out The Whole Dog Journal.  The Whole Dog Journal rates the top foods every year.  I have faith in this list because they accept no advertisers and should therefore not be biased.
 When I talk about kibble another thing I read in The Whole Dog Journal was that you should change types of kibble every time you get a new bag.  This to me makes perfect sense.  If you only feed one thing your dog becomes only able to digest one thing.  This is how you get dogs with sensitive stomachs.  If you regularly change it up including adding things to the dogs kibble such as meat or veggies then the dog maintains the different enzymes.  Please let me be clear I did not say feed your dog meat scraps (dogs should never be given cooked bones) or feed them extras in an amount that will cause them to gain weight.  Of course all these high end foods cost a lot.  I believe that the money you spend on food will save you money at the vet in the long run.

Even in the realm of homemade feeding there are still decisions to be made.  Raw or cooked, grains or no grains.  If you have decided to make your dogs food I would suggest you start researching your different options but eventually just try one.  Commit to a diet for a month or two or four.  How does your dog's body react.  Is gas reduced, are his teeth starting to look cleaner, does his breath smell better, is his energy better (more obvious in older dogs), are his ears cleaner. After a while make some changes, do you see improvements?  No matter what the dog food commercials say I promise you your dog can thrive on a number of different diets just like we can so don't be scared to try new concepts and see how they work.

Some websites to get you started

http://www.volharddognutrition.com/
http://www.barfworld.com/
http://www.tolldenfarms.ca/home local supplier or raw food


Finally I want to end this blog on how much to feed your dog.  Let me begin by please don't read what the bag says to feed your dog, instead look at your dog.  Puppies stop growing at about 6 months (later for larger breeds) you probably need to start reducing your puppies food around that time.  With my puppies I do the ribbie check about once a week or so and adjust their food accordingly usually by about 10% up or down depending on the ribbie check.  The ribbie check is just a hands on rib check to see what their weight is like.  With my adults I try to once a month do the ribbie check and adjust accordingly.  I am constantly changing how much my dogs eat.  Let's face it nobody exercises as much in the dead of winter as they do in the spring and fall so it is really easy for my dogs to start putting on a little weight getting on top of that right away prevents it from ever becoming a problem.

Here is a great blog on how to know how your dog should feel http://www.successjustclicks.com/fit-fido-or-fat-fido/  check it out and see how your dog measures up.