Perhaps Dumb dog is not dumb. Perhaps slow human is slow.

I have been.


dun dun dun


training Critter.


*gasP*



I've had this dog for, oh three years now, and shes, well. Slow.


Iam not a very verbal person with my dogs, that is generally an advantage, but in this case perhaps not. I prefer using a mechanical marker for behaviors (ie Clicker) and for Chili I will occasionally use a "yes" but I prefer the clicker honestly. I just don't like talking I guess.

Critter decided long ago she wanted NOTHING to do with this clicker shit. Not for anything or anyone. Not for roast beef, not for chicken. She would run away and pant and shake like a dog on july fourth (ironically, july forth does not bother her)

When she went on antianxiety meds, this reduced a bit, so she no longer had siezures when I clicked, she simply ran as far away as she could and jammed herself in a corner.

This presents many annoying dilemas for me.

One...I can't clicker train her. Obviously. And yes I have tried introducing it at low level barely audible. She freaks.

two...I can no longer just carry a clicker and use it whenever, if I do I risk her being afraid of EVERYTHING

three...she can hear it through TWO DOORS. So That means, having to put her away and train whoever I want in another room. She also still freak out. So I still have to deal with a freaking out dog.


So, lately, I have dabbled in training the dumb one. Her meds have made her functional, so I began to teach her to "touch". This was a task and a half, but she got it. Then she began to offer a "cheating" touch...like...i'll get 1/2 inch from your hand and pull away. I NEVER reinforced this. I'd just ask for another touch and if she did it again, walked away. YET she continued and still continues to do this.

This really hurts my brain at this point. We have worked on this for MONTHS, and i have NEVER treated her after doing this behavior, but she still, on a regular basis offers it. And then she'll get like five in a row right, so I reinforce...and then she gets stupid again. Each time looking at me expectantly for a treat, fully believing she got it correct.

She also can't seem to, three days in, learn to "go to her mat" on cue. It has been AGONY trying to teach this...she just doesn't get it. She will look like it for like three reps...then it falls apart.

I begin to ponder brain damage possiblities.


then I was reading. Karon pryor talks about a thing one of her porpoises used to do...she'd dart in the gate, then back out again...expecting a fish. This was annoying, and frustrating...but mostly, she could not figure out WTH the dolphin was thinking...i mean, they never reinforced the darting back out, and they reinforced the going in heavily...why the heck was this happening.

Timing.


Turns out, a split second timing mistake created this. The dolphin has misunderstood and thought he had it right. They corrected the timing mistake and the behavior went away.


Then my lighbulb went on. Maybe Critter wasn't stupid...but maybe my verbal marker was not conditioned with her yet...in fact I had been kind of sloppy with it...marking a half momment late because I wasn't "serious" about training this dog. Turns out Critter is the one with the program and Iam the moron. The more I thought about it the more it made sense, I was marking the pulling away form my hand, not the touch, just that half second created a pulling away behavior...she thinks the pulling away is what Iam trying to mark.


Clever dog.

Bad human. Bad.

Why Iam done...part 1

why I am done...

Hiring trainers.


I've had three runs ins with trainers that I am paying to advise me on my dog...I did attend a seminar, that I adored, but I don't count that..:p

Once upon a time I tried getting Emma into agility. I was confident I could train the whole shebang myself, but didn't want to spend the money on the equipment. Mostly, more than anything I wanted to connect with other "dog people" in the real world, and also a dog trainer, because at that point in my life, I idolized most dog trainers, and had not learned that just because they were positive dog trainers, I may not like their methods.

I could not get into a class due to my sched, so I did the next best thing and hired a well known trainer, to do privates with Em and I at her facility. When I showed her list of acomplishments to people online, they were impressed and jealous that I was going to get to work with someone so talented.

I personally, very much enjoy researching people before and after I meet them, I read this womans profile on her site, read reviews and studied her picture with her dogs, I felt like I knew her a bit, so that way i'd be more comfortable.

As the day approached, I was increasingly nervous. I felt more like I was going to be meeting a celebrity than a dog trainer. So then I meet the woman.

She looked NOTHING like her picture, she was also a lot older than I anticipated, like THIRTY years older, its not like it was a younger picture either, there was zero resemblance. The tall, thin blonde I thought I was meeting was a short, elderly woman.

Nevertheless I still was polite and told her I was EXTREMELY nervous, so to pardon me. She seemed friendly, but not overly impressed with me or my dog. Just a casual, "Hi lets go back here"

Then it starts, I am a mental mess and my perfect dog says, "screw this jazz, moms nutty" and all the intense focus is gone. She begins to pull and wander and not bother to check in with me, then it happens.

The flies.

God must hate me, but he bestowed Emmas sworn enemies on us that day. The only thing this ball obsessed dog is more obsessed over, is flies.

The trainer then asks me to run Em through all her behaviors. I struggle to get her attention and I run her quickly through about 4-5 tricks, she does them for me, but immediately goes back to obsessing over the bugs. I am so nervous at this point, you'd think I was being attacked by a bear.

the trainer acts unamused and says pretty much nothing, she then takes us to the field were she tells me to run Em over these raised planks on the ground (like mini jumps) she gives no instructions really, just do it and reward when you are done.

So I run her over them, she tries to escape briefly and then I am told in a simplistic monotone voice what I did wrong, and to do it again. So I try to do it again, ommitting my mistakes only to be told again what I did not do right, no tips or hints on HOW not to do those things, just don't do that.

after about three tries and three failures, she takes us out to this tire jump and we take turns calling Em back and forth through it. At about the fifth time through she finally gets a bit of personality and exclaims "oh wow! Shes so operant" which, is dog training slang for a dog that readily OFFERS behaviors.

 I remember making a face and thinking "no shes not... Are you high?" Em is the least operant dog I know...and calling her back and forth and slapping our hands to prompt her was hardly anything like a dog that offered a tire jump with no promps/cues. I took it as a compliment but wondered how the trainer could get this wrong.

then she decided that we should learn front crosses and rear crosses. I kinda wonder why she had us try so many things in that first fifteen mins, I think she was trying to find something I could function at, as I was still so nervous I was dropping things, stumbling over words and had lost my dogs attention. She kept talking to me in the slow, monotonous, simplistic lingo you use on a 3 year old that you just caught doing something bad. This did not help, because now I was positive she thought I was a moron.

I could not do the crosses to save my life...you have to run in a huge half circle, watch your dog, click at the right moment, and then throw your reward in the right spot....all this coupled with the fact it was 90 degs that day and the field was small and littered with agility equipment that I was certain I was going to plow into . I could barely run a straight line, let alone do this thing she hadn't explained well. And once again, she pointed out what I did wrong and when I would do it right, she'd say "good" in a simplistic tone, like I was three and she was faking it.

She also, the entire time, kept clicking for me. Which was honestly unneccessary and, in hindsight, insulting. I could see if I was missing things, but the one thing I did maintain, was my awesome timing. I have great timing and did not see any reason for her to click ontop of my click, I wasn't missing clicks.

She then pulled us aside and explained hand targeting over the course of what seemed like 5-10 mintutes...For contrast, you can explain this to an owner and have the dog doing the behavior in under five minutes. She talked slow and simple like I was a caveman who maybe spoke japanese.

So we go home. I feel like a tool, dog learned nothing, I am out thirty bucks.

Second session, week later. This time, I am less nervous, more like being attacked by a raccoon than a bear. She asks about the "homework" which was the crosses, and I was honest with her, my husband was out of town for four days, it was triple digits all week, I have a full time job and a puppy under six months old, I had not worked on them. I told her this was an exceptional week and I was not a slacker, but I had worked on the other stuff.

She was irritated for a moment, then said nothing and pulled out a mat and explained we were going to train "go to your mat"

I am at this point, beginning to question the heck out of this in my mind. Why are we moving on to more and more exercises without mastering anything? Why are we not staying on the exercises long enough to have success? Why? why? why? WTF.

She then explains to me, we are going to free shape the entire behavior. That means no prompts, no cues, no help, just click the dog for steps toward the right answer.

Finally I speak up. I had told her before that Em does not free shape yet, and that she will only offer her default if not given directions. The trainer disreguarded this and insisted we free shape.

so for twenty minutes I get closer and closer to tears as my poor dog (who is focused this time) stares at me waiting for me to show her wth I want. She never gets it. She eventually gives up and walks away from me.

I tried to help her once, by pointing at the mat and the trainer instantly jumped on me, I was not to help her, and that me helping her was a PROBLEM, the reason she can't do things is I don't allow her to make decisions. This confuses the heck out of me, because first of all, Emma did not have "problems" and I think I know my dog. The only problem at this point is you not letting me help her.


We go home. I cry in the car on the way.

The next day I teach her to go to her mat. Not just that, she lays on it, stays on it, and will go to it from up to ten feet away, sit, then down and stay until released, all in under five minutes. Gee whiz, what problems this dog has :p

I email the trainer and explain what I did, and to question why it was important to her the behavior be shaped in the way she insisted. She ignored my email and instead asked if I could reschedual my next appointment. I fired her.

I guess I did learn though....but the intention was for the dog to learn. Don't click for others (unless they say its ok) don't talk to people like they are vegetables, don't try and train agility in mid july, and don't decide you like som'one before you talk to them. That last one will disapoint you heavily if it doesn't pan out.

Coin tossing

I remember being six years old. I remember kindergarden, and first grade. I can see the classrooms and the chalkboards. I can remember what direction the rooms faced in context to the rest of the building. I can remember the girl who sat a little to the front and side of me, had no fingernails...and that creeped the heck out of me.

I remember my first "nap time". They had us drag out these blue mats and lay them down, and then the teacher commanded us to nap. I remember being confused and like I did for much of my early years in school, I just watched the others and copied them, no questions asked. I laid on my mat.

I remember laying there, and the window over the other kid next to me shoulder. I remember all the kids closing their eyes. I remember thinking they had all done this before and I hadn't. I remember thinking "sleeping? now? Its daytime. Theres no blanket. Um Ok".

So I pretended to nap.

strangely I only remember this first nap experience. Surely we did this daily for over a year, but I only remember this one time. In fact, once I closed my eyes to "fake nap" the memory disapates. I don't recall getting up to put the mat away.

I often think about why I remember what I do. I have really bad memory problems. Both short and long term. I remember images, places and faces, but I dont' remember why. I can see a person and recognize them, but not remember our previous convo. I can remember going to a place with friends, but not which friends went with me.

So we come to the coins.

In first grade they begin to teach you about money. They have these paperboard coin photos you pop out and you can move them around on your desk. I remember them like it was yesterday. The texture, the wieght of them. The way the little preforations left bumps on the edges. I recall them being darker than their real counterparts.

But then I think, why do I remember these things so well? Like the mat and the nap, there was an emotional association that was strong so they imprinted on me. Confusion.

For som' reason I didn't understand the concept of money well at 6. When som'one says "the nickel is five" I had no idea what that meant. My interpretation of this explaination was "the nickel HAS A FIVE ON IT" at least I think thats what I thought...In fact I mostly remember being frustrated at my little paper nickels. Heres why.

My mom.

Yup, you guessed it, my first "blame my mom" post. Long time comming I suppose.

I remember her distinctly being mad and frustrated with me that I couldn't get this easy concept. I vividly remember her behind me at the table, hovering over me, jabbing her finger at the paper coins expressing her displeasure in me because I couldn't get it. I remember som'thing along the lines of "your smart, ugh why can't you get this, you must be messing with me" being said.

I most certainly was not "messing" with her, or being stubborn. Or trying to make her angry. Making her angry scared me at 6. I was trying, but I just wasn't getting it.

I did one day obviously learn to count money. Iam a cashier and a half now and count money so fast it would make your head spin. Som' one else must have taught me, probably my teacher, or another student. I do not for the life of me remember how, when or where I got it. But I still, at 28 can vividly remember failing at it.

I suppose then, confusion creates memories. They can be neutral, or very aversive, I suppose they can be positive also. I try to remember these things when I teach things to people and animals. They learn faster that way.

One must be careful when training sensitive beings. They may remember stuff you don't want them too.

Novelty and heavy objects.

Closing the store on sat and moving the stuff out, sounded, I dunno, not easy, but not dramatic. I figured I'd be a little tired. I didn't figure I'd be mentally and emotionally drained. To the point I actually drank a costco size redbull to stay functional, despite it likely giving me a crash, heart palpatations, and a headache tomorrow.

I cleaned "the" table off today. Mostly. I often wonder how a minimalist like myself, with no qualms about shit canning useless things can acumulate so much crap so quickly. I mean, I don't buy anything really, dog food, a plant or three, maybe, MAYBE a shirt when I ruin one. I think the bullshit is breeding on the table, like a bad bacteria. Similar in strength to the one that made me actually consider lopping my hand off as a viable option.

Speaking of my hand. I actually go a day or two in a row without inspecting it. I used to check the scar daily, I dunno, part of me was worried it might absess again, the other part reveling in the really bitchin' scar I now wear, almost like a ten year old boy would be proud of a scraped knee. I guess the novelty and the fear of my thumb melting off my hand are wearing off. Until I bump it on something that is. Man that smarts.

The neighbors got another dog. At first I saw they kept it inside, and would play with it outside hours a day....while the other dog was still banished to the yard and ignored. Its been about a week now, and the dog now lives outside full time, and is now receiving about as much attention as the first dog. That dogs novelty seems to have worn off faster than my fascination with my hand.

My guess is they could not housebreak it, after all when we moved in, that was the reason they sited for chucking the first dog outside. At least I can see the problem with the first dog. hes unaltered and when my dogs greet him at the fence, he pees on their faces (well tries too) without fail.

So now I have two 24-7 barking dogs outside in earshot. The new dog has the most shrill bark I've heard in recent memory, beating out Chili's loud, fast bark, and Hobo's high pitched sissy bark.

And that's hard to do. :)

so I did what made sense...I put in a forest.

I recently found an awesome chanel on youtube.

he talked about how he didn't like seeing his neighbors (a post office) so he did what made sense....he planted stuff.


GOBS of stuff. Like an eden. It was jaw dropping.

I hope to do more of what makes sense to me also :)

Changing methods without changing methods

Silva Trkman has a quote I like

"If I didn’t get him, you would never hear for my name. Everything I know, I owe it to him. Thank you Aiken. Thank you for being such a trouble dog. When people ask what makes me so good, I always tell that if you want to be good, you need a bad dog. So bad, that nobody could help you. That’s when you have to think. And that’s when you learn. Thank you Aiken for making me think."

This is how I feel about Chili. Hes such a bad dog genetically. This is the dog I know, KNOW deep in my heart would have been either beaten or euthanized by now. Hes hair trigger, hes high energy, hes desructive, he eats things, hes reactive to dogs, people and anything that moves, makes noise, or is novel. Hes a piece o' work.

at least he was.

Now, hes becoming less of a mess, and more brilliant. His reactivity is almost nonexistant in many contexts now. He knows more behaviors on cue than the other four dogs combined. He plays appropriately with strange dogs. He communcates fairly, and when the other dog is rude, he is restrained in his responses. He communciates well with us, he figures things out, he follow instructions well.

Hes not perfect, but no dog is. But he has made impressive progress in the year and a half hes existed.

Dogs like Chili, I have seen people say...that positive methods can't help them. Or that positive methods actually MAKE IT WORSE. Or som' will even say, positive methods work on som' dogs, just not others with his problems.

I have a more than decent understanding of behavior and learning theory. Som'thing that the average owner lacks. I was able to put methods into action with the complete understanding of why and how they work, and with realisitic expectations.

And yet, I still had failures. Is it the method? Is it me? Is he one of those mythical dogs that R+ can't help?

While I was able to countercondition him to the point he could be on leash in public. Around emense distraction, we still struggled with barrier aggression in the yard and at the park.

So when he'd take off like a bullet, and aggress...I'd call him back to me and reward. After all, I needed a solid recall if he was going to behave this way. What if he was off leash and did this (never has, but just in case) I knew I was possibly rewarding the reaction, but I figured I'd clean it up later, Oi vey.

So then, many months in, and hundreds of bold and reactions in, I realized I had created a behavior chain, while many dogs may not figure out that the reaction causes the recall that causes the cookie...Chili, true to him, figured it out. I don't know how fast, but Iam sure way faster than I did. He bolted in the backyard, and I didn't really feel Like it that day, so I didn't call him back....he stood at the fence and barked/looked at me....barked/looked at me... and then he became frustrated like he does when hes anticipating a click, and doesn't get one. I said "shit!" to myself.

so then I began to think. Like silva...think damn it think.

So I decided I'd start to call him BEFORE he'd get to the fence and only reward those, that way I was stopping the reaction at a lower level.

For som' reason this seemed to make the behavior worse...long past any chance of it being an extinction burst. In fact he began to blow off the recalls if the item was som'thing particularly good (like bikes, ooooh he hates bikes)

I then thought, about tethering him to me, and rewarding non reactions.

I decided this was very impractical, tho probably my best bet. At this point in my mind I dabbled with the thought of using P+ on this, and just getting rid of the behavior that way. But In the end I decided not to, that that was a cop out, and that positive reinforcement CAN work, I just hadn't thought hard enough yet.

I tried premack for a while, releasing him to chase the trigger as a reward. It seemed to amp him up more, to the point he couldn't focus on my AT ALL. I nixed the idea.

We then introduced som' removal. My first attempt to punish the behavior. When he'd react, we scoop him up and put him inside for a few minutes. This worked VERY well...until he learned in less than five reps of this, that he needed to flee from us while he was reacting, and hes fast. Very fast. A combo of teethering and removal would probably have worked well...but once again, not practical

Then one day, it happened.

He went to the fence, and did not react yet (trigger was far away) and instead of calling him to me, I simply marked him with a yes.

This was a test. I mean, he was over thirty feet away, would he understand he needed to return to me for his reinforcer? In hindsight I know the answer is yes, but I had never marked a dog at a distance.

When I marked him, he came running to me. And after I fed him, another strange thing happened. He waited. He did not immediately try and reingage the trigger.

I released him with an "ok" and then pointed and told him "go see" (his cue to walk away from me) to my amazement he went back to the fence, looked at the trigger in silence, looked at me, and then sat.

I marked and released again. We did a few more reps, and then he decided he was bored with the trigger and wandered off.

We practiced the next day, and the day after...we took the behavior to the dog park, by the entrance gates, and had ZERO outbursts. I was flabbergasted.

so far, so good.

so I guess my point is, I failed, not the methods, and there are many methods within the positive umbrella. I have learned alot from this dog, and I hope he continues to challenge me.

Old dog is old

I was thinking today about Emma, and how good she is.

But yet, I never really talk about her.

Shes reliable. This is the dog I'd take into public and not worry about. This is the dog a mob of kids could pet and she'd be cool with that. The dog I can recall off rabbits when shes in a full run. The good dog. The predicatible, stable dog.

She stalks me from room to room, always wanting to be in my presense, but never, ever is pushy for attention, in fact she never asks for attention at all. Even politely. Unlike Chili who shoves a toy in your lap, or paws at you when hes bored. Or Kiwi who will try and climb in your lap. Em will just wait patiently for you to notice her.

Medically, shes been a dream. I think we have two dentals and a torn dew claw under our belts and thats it. Shes fit, shes sound, shes fast, which is not amazing until you account thats shes also old. Critter who is the other "old dog" has cost us many thousands of dollars in vet care and much stress and grief over her behavior. Em is the old person I hope to be.

Though, this posses a dilema in my mind. If Critter were to die, say tomorrow. I could come to terms with that pretty easy I think. Shes had all the apropriate signals of "hey guys, I can't get around well anymore, oh and I have cancer, and my teeth are fallling out!"

Emma has no such signals. So Until people ask me her age, I kinda don't think about it. But the truth is she is old...she may be as old as Critter, or even older...just no way to know.

When Scooter died, he also gave no "hey guys Iam old" statements. He was here and then he was gone. When the vet told me he was an old man, after I just ran him all week like the five year old dog I thought he was. I began to think I killed my little ol' man. Perhaps I did accidentally.

Anyway, I guess my point is, when Em goes, I fear it will be sudden like Scooter. I also get the sinking feeling that Em will go before Critter, because Critter seems to have a good grip on this life...surviving everything it throws at her.

Em is a good dog. I don't give her enough credit. I hope she knows that.