Training "Boot Camp"

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I had a really interesting experience today.  My brother has a pretty out of control Lab.  He's had a number of trainers over the past year, and nothing seemed to work.  So, he decided he would send her to a two week training "boot camp".  I was not in favor of this.  It was amazingly expensive, and I really had doubts that it could work.  Plus I worried about her being away like that for two weeks.  Today I went with him to pick her up, and I have to say I have totally changed my mind.  This was a different dog...and she was really a happy dog.  She could heel like a pro, did a sit stay for 30 minutes while we were talking, was totally focused on whoever was handling her leash (the trainer or my brother), understood and responded to the word "no" consistently, was never distracted by toys being thrown around her, and so much more.  She seemed so calm and really happy.  It was truly amazing.  There were a few things that I took away from this "debrief" that I plan to incorporate into my own training, and I thought I'd share them...

 

-Using the word "no" for whenever the dog is doing something you don't want them to do makes life so much simpler for them.  If they have to learn things like "leave it" or "drop it" it is more difficult for them to process.  If you can catch them as they are starting to do something (like pick up something they shouldn't have) and give them a "no" command that's the best approach (in his opinion).

-The volume of your voice should never change, but the tone should.  There should be a tone for giving a command, another one for praise, and a different one for telling them "no".  Your body language and facial expression should match your tone.

-This trainer does not use treats at all, but he does use lots of praise.  His thought is that praise is their reward.  I saw this Lab constantly looking at him to guage his reaction.  Even when by brother took over she was doing the same thing. (I will continue to use treats, but maybe a little less frequently.)

-He did use a training collar (my brother referred to it as a choke collar, and was quickly corrected).  He uses it to give a quick reminder when the dog is doing something wrong.  There was absolutely nothing punative in what I saw.  It was a very immediate, fast tug on the leash to send a message. He said once the dog is in maintenance mode you would probably not need the collar...instead you would use a particular sound.  That's what I do now.

-It was fascinating to hear him talk about how well our dogs read our body language.  He said they are even able to notice slight differences in our facial muscles, and can clearly understand our adrenaline levels through their sense of smell.  He believes it is almost impossible to hide our true feelings from our dogs....he said a stressed out owner will result in a stressed out dog.

-He believes that most of us really underestimate what our dogs are capable of doing.  We put them in a sit/stay for five minutes, and think that's great.  He puts them in that position for an hour.  He feels it teaches them self control which ultimately results in a more fulfilled dog. His thought is that most of us never provide the challenges that will result in a dog who is trully fulfilled, confident, and self assured. I think I fall into this trap.  I know I could be challenging my guys more.

-He believes dogs should be in training mode a good portion of the day.  Actually he keeps them in that state of mind unless he actually releases them.  I agree with this.  I used to do specific training times once or twice a day, but lately I've just been incorporating training throughout the day.

 

These are just a few key things that I took away.  There are so many more that I know I'm forgetting (Crafts).  The key will be whether my brother can keep it up at home.  This trainer is going to come to him home a couple of times over the next week, so that will help.  What really impressed me was how calm and happy this dog was....moreso than I have ever seen her.  I also noticed how totally bonded this dog had become with the trainer in just two weeks.  I'm really writing this because in the past I had said that I had serious doubts about these types of training experiences, and I'm feeling that I was wrong.  Of course, it depends on the trainer, but in this particular case I've seen an absolutely amazing transformation.  Maybe there really are true "dog whisperers"...LOL.  More likely, there are just some people who really understand how to gain the trust of a dog and then teach and reward them in a meaningful way which produces a very positive change in behavior.  We couldn't resist asking him about his opinion of Cesar Milan.  Of course, he was being politically correct, but he said he had seen him do great work with very difficult dogs.  Where he differed most signifficantly was in regard to praise.....he said that Cesar assumes that the dog is able to read that the trainer is happy when they are complying, where he doesn't want to take that for granted...so he always gives praise when the dog is following a command.

 

I'd love anyone's thoughts on this.  It is sort of a "brain dump" while it's all fresh in my mind.  I find this whole area of training to be absolutely fascinating.  My Doods are probably going to be saying..."here we go again...LOL

[Adina P]

What you said somewhere in here about dogs learning from being right more than they learn from corrections reminded me of an article I blogged about a while back. Copy and paste:

smartdogs.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/great-expectations/

For me, this gives a little insight into why training methods that use both reward and punishment seem to be very effective (in my opinion). Dogs learn when they get things wrong, but if nothing much (that matters) happens when they get things wrong I don't think it sinks in as equally important. Now, for some dogs not getting their reward can be enough consequence. But this isn't enough for all dogs and I don't think it takes advantage of all the learning possibilities. Sometimes, I'm not consciously thinking of the reward I'm going to get at the end, but when I make a mistake with unpleasant consequences I still learn ( hopefully). If a dog is not consciously thinking of the potential reward because he is distracted, an unpleasant consequence (provided he has already learned quite a bit about what he's supposed to be doing) gets his attention far faster, I believe, and brings that attention back to the task at hand.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Exactly, and with this trainer's method the unpleasant consequence is that he does not get the positive "stroking" and the knowledge that what he had done is "right". He gets a quick tug on the leash, a "NO", and his trainer looks away from him. In the case of my brother's dog, the desire for positive reinforcement was enough of an incentive. I agree, it may not be enough for all dogs though....not sure.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I just had a chance to read this...it makes total sense.

[Minga & Malu & Costa]

Jane, If you want to read more about human and dog body language, get your hands on Patricia McConnell's books. I would start with "The Other End of the Leash". Really cool stuff, I use a lot of it in my training.

Our training goes on all day long throughout the day. Every moment spent with your dog is a moment you can use to teach them things, even if it is something as simple as sitting before getting attention. Basically this way you are teaching them how you would like them to behave all day long.

You can reward your dogs many ways: food, attention, toys, play time, games, etc. IMO every training that starts out with food as a reward should gradually decrease the treats to almost nothing. I like to get my dogs down to 1 or 2 treats a day when they are adults (+1 year). At that point it is just a snack really and their training reward is praise and getting to do something they like (play with toys, other dogs, etc).

Those are my thoughts. :)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Thank you....I will definitely look for that book. I've heard great things about it, but I haven't read it yet.

[Minga & Malu & Costa]

I really enjoy her stuff, I can hardly put them down when I start reading! I have owned dogs my whole life, but I just learned SO much once I picked these up!