E has been with us for almost 4 weeks. Usually his morning routine is he wants to be petted but won't come all the way up to me without me telling him to sit and then giving him a treat.
This morning, I could tell he wanted to come up to me, but when I'd turn to him he'd trot away, and trot around the dining room table, coming close to me each time but not explicitly coming up to be petted.
I was in my bathroom getting ready for work, and he came to the door-- again, the "I want to come up to you" vibe. I sat on the edge of the tub and one dog came up for pets. And so did E. No coaxing, no "sit" routine, he just came all the way up to me for a little scratching on his chest. It's a small thing, but a big thing at the same time.
Also, in the mornings he is very playful and wants to engage in play. He tries to get this started by acting all prancy and happy and then barking at me. I don't want the barking part, it's early in the morning and my neighbors will not be OK with that. I immediately turn away from him. If that doesn't stop it, which so far it kinda doesn't, I immediately go into the other room and shut the door, leaving him dumbfounded. After about 10 seconds, I open the door like nothing happened. This interruption of the barking is important. If I had more time to work with this in the morning, I'd wait for the moment when he stopped barking, and would C/T the quiet. The only time we have this barking is when we arrive home and he's greeting us, and when he's trying to play (or when my other dogs are wrestling and playing, and he's trying to join in, so he barks at them happily while they wrestle).
Also this morning, he proactively jumped onto the sofa to have a 20-min snuggle session with my husband. Dennis loved this, because E has been slower to warm up to him and now E is completely comfortable with him.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
More bell work and great progress
We moved back to the door leading outside and worked with the bells the same way we've been doing so for the last day... first on the floor, then hanging from my hand. We're not putting them back on the door, YET. Baby steps. Baby steps.
Working with bells in a new room
This morning before work, I took E into a new room and worked with the bells a bit more. Sorry for the dark video, I didn't realize the light in there was so bad. He did very well, despite the presence of the tripod and camera, which he dislikes. Here you go:
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Loving the bells
Hmmm. In our first session tonight, E was touching the target dot behind the bells but when he'd also touch the bell, it would jingle and he'd panic and run away from it. Next training session, he was trying hard to avoid that bell. Uh oh. That's not what we want.
I gave him some "easy wins" and ended the session to think about this some more.
Tonight I realized I needed to help him love the bells by taking them off the door, going into a different room, and teaching him to target them while they're on the floor. So I sat down in a quiet room with some GOOD treats, and he expressed concern that the Evil Bells were there. I went slowly. I handled them in such a way that they only made a little noise, put them down on the carpet, and let him smell my hand. See? That's what bells smell like, OK?
We started the targeting exercise, and by now he knows the game and is moving into it quickly. He'd look at them. I'd C/T. Then I went for the gold. I put little pieces of cheese near the bells. He gobbled them up as I clicked. I put one ON the bell. He gingerly took it as I clicked. I took about 6 little pieces of cheese and tucked them around the bells so he'd have to stick his nose right in there to get them, touching the bells with his nose. He was starting to like this.
I could see his attitude changing. We made good progress and I was running out of the cheese so we stopped, I praised and rubbed him down, and went to the kitchen to reload. (He was also getting tiny cat food bits, and small dog kibbles. I save the cheese bit for a high level of performance, like actually touching the bells).
We went back and I put the bells on the ground again. He seemed spooked again, so we backed up-- a C/T for just looking at the bells. After a few of those, he was off and running again, giving me some really good pushes on those bells. His fear of making them jingle seemed gone. He even whacked 'em with his paw once, good and hard. He got a jackpot for that.
I used the relative value of the treats to communicate my level of pleasure with his performance. A touch resulting in a jingle would definately warrant a cheese treat, and maybe more than one depending on the intensity of the hit. A nose-touch to the thick cord would just get a lower value cat-food bit. He was doing very well!
We took another break. I wanted to evolve to holding the cord in my hand, dangling the bells down so they were hanging. I'm starting to emulate the position they have on the doorknob.
Again, he started out concerned, so we backed up a few steps and "warmed up". Again, he progressed quickly. He was consistently nosing them and making them jingle a bit.
Another break.
This time, I moved the bells to my other hand. He didn't like that. But again, after a brief warm up, he was back in the game. By now, the other dogs were losing their patience and starting to scratch on the door and complain. He was getting distracted so I found a good successful touch, and ended the session with lots of praise and scratches.
After the session, I took him out and he immediately relieved himself. When a dog is eating treats like this, especially when combined with the pressure of a few training sessions, it will usually make him have to go. By the way, it's important to make sure you potty your dog before you start a session, too, so you don't have a dog who is distracted because he kinda has to go.
I did "therapy dog work" at Stanford Hospital when I lived it the Bay Area, and a team of us would go in and give dog visits on a floor for about an hour. We would of course "empty" our dogs before going in, so you'd think they'd be fine. Without fail, as soon as we'd leave we'd head for the grass and all the dogs would have to go. And go. And go. Even though they enjoy the therapy dog work, the pressure of it seems to stimulate the other body functions and I think this applies to any kind of training session. So keep that in mind, if your dog's been concentrating and working hard for you, give him a bio break afterward.
We have one family coming to visit E this weekend. We'll see if it's a good match!
I gave him some "easy wins" and ended the session to think about this some more.
Tonight I realized I needed to help him love the bells by taking them off the door, going into a different room, and teaching him to target them while they're on the floor. So I sat down in a quiet room with some GOOD treats, and he expressed concern that the Evil Bells were there. I went slowly. I handled them in such a way that they only made a little noise, put them down on the carpet, and let him smell my hand. See? That's what bells smell like, OK?
We started the targeting exercise, and by now he knows the game and is moving into it quickly. He'd look at them. I'd C/T. Then I went for the gold. I put little pieces of cheese near the bells. He gobbled them up as I clicked. I put one ON the bell. He gingerly took it as I clicked. I took about 6 little pieces of cheese and tucked them around the bells so he'd have to stick his nose right in there to get them, touching the bells with his nose. He was starting to like this.
I could see his attitude changing. We made good progress and I was running out of the cheese so we stopped, I praised and rubbed him down, and went to the kitchen to reload. (He was also getting tiny cat food bits, and small dog kibbles. I save the cheese bit for a high level of performance, like actually touching the bells).
We went back and I put the bells on the ground again. He seemed spooked again, so we backed up-- a C/T for just looking at the bells. After a few of those, he was off and running again, giving me some really good pushes on those bells. His fear of making them jingle seemed gone. He even whacked 'em with his paw once, good and hard. He got a jackpot for that.
I used the relative value of the treats to communicate my level of pleasure with his performance. A touch resulting in a jingle would definately warrant a cheese treat, and maybe more than one depending on the intensity of the hit. A nose-touch to the thick cord would just get a lower value cat-food bit. He was doing very well!
We took another break. I wanted to evolve to holding the cord in my hand, dangling the bells down so they were hanging. I'm starting to emulate the position they have on the doorknob.
Again, he started out concerned, so we backed up a few steps and "warmed up". Again, he progressed quickly. He was consistently nosing them and making them jingle a bit.
Another break.
This time, I moved the bells to my other hand. He didn't like that. But again, after a brief warm up, he was back in the game. By now, the other dogs were losing their patience and starting to scratch on the door and complain. He was getting distracted so I found a good successful touch, and ended the session with lots of praise and scratches.
After the session, I took him out and he immediately relieved himself. When a dog is eating treats like this, especially when combined with the pressure of a few training sessions, it will usually make him have to go. By the way, it's important to make sure you potty your dog before you start a session, too, so you don't have a dog who is distracted because he kinda has to go.
I did "therapy dog work" at Stanford Hospital when I lived it the Bay Area, and a team of us would go in and give dog visits on a floor for about an hour. We would of course "empty" our dogs before going in, so you'd think they'd be fine. Without fail, as soon as we'd leave we'd head for the grass and all the dogs would have to go. And go. And go. Even though they enjoy the therapy dog work, the pressure of it seems to stimulate the other body functions and I think this applies to any kind of training session. So keep that in mind, if your dog's been concentrating and working hard for you, give him a bio break afterward.
We have one family coming to visit E this weekend. We'll see if it's a good match!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Target dot goes near the jingle bells
We moved the target dot yet again, this time to the door where the jingle bells are. We're going to start slowly moving it behind the bells, to get him to bump the bells.
You'll notice that we "back up" in terms of our criteria-- once again, because we're in a new location, the game feels different to him so we C/T for merely looking at the dot, and it progresses quickly from there. We got our first "bell touch" in this sequence. I chopped it up a bit to make it shorter for you-- the entire session was 15 minutes long. The dot is inched up behind the bells over the course of this session.
You'll notice that we "back up" in terms of our criteria-- once again, because we're in a new location, the game feels different to him so we C/T for merely looking at the dot, and it progresses quickly from there. We got our first "bell touch" in this sequence. I chopped it up a bit to make it shorter for you-- the entire session was 15 minutes long. The dot is inched up behind the bells over the course of this session.
Target dot goes onto the wall
Here is Einstein about 40 minutes after the previous post, working the same target dot which has now been moved onto the wall. The environment was very distracting, my dogs were barking, the window shade was flapping and making noise, a car was pulling up out front, and my snoozing husband got irritated with my other barking dog and started to scold him, which I interrupted since that would derail Einstein. So in the midst of all that, here's how he did learning for the first time how to touch the target dot while taped onto a wall.
By the way, dogs have to learn how to generalize, and it doesn't come naturally to them. So just because he knows how to touch the dot on the floor doesn't mean he instantly knows how to do it when it's on the wall. That feels really different to him. With the immediate feedback from my clicker (my tongue click) he quickly gets the idea and this also strengthens his "generalization" muscle a bit.
By the way, he really dislikes the tripod and I'm standing right by it. I'm going to leave the tripod out in the living room and other places so he gets used to it and stops being suspicious of it.
Here we go:
By the way, dogs have to learn how to generalize, and it doesn't come naturally to them. So just because he knows how to touch the dot on the floor doesn't mean he instantly knows how to do it when it's on the wall. That feels really different to him. With the immediate feedback from my clicker (my tongue click) he quickly gets the idea and this also strengthens his "generalization" muscle a bit.
By the way, he really dislikes the tripod and I'm standing right by it. I'm going to leave the tripod out in the living room and other places so he gets used to it and stops being suspicious of it.
Here we go:
Target training in the hallway
I just figured out how to use my camera to do videos. Here's Einstein clicker-training with the target dot (which is the lid from a coffee can). The idea is to start moving the target dot around, and eventually put it on the wall, and then behind the jingle bells, so I can train him ultimately to ring the jingle bells when he needs to go outside.
If you're new to clicker training, here is a really quick video on the basic concepts.
It's a slow but very effective process. We're still in the early stages. But here you can see E working on this for the first time in a hallway. He has never had a training session in this hallway, so it's a bit weird for him, and in addition there's a large tripod holding my camera, and my camera makes a very high-pitched sound when it starts and stops, and he dislikes that. So he is not himself here, and look how willing he still is to work for me. What a love.
God bless YouTube. This file is big and would eat up so much of my hard disk that if it were not for YouTube, you'd never see videos of E. By the way, I'm usually grabbing opportunities for training in the margins of my busy life, and I try to stay out of the film because I've often just gotten out of the shower and have on sweats with dripping wet hair, etc. That's certainly the case in this one. So forgive me for not showing you more of what I'm doing as a trainer. I'll do that once I have more time to clean up a bit for the camera!
If you're new to clicker training, here is a really quick video on the basic concepts.
It's a slow but very effective process. We're still in the early stages. But here you can see E working on this for the first time in a hallway. He has never had a training session in this hallway, so it's a bit weird for him, and in addition there's a large tripod holding my camera, and my camera makes a very high-pitched sound when it starts and stops, and he dislikes that. So he is not himself here, and look how willing he still is to work for me. What a love.
God bless YouTube. This file is big and would eat up so much of my hard disk that if it were not for YouTube, you'd never see videos of E. By the way, I'm usually grabbing opportunities for training in the margins of my busy life, and I try to stay out of the film because I've often just gotten out of the shower and have on sweats with dripping wet hair, etc. That's certainly the case in this one. So forgive me for not showing you more of what I'm doing as a trainer. I'll do that once I have more time to clean up a bit for the camera!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
He played with a toy!
The progress we're seeing in terms of E's confidence and happiness is accelerating. Now that he really trusts us, the "real him" is coming out. To my surprise and delight last night, he grabbed a tennis ball and started tossing it and pouncing on it. Then, he turned to a "dog blanket" we use, and started to chew on its fringe. I didn't correct him since I didn't want to shut this down, but I quietly got up and went to our rags and cut off a 2" strip of a rag. I tied a knot in the middle, and brought it back to him and introduced it in a playful manner. He got the idea, and carried it around a bit.
He's seeking out contact, affection and interaction frequently now. This dog is bonding to us strongly. He needs to find his "forever home" soon!
I've rescued a lot of dogs over the years, and I consistently see the same pattern, that it takes about 3 weeks for a dog to exhale and feel safe in a new place. We're at 2 1/2 weeks right now. We're seeing him "come out" and he's bright, intelligent, and sweet.
Our Japanese houseguest is no longer scary to him, though he does not seek out contact with her. If she tries to approach him, he just moves away. She has never done the "routine" with him that we advise at this stage-- sitting on the ground, having some treats for him. But even without that, he came and stood next to her at the breakfast table this morning, ears up, listening to the conversation, not afraid. He just doesn't trust her enough to let her approach him.
He's up on Craiglist now, and I wanted to take videos of him but cannot find our digital camcorder (did it ever get unpacked after our move?).
He's seeking out contact, affection and interaction frequently now. This dog is bonding to us strongly. He needs to find his "forever home" soon!
I've rescued a lot of dogs over the years, and I consistently see the same pattern, that it takes about 3 weeks for a dog to exhale and feel safe in a new place. We're at 2 1/2 weeks right now. We're seeing him "come out" and he's bright, intelligent, and sweet.
Our Japanese houseguest is no longer scary to him, though he does not seek out contact with her. If she tries to approach him, he just moves away. She has never done the "routine" with him that we advise at this stage-- sitting on the ground, having some treats for him. But even without that, he came and stood next to her at the breakfast table this morning, ears up, listening to the conversation, not afraid. He just doesn't trust her enough to let her approach him.
He's up on Craiglist now, and I wanted to take videos of him but cannot find our digital camcorder (did it ever get unpacked after our move?).
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Doing great....
E is continuing to do very well. He tries to initate play with me, but I don't quite understand the game. What seems to work best at this point is when he jumps up on the sofa and hops and dances and then stops and says "pet me and hold me". He is clueless about toys. I don't think he's ever had one and at this point he doesn't know what to do with them.
Paris (9 yrs old) came over yesterday to help train him and she's so great with him. He was MUCH better with her, and warmed up within 2 minutes, taking treats from her hand, off her knee (we were both sitting on the ground). We started target-training him to nudge the lid of a coffee can (on the ground). I would click and Paris would drop the treat. He is consistently nosing the lid. We're going to evolve this so he noses it no matter where it is, ie, taped onto the wall. Taped behind the ribbon of jingle bells (this is all leading up to teaching him to nudge the jingle bells to ask me to open the door so he can go outside, which is how our own dogs currently do it). Once he nudges through the bells, we'll literally make the target lid slowly disappear, by cutting off a bit each day. We'll also put the ringing on command, and voila, a new desirable behavior.
We went around for a LONG bike ride yesterday, with 2 of my other dogs too. We encountered a lot of scary distractions, and he only really reacted to 2 of them. And he recovered quickly. Took him around again this morning with the other 2, and again, he does just great. The K9 Cruiser is the best thing since sliced bread.
When I get home, he's very excited to see me, and he'd like to stand 12 feet away and bark and play keep away. I am changing this pattern. I ignore him, don't make eye contact (when he does this) and go get treats and start giving treats to my other dogs. He'll come forward, I'll click and give him a treat, we do this a few times and then I ask him to sit, again, I C/T. He cannot run and bark if he is sitting and earning a treat. So rather than fighting the undesired behavior, I set up a situation where he gets rewarded for giving me a desired behavior.
He doesn't bark all day, we've verified this with the neighbors. He will bark when someone comes to the house, when someone walks their dog by the gate (as do my other dogs, too). Neighbors have reassured me that he's not annoying them.
Paris (9 yrs old) came over yesterday to help train him and she's so great with him. He was MUCH better with her, and warmed up within 2 minutes, taking treats from her hand, off her knee (we were both sitting on the ground). We started target-training him to nudge the lid of a coffee can (on the ground). I would click and Paris would drop the treat. He is consistently nosing the lid. We're going to evolve this so he noses it no matter where it is, ie, taped onto the wall. Taped behind the ribbon of jingle bells (this is all leading up to teaching him to nudge the jingle bells to ask me to open the door so he can go outside, which is how our own dogs currently do it). Once he nudges through the bells, we'll literally make the target lid slowly disappear, by cutting off a bit each day. We'll also put the ringing on command, and voila, a new desirable behavior.
We went around for a LONG bike ride yesterday, with 2 of my other dogs too. We encountered a lot of scary distractions, and he only really reacted to 2 of them. And he recovered quickly. Took him around again this morning with the other 2, and again, he does just great. The K9 Cruiser is the best thing since sliced bread.
When I get home, he's very excited to see me, and he'd like to stand 12 feet away and bark and play keep away. I am changing this pattern. I ignore him, don't make eye contact (when he does this) and go get treats and start giving treats to my other dogs. He'll come forward, I'll click and give him a treat, we do this a few times and then I ask him to sit, again, I C/T. He cannot run and bark if he is sitting and earning a treat. So rather than fighting the undesired behavior, I set up a situation where he gets rewarded for giving me a desired behavior.
He doesn't bark all day, we've verified this with the neighbors. He will bark when someone comes to the house, when someone walks their dog by the gate (as do my other dogs, too). Neighbors have reassured me that he's not annoying them.
Friday, August 8, 2008
He's blossoming! He's ready!
Einstein has been here 2 weeks now. During that time he:
Adapted to a household of 3 new dogs he didn't know-- never a growl or an argument from any of them. Wonderful.
Adapted to me and my husband, and has learned to not only trust me, but also to climb into my lap, look to me for reassurance when he's scared about something, and he's following my training direction like a champ.
Learned the general toileting area in the yard, and has not had one accident in the house at all!
Enthusiastically begun his obedience training using the "clicker training" method. This method allows me to communicate to him exactly what behaviors I want from him. He is food-motivated and takes the food with a polite, gentle mouth. He is solid on "sit", and is now working on "down", "come" and target training with a target stick.
He's consistently allowed me to push him, in baby steps, out of his comfort zone. He is growing in trust and confidence every day. Yesterday morning we walked down the street and watched a construction project from 2 houses away. Yesterday evening I drove him (with his sitting in the seat, not a crate) to the local market and coffee hangout, where we sat on a bench and watched the cars come and go, the people walk by, etc. So many new experiences. I'm careful to go slowly, and each time, he's been initially scared but with my gentle guidance he settles in. We went over to a quieter lawn in a park and practiced some obedience training in that more-distracting setting. He did beautifully, controlling his keen awareness of (and sometimes concern about) people walking by, traffic, etc.
This dog is blossoming. I am so thrilled to report this because what I'm seeing is that he is not a "permanent wreck" as some dogs can be. This is not a dog who will always be permanently timid. This is not a "special needs" dog-- a "special needs" dog has permanent disabilities. This dog is overcoming his traumatic past. Each time he moves to a new home, he has to rewind a bit and rebuild that level of trust and confidence. Frankly, that's appropriate. But each time, he rebounds a bit faster. His traumatic past is being replaced with enough "positive experience" that it's teaching him how to regroup again. His new owner must not be discouraged by his need to regroup again when he moves to a new home.
The reason I'm keeping this blog is to overcome people's general tendency to make a snap judgment about a dog. I want you to see his progress, and how simple it is to achieve. Trust me, what we're doing here is not rocket science. And we're two busy people who work full time so it's not like I'm dedicating my life to this. Anyone can do this, it's simple, and it's compassionate, and it's effective.
I can see this dog excelling at obedience with the right owner. I can see this dog doing therapy work someday, with the right owner. I can absolutely see this dog being a bright, happy and affectionate pet in a relatively calm household, which is exactly what he is at this stage in our own home.
We already have three dogs, or we'd definitely be keeping this guy. We can honestly say we love him and we are ready to wait for the right permanent, loving and responsible home to come forward for him.
Is that you? Is it someone you might know? We welcome inquiries. Einstein is ready to meet his new home.
Adapted to a household of 3 new dogs he didn't know-- never a growl or an argument from any of them. Wonderful.
Adapted to me and my husband, and has learned to not only trust me, but also to climb into my lap, look to me for reassurance when he's scared about something, and he's following my training direction like a champ.
Learned the general toileting area in the yard, and has not had one accident in the house at all!
Enthusiastically begun his obedience training using the "clicker training" method. This method allows me to communicate to him exactly what behaviors I want from him. He is food-motivated and takes the food with a polite, gentle mouth. He is solid on "sit", and is now working on "down", "come" and target training with a target stick.
He's consistently allowed me to push him, in baby steps, out of his comfort zone. He is growing in trust and confidence every day. Yesterday morning we walked down the street and watched a construction project from 2 houses away. Yesterday evening I drove him (with his sitting in the seat, not a crate) to the local market and coffee hangout, where we sat on a bench and watched the cars come and go, the people walk by, etc. So many new experiences. I'm careful to go slowly, and each time, he's been initially scared but with my gentle guidance he settles in. We went over to a quieter lawn in a park and practiced some obedience training in that more-distracting setting. He did beautifully, controlling his keen awareness of (and sometimes concern about) people walking by, traffic, etc.
This dog is blossoming. I am so thrilled to report this because what I'm seeing is that he is not a "permanent wreck" as some dogs can be. This is not a dog who will always be permanently timid. This is not a "special needs" dog-- a "special needs" dog has permanent disabilities. This dog is overcoming his traumatic past. Each time he moves to a new home, he has to rewind a bit and rebuild that level of trust and confidence. Frankly, that's appropriate. But each time, he rebounds a bit faster. His traumatic past is being replaced with enough "positive experience" that it's teaching him how to regroup again. His new owner must not be discouraged by his need to regroup again when he moves to a new home.
The reason I'm keeping this blog is to overcome people's general tendency to make a snap judgment about a dog. I want you to see his progress, and how simple it is to achieve. Trust me, what we're doing here is not rocket science. And we're two busy people who work full time so it's not like I'm dedicating my life to this. Anyone can do this, it's simple, and it's compassionate, and it's effective.
I can see this dog excelling at obedience with the right owner. I can see this dog doing therapy work someday, with the right owner. I can absolutely see this dog being a bright, happy and affectionate pet in a relatively calm household, which is exactly what he is at this stage in our own home.
We already have three dogs, or we'd definitely be keeping this guy. We can honestly say we love him and we are ready to wait for the right permanent, loving and responsible home to come forward for him.
Is that you? Is it someone you might know? We welcome inquiries. Einstein is ready to meet his new home.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Sunday-- houseguest arrives
Sunday was a bit of a bust because we had a houseguest arrive, a woman from Japan. Most of our day was spent picking her up and helping her get settled, and E was uneasy with the new person in the house. Because of the language barrier, she wasn't able to take a lot of direction from us about giving him space and going slowly so we basically let him have a day off, and we didn't do much with him on Sunday. He got a good run on the bike before our guest arrived, but no training.
Saturday evening....
E was inundated with guests Saturday evening. Paris was back (and he warmed up to her quickly again), but we also had a couple (Ethan and Nancy) and their 3 year old daughter, Zada.
Zada is the biggest dog lover in the world. Despite her attempts to be still and quiet, the urge to go kiss him was overwhelming and fortunately it happened about 10 minutes after she arrived so E had some time to get used to her. He was not happy with the new people, and asked to be held. He allowed Ethan to pet him, but didn't enjoy it. He would look at Ethan, though, which is good (ie, he's not so scared that he can't even look). Also, he continued to accept treats (including from Zada). When he's extremely stressed, he won't even accept his favorite treats.
So we're pushing him a bit, making him move out of his comfort zone, but not, as they say, "pushing him off a cliff" in terms of his fear. It's clear he just needs more of all of this.
All else continues to go well, including his inviting both me and Dennis to play (though we have not yet figured out how to play with him-- he doesn't know what to do with toys, and we don't want to encourage barking and "keep away" games.) When he does this, his whole body is energized and inviting, it's very endearing. His facial expression says, "Let's go!"
Zada is the biggest dog lover in the world. Despite her attempts to be still and quiet, the urge to go kiss him was overwhelming and fortunately it happened about 10 minutes after she arrived so E had some time to get used to her. He was not happy with the new people, and asked to be held. He allowed Ethan to pet him, but didn't enjoy it. He would look at Ethan, though, which is good (ie, he's not so scared that he can't even look). Also, he continued to accept treats (including from Zada). When he's extremely stressed, he won't even accept his favorite treats.
So we're pushing him a bit, making him move out of his comfort zone, but not, as they say, "pushing him off a cliff" in terms of his fear. It's clear he just needs more of all of this.
All else continues to go well, including his inviting both me and Dennis to play (though we have not yet figured out how to play with him-- he doesn't know what to do with toys, and we don't want to encourage barking and "keep away" games.) When he does this, his whole body is energized and inviting, it's very endearing. His facial expression says, "Let's go!"
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The different elements of a behavior
It's helpful to think of any behavior as having the following elements:
Distraction in the environment (birds chirping, traffic noise) or in the dog (stress)
Distance (how far away from you can he be and still obey the command? How far can he carry the tennis ball?)
Duration (how many seconds or minutes can he do it?)
Intensity (how hard does he have to push the jingle bells to get them to ring?)
Speed (how quickly does he perform the behavior?)
When we talk about "raising the bar" on a behavior, the truth is that we've got 5 bars, each with their own range of difficulty. So we have to be careful to only raise the criterion of one bar at a time, and when we do, we temporarily relax our requirements for the other ones. Once the new criterion is solidly established, we then work on getting those other elements back where they were. Generally, we want to shape the element of speed last. We want to get the other stuff right before we ask the dog to speed things up.
These concepts apply to all learning situations, by the way, this is not just about dog training. So if you want to improve your golf swing, work on one aspect of it and give yourself a break on the other elements of it while you're learning the new part.
Studying this stuff is fun, it's fascinating, and its immensely applicable in life.
Distraction in the environment (birds chirping, traffic noise) or in the dog (stress)
Distance (how far away from you can he be and still obey the command? How far can he carry the tennis ball?)
Duration (how many seconds or minutes can he do it?)
Intensity (how hard does he have to push the jingle bells to get them to ring?)
Speed (how quickly does he perform the behavior?)
When we talk about "raising the bar" on a behavior, the truth is that we've got 5 bars, each with their own range of difficulty. So we have to be careful to only raise the criterion of one bar at a time, and when we do, we temporarily relax our requirements for the other ones. Once the new criterion is solidly established, we then work on getting those other elements back where they were. Generally, we want to shape the element of speed last. We want to get the other stuff right before we ask the dog to speed things up.
These concepts apply to all learning situations, by the way, this is not just about dog training. So if you want to improve your golf swing, work on one aspect of it and give yourself a break on the other elements of it while you're learning the new part.
Studying this stuff is fun, it's fascinating, and its immensely applicable in life.
Day 6? Morning..
I'm getting my days mixed up.... since we got him last Sunday today must be our 6th day. Sorry about that.
We noticed he had tapeworms in his stool (which happens if they swallow a flea) so this morning he had a full vet exam and a fecal test and we left with deworming pills. His health is great. He doesn't have fleas, so he must have ingested a flea before last week? Just to be sure we're putting some Advantage on him this weekend.
At the vet, he was terrified in the lobby and tried to crawl under any low table or chair. I held him, which helped. In the room, on the table, he was better until they took his anal temperature but his only reaction was submissive shaking and a "please help me!" look. No attempts to snap or bite, ever. Everyone at the vet's office loved him, and they let me put up a flyer about him. Another flyer is up at Moore's Market in Lunada Bay.
Got him home, and he was still upset about the vet visit and would not come out of his crate in the car. He was insistent, he did not want to come out. I think he wanted to make sure I really got the message. I was not going to force the issue, that isn't a good idea. So I securely tied the end of the leash to the car, and got one of my other dogs to come out to the lawn by the car. That did it, he was suddenly happy again, willing to take a treat. He just needed some reassurance that we were back in a happy place. But it does go to show that he has not been out in public much so I need to get him out more.
Took him around on the K9 Cruiser, and he trotted along beautifully. A neighbor was walking her two dogs, and I did NOT want to pass them, I don't think we're ready for that yet. (It's an unpredictable sitaution, and if her dogs barked and lunged at him, it could ruin his confidence in those situations for a very long time. This shaping stuff is fragile. Better to introduce that kind of risk slowly).
I said hello from about 30 feet away, and made a slow U-turn so we didn't have to pass them. He was a bit concerned about their being behind us (even though they were WAY behind us) and he touched my ankle twice as I was pedaling. He was clearly signaling me, and I was delighted at this clear communication. I talked to him and told him it was OK, good boy. He glanced back once or twice but settled back into the trot. We passed a group of 5 people walking along, no problem (still they were a good 25 feet away). Cars went by. He did really well!
So after the vet visit I wanted to see if he retained the training we'd done this morning and yesterday. He'd been sitting on command (verbal and hand cue combined) 100% of the time. Ears up, happy. After the vet visit, we would expect a regression because he had been stressed. So with my other dogs milling me (a new distraction for a training situation) I cued E to sit, and he seemed to forget. We tried it 2 more times, and voila, it was back. We went inside to a hallway, again, with dogs around, and he sat on cue the first time. Beautiful. We're already working on adding duration to the sit behavior.
All this training of E has resulted in 3 other dogs who are reminding me constantly that it's THEIR turn to be trained, so now I'm having to do short sessions with them too to keep them happy. I'm tuning up their "wait" and "leave it" behaviors. Having dogs who love to train and work is a good problem to have. Thank goodness I have a few books that give me ideas of new tricks to keep them busy. Our latest is "Namaste". I say "Namaste" and put my hands into the yoga-prayer position and bow slightly to the dog. The dog does a deep bow back to me, as if returning the "Namaste".
I've introduced the "come" command to E, in its very beginning phase. All the food he's getting is via training, he is not having meals in addition. This is because I'm doing so much training with him! It allows me to do lots and lots of repetitions but not overfeed him. He weighs 25.3 lbs, by the way.
We're making great progress breaking his pattern of keeping of reach, making it hard to catch him. Keeping him on leash more has helped since that pattern cannot happen when he's on leash, so it gives us the chance to build a new pattern in its place. But even in the toileting area, where he is off leash (in an area now fully enclosed with ex-pens) he comes right up to me when he's done to have the leash put on and to leave the area. Part of this is because the area has small smooth rocks, and he doesn't like that surface. He's wanting to leave as soon as he's done. I'm also clicking and treating when he comes up to me proactively. All of these things combined are creating the new pattern.
Now that his confidence has grown, he's less interested in retreating into his crate every five minutes. So I actually have to lure him into his crate with a treat now when I want him in there. When we first got him, you couldn't keep him out of the crate!
We noticed he had tapeworms in his stool (which happens if they swallow a flea) so this morning he had a full vet exam and a fecal test and we left with deworming pills. His health is great. He doesn't have fleas, so he must have ingested a flea before last week? Just to be sure we're putting some Advantage on him this weekend.
At the vet, he was terrified in the lobby and tried to crawl under any low table or chair. I held him, which helped. In the room, on the table, he was better until they took his anal temperature but his only reaction was submissive shaking and a "please help me!" look. No attempts to snap or bite, ever. Everyone at the vet's office loved him, and they let me put up a flyer about him. Another flyer is up at Moore's Market in Lunada Bay.
Got him home, and he was still upset about the vet visit and would not come out of his crate in the car. He was insistent, he did not want to come out. I think he wanted to make sure I really got the message. I was not going to force the issue, that isn't a good idea. So I securely tied the end of the leash to the car, and got one of my other dogs to come out to the lawn by the car. That did it, he was suddenly happy again, willing to take a treat. He just needed some reassurance that we were back in a happy place. But it does go to show that he has not been out in public much so I need to get him out more.
Took him around on the K9 Cruiser, and he trotted along beautifully. A neighbor was walking her two dogs, and I did NOT want to pass them, I don't think we're ready for that yet. (It's an unpredictable sitaution, and if her dogs barked and lunged at him, it could ruin his confidence in those situations for a very long time. This shaping stuff is fragile. Better to introduce that kind of risk slowly).
I said hello from about 30 feet away, and made a slow U-turn so we didn't have to pass them. He was a bit concerned about their being behind us (even though they were WAY behind us) and he touched my ankle twice as I was pedaling. He was clearly signaling me, and I was delighted at this clear communication. I talked to him and told him it was OK, good boy. He glanced back once or twice but settled back into the trot. We passed a group of 5 people walking along, no problem (still they were a good 25 feet away). Cars went by. He did really well!
So after the vet visit I wanted to see if he retained the training we'd done this morning and yesterday. He'd been sitting on command (verbal and hand cue combined) 100% of the time. Ears up, happy. After the vet visit, we would expect a regression because he had been stressed. So with my other dogs milling me (a new distraction for a training situation) I cued E to sit, and he seemed to forget. We tried it 2 more times, and voila, it was back. We went inside to a hallway, again, with dogs around, and he sat on cue the first time. Beautiful. We're already working on adding duration to the sit behavior.
All this training of E has resulted in 3 other dogs who are reminding me constantly that it's THEIR turn to be trained, so now I'm having to do short sessions with them too to keep them happy. I'm tuning up their "wait" and "leave it" behaviors. Having dogs who love to train and work is a good problem to have. Thank goodness I have a few books that give me ideas of new tricks to keep them busy. Our latest is "Namaste". I say "Namaste" and put my hands into the yoga-prayer position and bow slightly to the dog. The dog does a deep bow back to me, as if returning the "Namaste".
I've introduced the "come" command to E, in its very beginning phase. All the food he's getting is via training, he is not having meals in addition. This is because I'm doing so much training with him! It allows me to do lots and lots of repetitions but not overfeed him. He weighs 25.3 lbs, by the way.
We're making great progress breaking his pattern of keeping of reach, making it hard to catch him. Keeping him on leash more has helped since that pattern cannot happen when he's on leash, so it gives us the chance to build a new pattern in its place. But even in the toileting area, where he is off leash (in an area now fully enclosed with ex-pens) he comes right up to me when he's done to have the leash put on and to leave the area. Part of this is because the area has small smooth rocks, and he doesn't like that surface. He's wanting to leave as soon as he's done. I'm also clicking and treating when he comes up to me proactively. All of these things combined are creating the new pattern.
Now that his confidence has grown, he's less interested in retreating into his crate every five minutes. So I actually have to lure him into his crate with a treat now when I want him in there. When we first got him, you couldn't keep him out of the crate!
Friday, August 1, 2008
Day 6: evening- Progress!!!
Wow, what a day. I went outside and created an enclosed training space with 2 ex-pens. We worked on "sit" which took him awhile to get (it's a behavior he usually only offers when he's not sure what you want and he's sort of sitting in submission). I saw the lightbulb go on! Soon we were doing it again and again and again. Hooray! So I moved to a new location, which distracted him a bit but he caught back up again. So we moved to another location, and did it some more. Each time you move to a new location you raise the bar a bit. All locations were in the back yard, all only slightly distracting (distractions included a breeze causing the sun umbrellas to rustle and move, background noises, etc).
So I sensed we were on a roll. At the same time, I didn't want to overwhelm him! It's a big training mistake to go too fast. I wanted to try him on my bike with the K9 Cruiser. I clipped him to the short light tether, and slowly walked the bike around the back yard, encouraging him. He was fine! We went out front, and I tried riding slowly. He was fine! We went around a bit in front of the house, and he was doing great (he goes fast!). On my bike I have a rear-mirror positioned to let me know if the dog is happily going as fast as the bike, or if he's falling back in position a bit. This alerts me before he falls into a position where he'd be pulled at all by the bike. He loved it. We went all the way around the block, with cars passing us and everything. The only hiccup came when a neighbor wanted to say hi to him and even though the man was 12 feet away, he started to pull back and panic. He asked to be held, and I held him and he was fine (but we did not move any closer to the man, I didn't want to undo all our progress to date by overwhelming him). We said goodbye and I clipped him back up and we went on our way. He really impressed me with his progress, and frankly he showed a lot resilience in the presence of huge SUVs passing us. Good boy!
So I sensed we were on a roll. At the same time, I didn't want to overwhelm him! It's a big training mistake to go too fast. I wanted to try him on my bike with the K9 Cruiser. I clipped him to the short light tether, and slowly walked the bike around the back yard, encouraging him. He was fine! We went out front, and I tried riding slowly. He was fine! We went around a bit in front of the house, and he was doing great (he goes fast!). On my bike I have a rear-mirror positioned to let me know if the dog is happily going as fast as the bike, or if he's falling back in position a bit. This alerts me before he falls into a position where he'd be pulled at all by the bike. He loved it. We went all the way around the block, with cars passing us and everything. The only hiccup came when a neighbor wanted to say hi to him and even though the man was 12 feet away, he started to pull back and panic. He asked to be held, and I held him and he was fine (but we did not move any closer to the man, I didn't want to undo all our progress to date by overwhelming him). We said goodbye and I clipped him back up and we went on our way. He really impressed me with his progress, and frankly he showed a lot resilience in the presence of huge SUVs passing us. Good boy!
Day 6: morning
Einstein has had a history of keeping his distance from the people in the house, which is understandable given the chaos in his original home. But even in K's home (for 10 months) he would not come when called. So I'm working to interrupt that pattern. This morning, I put him on leash and brought him into the bed/bath area and closed the door so he had to hang out nearby while I showered and dressed. He was very polite, and it's just a habit, a routine, a pattern that has to be developed with him consistently over time. We had a 10-min. snuggle session on the sofa. He loves to be held, he looked truly blissful.
When he has the ability to keep his distance, he hangs out at the back of the group but won't come near, and if you try to approach him he'll run the other way. This is not a game. However if I grab a treat and say "kennel" he'll trot right into his crate. Then I can just clip a leash on him. It's important to break this long-held pattern he's had of being chased. I can call him to me with a treat, but he will not always stay near long enough for me to touch him and leash him. I hope to teach him a "sit on command" soon which ought to help.
His comfort level with the environment and with us is increasing rapidly. He's also barking enthusiastically when we come home. My neighbor (who's home during the day) has assured me that he is not a constant barker, the dogs have been snoozing each day unless someone comes up to the gate (and we do have a few dogs in the neighborhood who like to escape their yards and come visit my dogs through the gate).
If we could find an adoptive home that is really willing to be coached on how to integrate him, he would be adoptable right now in my opinion. We need someone who is willing to learn about dog training, and who is willing to work with him slowly.
When he has the ability to keep his distance, he hangs out at the back of the group but won't come near, and if you try to approach him he'll run the other way. This is not a game. However if I grab a treat and say "kennel" he'll trot right into his crate. Then I can just clip a leash on him. It's important to break this long-held pattern he's had of being chased. I can call him to me with a treat, but he will not always stay near long enough for me to touch him and leash him. I hope to teach him a "sit on command" soon which ought to help.
His comfort level with the environment and with us is increasing rapidly. He's also barking enthusiastically when we come home. My neighbor (who's home during the day) has assured me that he is not a constant barker, the dogs have been snoozing each day unless someone comes up to the gate (and we do have a few dogs in the neighborhood who like to escape their yards and come visit my dogs through the gate).
If we could find an adoptive home that is really willing to be coached on how to integrate him, he would be adoptable right now in my opinion. We need someone who is willing to learn about dog training, and who is willing to work with him slowly.
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