18th May, 2012 - Posted by Katherine Ostiguy, KPA CTP - No Comments
On Sunday, May 13th, Strata and I competed at the Middlesex County Kennel Club AKC agility trial in North Smithfield, RI. We had a wonderful time and earned a double qualifying score! Here are videos of our runs together.
Next Sunday, May 20th, we’ll be at the same venue competing at Colonial Shetland Sheepdog Club’s AKC agility trial. These shows are held at Wide World of Indoor Sports in North Smithfield, RI and spectators (without dogs, please) are encouraged! If you stop by, be sure to visit our vending booth and say hello!
16th May, 2012 - Posted by Katherine Ostiguy, KPA CTP - No Comments
In over a decade of dog ownership, none of my dogs have ever gotten lost. In my pre-trainer days, Tessie would occasionally bolt out the front door, but we quickly remedied that once I began taking some training classes. Even so, we could catch her quickly and she rarely made it past the front steps.
Last week, I put Tessie on her tie-out in our front yard. It’s only about 15′ long, which gives her just enough length to sniff the bushes and relieve herself, but keeps her a safe distance from the road. In her old age, she enjoys sunning herself out there on warm days. I check on her every ten minutes or so, just to make sure she’s not tangled around a bush or eating something she shouldn’t. (She’s a master garter snake catcher.)
When I checked on her fifteen minutes later, she was gone. Lost. Not in the front yard. Not where I left her. Nowhere to be seen. I started to panic. I checked the tie-out and discovered the clasp was broken. “Well, at least she wasn’t stolen,” I thought.
Dan was with a dog walking client nearby and I called him home to help me look. He began driving around the neighborhood while I stayed home near the phone. See, I had forgotten that Tessie’s tag had my cell phone number on it, too. For some reason I thought it only had the home phone number, so I wanted to be within range of the cordless phone.
I called my town’s animal control officer and left a message on his phone, and also called the town vet where people are instructed to drop off strays or loose dogs. As people walked by the house I asked if they had seen her; no one had. The UPS delivery man stopped by with a package and told me he would keep an eye out.
About forty-five minutes after I discovered she was gone, I had just posted on Facebook to see if any of my friends were able to come help us look when I glanced out the window and saw her snuffling around in the backyard. I ran outside, called her, and she came right to me. She was exhausted from her adventure and limping slightly, but was fine after a few hours’ rest.
I share this tale because I think everyone can learn a few things from it. The highlights…
Check your equipment! Upon further inspection of the tie-out clasp there was a small amount of rust around the moving parts. It is several years old and was overdue to be replaced. Tessie is a strong dog (she is a weight pull champion, after all!) and this is actually the fourth piece of equipment she’s broken – she snapped a cotton webbing leash and broke two D-rings off of collars prior to this, but I had always been there when it happened.
Make sure your dog is wearing a well-fitting collar with ID. It was reassuring to know that whoever found her would have her name, our address, and phone numbers and know exactly where to return her to. My dogs’ tags read “Name – REWARD” so people know I am serious about getting them back. Collars can occasionally fall off but this is a good place to start.
Put your cell phone number on the dog tag instead of, or in addition to, your home phone number. When your dog gets lost, you will want to be outside looking for them, not sitting at home waiting by the phone! Your home phone number also does you no good if you’re traveling with your dog and they get lost miles from home.
Make sure your dog is registered with the town, even if you’re not going to put the tag on your dog’s collar. When a lost dog is found, the animal control officer will look at a list of dogs registered with the town to see if that dog matches the description of any of those dogs. For example, if a Greyhound is found on Main Street and there’s a Greyhound registered to a homeowner a half-mile away, often the ACO will contact that homeowner to ask if their dog has gone missing. Registering your dog with your town also ensures you are meeting their vaccination requirements. If the ACO picks up your dog and it is not registered with the town, you may have to pay a fine to get your dog back. It was nice to not have to worry about this with Tessie!
I’m happy to report that Tessie’s limp disappeared after a few hours of rest and she is safe and sound here at home. We’re shopping for a new tie-out this week so she can enjoy the sunshine again.
17th April, 2012 - Posted by Katherine Ostiguy, KPA CTP - Comments Off
Finch says, "All this videotaping makes me sleepy!"
The last few weeks have been very busy for little Finch. As I mentioned in his introduction post, Finch is a case study dog for Julie Robitaille’s TACT program. Together, Julie, Dan, Finch, and I have been filming video clips for a series of presentations Julie will be giving on TACT. The first presentation was yesterday at the New England Federation of Humane Societies Conference, and Julie said the audience just loved him!
Finch’s video clips will be featured in Julie’s upcoming presentations, including this Friday at the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) conference in Warwick, RI. I will be there to see the finished product. Come introduce yourself if you are attending! Julie has been posting upcoming seminars to the TACT Facebook page, so be sure to “Like” it if you have not already.
Back on the home front
Finch has been making some great progress lately. At long last, we are able to take him for walks through the neighborhood. It is so interesting to see him “discover” new things, as if he were a young puppy. On our last walk, he was absolutely fascinated by flags and pinwheels. We bought him his very own pinwheel to investigate and play “Look at That” with, which he enjoys. His new nickname is “Peter Pan Puppy” – it looks like he will never grow up, physically or mentally!
11th April, 2012 - Posted by Katherine Ostiguy, KPA CTP - Comments Off
At last, my new blogging project is up and running! I am now a Community Blogger for Wicked Local. I invite you to visit my new blog Dog Savvy. I’ll be posting lots of informative articles geared towards the average dog owner: product reviews, puppy stuff, general training articles, and local pet events in eastern Massachusetts.
This blog now will take a turn for the personal, and I’ll share more about the training I do with my own dogs. I’ll also be posting more about agility training and dog reactivity.
If there is something you would like to hear about on either blog, I’m all ears. Leave a comment here or contact me through my website.
21st March, 2012 - Posted by Katherine Ostiguy, KPA CTP - Comments Off
Strata performs his hand target behavior.
Now it is time to wrap up my series on “How to Get Behavior” with targeting! Targeting is like a hybrid between the three methods I have already explained: luring, capturing, and shaping. Here’s why.
How to Target
First, you must use capturing and/or shaping to teach your dog to touch or follow a target object. One example of this is hand targeting, which I teach in almost all of my dog training classes. The dog touches his nose to his owner’s hand when presented with an open palm.
When the dog understands that targeting behavior, you can then use it to train other behaviors by using the target as a lure f or the dog to follow. For example, I teach dogs to get on and off of furniture on cue by first teaching the dog to hand target, then using that target to lure the dog on and off of furniture.
There are lots of variables with targeting. You can use any object as a target, and popular items include wooden spoons, sticky notes, and plastic lids. I have a how-to guide for creating duct-tape targets on my website, which are very versatile. The dog can be taught to target with a different body part. For example, hand targeting requires the dog to use his nose, but you could also teach the dog to target an object with his paw, chin, or entire body! In a way, mat behavior is like a full-body target.
Why not just lure?
How is targeting better than luring with food? I prefer to use a target, particularly a hand target, when possible because I find it is easier for my students to fade a target than a food lure. It seems to me that the dog can focus more on the task and what his body is doing and not just blindly following food. Additionally, when using a hand target as a lure, the hand target can very easily evolve into a hand signal for the behavior. All three of my dogs will dismount furniture if I point to the ground; this was taught first by hand targeting them off, then clicking them for jumping on the floor (but before they could touch my hand). Then I simply changed my hand signal from an open flat palm to a pointing index finger.
Applications
Targeting can be used for so many behaviors, but here are some ideas to get you started…
An over-exuberant greeter can be cued to hand target when meeting a new person
A hand target provides a visual target to drive towards during a recall
Prevent your dog from counter-surfing while you’re in the kitchen by having her lie on a mat (full-body targeting)
Teach your dog to spin to the “left” or “right” by having him follow a target stick or wooden spoon in a tight circle
Clicker training allows you to capture a behavior, like this terrier's adorable tilted head, so you can put it on cue in the future! (Photo Credit: Mike Weston)
Over the last few days, I have written about shaping and luring here on Spring Forth Dog Blog. My next topic is capturing, which is a pretty simple, straightforward way to get behavior!
How to Capture
Simply put, capturing involves waiting for the dog to do the ENTIRE behavior you are looking for by himself (no prompts from you), then clicking when he does so. Capturing is the best way to get more of those charming little behaviors that your dog does spontaneously, such as tilting his head or licking his lips.
Capturing can also be used to teach a dog to sit or lie down on cue. I do this with some dogs that never offer to lie down in a training session no matter how much luring we try.
To capture a behavior, you must keep treats in your pocket & a clicker handy. Observe your dog closely and be ready to click when he happens to do the behavior! Then give him a treat.
Chances are, the dog will have no idea what earned him the click and treat the first time, but if you stick with it and continue to watch the dog for more examples of behavior, you will notice the dog doing that behavior more often.
I suggest that my students keep a log where they write down when they were able to reward the dog for doing that behavior. On the first and second day, it might only be twice a day, but by the end of a week, they’re capturing it a dozen times a day! Clearly the dog is learning something.
Practice Makes Perfect
Capturing requires a lot of patience as well as good timing from the trainer. Remember: training is a mechanical skill, just like learning to ride a bike or play an instrument. It takes a bit of time to get good at it! Practice your timing and observation skills away from your dog first, before trying to capture a new behavior.
12th March, 2012 - Posted by Katherine Ostiguy, KPA CTP - Comments Off
Most dog trainers use treats as a lure, but toys can also be used. (Photo Credit: Lulu Hoeller)
Last week I started off my series on “How to Get Behavior” with shaping. Now I’m going to explain a bit about luring and how to use a lure to teach behavior.
The term luring refers to the use of a desired reward to coax the dog into achieving the desired behavior. The “desired reward” is nearly always a food treat, but toys are another choice. Luring can be used to teach many behaviors, including sit, down, loose leash walking, and a lot of tricks.
How to Lure
I use food lures in my group training classes unless the owner is very concerned about the dog becoming dependant on a food lure. (More on that below.) I teach “sit” by showing the dog a piece of food, moving it right in front of his nose, and lifting that piece of food up and towards the dog’s tail. This lifts the dog’s head up and back, resulting in his weight shifting from his front legs to his back legs. Nearly always, this causes the dog to sit. I then click and give the dog the treat.
After doing this three or four times, I get rid of the food lure. This is the most important step, yet it is the one that most owners skip! As soon as the dog has an idea that “bum on ground = I get the food”, I lure the dog with an empty hand, pretending that I have a cookie. The dog is now busy watching my hand as it goes up and over his head, and he sits. I click and give him a treat from my pocket or bait bag. The dog now understands a hand signal for “sit”. My fingers pinched together above his head, moving towards his hindquarters is the “green light” to sit.
As the dog becomes more proficient, I alter my hand signal to make it more and more obvious that I don’t have food until just lifting my hand up, palm facing up, cues the dog to “sit”. I can then add a verbal cue, if I am so inclined.
Troubleshooting
There are several things to keep in mind when luring. It’s not the right solution to every training problem. Here are some of the potential pitfalls…
Becoming dependent on food being visible. This is the number one issue with luring. Owners complain, “My dog only sits if I have a treat in my hand.” The good news is this can be prevented: as soon as you have the behavior, get rid of the food! Re-read my paragraph above: I only lure the dog three or four times before switching to an empty hand.
Scaring the dog. Simply put, it is unfair to lure a nervous or frightened dog. For example, when I teach agility classes, new students almost always try to lure their dogs over the agility equipment when the dog is clearly afraid of the obstacle and is not sure what to do. It is only okay to lure a happy, relaxed dog into something he is physically and mentally capable of doing. If the dog is unsure about how to walk on a narrow plank, your best bet is to shape the dog to walk on it literally one step at a time. This will build the dog’s confidence up about that obstacle.
My Approach
Although I do use luring with my students, it is an approach I use rather infrequently with my own dogs. I am patient and possess the timing skills necessary to shape most behaviors with my dogs. There are some behaviors that I think can be trained faster and more easily with a lure, such as teaching a dog to “spin” in a tight circle, but for most other behaviors (including sit and down) I choose to capture them instead. More on that in my next post!
Cricket has been taught to lie on her mat using shaping.
When it comes to positive reinforcement based clicker training, there are four major ways of getting behavior: shaping, luring, targeting and capturing. There are other ways, including physical modeling, but they have limited applications and are rarely by most positive reinforcement trainers. In this post, I’ll address shaping, and later this month, I’ll follow-up with the others.
Shaping
What is shaping? Shaping is a method of building behavior “from scratch” by clicking successive approximations towards an end behavior. Often a trainer will create a mental or written “shaping plan” that lays out the steps it might take to get the final desired behavior.
One popular way to introduce shaping is when teaching a dog to get on a mat. The goal behavior is that the dog lies down on the mat for an extended period.
In the beginning, the trainer will start by clicking and treating their dog just for looking at the mat. This is usually followed by sniffing the mat, brushing up against it, or putting a paw on it, all of which can also be clicked. After the dog has received several rewards for interacting with the mat in this way, they will start to experiment just a little, often by purposefully putting a paw or two on the mat. Click!
From there, the trainer waits for the dog to put three or four of her paws on the mat before clicking and treating. When the dog demonstrates an understanding of “paws on the mat = treat”, the trainer patiently waits for the dog to offer a sit or a down. Some dogs offer sitting right away and later relax into a down, while others flop over into a down right away.
It’s very important to understand that the trainer remains relatively quiet during this process and does not prompt the dog by talking, saying cues, patting the object, or touching the dog. All of these things mean nothing to the dog! He can’t comprehend English and he doesn’t know the desired behavior let. The dog must figure out what behavior earns him a click and a treat. (Praise and happy talk after the dog has interacted with the mat and received a click is just fine, but one must stay quiet while the dog is figuring things out.)
Instead, the trainer should manipulate the environment to set the dog up for success. When I teach group training classes, I tend to work on matwork as the last exercise, when the dogs are comfortable and are a little tired. I have students sit on their mats during class and only take them out when it’s time to work on mat training, and I instruct them to be ready before putting the mat down. They need to be ready to click the instant the dog starts looking at or sniffing the mat, which is often before it even hits the floor!
I recommend that students to practice matwork in the evening when the dog is already considering taking a nap. Sleepy dogs are more likely to lie down on an object than wound-up, excited dogs. The flip side to this, of course, is that if you are shaping a fast movement-oriented behavior like agility obstacles, tricks that involve movement, or coming when called, do it when your dog is awake and full of energy.
6th March, 2012 - Posted by Katherine Ostiguy, KPA CTP - Comments Off
Just a brief post… I want to apologize for my month-long absence from blogging. I was offered a position blogging for another website, and was saving my posts up for the launch of that site. But the launch date keeps getting pushed back, and now my messages are going unanswered, so it appears that project may be a bust.
The good news is that I have several complete or nearly-complete drafts, so you’ll be hearing from me quite a bit in the coming days and weeks!
The Lickety Stik by Premier/Pet Safe is the latest addition to my list of favorite treats for dogs. (Photo Credit: Premier Pet Products)
To wrap up my series on training with treats, I thought I would share my personal arsenal of favorite training treats. Something on this list is sure to pique a dog’s interest! I have split these snacks into two categories: homemade/grocery store bought, and store bought.
Homemade/Grocery Store
Peanut butter! This one is no surprise if you’re a long-time blog reader. I outlined all my reasons for using peanut butter already.
Turkey hot dogs. Specifically, I slice them into quarters length-wise, then chop into small bits. I spread them out on a paper towel, sprinkle them with garlic powder, and microwave them for approximately 90 seconds. These are Tessie’s absolute favorite treat.
Buffalo steak. In a pinch, any steak will do, but buffalo steak is incredibly lean which makes it very healthy. I pan-fry it with a little bit of water until it is well-done, then slice into small pieces. If possible, I like to freeze it for a couple of days before using it to train. The pieces don’t seem to stick together as much if it has been frozen and thawed.
Sardine treats. I shared the link to this recipe previously. Mine is based heavily on one that Susan Garrett shared on her blog a couple of years ago, but the addition of cinnamon in my recipe totally neutralizes that “fishy” scent you otherwise get and makes them smell great. The last time I baked them, Dan thought I was making dessert!
Cheese. This is quick and easy. I particularly like cheddar-jack cheese sticks, as they are not oily the way mozzarella sticks can be. Shredded cheese is an excellent treat (in moderation) for tiny puppies. The nice thing about cheese is the variety of flavors, and if your dog has developed a love for cheese, you can shred it and melt it over any other training treat you would like to use for added power.
Pet Store
Canned dog food. Messy, but dogs are crazy for it, particularly if they do not get it on a regular basis at mealtime. You can pop the cap off and just dab a little on a finger or wooden spoon or transfer it to a plastic container and let the dog lick some out, but my personal preference is to put it in a refillable squeeze tube.
Lickety Stiks. This is a relatively new training treat from Premier, and is a liquid treat in a roller-ball container sort of like a rabbit water bottle. It is very tasty and “lickable” while being very low in calories. It’s an excellent choice for dogs that need to learn new behaviors and lose weight at the same time.
Paws Gourmet treats are the perfect consistency for use while training. (Photo Credit: Paws Gourmet)
Paws Gourmet training treats. We absolutely love these itty-bitty soft training treats. They come in 4 flavors: White Cheddar, Peanut Butter Molasses, Kickin’ Chicken, and Liver Mesquite. Truly something for everyone — the cheese enthusiast, the sweet tooth, the meat lover, and the spice aficionado. The treats come pea-sized, but are the consistency of modeling clay, making them very easy to break into even smaller pieces. Up until recently, they even came in a 3-pound size container and our clients would buy these and freeze them, thawing out only what they needed.
ZiwiPeak treats. These treats are ideal with dogs with food allergies, because they contain very few ingredients and stick to the protein sources advertised on the label. Flavors include Lamb, Beef, Venison, and Fish & Venison. The treats are jerky-like in consistency and are very easy to break into smaller pieces.
Fruit Loops. Though absolutely not my first choice, since they are loaded with sugar and artificial colors, some dogs are just absolutely bonkers for sugary snacks. Our youngster Finch is one of them. We save them for really special occasions when we need something high-value and visible — they are easy for dogs to pick off the ground or find in their crates when we are tossing treats.
So tell me: what’s on your list of favorite training treats? Do you like the products I have listed here, or is there one you think I should know about? Let me know in the comments!
In over a decade of dog ownership, none of my dogs have ever gotten lost. In my pre-trainer days, Tessie would occasionally bolt out the front door, but we quickly remedied that once I began taking some training classes. Even so, we could catch her quickly and she rarely made it past the front steps.
