Obedience School, Night #2

gypsycowgirl:

Cause I know y’all are on the edge of your seats. (But really, why do y’all follow me? Lol)

  • Boots heels on his leash like a champ. Bam, DONE.
  • He learned to sit every time I stop moving tonight. We’ll keep working on that. 
  • We worked on recall tonight, which has been my biggest challenge with Boots the entire 2 years that I’ve owned him. The trainer asked who in particular has trouble with that command, so I raised my hand high. She used him as the example, and he was hardheaded, but he was getting it. We’ll keep working on it. 
  • Everyone loved him. Everyone in the class thought he was so cute! 
  • There’s one lady in class that is gonna slowly make everyone crazy. You can tell she makes the trainer crazy with all her “this won’t work for my dog, my dog is stressed, blah blah blah.” She has a problem with not being able to assert dominance over her dog, but I don’t think she realizes it. The trainer obviously realizes it. I doubt she’ll get anything out of the hundred dollars she paid for this training course, cause if you can’t assert dominance, not even your dog will listen to you. 
  • After reading “Pack of Two” by Caroline Knapp, I’ve started to really watch the way that people and their dogs interact, I find it so interesting!
  • I need a skinnier leash for Boots. 
  • I’m dying to ask the trainer for a job but I’m too big of a chicken to do it. 
  • Something in or outside of obedience class gave me exactly 2 hives. Which is odd. 

But seriously, why do y’all follow me? Anyway, Boots and I send our love!

Actually, the “crazy lady” in your class has a very valid point. When an animal is stressed or nervous, they struggle to concentrate. It’s because the stress hormone, cortisol, causes activation in the sympathetic nervous system which causes the animal to become hypervigilant. (That is, stressed animals feel a stronger urge than calm animals to focus on their environment, which makes learning difficult.) Use of force or intimidation on a nervous animal will exacerbate the problem; they’ll feel more stressed and become even less capable of learning.

I read in your profile that you’re interested in animal science, so I’m going to very briefly discuss modern animal behaviour science. It sounds like your trainer’s methodology and beliefs are extremely outdated, and I think they’re really doing you and your dog a huge disservice. Dominance theory has been entirely disproved; neither dogs nor wolves have a strict social hierarchy where all the dogs obey a central leader. (Not to mention that dogs behave much differently towards humans than other dogs, indicating that they know humans are not dogs.) Modern training methods are instead based on learning theory which is applicable to all known animals including dogs and humans. The basic two basic principles of modern learning theory are: 1. Behaviours with a favourable outcome are more likely to be repeated, and 2. Behaviours with an unfavourable outcome are less likely to be repeated.

These two principles can be broken down into four quadrants or contexts that are easy to observe and manipulate in training: 1. Positive reinforcement, 2. Negative Reinforcement, 3. Positive punishment, and 4. Negative punishment. In this context, “positive” means something is added, “negative” means something is taken away, “reinforcement” means that the behaviour being reinforced is more likely to occur in the future, and “punishment” means the behaviour is less likely to occur in the future.

Learning theory explains why leash jerking works: The dog makes a motion undesired by their handler, the handler jerks the leash which causes the dog discomfort, so to avoid that discomfort in the future the dog avoids making that particular motion again. This is an example of positive punishment (“positive” because something (discomfort) is being added, and “punishment” because it causes a behaviour to decrease (the undesired motion)).

It also explains why clicker training works: The dog makes a motion desired by the handler; the handler marks the behaviour and offers a cookie, toy, or whatever else the dog enjoys; and the dog becomes more likely to make that motion again to earn another reward. This is an example of positive reinforcement (“positive” because a reward is added, and “reinforcement” because the dog is more likely to perform the desired behaviour).

That’s the very bare bones of learning theory, but there are many, many studies that demonstrate that positive reinforcement creates more reliable obedience in dogs than traditional training (traditional training is based on negative reinforcement (removing something aversive as the reward) and positive punishment). Dogs taught with positive reinforcement are also less likely to become aggressive, and positive reinforcement is more effective than traditional training methods at rehabilitating fearful or aggressive dogs. It also works especially well on “stubborn” dogs that don’t care very much about being punished, so you might find it an especially good fit for your guy. :P

If you’re interested in learning more, I’d love to discuss dog training and learning theory with you! If you’d rather read about it, I highly recommend Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor and pretty much anything ever written by Patricia McConnell (but maybe start with For the Love of a Dog and The Other End of the Leash).

Also, if you’re looking for a great trainer to apprentice with, try to find an APDT certified trainer in your area. All APDT certified trainers are required to pass a fairly rigorous exam every few years to ensure they’re up-to-date with current learning theory.

And because this is getting book-like, I’m going to stop here. But I’d also be happy to pass on some techniques for teaching a super speedy, enthusiastic recall even if you’re not interested in discussing learning theory. Please just let me know if you’re interested!

ggsohyouwillsee: Dog fighting and dog training summed up Unpopular opinion here, but I get really frustrated when I read statements like this. Puppies are NOT “blank canvases.” Every organism’s behaviour is constrained by their genetics.* Genetics set a possible range of traits and behaviours, and what traits and behaviours are presented is dependent on experience and the environment. Great trainers can still have fearful or reactive dogs; and dogs rescued from terrible, abusive conditions can still be friendly and trusting. Good handling limits the possibility of behavioural fallout, but it doesn’t guarantee a perfectly adjusted dog. It’s not fair or productive to automatically blame people if their dogs are poorly adjusted. Often it is the handler’s fault, but sometimes it’s just poor luck. *If this weren’t true, there would be no behavioural differences between breeds.
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ggsohyouwillsee:

Dog fighting and dog training summed up

Unpopular opinion here, but I get really frustrated when I read statements like this. Puppies are NOT “blank canvases.” Every organism’s behaviour is constrained by their genetics.* Genetics set a possible range of traits and behaviours, and what traits and behaviours are presented is dependent on experience and the environment. Great trainers can still have fearful or reactive dogs; and dogs rescued from terrible, abusive conditions can still be friendly and trusting. Good handling limits the possibility of behavioural fallout, but it doesn’t guarantee a perfectly adjusted dog.

It’s not fair or productive to automatically blame people if their dogs are poorly adjusted. Often it is the handler’s fault, but sometimes it’s just poor luck.

*If this weren’t true, there would be no behavioural differences between breeds.

We were really busy at the park today. I wanted to try a one-handler technique for restrained recall that our agility instructor mentioned,* but Maulkin was too smart for it. We ended up practising a bit of normal recall and emergency u-turns. Maulkin is already fantastic at u-turning from his leash training. I’m just trying to get it onto a verbal cue and make sure it’s an automatic response. I don’t want him to have to think about it with a dog charging down on us.

While we were fetching, Maulkin’s best friend, Maddie the Golden, showed up. We haven’t seen her in a couple of months, and Maulkin was REALLY excited. He was directly between Maddie and me, but he (slowly and distractedly) came to me for his casual recall cue. I was actually really surprised he complied at all, because Maddie had already started charging towards us and was acting very goofy and fun. When he reached me, I unclipped Maulkin’s leash and released him to play. He’s always super polite and friendly with Maddie; I wish he were as comfortable with other dogs. He was very good at disengaging with Maddie when she was leaving, and he reengaged with me immediately. There just might be a working dog inside my crazy puppy after all!

Maulkin focusing an instant before Maddie shows up. Some day I’ll think to take photos while things are happening.

A few minutes after Maddie left, three small girls and their two tiny dogs showed up. I didn’t even SEE the little dogs before they reached us. I thought they were more children running down the hill! While the dogs were charging us and I was moving Maulkin away, the oldest girl (who was probably only eight or nine at most**) called out, “They’re friendly!” Of course. Maulkin was leery of the small dogs, but he cautiously sniffed them and then ignored them to play with the children. The first girl who approached him was probably around four, which is about the youngest Maulkin can handle children. While I was trying to body block the little dogs, the girl reached right around me and patted Maulkin directly on top of the head. Luckily, Maulkin decided the girl was more child than toddler, and he seemed to enjoy the attention. I had absolutely no idea how to handle the situation. If I had seen the dogs earlier, I could have avoided it by walking away instead of just giving the kids some space to pass. We were all just really lucky that Maulkin is so great with kids and didn’t mind the tiny dogs too much. Next time, I’ll have to be more vigilant.

Maulkin relaxing just before the children and dogs charged down the hill. I think he could hear them and knew what was coming long before I.

*With your dog on a long line, go around a tree so your dog is on one side and you’re on the other. Keep the leash tight and call your dog while running away and feeding the leash out behind you. When you near the end of your long line, give your recall cue and release the leash so your dog can catch you. This is very unlikely to work for dogs who know how to untangle themselves from around trees or who know to move into leash pressure. -SIGH-

**Which is way too young to be unsupervised with dogs, much less in charge of two dogs and two smaller children with no adult in sight! Aaaaah!

See no evil. Read no evil. Cite no evil.

dogitmayconcern:

The internet hosts hundreds of articles warning you about the dangers of electronic training collars (e-collars). Ruth over at Spot Check recently summarized a few of the most often cited studies i…

I constantly see the +R only trainers stating “you can’t argue with science!” yeah well turns out…Yes, actually, you can. 

That article isn’t anyone arguing against science; it is, itself, a scientific investigation. Also, the Smartdogs blogger seems to have really misinterpreted the researcher’s conclusions. This isn’t an article stating that e-collars and choke chains decrease aggression;* it explicitly states that obedience training can be used to teach reactive dogs alternative behaviours. There are tons of studies that draw this same conclusion. (In fact, the standard rehabilitation method for reactive dogs IS teaching those dogs alternative behaviours.) In addition, there are newer studies that demonstrate how +R techniques are better at teaching these alternative behaviours than are -R techniques. Without speaking directly to the researcher, I can only assume they used choke chains and e-collars to teach their subjects obedience because +R was not widely used for dog training in 1983 when this article was published.

*As a matter of fact, neither e-collars or choke chains are mentioned in the abstract. If the researcher found these devices especially important in their research, they would have discussed them throughout the abstract.

Control Unleashed 6

Sunday was our final CU class, and two other dogs showed up. We started out working on a classically conditioned “drop-it” cue. This isn’t strictly part of CU, but our instructors decided to add it as an emergency diffusion technique. We taught it by saying a verbal cue and then tossing treats on the ground. The idea is for the dog to learn to open their mouths and drop their noses to the ground to pick up treats. This can diffuse tense situations because it breaks your dog’s focus on the other dog while mimicking ground sniffing (a calming signal). Maulkin had a very difficult time learning this one. He has an automatic leave-it, and he knows that “drop-it” means, “drop that thing and move away from it.” To try to get around that, I used the verbal cue “off,” which for Maulkin means, “take your feet off that thing” (like “off the bed,” or “off the perch”). That wasn’t enough for him, so I had to say it in a very happy voice while flicking treats at his feet. He eventually, and reluctantly, began picking up treats without me having to cue him to take them, but I think I’ll have to teach him a novel verbal cue for this.

After our warm-up, we practised u-turns. Maulkin already has a u-turn behaviour, but I taught it very casually as part of leash walking. I think this exercise helped clean it up a bit; Maulkin seemed more enthusiastic about it afterwards. For this exercise, we walked with our dogs, said our cue,* turned jogged back towards our start point, and rewarded with treats when we gained some distance from our turning point. I think we could have skipped the treats; Maulkin LOVED the jogging.

We also finally got started on parallel walking and did two different exercises. For the first exercise, one dog-handler team was inside an ex-pen with the dog off leash, and another dog-handler team walked towards them. When the dog inside the ex-pen looked at the walking dog, the ex-pen handler cued “drop-it” and tossed treats on the ground for their dog; and when they heard the “drop-it” cue, the walking handler cued their dog to u-turn away.** Maulkin was fantastic inside the ex-pen and barely noticed the other dogs. Actually, all the dogs were really fantastic. I even got to practice some of Maulkin’s tricks right outside the ex-pen during one of our walking turns, because the penned dog didn’t care to look at us after our second approach! After everyone had a turn being in the ex-pen and being approached, we tried true parallel walking with an ex-pen between the dogs. Everyone actually did really, really well. We began by synchronizing our walking, and then gradually walked out of synch until our dogs were passing each other head-on. Maulkin was almost frustratingly perfect at this game. I was expecting him to at least fixate on the other dog passing just a few inches from him, but he didn’t even care. This was the game I was really looking forward to, because we can’t pass other dogs on the sidewalk yet. Maulkin is just really focused in class settings, and he just refused to care about anything the other dogs were doing.

Our last exercise was the campfire game where one dog sits in the middle and is treated for calm behaviour, and the other dogs circle around them while playing LAT. Due to the size of the room, we just had one dog in the middle and one dog circling. Everyone did really, really well with this game. In our first round of walking, Maulkin stepped over the tail of the dog we were walking around, and neither dog reacted. I was actually unsure if Maulkin was ignoring the other dog because he was nervous or if he was just really calm. He seemed very calm to me and our instructor, but we can’t know for sure. I had to start jackpotting Maulkin for fully looking at the dog in the centre of the room, because he was just offering little head-tilts to let me know he knew the dog was there. He seemed more anxious during his turn in the middle. We weren’t necessarily playing LAT; I was trying to reward him for calm behaviour. I think having such loose expectations made Maulkin a little uncomfortable. It’s easy for him to be calm when he’s working, but it’s much harder if he has to rely on himself.

Our CU instructors were waffling over whether to schedule an extra class, since we were the only team to show up to class five. We heard no mention of it on Sunday, so I assume they decided against it. The instructor I spoke to said she’d like to get us into contact with other CU graduates so we can practice together, but she’s waiting until they’ve had a few more classes graduate. I’m still looking for a practice partner in the area. In the mean time, I’m going to start bringing Maulkin to dog parks so we can practice approaching and moving away from other dogs. It’s not really idea, because no one obeys leash laws, but it’s the best we can do for right now.

*Maulkin responds to both, “let’s go!” and “this way!” because I am indecisive.

**So the dog inside the ex-pen was rewarded twice, once with treats and once with the functional reward of the other dog walking away.

moddogblog: My Reading ListI have read “Perfect Puppy…” and “Before and After…” so far. “Inside of a Dog” is very much like “The Other End of the Leash” which I love, and have already read, so I’ll read it later.About 10 years ago (when I was ready for another dog after Bishu died) I read “The Art of Raising a Puppy.” It was a great education on the developmental stages of puppies. It seems that their methods of training have fallen out of favor, but I think I’ll take a look again to compare.I will probably pick up a Cesar Millan book at some point too and see what everyone is mad at him for. It’s interesting to see how people can get so upset over dog training methods. I don’t even think people who disagree over methods of child rearing get as upset at each other as the people who love Cesar and the ones who follow… well, just about any other training!If anyone has some other books they found helpful, please leave a comment. Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor; Play Together, Stay Together by Patricia McConnell; and Control Unleashed (either the adult dog or puppy program) by Leslie McDevitt are my favourite dog training books. If you really want to get a feel for why science-based trainers get upset with Cesar Millan, just watch an episode of his show on mute. Watch what signals the dogs are throwing out and how Millan responds to (or ignores) them. His methods consist of hitting, choking, or using flooding to push the dog into a state of learned helplessness. (In humans, this is very similar or identical to severe depression.) This causes the dogs to stop responding to their environment and trying to protect themselves, so they seem calm if you can’t read their body language. Over the long-term, these techniques can cause severe aggression; and dog bites have actually increased significantly since his show began to air.* *This is believed to be connected with Millan’s show and not just a coincidence. The particular scientific surveys I read connected aggressive behaviour with particular techniques. The most aggressive responses were connected to using techniques popularized by Millan.
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moddogblog:

My Reading List
I have read “Perfect Puppy…” and “Before and After…” so far. “Inside of a Dog” is very much like “The Other End of the Leash” which I love, and have already read, so I’ll read it later.
About 10 years ago (when I was ready for another dog after Bishu died) I read “The Art of Raising a Puppy.” It was a great education on the developmental stages of puppies. It seems that their methods of training have fallen out of favor, but I think I’ll take a look again to compare.
I will probably pick up a Cesar Millan book at some point too and see what everyone is mad at him for. It’s interesting to see how people can get so upset over dog training methods. I don’t even think people who disagree over methods of child rearing get as upset at each other as the people who love Cesar and the ones who follow… well, just about any other training!
If anyone has some other books they found helpful, please leave a comment.

Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor; Play Together, Stay Together by Patricia McConnell; and Control Unleashed (either the adult dog or puppy program) by Leslie McDevitt are my favourite dog training books.

If you really want to get a feel for why science-based trainers get upset with Cesar Millan, just watch an episode of his show on mute. Watch what signals the dogs are throwing out and how Millan responds to (or ignores) them. His methods consist of hitting, choking, or using flooding to push the dog into a state of learned helplessness. (In humans, this is very similar or identical to severe depression.) This causes the dogs to stop responding to their environment and trying to protect themselves, so they seem calm if you can’t read their body language. Over the long-term, these techniques can cause severe aggression; and dog bites have actually increased significantly since his show began to air.*

*This is believed to be connected with Millan’s show and not just a coincidence. The particular scientific surveys I read connected aggressive behaviour with particular techniques. The most aggressive responses were connected to using techniques popularized by Millan.

Control Unleashed 5

Our CU class today was really strange but also really productive. We were the only ones to show up, so Maulkin got private lessons. While that would have been really wonderful in a normal class, it’s not exactly ideal in a reactivity class. We practised the “take a break” game with tugging, which Maulkin already knows. I was actually surprised he took most of his breaks. He ignores my break cue so often at the park, I wasn’t sure he knew it. The only skill Maulkin really needs to learn is parallel walking, but we couldn’t exactly do that solo. Instead, our instructors coached us on general obedience skills. We discussed reinforcement schedules, and we all agree that a variable ratio seems to work better than the 300 pecks method for getting motivated behaviour.* (I’m sure there are some behaviours where the 300 pecks method would work best, but I haven’t personally found any with Maulkin.) We practised a bit of heeling, and started working a front finish. There was some sort of sale going on through another company in the building, so we frequently had to stop to play LAT with people moving equipment past the door.

During class, I mentioned that Maulkin struggles walking past other dogs, and that he can’t focus well enough outside for his heel to be useful. One of our instructors suggested teaching Maulkin a prolonged hand target, so I can essentially lead him by the nose past any major distractions. We started shaping that a bit, and I think it’s going to be a very strong skill for him. He loves targeting, and it’s something non-threatening he can do while still glancing at the other dog as we pass. I really need to find a practice partner nearby.** One of our instructors actually offered to meet up outside of class so Maulkin could practice with one of her dogs.*** She’s going to be out of the country for a couple of weeks, but I’m really excited to get together when she returns!

Next week is supposed to be our last class, but we may have an extra one at a different time to make up for being alone today. I guess we’ll see how it goes. I’m feeling really great about everything now, and I’m excited to have a new technique to help Maulkin in close-encounter situations.

*A variable ratio is when you offer a reward for a mean number of responses. For example if you’re reinforcing every 3 responses, you might actually reinforce after 1 response and then after 4 responses and then after 2 responses, etc. with the average being 1 reward for every 3 responses. For the 300 pecks method, you’d increase the number of responses you expect before a reward following each reward. If the animal fails to give a response when you expect it; you go back to reinforcing 1 reward for 1 response, 1 reward for 2 responses, etc..

**If any of you are around Toronto and want to train together some time, please let me know!

***Apparently, one of her dogs is quite easily distracted, and she thinks Maulkin would make a great decoy dog.

Not much to report from agility Saturday. Maulkin was wonderful and relatively well focused. He’s still becoming over-aroused when the other dogs run, but he’s able to more-or-less calm down when I cover his crate. Our trainer noticed that Maulkin slows down to check in with me when I move to an obstacle on a new path without calling him instead of just taking the next obstacle in his current path.* It’s probably because we’ve been rewarding him for focusing on me so much over the past few months, he’s reluctant to work without instruction. I think it’s really great that he trusts me enough now to actually follow me, but he’s going to have to learn to be a little more independent while still paying attention to my cues. It’s the exact opposite problem we’ve been having since we started training, and I’m actually pretty happy about it! Besides that, Maulkin is turning into a beast on the weave poles. We added another set, so now he’s weaving 6 completely flat poles at a go. He’s able to take them from practically any angle, including if I’ve set him to stay at one end and released him while I was standing at the other. He’s even started taking them between a few obstacles without any problem. Now if only we could figure out the teeter….

In our Control Unleashed class Sunday, we started with learning LAT. Everyone in the class knew it well, so we only spent a few minutes on it. Then we played the off-switch game, where we get the dogs really excited (we played tug). Once the dog is excited, we stop playing until the dog calms down and offers us a default behaviour (or we could cue a desired behaviour). Maulkin is fantastic at this game, because we use toys as reinforcers much more than food. Following that, our instructors set up an ex-pen down the centre of the room and two dogs practised parallel walking in the same direction while the others played LAT as the moving dogs passed their sitting stations. Maulkin didn’t get to participate in the first level of parallel walking. He was the only dog interested in tugging in the off-switch game, so he was positioned in front of the walking dogs and asked to tug as an added distraction for the walking dogs. He tugged a bit, but he was too nervous about being approached by the other dogs. I think it’s because he didn’t get to play LAT with them beforehand, and that’s something I always let him do before asking him to work or play in class or outside. After the other dogs finished parallel walking;** Maulkin and another dog tried parallel, off-leash recall. The dogs weren’t actually running at the same time; one dog played LAT while the other dog ran. I think it was great practice for Maulkin. He was able to practice his recall and stays while another dog watched him. He was also extremely calm while the other dog ran, and offered to a stay without playing LAT.*** All that focusing must have been really difficult, because he was exhausted when we got home.

*Ideally, Maulkin should stick to his path unless I explicitly tell him otherwise. He should be able to notice what I’m doing, so he’s prepared to respond if I give a signal, without stopping his current task.

**I’m not really sure why Maulkin didn’t get a turn? Maybe because he was being calm as they approached him, or it could have been a time constraint thing.

***I did reinforce him frequently for staying, of course! I don’t know if it was necessary, but you can’t over-reward good behaviour.

Tips for Choosing a Dog Trainer

This is just a list of what I look for in a dog trainer. Others may have different criteria depending on their goals and personal preferences, but I’ve tried to keep things pretty universal.

A great trainer should (in order of how you may encounter them):

1. Be certified or have other credentials. Dog training IS a science. There are ethologists and behaviourists who spend their lives trying to objectively quantify how animals learn, and a great trainer will take that scientific knowledge and translate it into practical use. The best way to be sure you’re getting a knowledgeable trainer is to pick one that’s certified through an organization with a focus on science, like the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.

2. Use less-harsh techniques than you’re willing to use. If you want to use +R/-P exclusively, don’t go with a trainer who uses verbal corrections or a lot of no-reward markers. If you rely heavily on no-reward markers, try to find a trainer who trains without them. Your trainer’s style should challenge you to spend more time considering your dog’s perspective, which will make you a better trainer.

3. Let you watch classes for free. The best trainers have nothing to hide. They don’t have super secret techniques they’re selling, and they’re not afraid of scaring you away with their poor teaching style or harsh methodology. Sitting in on a class is the best way to learn if you’re compatible with that trainer, so insist on it before signing up for classes.

4. Explain what they’re doing. It’s not helpful to you if your instructor moves too quickly for you to see and doesn’t explain what provoked a certain behaviour.

5. Explain why they’re doing it. If you don’t know why your dog is responding to a particular hand signal or body motion, you won’t be able to apply that principle to a novel situation. Your trainer should be teaching you how to train your dog, not just training your dog for you.

6. Sell good equipment (where applicable). Many trainers sell toys, treats, and other equipment in their training halls; and what they stock can give you a good idea of what tools they use. If you’re a strong believer in the power of front-clip harnesses but your trainer only carries martingale collars, you might want to look elsewhere. This tip shouldn’t necessarily be a deal-breaker, but you may want to ask your potential trainer why they sell some of the equipment they do.

7. Stand up to you to defend your dog. This is especially true in sports. If you’re trying to ask too much of your dog, your trainer should step in and explain why what you’re doing is dangerous or counterproductive. This doesn’t mean they have to be harsh about it, but they should be more concerned about the well-being of your dog than about you dropping the class. (These instructors will usually have a clause in their training contract discussing what “corrections” and equipment are permitted or forbidden in class.)

8. Be active or have a history in the sports they teach. Not all dog trainers can keep a dog, but they should have at least participated in any sports they teach. That said, crappy dog trainers can still earn titles. Having a high-titled dog is not enough to prove that trainer is a good one.

I’m always torn when it comes to how experience plays into dog training. Some of the best dog trainers in the world are the most experienced, but so are some of the worst. Experience can lead to insight that can be absolutely priceless; but for experience to be useful, it has to have a strong foundation in science and real knowledge (as opposed to conventional wisdom). A trainer with 30 years experience may be an “expert” at choking their dogs into solid sit-stays, while a 10 year old could clicker train their dog into an equally solid sit-stay after watching a few tutorials on YouTube. If you can find a trainer with experience and knowledge, that’s fantastic; but in general, I think scientific knowledge is much more important than experience alone.

Hopefully, someone will find this helpful. If anyone else has other tips, please feel free to add them!

motherfuckingdogs: i’m going to answer this publicly because it’s an important question!! and remember, this is only from my experience  first of all, i’m a huge advocate for crate training - that is, if your dog still chews things, they should be kept in a crate or a small, safe area when you can’t be supervising them. unless you catch them in the act of doing a bad thing, they’ll have forgotten what they did and just be wondering why you’re yelling at them. when your dog is in the crate, don’t leave any soft toys or things that can be broken into pieces that can create a choking hazard. only leave chew toys that are very durable. i personally only left kong toys in the crate with charlie when he was crate-training now let’s say you’re home and you catch your dog chewing something. first, make a loud noise. smack your hand down on a table or something that will startle your dog enough to distract them. then, turn their attention to something else - give them a toy that’s acceptable to chew on. once they’re focused on the new activity, reward them. they’ll learn that chewing on a toy is a good thing, and chewing on furniture or whatever is not i hope this makes sense!! message me if you have any other questions :) Crate training is a fantastic tip! Management is almost always much easier than training and makes the early stages of training safer for all involved. Concerning what to do when you catch your dog chewing something inappropriate: I really dislike the startle method. There are two main problems I have with it: 1. It can be very scary, especially to soft dogs. Your dog may learn that the item they’re chewing is scary (“Oh, no! The couch is scary! I’ll never go in the livingroom again!”), or that scary things happen when you enter the room. (“Oh, no! Mum came in the room, and something bad happened! I’d better avoid mum!” or “I’d better avoid mum when I have this delicious shoe!”) 2. Being upset by a noise may excite some dogs to resist giving up the object. The threat from a loud noise may make harder dogs choose the fight part of their fight-or-flight response, and that works against you. Instead, I’d recommend playing the trading game. When your dog has something inappropriate; calmly approach them, offer them a treat with one hand so they drop the object, remove the object with your opposite hand, and give them an appropriate toy.* This works best if you practice when they have appropriate toys, too. When they have something appropriate, instead of replacing it; just take the toy, offer them a treat, and return the toy. This will teach your puppy that giving you things is really great, and it can actually help prevent resource guarding issues later in life. *Eventually, your dog should start dropping the object when they see your hand come near them. At that time, start taking the object and then offering them a treat, so they’ll surrender any object without being bribed. You can also start adding a verbal cue like “drop-it” or “out.” If your puppy decides to grab the object and play tug once they notice your hand is empty, just gently hold their collar so they can’t pull back. This prevents their opposition reflex, so they’ll eventually drop the toy; then you can mark and reward them for complying and return the toy.
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motherfuckingdogs:

i’m going to answer this publicly because it’s an important question!! and remember, this is only from my experience 

first of all, i’m a huge advocate for crate training - that is, if your dog still chews things, they should be kept in a crate or a small, safe area when you can’t be supervising them. unless you catch them in the act of doing a bad thing, they’ll have forgotten what they did and just be wondering why you’re yelling at them. when your dog is in the crate, don’t leave any soft toys or things that can be broken into pieces that can create a choking hazard. only leave chew toys that are very durable. i personally only left kong toys in the crate with charlie when he was crate-training

now let’s say you’re home and you catch your dog chewing something. first, make a loud noise. smack your hand down on a table or something that will startle your dog enough to distract them. then, turn their attention to something else - give them a toy that’s acceptable to chew on. once they’re focused on the new activity, reward them. they’ll learn that chewing on a toy is a good thing, and chewing on furniture or whatever is not

i hope this makes sense!! message me if you have any other questions :)

Crate training is a fantastic tip! Management is almost always much easier than training and makes the early stages of training safer for all involved.

Concerning what to do when you catch your dog chewing something inappropriate: I really dislike the startle method. There are two main problems I have with it: 1. It can be very scary, especially to soft dogs. Your dog may learn that the item they’re chewing is scary (“Oh, no! The couch is scary! I’ll never go in the livingroom again!”), or that scary things happen when you enter the room. (“Oh, no! Mum came in the room, and something bad happened! I’d better avoid mum!” or “I’d better avoid mum when I have this delicious shoe!”) 2. Being upset by a noise may excite some dogs to resist giving up the object. The threat from a loud noise may make harder dogs choose the fight part of their fight-or-flight response, and that works against you.

Instead, I’d recommend playing the trading game. When your dog has something inappropriate; calmly approach them, offer them a treat with one hand so they drop the object, remove the object with your opposite hand, and give them an appropriate toy.* This works best if you practice when they have appropriate toys, too. When they have something appropriate, instead of replacing it; just take the toy, offer them a treat, and return the toy. This will teach your puppy that giving you things is really great, and it can actually help prevent resource guarding issues later in life.

*Eventually, your dog should start dropping the object when they see your hand come near them. At that time, start taking the object and then offering them a treat, so they’ll surrender any object without being bribed. You can also start adding a verbal cue like “drop-it” or “out.” If your puppy decides to grab the object and play tug once they notice your hand is empty, just gently hold their collar so they can’t pull back. This prevents their opposition reflex, so they’ll eventually drop the toy; then you can mark and reward them for complying and return the toy.