Greenlight Gatsby

Why Dominance Theory is Useless for Training Dogs

2011-11-19T12:55:00.000-06:00

The senior wolf does not send the junior wolf three hundred yards away to bring him a dead duck. If the junior wolf finds a dead duck three hundred yards away from the senior wolf, he eats the fucking duck.

Assuming performing the actions typically prescribed in dominance theory (always eat before your dog, always pass through a doorway before your dog, always be situated higher than your dog) will cause your dog to respect you as the natural leader of the pack, it is completely irrelevant to dog training. The point of training dogs is to get them to do distinctly unnatural things. Wolves do not march in formation.

The Walters: Responsible Dog Owners Since 1986

2011-11-15T01:44:00.000-06:00

Cody Walter (July 1986 - October 2000) and Carol Walter (May 1953 - March 2000)

The back of this photograph says "Cody on the way to his last day of obedience class!" I believe this is my grandmother's car, it's the only car I remember that had manual windows. Cody's Obedience Diploma was framed and hung above his dishes in the laundry room.

Dunning-Krueger Effect

2011-11-08T15:15:00.000-06:00

...is pretty much my life. My fatal flaw is huge ego, no work ethic. I habitually talk big about things I know nothing about, always assume I'm right, and generally make an arrogant ass of myself on a regular basis. So please, take the following as it is intended: a need to get thoughts out of my brain so I don't lose the brilliant insight I just had, and in three months come back and wallow in how stupid and foolish I was.

I'm going to take a break from talking about dog training, which I have actually done a little, and talk about dog breeding, which I definitely know nothing about. I don't think I've ever actually touched a pregnant dog.

One of my hobbies is collecting and reading old dog books. I recently borrowed two on dog breeding from my kennel club's library.

Assuming they are indicative of the mindset of the time, the goal of breeding purebred dogs was to breed perfectly predictable animals. One book takes it to the logical conclusion and suggests that a truly "Pure" dog would be homozygous for every gene. AA bb XX, but not Aa bb Xx. Conceptually, if you selected the most fit alleles to breed for, you could have a perfect super dog that was the picture of breed type, healthy, and robust.

As the understanding of genetics has advanced, it has become clear that this is not only likely impossible (due to incomplete dominance and co-dominance, as well as polygenetic inheritance and mutation), it is a bad goal. In an extremely specialized environment - like laboratory or Antarctica extreme - it's possible that a completely Pure population of animals might survive or even thrive. When the window of survivability is narrow, minor variations are quickly extinguished. Low genetic diversity might keep the population more robust.

This is nothing like the environment we keep dogs in. Looking at the United States dog population as a whole, there is a huge amount of variability in the environments. Some homes are hot, some are cold, some cycle through both regularly. Some cycle through both irregularly. Some homes are active, some are inactive. Some are experienced homes, some are inexperienced. Some homes want highly specialized and predictable behavior patterns, some want generalized behavior and some want diluted behavior altogether. Lepto is a problem in some areas but not others. Conceivably, there should be enough genetic diversity across all dogs for there to be a dog to fit nearly any environment.

The value of well-bred dogs is predictability, not purity. Purebred breeding is a means to that end, not a goal in and of itself. If purity was the goal, Gatsby would be a valuable dog. I love the dog, but it's criminal that a dog like him was brought into the world on purpose.

What I Want

2011-10-15T15:36:00.000-05:00

I want a training system that works for 90% of dogs, and has the ability to deal with the outlying 10%.
I want a training system that a novice can apply to their dog and get a safe dog.
I want a training system that an expert can apply to their dog and get an excellent dog.
I want a training system that has a low risk of fallout through well-intentioned misuse.
I want a training system that is structured enough to not leave dogs or people guessing about what comes next.
I want a training system that is flexible enough to be used for any sport, work, or behavior.
I want a training system that is internally consistent.

The Dogs Win

2011-10-10T19:20:00.000-05:00

Bad R+ training is ineffective and creates bad habits.
Bad R- training is abuse.

Theory and Practice

2011-08-23T18:41:00.000-05:00

The role of academia and texts in dog training is to allow new trainers to stand on the shoulders of giants. Dog training must always be based upon the actual training of real live dogs, but saying "you will understand with more experience" is not an acceptable response from a mentor to an apprentice. The foundation of mentorship is to keep someone else from wasting time making the same mistakes you did so that they might surpass you in ability.

Counterpoint: The teacher appears when the student is ready. I am a young, idealistic and modern person with a bias to having access to unlimited knowledge at my whim, without qualification. You cannot own knowledge until you earn it, and being told facts is not the same as internalizing knowledge.

It Just Bugs Me

2011-08-19T19:37:00.001-05:00

"If I offered my dog a treat for herding the cattle, she would look at me like I was crazy."

This is because positive reinforcement training is not about treats. It's about REINFORCEMENT. If giving your dog treats is not increasing behavior, treats are not a reinforcer.

ALL DOG TRAINING IS ABOUT REINFORCEMENT

If you want your dog to do things, you need to use reinforcement. Positive or negative, behavior comes from reinforcement. Think about how your training paradigm uses reinforcement, and you will instantly understand how to put it into practice better. Success builds on success. Even if you are using corrections, they are meaningless unless the dog can succeed at the task following the correction. The important part about the choke chain is not when it is tight, it is when it is LOOSE.

"Some dogs just need corrections."

What bothers me about this is not so much that dogs are being corrected, it's the implication that if you bolt away from the dog so that he flips over and is dragged five feet, the dog will now instantly respect you and all your training will go swimmingly from that point on for ever and ever until you ride off over the rainbow together on matching unicorns. I am not against dogs getting physical corrections, provided the correction is administered within a system that the dog understands. I am against training that doesn't do anything, that only addresses the behavior in the moment and not the behavior in the future.

Corrections are not ABOUT punishment. They ARE punishment, in the psychologist's use of the term ("don't do that"), but what makes a correction more than just punishment it that puts the dog back in correct action; the sit correction is a sharp jerk upwards because it will cause the dog to sit and thus be correct (this chain is an example of P+ -> R-, since the collar is tight when the dog is not sitting (P+) and loosens when the dog is sitting (R-)). A correction is punishment with information about how to receive reinforcement. It's the difference between a teacher marking the wrong answer in red, and marking the right answer in red.

Commands For Agility

2011-08-16T14:18:00.000-05:00

Directionals
BINGO - Release
GO - Drive forward on your path, taking any obstacle directly in your path
COME - Turn towards me and drive to my front
HERE - Move laterally towards me, taking an obstacle on my side if there is a choice
OUT - Move laterally away from me, taking an obstacle away from me if there is a choice
SWITCH - Change leads to curl towards me, rear cross
FLIP - Change leads to curl away from me
MARSHMARSHMARSHMARSHMARSH - Come

Obstacles
WALK IT - A-Frame, Dogwalk
TIP IT- Teeter
STICK IT - two on, two off
SPOT - Table with auto down
TUNNEL - Tunnel
CHUTE - Chute
WEAVE - Weave poles

Do What you Know in your Heart to be Right

2011-07-27T21:33:00.000-05:00

There are people I don't like talking about dog training with.

I don't like it when you train dogs sloppily, and since they're Labs and Goldens they tolerate it and work anyway.
I don't like it when "you'll show her," and "he'll never do THAT again."
I don't like it when you set a dog up to fail, and nail her for falling for the trap.
I don't like it when you two do that subtle exclusion silence when I walk up, because I have an internally consistent training philosophy.

The world would be boring if everyone was like me.

Bullshit.

What I Learned at Agility

2011-07-25T18:57:00.001-05:00

1) It is the best thing ever. Well, I already knew this.
2) I freaking love my dog. Knew this too.
3) It is important to me to train "correctly."

Dog Training Law

2011-07-21T19:55:00.000-05:00

If you click, you must treat.

This is dog training law because this is the contract you make with the dog. "If you do something I want, I will do something you want." (Shirley Chong) The click/treat is the manifestation of that contract in it simplest, most concrete, most black and white terms. It is the basis of all communication with your dog.

Corrections

2011-07-21T10:11:00.000-05:00

To the dog, not the blog, because I never make any mistakes.

Personally, I feel if you don’t make fair, well-timed corrections part of your training you’re setting yourself up to go into the ring with a dog who will probably do as he pleases once he realizes no tangible rewards or additional handler help are coming. Depending on the alignment of the planets, this may result in a qualifying performance or it may not. (Exercised Finished - Are Corrections Really Necessary?)

What IS a correction?
...• A correction only needs to be strong enough to get your point across; if it doesn’t make an impression, you’re just nagging your dog and that’s not going to fix anything.
• A correction addresses the problem at the point where the error occurred (for example: at the point of pickup on a retrieve or during a slow response to signals)
• It is better to make 1 effective correction than 6 naggy ones.... (Exercised Finished - Corrections Part I)

Punishment techniques should not be taught to novices. It is an advanced technique. (Bob Bailey, The Fundamentals of Animal Training, paraphrased from memory)

In the example of the ubiquitous of the leash pop, the timing, magnitude, and attitude of application are of paramount importance.

It must be strong enough to make an impression (too low a level will require more frequent application and risks habituation - the "punishment callus") but not so strong as to overwhelm and shut down the dog. It must be strong enough for the dog to wish to avoid it in the future, but no so strong as to overwhelm the dog's ability to think through how to do so.

Timing of a leash pop is even more important than timing of a click. Mistimed clicks lead to frustration but generally if you're doling out good enough goodies you can keep the dog with you, mistimed pops lead to a frustrated dog that is more likely to say "Screw you! I quit!" than work through the frustration of handler error to figure out what IS wanted.

Attitude of application is something that I have heard varying reports on. Some say corrections should be impersonal, the dog should think they come from the environment. Other say the dog should know corrections are issued by the handler. Most agree that you shouldn't feel anger towards the dog, that the dog is a "bad dog" and that "you'll show him, he'll never do THAT again!" But there is a well understood connection between actions and emotions. Looking for things to correct puts you in a different mindset than looking for things to reward. It sets you up for a more confrontational attitude with the dog in training.

Applying fair and effective corrections that end unwanted behavior and decrease its frequency in the future is a mechanical skill. Novices have CRAPPY mechanical skills. Philosophically, I do not have a problem with skilled trainers applying fair corrections to their dogs to answer questions about an exercise they have performed correctly hundreds of times before. "Do I have to when there is a fox in a box? Yes, you really actually have to." In my training I prefer to avoid that if I can, but when I am Queen of the Universe I would allow other people to do so. I do have a problem with pet owners training their first dog popping their dog because he didn't auto sit, because they're going to do a piss poor job of it and confuse the heck out of their dog.

When they can effectively handle clicker, treats, leash, dog, and a prop, maybe they are read to start learning about leash pops. But at that point, they probably don't need them.

Safety of the dog is paramount. In immediately stopping, dangerous, bad behavior - not just unwanted or naughty, but outright BAD - I am not above using punishment to stop behavior in the moment. If my dog is trying to eat an entire dark chocolate Easter bunny, you bet your ass I am going to yell and fling him away by the scruff. But I do not consider it especially effective in preventing him from trying it again next Easter.

Corrections are reactive. Positive reinforcement is proactive. Be as proactive as you can, but I do not think it is a dog training sin to have reactions in your bag of tricks.

The Problem of Dog Training: Theory and Practice

2011-07-19T11:21:00.000-05:00

This is a response to Sam's post on the dog in group classes that is not ready for that situation.

Ideally, when I am running my own training center, I would tell the person to sign up for some privates and credit what they paid for the class towards private instruction.

Sometimes I really wonder: does the ability to understand classical conditioning methods require a genuine and whole interest in dog training and behavior, or even learning and behavior as a whole? I don't say that disparagingly. The fact is that we live in a society where it's largely accepted as OK to deal with dog misbehavior with a pop, a snap, and perhaps a verbal hiss. Can people who just want a nice house pet wrap their mind around the idea of not JUST rewarding or punishing behaviors, but shaping emotions and associations?

This is why I want to separate pet and performance classes.

What makes the difference between a Dog Trainer and a Dog Owner is interest in the process vs. interest in the product. You can drive a car without knowing how the engine works. I like driving my car. It fits my needs. I really don't have the time or inclination to study how engines work, what a spark plug is or where it goes. As long as it goes when I step on the gas and stops when I step on the brake, I'm happy. It's similar with dog owners. As long as it doesn't shit in the house, doesn't bite people, and walks on a leash, they're happy. And they can really take or leave the leash walking thing.

As a Dog Trainer, I am highly motivated by the theory behind the method. Training dogs is an intellectual exercise for me, and it's one of the reasons I stick to positive methods. Anyone can train a dog with a choke chain! People have been doing it for decades! I need to make it harder! Yes, there's also the practical benefits and I wholly believe in the validity of the method, but the idea of limiting my tool box to accomplish goals is very, very appealing to me. Constraint forces creativity.

I am teaching my very first class, Clicks & Tricks. I have designed the class all by myself and am teaching alone. I have three students. It is kind of a disaster.

The conflict is one of theory vs. practice.

On one hand, I want to promote my training philosophy. I want the hallmark of my classes to be that you never need to take one again: you should have a solid enough foundation of theory to teach your dog anything. I think my understanding of dog training theory is one of my strengths as a dog trainer, that is something that I bring to the table that no one else I have seen in the area is really doing.

By on the other hand, I am weak in practice. I am the first to point out my lack of experience: I have two dogs, and no titles. They are relatively civilized dogs, but Gatsby got issues and Marsh has no recall. My strength in theory also bites me; I like this quote from Sam:

How can I stitch up that big gap between what I know and what the handler knows in the most effective way possible?

I know more about what I'm talking about (which is why I'm talking about it) than who I'm talking to. I can barely organize my thoughts in a way that makes sense to other human beings, let alone ones that don't have a background in whatever the hell I'm talking about. I can't separate what is actually important knowledge to complete a task because ALL of the information is vital. So I end up infodumping on the student (which, if you've read any other post on this blog, should not surprise you) and watch their eyes glaze over.

Fiesty Fido or Shy Dog classes sound great in theory, and that's because they are. But they're not offered nearly enough. Subsequently, those teams who need a little bit of extra help are thrown in with the teacher's pets and valedictorians.. and the result isn't pretty.

Training people should reflect how you train dogs. One of the things we stress in clicker training is "raise one criteria at a time." So you don't go from a ten second sit stay toe to toe with the dog to a three minute sit stay thirty feet from the dog while someone is bouncing a tennis ball behind him. You don't hand a person a clicker, a leash, treats, and a dog and say "you'll figure it out." That is sloppy training.

In many pet dog classes, there is just too much covered. The dogs (and people!) are supposed to learn rough forms of all the AKC Novice Obedience exercises, how to manage their dog at home, basic dog safety, socialization, AND how to read dog body language. In one hour a week for eight weeks. If you're lucky, you get a puppy class and a basic obedience class out of any one dog and if you're REALLY lucky you'll see that person in another eight years when they get their next puppy. You just can't get all of that in, period, let alone to any degree of nuance.

In my opinion it is a mistake to lead pet owners to believe that one class will cover all their needs. Yes, people are always told that training is for the life of the dog, there are more advanced classes, etc, but at least in my club the number of people who follow through on that are very small. The general consensus of trainers seems to be "let's hit on all the topics so if we never see them again at least we said SOMEthing," but I think that is giving owners just enough knowledge to be dangerous. Especially when I consider the information you're giving them to be dangerous, like the idea that you need to be the boss of your dog, he will work for you just because you are the boss, or that noncompliance is disobedience.

I would much rather see smaller, more tightly focused classes that address the core needs of the pet owner.

Puppy Kindergarten: How To Not Kill Your Puppy in the First Six Months, Accidentally or On Purpose
Household Manners: Go to Mat, Recall, Down Stay*
Zen and the Art of Dog Training: Leave it!
Loose Leash Walking
Canine Good Citizen

Can a DOG learn all of these skills more or less simultaneously? Yes. Can a PERSON learn to TEACH all of these skills to their first dog? NO. Most people that have been in my puppy class don't understand that if you are going to be teaching dogs with food treats, HE GETS TO EAT THE TREAT. Looking at treats is not reinforcing for dogs, EATING them is.

*for the average pet dog, I consider the down stay a better option than sit stay.

"Whatever Works"

2011-07-15T13:47:00.000-05:00

is unacceptable language in dog training. Famously, shooting the dog works. It is the only 100% reliable solution to dog behavior problems. Instead, whatever you are doing must work. All the perfect application of scientific principles doesn't mean a thing if the dog's behavior is not improving.

If it is not, reevaluate. If the dog's behavior is getting worse, stop what you are doing and try something else.

"He Only Listens When I Have Treats!"

2011-07-05T22:52:00.000-05:00

And why this is a nonsense argument for not using treats in training.

The dog that only listens when he sees the treats is the same dog that only listens when the leash is on. When the leash comes off, he knows you can't pop his collar. When the treats go away, he knows you can't pay up. In both cases, the solution is exactly the same: set up the situation to teach the dog that consequences are still in effect even when the leash is off and the treats are invisible.

Agenda

2011-05-25T13:57:00.001-05:00

I have an agenda for positive training.

To me, it is important that my training reflects the best of what R+ has to offer without leaning on emotional arguments. I want people to incorporate more reinforcement into their training because it will make their dog's performance faster, stronger, flashier, better, not because it makes the trainer feel good (although the feelings I get from clicker training are a big reinforcer for me) because most of the traditional trainers I encounter and have heard from don't feel bad about what they're doing to their dogs.

My win condition is not everyone uses R+ exclusively. My win condition is that most people use R+ heavily and as a first resort. Because it is objectively better.

Frustration

2011-05-10T21:17:00.003-05:00

Being the clicker dog in the traditional class is frustrating and exhausting.

I'm starting to think they aren't worth my time any more, which is awful because I can't afford private lessons and I don't know who I'd want to train with any way (that lives within 60 miles, if we had teleporters by now like we should this would be a non-issue) and I think I've reached the limit of how good a trainer I can be on my own.

But I've been in about seven different basic obedience classes in three years with just about many instructors at four different facilities, and I don't think a single one of them has been all that good. None of them teach mechanics.

I have accepted that putting a dog on a choke chain and popping them one every once in a while is probably not going to reduce the dog to a pissing puddle on the floor.

But if you're going to use one, you can't have the damn dog strung up the whole damn class. All you're teaching him is that working with you is uncomfortable and not a lot of fun but has no real consequences.

I can't stand it.

I can't stand it when someone has a two inch flat collar on their dog, three feet of an 1" wide 6ft long leash wrapped around their wrist and pull pull pulls the dog around with it with constant leash, social, and physical pressure and the dog has zero chance of being right.

WHEN THE DOG IS RIGHT, YOU HAVE TO RELEASE THE PRESSURE.
I need to do all of the training, because everyone else is doing it wrong.
>:|

The Lusty Month of May

2011-05-06T15:18:00.004-05:00

[I had a whole opening to this all written out, but accidentally deleted it. In summary:

Gatsby is focusing on scent this month. Nose work, tracking, and scent discrimination games are all things we will be doing this month. We went to a tracking seminar in April and he was an utter natural. I've never been so proud of him, it was so exciting to be able to hand the leash over to him and not have to discuss every little thing I want him to do.

This post from Reactive Champion is the inspiration for Marsh's training plan.]

This is my outline for Marsh's obedience (and rally) foundation. I will be posting an agility foundation outline as well, but I don't have my Agility Right From the Start book handy. It really is superb, I highly recommend it.

Also forthcoming will be a field foundations outline, but obedience has to be in place first. Also, I don't know what I'm doing in that arena.

Marsh's Pre-training Assessment

Focus

dog in front
during backwards heeling
dog in heel position
with distractions

Marsh can find and hold eye contact while playing the T-Game. He can play it in a variety of new surroundings including the middle of campus with light foot traffic, training class during warm ups, during a kennel club meeting with talking and lots of people.

He need to practice it in more places, with more distractions, and in heel position.

Targeting

nose target to hand
nose target to remote target (plastic lid)
paw target to hand
paw target to remote target
all with duration.

Marsh has a nose target to hand (two finger boy scout salute) with a two second duration. He has always responded on cue. He has had two sessions of remote nose targeting to a plastic tupperware lid and understood the basic concept.

He needs to build duration and learn a paw target, as well as build duration to a remote target.

from a stand
while walking
at a distance.

Sit is very strong. He can sit from a stand and while walking and from about ten feet away. He will also sit on whistle, although this is not very reliable yet.

He needs to strengthen response to sit whistle and increase distance. He also needs a clearer understanding of sitting straight in heel while still pivoting to face me at a distance.

Down

from a stand
while walking
at a distance

Marsh's down is also very strong. He downs on a hand signal of the palm of my hand and on verbal cue.

The hand signal needs to change. Too many signals involve showing Marsh the palm of my hand and it is confusing him, especially on stays.

Rear end control

backing up away from trainer in a straight line
perch work
agility contact trainer

Marsh has had a little bit of work on rear end awareness. This is something that needs a lot more work but is not very high priority right now.

Finish

from the front
from behind
left finish
right finish

Marsh does not have any formal understanding of a finish, although with guidance he will throw himself into heel position in something that resembles an enthusiastic flip finish. It is very sloppy and usually includes ricocheting off of my.

Recall

fast
immediate
direct

Recall is crud and needs lots and lots of work. He recalls very well as the second half of a retrieve, but recall from liberty is basically nonexistent.

*Backwards Heeling

Focus
Attitude
Position
Duration

Focus is coming a long very well and he is understanding the game. We need more work on choosing to play instead of being distracted by the environment.

Stand

Cecilie teaches this while walking backwards away from the dog. The dog will simply stop walking and stay put. She also uses “reverse luring”- teaching the dog not to follow a food distraction.

When Marsh is in a stand, he is relatively steady (thank you, conformation training!) However I have no reliable way of getting him into a stand and he is very fidgety during an exam.

Stay

sit
down
stand

Sit and down stay are very strong. We will be fading out praise and increasing duration, distance, and distraction

The dog should not chase or eat food he has not been told to take.

A nightmare. Marsh has no problem launching himself at humans if he wants something in their hands. This needs to end.

Hold Object

at heel
sitting at front
while you lean over him
while you touch the object.

Marsh will gladly chase and pickup nearly any object I toss for him. Everything is a toy. He is very ball and bumper motivated and these are our most common rewards.

He needs a formalizing of hold.

Let go

Dog moves head away from object in trainer's hand

Not a problem. Marsh will happily release anything in his mouth to the lightest of human touch. He is getting better at actively pushing an object into my hand.

Jump

away from the handler
towards the handler
curving away (ie, a directed jump)
parallel to the handler
both sides

Marsh has had no introduction to jumps while he has been with me (possibly before I got him). This is also low urgency and will be handled more under agility foundation.

Scent discrimination

Cecilie recommended using duration targeting while teaching this so that the dog doesn't learn to depend on “tasting” the scents.

No work has been done with Marsh. Gatsby is the Scent Test Dog and my training plan for Marsh will depend heavily on what I learn from training Gatsby.

Tracking

This may not be needed, depending on your venue

See Scent discrimination.

*From Fanny Gott, not Celeste

Order of Operations

Mission Critical:
Zen
Recall
Focus
Backwards Heeling
Hold Object

Continuing Education:
Sit
Down
Stay
Stand
Let Go
Targeting

Low Priority:
Scent Discrimination
Tracking
Jump
Rear End Control
Finish

Alliteration!

2011-02-11T00:20:00.000-06:00

I have recently been following the discussion on [click-bite], a R+ group for training dogs for protection sports. I am also reading a book called "Drive" by Daniel H. Pink.

So this is the encapsulation of my training philosophy: perfect performance comes from confidence. Confidence comes from competence. Competence comes from clarity. So my goal will be to train my dogs with maximum clarity and minimum stress. I want my dogs to be so competent at their behaviors that they are not worrying about why they can't do them, but instead do them for the intrinsic motivation of doing them.

More Marsh + Contest

2011-02-07T16:48:00.000-06:00

For a while now, I've been looking for a dSLR to take better pictures of dogs (also, knitting, but that's outside the scope of this blog). My problem was always budget, I need another hobby like I need another dog (desperately, but HOLY SMOKES would that be a bad idea), and good cameras get very expensive, very fast. So when a Nikon D40 with zoom lens (55-200mm VR), bag, and 1gb memory card popped up on craigslist, well, I made a rash decision.

And I love it!

Most of my pictures are still blurry, but they're better blurry pictures and I'm getting better at using it. My friend Erin-with-the-Aussies showed me what aperture and shutter speed and ISO are and how to change them and already I'm getting more shots in focus. Pre-lesson I shot 700 pictures at the Milwaukee Pet Expo and kept under 100, tossing out anything that was so blurry you couldn't see anything expect waves of light on a muddy brown background, and post-lesson I took 200 and kept more than half!

So, what you really care about, pictures of the boys (I really, really love using the plural!):

I love these two. The one of the Gipper is my new computer background.

Bite your FACE.

Aunt The Nun with Marsh

I love how pink he looks in these pictures.

I told you he was a beautifully built dog.

A great mover, too.

Oh, yes, does he move.

Oh, yes! Contest! See, now that Marsh is here, Greenlight Gatsby doesn't really cut it. It's not fair, right? This blog needs a new name! And gosh darnit, all this photography has just sapped my wells of creativity. So starting today to Midnight February 28, leave a comment with a new blog name and in March I'll pick a new one.

Wow, the chance to name a blog! That's very exciting!

BUT WAIT.

THERE'S MORE.

I have a copy of "The ABC's of Behavior Shaping" with Ted Turner (see second video here) for the winner. It's quite good, not a ton of new information if you're reasonably clicker/shaping savvy, and it's a little dated, but Ted Turner is engaging and it's a fun watch.

WOW, a blog name AND a DVD? I can't wait to submit ideas!!!

Multiple submissions ARE allowed.

That Book With the Turtles

2011-02-05T23:55:00.000-06:00

I have a fondness for collecting old dog training books full of advice that I have zero intention of taking.

It's the one with the turtles!

I do wish this guy had more descriptive titles for his books.

Hey, Volhard! I bet this one isn't totally useless.

Oh, these look kind of useful too!

I bought a dSLR this weekend (got a REALLY good deal on craigslist) so hopefully I'll have some more pictures to share with you.

It's good to know that I can manage to mangle white balance on a $400 camera.

What I Did This Weekend

2011-01-31T08:21:00.000-06:00

In September, I went on a camping trip to Minneapolis. It poured the entire time and I found a dog show to take shelter at. My, what a coincidence it happened to be the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever National Specialty! I talked and learned and networked and picked out a couple of dogs I decided I wouldn't mind a puppy from. In a few years, the time wasn't right just yet.

In November, I received an e-mail from a breeder I had talked to at the show. She had an adult dog looking for an agility home because his owner's knees weren't holding up and did I want him. Well, that was complicated. I was still living with my aunt and grandmother, and while they adore Gatsby, they do not adore dogs that shed.

In December, we decided that I would move out and get my own apartment as a part of the normal process of growing up, moving out, and turning into a real adult. I started calling places in the newspaper. "Hi, what's your pet policy?"

In January, I started tracking the weather closer than most meteorologists. See, back in October, someone in Yemen mailed a bomb in a copy machine through airline cargo, and the TSA decided that no one needed to be sending things cargo into the United States. Even dogs. A plan was needed to move him from Calgary*, where he was living, to Minneapolis where he breeder lived. He could not cross the US-Canadian Border on a plane. He could not get on a plane if it was under 10*F at either end of the flight.

On Thursday, he flew from Calgary to Vancouver.

On Friday, he drove from Vancouver to Seattle, then flew from Seattle to Minneapolis.

On Saturday, he drove from Minneapolis to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Pinehill's Rainkist at Baywood "Marsh"

I think he likes it here.

Thank you so much to Barb Rohr, Krista Wendland, and Brenda Brown for sending me this wonderful dog. He is a dream.

*Liberties have been taken with Canadian geography. My apologies to the Canuks.

Road Trip!

2011-01-28T12:39:00.001-06:00

Going to Minneapolis, BRB.

Endings, Ongoings, and Beginnings

2010-12-31T23:05:00.001-06:00

I will end this year's blogging not with a look backwards, but with a gaze turned towards the future. I've got some exciting changes in the works for 2011...

When I am a Dog Trainer... II

2010-12-21T13:59:00.002-06:00

When I am a dog trainer, classes that don't differentiate between pet dogs and performance dogs will be called "Non-Regular Classes."

When I am a Dog Trainer...

2010-11-17T02:46:00.000-06:00

Although I have always loved dogs, and I love people who love dogs, I am but an adoptee of the dog people. My first home, my people, are Engineers, the nerds, the geeks, the gamers, the wedgerats, the techs, the fraternity of Lamda Nu Lamda. And, once upon a time, I spent a year and a half residing at Worcester Polytechnical Institute, the University of Science and Technology. And Life.The motto of this fine institute of many sciences is "Lehr und Kunst." It is upon these words - Theory and Practice - that my school will be founded.

I will teach pet classes, because honestly you have to, but there will be a Pet track and a Performance track and there will be flow charts and it will be awesome. Some classes, like Clicks & Tricks and other things that can stand alone will be trackless, but entry level pet classes won't see much actual clicker, if any.

Novice A
A Performance class for people who have never titled a clicker-trained dog in Obedience. 8 weeks, 6 teams.
Prequisites: Performance Foundations I and Obedience Foundations

Week 1: Bring Dog, crate, clicker, treats. Review Novice exercises in slideshow and assistant + demo dog forms.
10 minute warm up: Rally-style doodling. Do you and your dog remember the things you've already learned?
15 minute lecture: Dogs in crates. What areas do you need to polish? Most of this class is about heeling and proofing, since sit-down-stand are covered in the preqs. Leashes are a safety net! If your dog needs a leash to stick with you, your rate of reinforcement is too low. Demo footwork and other handling signals with dog, then without for right-about turn. Leave slide up showing footwork while handlers pair up and walk 3 paces - about turn - 3 paces with "dog" watching only feet. Switch. Repeat, watching face/shoulders/upper body.
15 minute practicum: Get dogs out, set up for heeling. Handle about turn as practiced. Treat often, and work at your own pace. It is more important that your dog is successful and is keying in on your movements than keeping up with the class.
10 minute lecture: Dogs in crates. Demo right turn as before. Homework: 300 peck heeling with verbal "Name, sit." Practice right and about turns - not in the context of straight line heeling.
10 minute free-time: Leave, or stick around and get questions answered, a little extra practice, etc

Week 2: Warm up before class. Think about your routine before going in the ring to compete.
10 minute homework check: Who can 300 peck the farthest? When you drop out, stop where you lost and practice sit-stays. Winner gets some kind of credit that can be applied to stuff.
15 minute lecture: Dogs in crates. Left turns.
15 minute practicum:
10 minute lecture: Dogs in crates. Demo linking straight line heeling and turns. Be sure to lower distance/duration since you are making it harder. Homework: Can you work up to where your 300 peck was at the start of class with a right, left, and about turn? Don't add them all at once!
10 minute free-time

Week 3: Slow

Week 4: Fast

Week 5: Figure-8

Week 6: Long Sit

Week 7: Long Down

Week 8: Heeling Off Leash/Run-Through

I got to our Obedience class early tonight, and after letting Gatsby run out a bit of his crazy left him in the car to watch the Beginner Obedience class. I had thought about putting Gatsby in this class instead of Pre-Novice, and I'm glad I didn't. For one, it's MUCH larger and fairly chaotic.

I really enjoyed the chance to observe though, because there were a lot of interesting things I saw.

First of all, you can tell who breeds what around here - there are a fair number of Dachshunds (1 in agility, 3 in Beginner, 2 in Pre-Novice) and the Danes! I think the instructor (same for my class and this one) breeds them, from what I picked up in conversation. She uses them to demo a lot, there was a beautiful Harlequin tonight.

Secondly, because the class is so big, there is a lot of confusion for people and dogs. I don't think more assistants would have helped all that much, the room was too full. People didn't really know what they were doing and were trying to keep up with the rest of the class, when everyone's dogs really needed different things. It was just TOO MUCH. Maybe I'm just sensitized to it, but most dogs needed to come way dowwwwn, not more up happy playful yay! But then there were a few people like the lady with a young Dane who was shutting down under the excitement (I suspect). The dog was terribly confused, she'd barely get herself into a sit before starting off again. Each time she sat slower and slower, I suspect she needed to be told she was RIGHT for sitting, but now we're going to move on.

As a side effect of size, I'm beginning to realize that the standard structure of a training class is all wrong. Nobody knows why (or exactly what) they're supposed to do what they do, so they don't know how to change it if it's not going to help their dog. Understanding the why behind something is a huge soapbox of mine, which is why I'm such a theory buff (and why I can know all this and still have only a half-trained dog, I never did have much use for practice). Tonight they sent dogs through tunnels as a confidence booster. For the Dane who started out apprehensive but by the third time though was bounding? Yes, and it was delightful to see. For the timid Miniature Poodle who slipped through at first and by the end was trotting calmly (if unenthusiastically)? Yes! For the collie mix who had her leash pulled through the tunnel and still threw back her head and dug in her feet? Not so much.

There's too much lumping - because there's so much to cover in a class period (and let's face it, it's easier to get by with lumping in correction-based training) - and not enough splitting. And trainers have been saying for as long as I've been around that short, high energy, successful training bursts are more effective than dragging through for an hour. I know my energy goes all over the place during class, and there's still a lot of downtime.

So that's my rough outline of how I'd do a Pre-Novice class. Obviously there's a lot left to fill in, because this is my first time through an obedience class with an eye towards competition (and I don't know what I'd cover in the foundation), but the structure is the most important thing. Talk - do - talk - do. Split, practice, combine.

Lehr und Kunst.

Colitis

2010-11-14T12:37:00.000-06:00

The next time I think to myself, "Wow, Gatsby is being a really excellent dog today," I am going straight to the vet to get anti-inflammatory medicine.

Gun Dogs - Part One

2010-11-13T14:25:00.000-06:00

My local library has a plethora of gun dog training books. Probably because this is Wisconsin, and if there is one thing people in Wisconsin like to do, it is sit in a forest in the dead of winter in the worst weather imaginable and hope something walks by so they can shoot it. Clearly, this is not my home state.

But, someday I will get my dearly desired Toller and I want to fool around with field training because I think it's neat. And, you know, fulfilling bred-in drives and original purpose and all that stuff. Hey, I took Gatsby to Earthdog, didn't I? Not my fault my dog is afraid of tunnels and rats.

I really haven't found any of the books to be all that different from one another. I get list titles if you want, but they aren't very important. I certainly don't recommend following the training advice contained within. A) They're quite out of date, the two I'm sitting next to right now were first copywritten in 1949 and 1983. They've been revised and rereleased several times, but still. These books are basically giving the same advice you would have been given 60 years ago. And B) They're really, really, harsh. Like Koehler harsh, but without the consistent system that at least makes Koehler fair. Fairly brutal, but fair.

See, gun dog books (I am mostly within retriever books, and I am learning that they are sometimes a separate distinction from gun dog books which are mainly pointers and setters) are working with, surprise, gun dogs. Who are fairly biddable as a whole. Which is kind of the point. These books are a huge purporter of the "he wants to please" myth, because generally speaking sporting dogs are more likely to be reinforced by praise and praise alone. Any dog that doesn't learn by their methods isn't worth training. Which is honestly garbage.

But what I find really interesting is that every book I've picked up starts more or less the same way: start with a good dog. Hunters aren't trainers. They want to get a dog, go shoot something, and have the dog go and pick it up. So speed and ease of training are given a lot of words, as is the futility of working with a mediocre dog. "Get rid of the beast" is not uncommon advice if a dog proves stubborn in the early stages of training.

They're actually really against backyard breeders, because the dogs are untested. Not big fans of bench breeders, but it's less animosity and more of the mind that they're just irrelevant to hunting dogs. Most hunting breeders aren't people I would buy a dog from, but every advice about buying a dog to shoot over I've read really drives home the point that the parent dogs must be proven hunters and other really solid advice about picking breeders, litters, and puppies. Which is really kind of nice to read. Let's get a little health testing in there and some more proactive guardianship of puppies (don't place a pup with just anyone with money and a gun, some more litter socialization, less endorsement of breeding as a money maker) and honestly I think most of them would pass the I'm Queen of the Universe test.

I do wish some of these books mentioned Tollers though. Considering they weren't players in the American scene until recently I'm not surprised, but I wish it.

I think I'll do a few more posts on this topic, because I'm enjoying the reading, and I think there is a lot to be gained from studying tradition. Don't reinvent the wheel, right? Well, in this case the wheel is a very specific shape that only works on one kind of bicycle and on one kind of road with special grooves, but still. It's interesting.

Taking Classes with the Reactive Dog

2010-11-02T22:52:00.000-05:00

So Gatsby and I started a new class tonight. Pre-novice Obedience. We also have agility on Mondays. The Obedience class is the first time we've really advanced a level. Skillwise, he's clearly out of the beginner class, which is targeted to the typical out of control adolescent dog who hasn't had a day of training in his life. I've taken that class five times at different locations, I am ready to move on.

Gatsby is... well, himself. Honestly we were barely a part of class, in many cases we opt out of exercises or drastically lower the criteria so he has a chance to succeed. I feel ridiculous. He's one of maybe two other dogs on a flat collar and he gets way more treats that the rest of the dogs combined. And I still don't have even most of his attention. When I do, he's brilliant. We had maybe three really excellent moments tonight, and he has beautiful finishes to both sides. But he's constantly worried about the other dogs and had more than a few reactive outbursts. Heeling is impossible, we're either too close to a dog or he can see a dog approaching or a dog moving away.

Here is what I do to get through a class.

1. Your personal bubble needs to be bigger than everyone else's.
Pretend everyone else in the room is covered in Parvo. If you are in a class to learn skills (vs. a behavior class), your goal is not to push your dog's threshold higher. It is to practice skills. Talk to the instructor and other class members. Let them know you and your dog need more space. Try to be aware of how other people are moving. It can be very hard to split your attention between your dog (who takes more focused attention that most other dogs will need from their handlers), the exercise, and the other teams, so try to stay off the probable path.

2. Keep distraction to a minimum.
This can be hard because most classes that I have attended have push proofing way too fast. For "normal" dogs they can get by with this, particularly traditionally trained dogs. However, it's really a case of being a lumper, not a splitter. It's also an outcome of the class environment: there's only so much time and so much to cover.

3. Work Ahead
Many classes give handouts at the end of the class. Depending on who is sponsoring the class, they may already have next week's handouts available. Being prepared ahead of time allows you to be proactive and more confident in the handling of your dog. Which leads into the final point...

4. Be Proactive
This is what being the owner of a reactive dog is all about. Watch your dog, predict what might set him off, and avoid it. Remember that your allegiance is to your dog first of all. I am very good at this, but often come off as abrasive or a nervous idiot. Probably an abrasive nervous idiot. Know your goals for the class. For me and Gatsby, I want to start preparing myself for the Novice Obedience ring. I want to learn how to handle. I want Gatsby to start learning to ignore distractions, not react-remember-return. And I want him to start being comfortable while under threshold.

Now, I know all of these. But it's hard putting them into practice. It's hard to manage him while not being obnoxious to the other teams. A lot of the things I do to bring Gatsby back involve lots of high, fast movement like fist touches or running backward.

I'm also concerned I'm starting to use food as a bribe instead of a reward. During the explanation of the next exercise, the dogs are expected to just sit and wait. This isn't really a problem for normal dogs. But Gatsby is, you know, crazy. I'm trying to reward calm sitting behavior, but he'll growl and then escalate his vocalizations if I'm not treating at a rate he finds appropriate. I don't want to reward that, but I also don't want to be the ass in the class.

So I don't know. Maybe I'll drop back down to Beginner. But that isn't really going to solve the problem, he really needs to be in a class of bombproof dogs that won't react to him reacting. I love being in a training class, but the way that most are structured are just not compatible with the dog I have. I really need to work with someone who knows reactivity and who knows getting reactive dogs to trial, and who knows getting reactive dogs to trial with positive methods. I basically need to train with myself from 20 years in the future. I assume by then I'll be a world class dog trainer specializing in getting reactive dogs competition ready.

Clicker Training: Way Less Crazy

2010-10-27T08:43:00.001-05:00

So I'm a member of several different dog training Yahoo groups. Most are clicker-orientated, but I'm on a few general lists, mostly for Obedience.

And. Seriously. It seems the more the traditional a trainer, the more totally crazy their training fixes will be. My favorite is where the dog interacts with an object/prop and when he messes up the trainer "corrects" the object, with the idea that the dog will try to avoid getting the object in trouble again.

Um.

I once yelled at my computer and punched a chair because tech support was giving me hell. Gatsby wouldn't look at me for fifteen minutes.

Really. Clicker training is just easier.

A Public Service Announcement

2010-09-24T21:57:00.000-05:00

I NEED A TOLLER.

Like, yesterday.

We now return to your regular schedule of Schnauzer-related programming.

State of the Schnauzer

2010-09-20T18:20:00.001-05:00

This is going to be long, and emotional, and full of my flavor of crazy.

It's really demotivating to go to shows and trials full of stable, normal dogs.

It's extra demotivating when you decide it will be a good, low-key situation to bring your dog so he can experience a trial environment and in contrast to every other normal dog is a shrieking reactive mess that can't see another dog pooping fifty feet away without getting set off.

I just get so frustrated. Indoors he's practically attached to me, right now he's sprawled across me from knees to shoulders, and if I say his name he's right there looking up at me with utter adoration. But, get his nose past a doorway and he's just gone. The lights are on but there's nobody home.

It's so hard because there is nothing I want more than to run agility. I've been madly in love with this sport since I was eight and it's a huge part of why I got a dog in the first place. I'm not content with just a pet. I want to compete. I want to win. I want to train the nitty gritty technical skills that lead to HIT, Nationals, FCI World Agility Championship winning runs. I love dog training, it's the most fascinating thing I've ever done and I absolutely want to train dogs professionally some day, but I feel like such a sham when I can't get my dog to LOOK at me. And I hear stories about how other people took their messes-of-dogs and turned them around and are doing the things I want to be doing and I think why am I not there? No one knows dog training theory better than me. My mechanical skills are decent, but I could shape anything. I get dog training. I have a very high level of general competence; there isn't much I'm not sufficient at without much practice. I want so bad to be good at this. But my dog won't look at me.

And so, I want a puppy. I feel like if I can just read enough and think enough and watch enough, I can get a perfect puppy and do everything perfect and never hit any snags ever. And I know that's not how it works but if I just try harder I can make reality work as well as it does in my head. And then I get this paralyzing fear that if I mess up I'll end up feeling about that puppy the same way I do about Gatsby.

I like him the most when he's sleeping. When he's not trying to scratch through the screen door because the wind deigned to move a leaf, not when I'm picking him up because carrying him is better than making a scene that everyone thinks involves my dog trying to kill another dog with excitement, not even when we have an actual good day in class and he walks on a leash like normal dogs do. Just when his little warm body is curled up against mine and we aren't doing anything.

Why do people think we don't want them to own dogs?

2010-09-16T00:33:00.000-05:00

In this particular case, I don't know if this guy was being facetious or not, but it is not the first time I've seen the phrase "so I guess you are trying to dissuade me from getting a dog," or some variant therefore of, thrown back in the forum collective's face when we suggest that maybe dogs are too much for them right now. I want to tackle the "I want a smart dog (read: I want Aibo)" thing too, but not now.

Let me just put this out there: We love dogs.

We love them. Every single person responding to you has a deep and meaningful relationship with one or many dogs that is just the most fantastic thing in the world. We LOVE dogs. A perfect world would have everyone enjoying that magical connection with dogs. It's not like we don't want you to have a dog because we want every dog for ourselves or some nutty thing like that. We love our dogs and sharing our dogs with other people because dogs are freaking awesome.

BUT, we make sacrifices to own dogs. For most of us this isn't a big deal (if the sacrifices outweighed the joy we get from dogs, we wouldn't own dogs), but like hell we're going to suggest you go ahead and get a smart dog because you think it's easier (biggest lie ever told) if you're not aware, willing, and able to make those sacrifices.

Yes, that forum can be a little harsh on people that are just uninformed, but you gotta run the gauntlet.And for the dog's sake, listen! These people know their shit. If you want to learn to get the most out of your camera, you go to camera experts. If you want to get the most out of your dog, you go to dog experts. Would you go to a mainstreme photographer to learn to take mainstreme photographs? I mean really.

This post is dedicated to mikedavid, who deserves to be mascot of the internet. I have never seen anything unite the internet into a shining beacon of solidarity like that man.

Upcoming Events

2010-09-13T09:58:00.000-05:00

Sept 11-12: GSD Specialty in Big Bend, WI with Jackie and Erin from Dogforums.com
Status: Completed and awesome. Meeting internet people in real life is always stressful (because everyone on the internet is a 40 year old man who wants to rape and axe-murder you, dontcha know), but it was a really good experience. I pet dogs, judged ringside (always a fun game) and was outraged at judging inside the ring, and learned I am no where near fit enough to show dogs, let alone run agility. In my defense, I would like to point out I had a major health crisis this summer in which the words "almost died" were thrown about. So, yeah. Excuses.

Sept 17-19: ASCA Stock, Conformation, and Agility Trial hosted by the Rock River Valley Australian Shepherd Club in Saukville, WI
Status: Upcoming and pending. Camping with Erin and her dogs, because I love to camp. I might take Gatsby, it should be a smaller trial and spread out enough that he's not constantly brain-mush. Maybe he'll even, gasp, relax once in a while. Longshot, I know. But it's a good chance to expose him to some things, I think, and it's close enough that I can always take him home if it's too much.

Sept 22-26: NSDTR-USA 2010 National Specialty in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Status: I have to order food! Hotel is reserved, itinerary is printed out, boarding for the Gatz is booked. I am stoked. We're making a family trip out of it, Aunt and Grandmother are going to go gamble while I ogle dogs and network and try not to make an obnoxious ass out of myself.

Dec 4-5: Winnegamie Dog Club Novice Agility Trial in Menasha, WI
Status: Oh doG please let us be ready. I want to trial SO BAD, but there is SO FAR to go. Anyone have a 2x2 weaves DVD they aren't using? A dog with the ability to think continuously about something for more than five seconds?

In Which the Government Buys Me a Puppy

2010-09-05T22:03:00.000-05:00

Do you know what day Friday was?

Student refund check day!

I have some unique circumstances which results in enough financial aid to cover my entire tuition (and yes, I know how amazingly lucky I am, and here's an internet shoutout to the spectacular people who support ,e while I languish in undergrad) and since I moved back home to take care of Gatsby, the money that would go toward my room & board gets refunded.

Friday afternoon I opened a savings account for my puppy fund. This is real, folks. :)

Although most of it is going to pay for the exorbitant medical bills I incurred this summer (good health insurance is a MUST, people), there's some "play" money left over which I'm going to use to start building a grooming kit.

Who knew Dremels were carpentry tools, not specifically manufactured for grinding dog nails?

A Thought Re: Dog Breeding

2010-08-12T00:54:00.000-05:00

"We only breed when we want something for ourselves."

I don't like this line of thought. I spend a lot of time thinking about dog breeding considering it's something I never want to do. I'm for it, of course, the risk and responsibility is just too much for me. I've been mulling over ideas about titling stud dogs, because that would be a way to train and trial dogs for things I enjoy without dealing with hard to deal with pet owners (not that I expect dog people to really be any easier), but that's neither here nor there.

But I don't like a lot of the "passwords" of responsible breeders because when you go a little deeper, it reveals really unhealthy thinking.

I read a lot of Ruffly Speaking (those are two links, go read them and then come back because that's what I'm thinking about as I write this), and that one blog influences my thinking a lot, and that first post is based it looks like solely on Nathan Winograd, so, bias alert. And then read this one too because I just found it and it's relevant too.

So what does this have to do with breeders that just breed for themselves?

First of all, they're no different that the people who say, "Oh we just love her temperament and think it would be wonderful to have a litter of little Lady's running around the neighborhood." Now, the show breeder may be able to say that other people think that's a grand idea too because Ch. Kennelname's Little Miss Moppet finished in three shows and is getting her therapy dog certs next month, but still. The goal is not to produce pet puppies for other people. It's to get something for them, and then place the other puppies that they don't want. That sounds a little cruel, but it's not wrong.

The problem with this is that more pet puppies is exactly what is needed.

The problem with more pet puppies is the majority of breeds make pretty lousy pets. If you're breeding to maintain the original breed with the original drives, where are normal people supposed to get their dogs? People that love their dogs and are great homes for dogs, but homes where the dog never sees a sheep, never fetches anything more than ball, certainly never hears gunfire, a home where the dog must never show aggression? Where do these people get their dogs? Are they restricted to the companion breeds? Do we go the way of the Klee Kai, start breeding dogs that look like other dogs in miniature, without the extra work the original breed needs?

From my observations, your average suburban prospective dog owner thinks a couple hundred dollars is a reasonable price for a puppy. Interestingly, he's probably more likely to research and move up a level on equipment - fancy collars, roomy crate, good food, puppy K - than do the same for breeders (part of this I feel is because he doesn't know there's a spectrum of breeders, to most people there's puppy mills, show breeders, and then the sensible people in the middle, but that's another post). I think when educated on the breeder costs and owner benefits of a responsibly bred puppy he can be persuaded to move up a price point, the upper hundreds. But $1,000 for a dog that the kids won't walk and that will occasionally eat something incredibly important to people and also incredibly dangerous to dog stomachs seems a little excessive.

So, I don't know. How do you balance between what's good for dogs, what's good for the breed, and what's good for the breeder? There has to be a way to fill the BYB market with better bred dogs.

It really pisses me off when people don't know how to use dog parks

2010-08-07T19:05:00.001-05:00

Gatsby, for all his issues, is a model dog park dog. I 100% trust him to make good choices while off leash in an enclosed area. All he wants to do is sniff and pee on stuff, and maybe chase the bird that thought a really good place to sit would be the middle of a dog park. He has good off-leash greeting skills and has appropriate play (chase me!).

So no, I don't appreciate the Husky wearing an inside out prong collar with the martingale part dragging on the ground who keeps assertively sniffing my dog even though he's showing all sorts of appropriate "Yes you're better than me please leave me alone" signs. And tensely yelling the Husky's name is not doing anything, and in fact is making him more aroused.

sigh

2010-07-27T20:57:00.000-05:00

And then we have days like today, where I try to go to agility for the first time in six months and Gatsby FREAKS OUT because there are OTHER DOGS. BEHIND A FENCE. LOOK. LOOK AT THE OTHER DOGS.

Creative Reinforcements

2010-07-26T00:41:00.001-05:00

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Conditioned Reinforcers

2010-07-20T16:09:00.000-05:00

Gatsby loves the sound of my laptop closing because it means I'm going to ask him to do weird stuff for treats.

Level Two - Distance

2010-07-19T07:35:00.000-05:00

07/19/10	two foot length	20	17	85%
		20	-		only offered clockwise direction? Circled behind. Sluggish.
		10	10	100%	Dropped # of reps, got better response
	toes	20	15	75%	Added cue “Get By,” pole back to toes
		10	8	80%
		10	9	90%
	support at toes	10	9	90%
	foot length in front of toes	10	9	90%	poor handling, water break
	two foot length	10	5	50%
		10	7	70%	asking for too much, stick to the plan
		10	-		ended on 3rd or so rep, GOOD response, ended w/ jackpot

Good morning, internet! After a warm up, Gatsby seemed to be waiting for direction (and truth be told his heart really wasn't in it) and we were at about the distance this level requires so I decided to add a cue. I dropped the difficulty back to the beginning and added the cue as he started the turn. Click came as he finished it (so pi/2 radians between cue and click). My handling was kinda iffy on some parts, but not my worst. Mostly I was pushing for too much too fast. Like asking he return to heel and wait for the send. WTF did I do that? He's barely ever heard the word heel. But we got a lot done for so early in the morning, and I got caught up on Fullmetal Alchemist.

Level Two - Distance

2010-07-18T23:02:00.000-05:00

Distance (Level 2): Dog goes around a pole from a distance of 2’ with no more than two cues.

Behavior:	Distance
Date	Criteria	Reps	+	%
7/16/2010	Crosses midpoint of pole	20	13	65%
		20	16	80%
		20	16	80%
	Move pole forward	20	18	90%
		20	16	80%
	Move pole forward	20	18	90%
	Move pole forward	20	19	95%
07/18/10	Pole support even w/ ball of foot	20	13	65%
		20	18	90%
	two inches beyond toes	20	18	90%
	foot length in front of toes	20	-	carpet to tile is different
	foot length in front of toes	20	19	95%

Once upon a time I bought some PVC pipe and built some jumps. That was so much fun, I bought some more PVC pipe with the intention of building weaves poles. Well, I built a weave pole. It's pretty neat, actually, I'm building them in a sort of modular way so I can add and subtract poles in any order to any number.

But right now it's one. Pictures will come.

Our front hallway is tile, and Gatsby has surface issues. When I first brought him home he wouldn't go inside because he doesn't like walking on tile. He's gotten better about it, but does try to avoid slick ground when he can. At one point the distance from me was set up such that he would have to go from carpet to tile and then back. What was interesting was he way flying through going around the pole, but after one rep at that distance he stopped and started asking me if I was treating for heel position.

So I learned a couple of things. One, is that I give too many sympathy cookies and the spreadsheet method curbs that. I have stricter criteria for what a successful rep is, so I have more patience to wait for the behavior I want.

Second, when I have this under stimulus control, I'm going to go back and retrain this behavior at the change from carpet to tile. I think this will help him get over the tile thing. We need to do sits and downs there too, as well as other weird surfaces. And sitting facing away from me and at distances.

From: Susan Ailsby's Training Levels

Structure

2010-07-15T22:10:00.000-05:00

I am very new to conformation, but I love a well-built, sound dog. Structure, movement, and soundness is one of my very favorite topics.

Unfortunately, I suck at seeing it. I know, generally, what I'm supposed to look for, I just can't get my brain to process what my eyes are seeing in comparison to basic bio-mechanical principles. Ruffly Speaking has a very nice post today about evaluating structure, and this blog has a derth of pictures of the Gatz, so let's go.

This is Gatsby's ILP picture. Could be a better picture, but it's fairly representational. He's roughly 17.5' tall and weighs twenty pounds.

Horizontal red line is topline, vertical red line runs from his elbow up and down.
Um, yikes. This leads me to believe that his front is a lot straighter than I had thought. I really want a nicely angled front for an agility dog since they spend so much time slamming down on their front paws. It looks like his head and neck are nicely forward, but it's so low and that's whats worrying me. I think if his shoulder was better laid back, that would bring his head up. His topline isn't great to boot, I could do with less rise over the loin and a gentler croup.

This really isn't terrible. If he had ~~more angulation~~, no that's not right, he needs more length in his upper arm. That would shift his leg further back and more under him.

Rib cage is nice, in my opinion. He could maybe use a little bit more, but I like a little extra loin for the flexibility. A nice tuck up, even though it isn't really Schnauzer-y. He does need more chest, it's very shallow. Even though he's angled away from the camera you should be able to see some of the posternum. The depth isn't too bad, but there isn't a lot of muscle in his front chest area thing. Brisket? I don't really know. Look at the front shot at the end, you can see it really clearly there.

These lines are really just a total guess. I have no idea how to eyeball shoulder and stifle angles. It doesn't help that his front leg is forward. Hands on I don't think his rear is as straight as it looks here, but I suspect his front might be a little worse.

Here you can see how little chest he has - practically none. He does have nice straight legs, nice rear ones too. His elbows are nice and tight. He toes out a little, but it bothers me less than it used to. I think he has nice feet. They could stand to be a little tighter and I need to be better about nails (gotta getta Dremel), but over all they're nice.

And now for someone I do totally fangirl for

2010-07-13T16:02:00.000-05:00

I freaking love Bob Bailey.

"Training is a mechanical skill."

That's it, right there. That's the magic secret of dog training (how do you get to ~~Carnegie Hall~~ IFCS World Agility Championships? Practice practice practice).

I love this interview with him. Because honestly, BB does not give a flying crap about all the drama and baggage dog trainers have. He just trains animals.

He is not the plucky hero, the traditional methods are not an evil empire, and this is not the grand arena. He just trains animals.

He preaches no great wisdom from the altar of the clicker religion about what he has learned from working in a delicate dance with our animal brethren ("Animal training, and animal behavior, has consumed a large part of my life.... Clicker training has had little impact on what I did, or what I will do.... Clicker training has not taught me a whole bunch.")

He just. trains. animals.

Brilliant.

Training is a mechanical skill. Training is a mechanical skill. Training is a mechanical skill.

Excuse me, I need to go find a chicken.

If you want to be a great dog trainer, change your name to Sue

2010-07-07T15:04:00.000-05:00

Seriously. Do you know how many big name trainers are named some variation of Sue? It's ridiculous.

But I've decided I don't really like Susan Garrett (I still want her 2x2 weaves though...). I read her blog and for a long time I was utterly star struck by her. But lately she just seems so commercial. I mean, I know she makes her living by this and total props to that, but I get this feeling like... she's a brand. Buy "Susan Garrett Dog Training" and get a "Susan Garrett" Dog (c).

It's like she's arrived. She doesn't have anything left to learn, but us poor plebes should wait for precious drops of knowledge on The Path to Agility Greatness and then buy her exorbitantly priced books and DVDs. And that's part of what I love about the clicker community, that it's so open and there's a real sense of we're all in this together.

I dunno. Just something that's been on my mind.

The Great Gatsby

2010-07-06T21:44:00.000-05:00

OH GOD OH GOD HE WAS SO GOOD. I LOVE MY DOG.

Ok, so I stacked the deck. It was hot, he was not full of his usual vim and vigor, and I pretty much just stuck a funnel down his throat for the treats (Natural Balance roll, nuked hot dogs, and some crumbly thing I bought at a show), but he had spent most of the day crated.

BUT HOLY CRAP. HE WAS SOOO GOOD.

We started just fooling around in the parking lot. Shaping pivots on a text book (and after we wandered away from it and then back, he offered it so strong as I went to pick it up!) and general loose leash/heeling (15 ft line) stuff and I really gotta put some effort in teaching him a recall.

There was a Golden practicing on the agility course, and as we gradually moved closer, she got distracted first! Ok, so, Gatz was like sniffing grass or something, not exactly focusing on me and ignoring the distraction, but I'll take it. He did have a few barks at the Golden, BUT HE WAS ABLE TO GET OVER IT and do a semblance of work.

We moved closer, into a small fenced portion where the warm-up jump goes during trials (July 17-18, Fond du Lac, WI, be there [even though I won't be]) and that didn't really go as well. But he was really getting too hot and I wasn't very focused or consistent in what I was asking for. It would have been better to do some pivot shaping in there, but I had left the book in my car. He actually does really well shaping under distraction.

Spent some time in the car (parked in the shade, with water, and I could watch him from the window) while we cleaned the building for the trial. Dinner. Meeting. Dog comes in for meeting.

HE WAS SO GOOD.

Now, granted there were only a handful of people and one other dog (in a crate) but HE WAS FANTASTIC. Super focused on me. Throwing behaviors. Sit, touch, left paw, right paw, even some stands (which we're just starting to add a cue for, and downs once he decided he was tired enough to not care if the tile ate him (it didn't). Holy smokes eye contact. Good response to name, but not yet the whiplash turn I want. Tends to look to feeding hand instead of my face.

Barked a bit when he was surprised by a toddler coming from around a table, and there were some clatters that put him a little on edge, BUT HE RECOVERED.

When did my dog learn to keep his brain for spilling out of his ears? Still can't walk on a leash, BUT HE WAS SO GOOD.

2010-06-29T15:04:00.001-05:00

06/29/10	glance at handler in backyard (handler sitting)	10	7	70%
		10	9	90%
	½ sec of eye contact in backyard (sitting)	10	7	70%
		10	6	60%
		10	7	70%
		10			scanning with ears and nose. Could hold gaze, but wouldn't offer quickly

Just Chuck Food

2010-06-28T23:51:00.003-05:00

06/28/10	1 sec of eye contact in bedroom (handler standing)	10	7	70%	still do not hear clock ticks
		10	8	80%
		10	7	70%
		10	9	90%	Good timing!

Also, LLW in a playground by the "throw treats down the throat" method. ;) Got a few clicks for a nice head-up/eye-contact heel. Two women almost ate Gatsby. That is, walked across the other side of the playground and entered a building. He was remarkably good about the street sounds though. His reactivity is very sight based. Oh how I wish I could find a reactive dog/CU class here! It's not aggression, and I don't think I'd really call it fear either, he just doesn't like it when stuff happens and he can't investigate. Off-leash he's a little rude in the approach (rushing, very fast movements) but doesn't sound like he's being fed to a woodchipper. Also need to do a closer reading of Feisty Fido.

Training is a Mechanical Skill

2010-06-27T23:53:00.007-05:00

I didn't get to do as much as I was planning to do today; I took a surprise trip to Milwaukee. But when someone offers to buy me books, I don't turn that down. I got Alexandra Horowitz' Inside of a Dog and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Not super impressed with it either so far, but I'm only forty pages in.

Behavior: Focus

Date	Criteria	Trials	Pass	%	Notes
06/27/10	1 sec of eye contact in bedroom	10	8	80%	I have trouble with duration criteria as I have no idea how long a second is
		10	7	70%	on second thought, I have three ticking clocks in my room. Why was I not using that?
		10	8	80%
		10	9	90%
	1 sec of eye contact in bedroom (handler standing)	10	9	90%
	1 sec eye contact in bedroom, standing, moving fist up and down	10	7	70%
		10	7	70%	got sniffy, distracted. Ended training session.

General Thoughts on Today: Mechanical skills were kind of crap. I was in a rush to do something with him that I wasn't as precise with treat delivery as I should have been. It's harder standing. Gatsby may be a Giant Miniature Schnauzer, but he's still a little dude. Some of my clicks were off. Duration of anything is a struggle for both of us.

Tomorrow: Pass 1 second of attention with moving hand. Short break, then move to the yard. Continue as per http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001/attention.htm I'd like to shoot for three or four sessions: one refresher in the house, one in the yard, and one on the road (there is the possibility of a softball game tomorrow night?)

Future: Start Crate Games again. Think about reorientating points (CU) - Coming out of crate (no more zoomies!), collar touch. Work on a whiplash turn on name. Look at That Stuffed Dog (CU). Back of hand (or knee?) continuous nose touch.

Back in the Fold, Day 1

2010-06-26T20:12:00.004-05:00

I love science, tables, and data.

Behavior: Focus

Date	Criteria	Trials	Pass	%	Notes
6/26/2010	not sniffing offered treat in fist	10	6	60%
		10	7	70%
		10	9	90%
	Ignore 1 sec	10	4	40%	offered treat in flat hand to differentiate from touch cue. Protecting treat=failed trial
		10	7	70%
		10	9	90%
	glance away from treat fist (held away from body) towards handler	10	8	80%
		10	7	70%
		10	9	90%
	glance towards handler in bedroom	10	8	80%
		10	9	90%
	½ sec of eye contact in bedroom	11	11	100%

Tomorrow (later tonight?): 1 sec of eye contact in bedroom

Kool-Aid, Please.

2010-06-26T02:00:00.000-05:00

Right, so, scratch that. Penalty Yards are more effective than a choke chain by a factor of a billion. True facts, I took data. Why in the world did it take me a year to find this? Knocks the roots off "be a tree."

How do you like the new layout? Because I freaking love Blogger's new layout machine. There are some new blog in the roll, ch-ch-ch-check them out.

Dogs are Hard, Let's Go to the Mall!

2010-04-26T17:08:00.003-05:00

So I have no idea how I'm going to get through a show weekend when I'm actually showing. I was EXHAUSTED just from being there and watching and chatting (though I cannot WAIT until I can say, Yes, I have the Miniature Schnauzer that jumps 16" and runs like a whippet on speed). But I saw a lot less depressing behavior from dogs and handlers at Fond du Lac's show than I did at Oshkosh's. Apparently Wis/Ill/Minn is super competitive for obedience. Apparently it's hell to get OTCH points. In Wisconsin. Who knew?

I'm sure I'll post collected thoughts from the show later, but right now I want to verbalize some training thoughts I had but couldn't tell anyone about. So, I turn to the internet.

I'm never quite sure how to tell people I'm a clicker trainer. I'm not really sure it's appropriate, but at the same time I really really want to talk about dog training with these people (one man had a BEAUTIFULLY trained Elkhound in Utility A; the dog took the wrong jump and so wasn't lined up properly for a straight front. The dog realized it's mistake and corrected it's position by shifting over. It was stunning to watch) and feel like I the way I train is a relevant point. I also am dying to find other positive trainers in my area because I've realized I'm really pretty atrocious mechanically. I can quote you theory until the Long Down is over, but when I try to do it I'm a mess. I want to work with someone who can show me what I'm doing wrong and help me fix it. I just need help.

I want to train WITH people so bad, I'm considering trying a choke chain on Gatsby. Or maybe a prong. Or maybe signing up for my club's training class and clicking in a corner. I don't know.

See, GOOD training is good training, regardless of methods. I think of it sort of like cutting the Gordian Knot. A really good trainer just trains dogs and gets results without to much fussing from any party, dog or human.

Bad training is bad training, and I've talked about why bad trainers should choose positive methods until they stop sucking before.

And another thing. I've heard it said, "Obedience is about HAVE to, agility is about WANT to." I've started to realize how reactive Gatsby is. He doesn't do really well with restraint and he doesn't like sudden changes in his environment (adding or subtracting people, sudden movements, sudden noises). I have some hope with agility, because he's much better if he can be DOING something and I really do think he enjoys it, but honestly I have doubts about that too. Run-throughs start next week, for the first few we're just going to go play Crate Games and try to stay under threshold.

But I wibble on Obedience. I wibble on competing at all. I'm very very competitive. Trialling would be almost exclusively for my enjoyment. I want to show off, I want to beat people, and I want people to think that I am a competent and savvy person. I want people to think "wow, there may be something to this clicking nonsense after all." A lot of people in this area still see Obedience as the gold standard (this is because they all have Golden Retrievers) and to be honest I wouldn't mind having an obedient dog. I am so damn lucky Gatsby turned out to be more or less easy to live with. I struggle with balancing what I want to enjoy and spend my money on versus what is best for my dog.

It sort of comes back to the idea that "you can't get reliability without corrections/aversives." How much is fair to expect of the dog? I read a Koehler e-mail list and they talk a lot about making the dog responsible for his actions and avoid the correction. (Koehler and learning theory is a whole 'nother post to put in the queue.) When is it alright to say, "No, you MUST do this, even if you don't want to, because I say so"? Is behavior modification really any better? I read a conversation about how a dog wasn't getting a clicked retrieve, but just got it when an ear pinch was introduced. "Now he loves his dumbell!" How ethical is it to condition a dog to LOVE a hunk of plastic?

Adventures Are To Be Had

2010-01-22T22:58:00.001-06:00

Going to a dog show tomorrow. Can't read the premium. Totally lost. That's ok, I've got fresh batteries in my camera and GPS.

2010-01-18T01:46:00.001-06:00

First off, let me just acknowledge how much the AKC's recent treatment of mixed breed dogs brings to mind the civil rights movement. Come on, you've all been thinking it. I've even seen the word apartheid bandied about. Now that we've got how down right creepy that is (especially in light that purebred dog breeding and the AKC are both very reminiscent of the Victorian Era's wackadoodle social Darwinism), we can move on.

By now it's circled 'round the 'net that the AKC has abolished the Mixed Breed class and now MB dogs will run (or compete in Rally/Obedience, but since I only just barely care about those I'm not going to deal with them) against PB dogs. Many people are happy about this. Many people are not happy about this. My thoughts, let me show you them.

I'm for it. If the AKC is going to let MBs run at all (they don't have to, they're for purebred dogs and if they choose not to let the MBs play in their sandbox that is their right), then for doG's sake let them run. If your trials regularly fill up, don't allow MBs. That's cool. You're overloaded as it is, don't worry about it. But if your classes are so small that everyone who Q's places, maybe you should think about it (and then stop thinking and just do it).

Repeat it with me folks: It's. Just. Dogs.

There is no inherent value in a purebred dog above the already inherent value of a dog by virtue of being a dog. It's just a dog.

There is no inherent value in a mixed breed dog above the already inherent value of a dog by virtue of being a dog. It's just a dog.

The value comes from purpose bred vs. random bred.

Let's take Mr. Jay T. Gatsby as an example. Mr. Gatsby is a purebred Miniature Schnauzer. His parents are Miniature Schnauzers. Their parents are Miniature Schnauzers. And so on and so forth until there stop being Schnauzers. To the AKC, this makes him "better" than a BC mix that herds reindeer in Alaska (ok I'm stretching a little, gimme a break I should be asleep).

Gatsby is, for all intents and purposes, a random bred dog. There was no outside validation of breeding stock, there was no comparison of sires, there was no health testing, there were just two Schnauzers in one room.

He's a great dog, but he's not really what the AKC had in mind (good earthdogs are not scared of rats and tunnels).

And yet they will take him over the BC mix that was bred for work, who's parents were chosen for their ability to take reindeer from one place and put them in another place, who had record of producing good working pups in the past, who were OFA'd and CERF'd because a working dog going lame at three is a pretty bad deal, every. single. time. Because the two dogs in that room both looked the same.

So for doG's sake, let the damn dogs run, you bunch of filthy dirty apes.

50 Feet of PVC Pipe

2009-12-30T10:25:00.007-06:00

Once upon a time, I went to Fleet Farm.At Fleet Farm, they sell PVC pipe.They sell a lot of PVC pipe. By the ten foot pole. I needed five of them. My car is a boat, true, but how in the name of god's green earth was I going to get fifty feet of PVC pipe into my definitely not fifty feet long sedan?
With this awesome PVC cutter in the parking lot.
It's hard to juggle a cart, a cutter, and fifty feet of PVC pipe in a parking lot in November.
Success!

When Pigs Fly

2009-12-15T13:35:00.003-06:00

Despite the fact Gatsby is a miniature schnauzer and they are supposed to be "highly trainable" and "not as terrier as terriers," he cannot read and does not know these things. So, I struggle. I try a thing that works with normal dogs, like border collies. Gatsby does not do whatever the border collie did, and I throw up my hands and go play Mafia Wars on Facebook.

Pigs Fly is for dogs that didn't read the directions.

I know "what" I'm supposed to do. I know "why" it's supposed to work. I do not know "how" to make it work for my dog.

Hands down the biggest struggle I have with Gatsby is keeping his attention. How is a human supposed to stack up against all the STUFF in the world? About a quarter of the book is dedicated to answering that question.

The first fifteen pages are a pep talk. Your dog isn't one of those biddable breeds, just sitting around waiting for input. No! Your's is a problem solver! He has an agenda! This is Good!

The first couple of "real" chapters are an introduction to clicker training. Nothing I haven't read before, but interesting in that it's a little more in depth and science-y than most intro to clicking pieces. It also includes an excellent section on shaping.

The second quarter of the book is the most valuable part, I think. "Teaching Attention as a Behavior" and "Using Your Dog's Natural Behaviors to Train Him" are particularly useful. It's the "How." How to get your dog's attention outside, then let him go sniff as a reward. How to apply the Premack Principle. How to make your dog watching you self-rewarding. And it does this with bull terriers, a decidedly un-Border Collie breed. And acronyms. It really dovetails nicely with Control Unleashed because both are ultimately about changing your dog's emotional reaction to things.

The last half of the book is on teaching basic behaviors and solving problematic ones. I haven't read that far yet. From my skimming of it, it doesn't seem to offer as much new information as the rest of the book.

I would recommend this book to any one having trouble motivating their dog. If your dog loves working for you because you are you, it might be worth checking out of the library for some of the exercises, but a lot of the problem solving isn't going to apply because you don't have the problems that are being solved.

Later this week (probably Friday when I have to work allllllll daaaaaay): Three-Fold Winter Break Training Plan, or, In the name of all that is sacred why the @#$% do I live in Wisconsin

If I Needed More Convincing

2009-12-13T21:39:00.004-06:00

Agility is my sport.

I went to an AKC Obedience trial today. It's never been high on my agenda, but I like going to dog stuff and it was nearby (almost died nine times driving in the mushy snow, but that's besides the point).

I have never been in a room of more negative people. :(

(Note that I'm coming from this fresh off my Positive Dog Training Affirmation)

I'd say something like 97% of the dogs there were on choke chains. The other three percent were on martingales. I don't think it's because their necks are bigger than their heads, either.

No one seemed happy with their dogs or their run. There were lots of angry faces during their turn, even when those people went on to get 199.5/200. These are not untrained dogs, people. I get that it's in the rules that you can give practically no feedback or additional information during the run, but come on! Stop yelling at your dog to sit! Remember that part where they hear better than people?

But what killed me most is that there was no sense of humor. (This is a big deal to me; I don't know if you know this but I'm funny) I was watching the one miniature schnauzer entered and a woman sat down next to me and asked me if they were getting in. I kind of chuckled and said, "Well, kind of," because the schnauzer was being a schnauzer, which is to say he got out there and did whatever the heck he wanted to, and if that happened to coincide with what his handler wanted, so much the better. And she just looked at me with disgust and asked, "Well are they or aren't they?" So I had to confess that I didn't know and she totally dismissed me.

Come on people. This is dogs. Dogs are weird. Yes, even your three-times-a-champion UDX golden retriever. Dogs do funny things. This is part of why we hang out with one another. I understand wanting a title (because I do love to win) and not wanting to waste money (Hi, I'm a college student), but come on. It's. Just. Dogs.

So no AKC Obedience for us. Part of me wants to train the heck out of G and show those 40-year-old women ~*The Power of Positive!*~ (with a miniature schnauzer none the less). But to be honest? I was bored. Watching obedience isn't like watching agility. In agility, even though the course is the same for everyone, everyone runs it differently. And heck, it's exciting. In obedience, everyone does the exact. same. thing. Which, is kinda the point. And is boring. The most exciting part is hearing what words people use as cues. Because even their hand signals are the same.

Tomorrow I'll write up my review of When Pigs Fly: Training Success with Impossible Dogs, the other dog training book I got. In short: It answers my "How?" and I like it very much. Lots of updates while DF is pitching a fit at me.

In the meantime, enjoy these dog ornaments

Training Paradigm of Choice

2009-12-11T15:27:00.000-06:00

I started reading Control Unleashed today (stoooooooked). There's the requisite stories of how dogs were harshly treated in traditional classes, then their owners saw the +R light and now they have excellent dogs. In CU a lot of the focus was on owners and trainers that misread calming signals, and that got me thinking about something.

As humans, communicating with dogs, an entirely different species, we really have no idea what they're doing. I mean, we can guess, and we've made some really good guesses, but not always (Remember when people thought dogs were wolves, so they should act exactly like wolves, then we realized we don't even really know how wolves act?). This is why learning theory is THEORY and not learning FACT. We think it works, and it appears to work, except when it doesn't. Gatsby, for one, has clearly not read the book, or he'd be perfect by now.

So I can't really find it in me to be up in arms over traditional trainers. They are just going off of what had worked for them in the past (which is totally explainable with current learning theory, by the way,and is part of why I get so excited over operant conditioning-based training [I really love science]).

So why am I a pure positive trainer?

Fallout.

Frankly, my technique sucks. I soak up all the theory I can get my hands on and love fitting it all together (the critical thinking rant is a separate post), but gorramit, put a clicker in my hands and I might as well have paws. What's the worst that comes out of a poorly timed click?

Gatsby gets a piece of kibble. That's it. Maybe dried liver, or a piece of cheese. One point to the dog. We'll try again until I get it right. Then he gets lots of kibble.

I have no doubt that correction-based training works. No one can really argue that fact. People trained dogs before us and they'll train dogs after us. Obviously, I think positive reward based training is best (otherwise I wouldn't use it, only the best for my Gatz). But in the hands of a poorly trained trainer, the chance and magnitude of dog-shattering fallout is much, much higher.

I think pretty damn highly of myself, but even I don't want to take that chance.

What is best in life?

2009-11-22T12:26:00.001-06:00

Listening to audiobooks while knitting, with a warm dog curled up against you like he can't get close enough.

Agility, here we come!

2009-11-11T21:36:00.003-06:00

Finally found an agility class! Here in the frigid wastelands of Southeast Wisconsin, everything is shut down for the the winter. The local kennel club packed up all it's agility equipment last weekend because their ring is outside. Oshkosh has an indoor ring, but they don't have any classes until the new year. It's the same everywhere else, until you get down to Milwaukee and that's just too far. Even so, the place I found is still forty-five minutes away (an hour, the way I drive). I'm kind of nervous about the drive, actually, I hate driving on the highway at night.

I don't care. Agility. Next week. Make it so.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up. Gatz has been making leaps and bounds lately (can he get a named toy from the other room? yes he can! can he sit and stay while I get his dinner? yes he can! can he down and stay while a toy is thrown? yes he- well, kinda), but I know I have a tendency to ask more of him than is really fair. I want everything now now now, and this is an issue I work on not just with my dog. Working towards a goal with patience is not something that comes naturally to me.

We'll see what kind of vibe I get from the trainer. I want to get Gatsby into another obedience class (goal: put a CGC on him before I graduate). I know loads and loads of training theory, but my practical application is, shall we say, shit. I want someone that can match (and exceed) me in theory, and teach me how to apply it.

Last night we went down to campus to run around on the quad, he was very good! Usually he just walks around and sniffs and pees on things, but last night we actually had some toy play! He's getting better about dropping things too, I think he's beginning to enjoy running after things and actually bringing them back to chase after them again! Usually he's like, "Why do you keep throwing it away if you want it so bad?! I'm going to lay down out of reach and chew on it, maybe then you'll learn."

Who's Shaping Who?

2009-10-19T20:30:00.005-05:00

I have a bad habit of making really ridiculous sounds at my dog. No, really, it's rather excessive. It's worse if I get a reaction out of him, like a tail wag, because then I make weirder sounds and increase the volume, rate, and range. Kind of sounds like increasing criteria, huh? Gosh I need new hobbies.

Anyway!

On to an official agility re-cap.

Friday: Today there were only Excellent runs, standard and jumpers with weaves. Lots of great dogs, of course. The people I had already met (remember, old enough to be my mother) kept telling me "These are the college level dogs!" Hahaha, funny joke. Once. Kinda. Not all day. They ran small to tall, so I missed a few papillons and the two miniature schnauzers that I had wanted to see. But then, oh heavens, the border collies! I loved seeing all the different breeds that ran, but NOTHING compares to a GOOD border collie running agility. So FAST! There was one blue merle that was three to four obstacles ahead of his handler. It was a good run to illustrate how important handling is, they didn't Q because the handler couldn't keep up or direct from a distance. Right after that though was bi-black that was an example of excellent handling. They were amazing to watch, ran a perfect course, and were well under time until the handler called her off the final jump into his arms. Why? the crowd buzzed. Word soon spread, that morning there was a border collie speciality nearby. There is apparently some rule about Q'ing at two seperate events in the same day. General consensus was that this is a good rule, although I'm not sure why. Last dogs to run were a sable German Shepard and a Belgian Malinois, and then I helped set up for the next day's JWW.

Saturday: I was in and out all day, I had a lot of other errands to do. This was the one I got pictures at! Only a few and from one spot because I was very very nervous of being told off, but I got them. They are at the end, but first I want to talk about this kid: This is them clearing the final jump to qualify in Novice A standard, but I saw them run JWW Novice A first. He was walking the course, planning his crosses and I happened to be standing next to his mom at the time. She doesn't like the decision he's making at one of the turns and starts shouting directions at him. Not meanly, just, "Hey son do it this way!" The other moms are counselling her to let him figure it out on his own (which he should, and eventually did). Walkthrough is over, and then it's their turn to run. The dog, who is more experienced than the handler, tears it up. Zoom zoom zoom. Kid's doing well keeping up, too. At a far turn coming back towards the spectators, Kid goes down. Dog keeps running. Kid pops up, pulls Dog off wrong jump at last possible second, and the dog zooms through the rest of the course, largely in spite of any handling Kid is doing. Not that he's doing a bad job, but Dog can clearly read the numbers on the obstacles. It was something to see, let me tell you! (They qualified, to much ribbing of Kid's mother). Their standard run went more smoothly, and they qualified there too.

Pug on a teeter!

It was very cold. And then it snowed. @#$% Wisconsin. >[

For all the shelties that were there, no two looked anything a like.

Coming down the home stretch now, it's down the dog walk and over the jump to Q!

That Explains So Much

2009-10-16T19:51:00.003-05:00

The last couple of nights Gatsby has been on edge. Barking at night and just sort of fidgety. We thought it was just loneliness, as I spent most of the week at home and then missed a night, and now my Aunt is on a trip so she's gone.

When I took Gatz out for his late-nite pee, he pitches a holy hell of a fit. The weirdest bark I've ever heard out of him (and this dog makes some weird noises), comes baying out of him at our neighbors. "Come on Gee, none of that, let's pee, yadda yadda yadda." He's usually better with them so I'm apologizing over this extremely strange bark he's got going on.

Turns out Maggie, the bulldog next door, is in heat. XD

My poor, neutered boy.

Agility and our Progress Towards It

2009-10-14T16:48:00.002-05:00

For the last few days I've been writing a post in my head about how frustrated I was with Gatsby this weekend. Sunday was our last Petsmart class before the test, and Gatz was a mess. It was the worst I've ever seen him. Every. single. thing. was a distraction. Another owner would shift their weight or a dog would twitch their tail and he'd be dancing around, growling and barking. He popped up eighty times during stays. Paid no attention to me or treats during loose leash walking and heeling. The worst was when we started "Go to bed" when someone knocks on the door. Admittedly, I thought our trainer rushed that portion a little, but Gatsby was by far the worst. He threw an absolute fit. Thankfully his recall did not fall apart as well, or I very well may have gone home without a dog. I was so mad at him. We did make up later that day, but I spent a good deal of time sulking about his performance.

Now that I've had a little distance from the event, I've been able to think about it a little more critically. I've been loathe to attach the label to him, but I think Gatsby may be "reactive," especially to other dogs. He was wayyyy over threshold on Sunday and I really think we should have left as soon as I noticed it. I don't know how to get him out of that, since he gets so focused on whatever it is that has his attention that he doesn't see me as anything other than an obstacle to his target.

I didn't even go to the last day of the trial because I was so bummed out. It was really hard to see awesome dogs so focused on their handlers and just not get that from mine.

We've been working on watch me. He's up to three seconds reliably; our longest stretch is seven. I have a three-day weekend with the apartment to myself. Gatsby doesn't know it yet, but he's going through the ringer this weekend. Watch me, crate training, and impulse control. Foundation, foundation, foundation. He's a young, small dog. We have years to do the sexy stuff. (Does it sound like I'm trying to convince myself? I am.) We can do this.

2009-10-09T21:56:00.002-05:00

My local AKC club (which is exactly 5 miles away from my house and along a beautiful bike path, so me and G will have to walk there someday) is hosting their fall agility trial this weekend. I am, in a work, STOKED. I haven't seen agility in person since I was something like 8. Agility is half the reason I got a dog. Today was the opening day and Excellent class. Lots of really great runs, highlights of which will come later, but what I honestly think I liked better was watching the other people (who all seemed to know eachother?) with their dogs.

My question posed to you, oh blagosphere, is what is picture taking etiquette? There's some gorgeous dogs doing amazing things and I want to capture and video, but I know some people are touchy about pictures. I also am really nervous about talking to anyone because I don't want to knock them off their game (especially since today was the big leagues). I want to engage these people but I don't know how.

Everyone from the club is super nice though. I got to help take down the Excellent Jumpers course and set up the Open Jumpers! Carrier of heavy things (okay, PVC pipe) is my job title. I really get a good vibe from the ones I've met, and when the next obedience class opens I'm going to enroll Gatsby there instead of Petsmart. I'll miss Jake, who is excellent as well, but it's closer, cheaper, and I want to build a relationship with the club and compete. There's a Rally class in the Spring that I'm on the waiting list for. I might be able to take an Intro to Obstacles class in Oshkosh since thier agility course is inside, but that's a bit of a drive and won't be until January.

2009-09-14T15:15:00.005-05:00

We had an awesome weekend. Friday night we hung out with Nikki and Abbey, whom Gatz just adores, before I snuck him into my dorm room because we had to be up and on campus early Saturday morning. He didn't really like that much, too many people walking past my window and he was sort of growly. It was too close a call to try again, and I didn't get much sleep keeping him quiet.

But Saturday was great! My student group ran a water table for a small bike race that was coming by, and he was just so good. There were a bunch of little kids, under fives, and he was just a doll. All four feet on the ground, minimal licking, super friendly, just excellent. So proud of him. Later that day we went to a street fair (from which the bikers had come) and he got a doggie ice cream. Big fan of that; I think it's just frozen peanut butter. After that we went to the dog park where I threw frisbees to myself since he was having none of that.
Sunday was the first class of intermediate obedience I was able to go to (the first lesson was the week before labor day; I couldn't make it because of school so Deb took him). I'm not going to lie, he's not quite at the level of the other dogs (so disctractable!). He did really really good though. He has such a joyful recall that I'm thrilled about. Stays are getting better, though he did keep popping out of his down stay. Loose leash walking still needs work, and that is totally my fault for being lazy about it. We started heel work and automatic sits. I'm actually really pleased with how that started.

Playing Catch-up (Among other games)

2009-09-12T18:49:00.010-05:00

Sorry it's been a while! Not for lack of things happening, because a lot has been going on.

When we last left Gatsby, he was run down and expecting company (that weekend was my 21st birthday). I am pleased to report that by the time the party arrived, he was feeling much better! He got some wild rice and chicken soup and perked right up. When my ENTIRE FAMILY showed up at the door, what can I count on my little guy to do? Growl his little heart out, of course. I don't know what he's expecting to do, since he still crawls up to whoever he's growling at, wagging his tail. Literally every single person I am biologically related to was in the room at one point. Granted, there's five of them, but it still. They are also not "dog people." (Although my cousin has a malti-poo, which is a rant for another time.) He was much better when friends of ours came over though, who are dog people and had a brittany that just died a few years ago. They brought him toys too, which helped. Including a frisbee! More on that later.

And then Gatsby found the balloons.

The weekend was hard, we out running around most of the time so he didn't get much attention. That Sunday (the week before Labor Day) I moved back to school. Gatsby got to come along, and hang out with my student group during a carnival for the end of New Student Orientation. He was pooped that night! Which was good, because the next week was awful.

School kind of exploded. I work on campus, and there have been some reorganization such that every minute I was not in class that first week, I was working. Luckily it's calmed down since then, but I still didn't even get home to Gatsby until Thursday. My aunt was able to let him out and take him to the dog park.

Labor Day. My aunt's best friend was having a birthday party in Chicago that Saturday. Gatsby came with us, since Sunday we were going to the Earthdog Trial sponsored by the Madison Dachshund Club. Can I just say, they are excellent. I had nothing but a positive experience from the people. In Gatsby, however, I was a little disappointed.

In hindsight, I really should not have been surprised. My dog does not like to walk on tile what was I thinking he would go in a small dark tunnel. He was interested in the rat, he just didn't want to go the right way to get to it. I'm not sure if we'll try again, maybe if there is an event closer. I can't tell if he just doesn't like it or didn't get the game. The other dogs there were mostly dachshunds and border terriers (from the Great Lakes Border Terrier Club), but there were a few other miniature schnauzers there. Actual minis, which showed just how giant mine is comapred to them. I'm happy he's bigger though, he's a great size for me.

This past week was better. Work is calming down, and I have a nice hour and a half break on Tuesday/Thursday when we have time for a run to the dog park, and a shorter one MWF when I can jet home for a couple minutes to play.

And what have we been playing lately? FRISBEE! Well, "disc" if you want to be technical. I love playing frisbee. Love love love it. Since Earthdog does not seem to be our thing, I'm trying disc with him. It's trying. As with everything, he's great at it indoors, interested in the disc and going after rollers most of the time, but forget it outside. There are Smells. These are more important than your stupid piece of plastic.

Gatsby's Gastrointestinals

2009-08-27T15:01:00.002-05:00

Warning: Gross details about dog puke.

Gatsby has gastritis. He was throwing up last night, it was very unpleasent. It was a light brown watery liquid. I'm pretty sure it was well digested food. It really didn't seem to bother him, all Gatz wanted to do was eat it. I can't figure out what caused it though. He eats really fast but from what I read (hurried Googling for "dog vomit" at one in the morning) that usually causes regurgitation, not vomiting. He went to the vet this morning, I almost didn't take him in but I'm glad I did. He got a shot for it and is on a 24 hour fast. Friday morning he'll get a little bit of rice and bland chicken and we'll take it from there. I'm nervous because my entire family (all five of them) is coming to town tonight for my birthday this weekend, plus I have to work for most of the day tomorrow and it's not something I can get away from for a bit.

He's been pretty run down this afternoon, curled real tight in a little ball. I'm not really worried about him, it's just a little puke from an upset tummy and I'm sure he'll be fine in a few days, but still. I fret. I go back to school on Sunday and won't be able to be with him as much. Dogs aren't allowed in the dorms so he has to stay at the apartment with Deb. It's only five minutes away and I'll be able to let him out at noon between classes and be home most weekends, but summer's ending. Back to life.

My Dog is Weird

2009-08-22T18:07:00.003-05:00

I had a milk jug in my room because I was going to cut it down so it would fit around another milk jug to act as a water jug/bowl combo for when we go to the dog park. Because I'm lazy, I hadn't gotten around to it. Gatsby decided this was not supposed to be a water bowl, but a plaything. Since he's generally adorable when tossing a thing around and working out a way to carry it, I let him go for it. I had an eye on him and after a while he came to bed.

This morning he rediscovered it and pulled it into the living room to play. I left the room for a couple minutes to futz with something, and when I came back discovered he had peed in it. Not ON it, INSIDE a milk jug. Through the narrow little neck that milk comes out of.

My dog is weird.

Sidebar: I picked up The Other End of the Leash, by Patricia McConnell today. I'm very excited to read it because I have a suspicion that if I can get my body language sorted out, Gatsby and I will really make headway. I've got agility plans for this dog, and I kind of think I want to try obedience or rally.

"Nose Driven"

2009-08-16T22:38:00.004-05:00

Gatsby has one thought. Smell. Things. Everything else: lookin' at stuff out the window, keeping me in eyesight at all times, licking every last atom of peanut butter out of his kong ball, these are all obstacles in the way of smelling more things.

When the nose goes on, the ears go off. While frustrating when trying to build a reliable recall, I wish I could see like this dog smells.

Now, one perk of having a purebred dog despite being an outspoken shelter mutt lover is the AKC will let my dog smell stuff and let me stick a bunch of letters on to the end of his name. They call it Earthdog, and if I didn't not pay rent I would grab a shovel and dig a 9" trench in the yard right now. There's a trial in Illinois right across the border Labor Day Weekend. I don't know how Gatsby can't not love it, it is all of his favorite things. Sniffin', barkin', other dogs, and more sniffin'. I am, in a word, stoked.

I'm going to make a little cardboard tunnel for him to make sure he'll fit. Legs like a giraffe, my mini has.

Crates are Great

2009-08-12T07:02:00.000-05:00

When we paid for Gatsby, we got his crate as well which was absolutely FANTASTIC because otherwise that would have been another fifty dollars. But when we got him home, there was not much success with the crate. He would go in with a little persuasion, but when I came home to let him out he would be so excited that he'd pee in and immediately outside of the crate. That week was awful. I tried putting the crate on the tile in the hallway so at least he'd pee on tile and if he could just hold it for the ten foot bolt to the door, we'd be set. I forgot that he was a afraid of tile. All in all, the whole thing was just a huge hassle, and since he really could hold it until the excitement of someone coming home, we just stopped crating him and left him free in the house.

That went a lot better. No accidents in the house and when he ran to the door it was just a matter of sidestepping the jumping and peeing. I think he didn't know that we were going to come back and now that he knows we will, he's better. Still bonkers to see us, but no pee. Good dog Gatsby!

I still want him to be comfortable in the crate though, just in case plus that's where he's supposed to sleep during the school year. I've been feeding him in the crate while I shower in the morning, so there's good connections between the crate and me being gone.

Last night we went to the motherhouse fields to run around and try some off-leash recalls. There was very little of both of that. Gatsby mostly just sniffed and dug for gophers. He dug his very first hole! I'm very proud. Videos and pictures of our outing will be up later today. By the time we got home (after custard for the humans) he was beat, even though it was an hour before we usually go to bed. I'm sitting in the living room watching the Rachel Maddow Show and watch Gatz trot out of the room and hear his tags jingling in my bed room. Then nothing. Then tags again and he appears in the living room looking at me like, "Well come on, are we going to bed or not?" I get up and follow him, and find the dog curled up at the back of the crate (cuddling his food dish, I might add). He slept there most of the night, but hopped up on my bed at one point. I know I really need to break him of this, because it's not going to fly with Deb, but I just love having him sleep with me! He's so warm.

Different Tricks, Different Treats

2009-08-11T16:32:00.000-05:00

I bought a bag of puperoni the other day at obedience class because I was running late and completely forgot everything (including the clicker, which I now cannot find for the life of me). We were mildly rebuked for not practicing enough (my fault, because I would much rather work on "stupid tricks") so I've been making an effort to do stays and fronts more at home. And since I have the 'roni, might as well use it, right?

Gastby loves it. It stinks, which I'm sure helps this nose-on-feet, and tears up into tinier pieces than the kibble anyway so one stick goes pretty far. I read somewhere that size is pretty immaterial to the dog, since it's about the flavor. I've been calling him away from the window when he gets barking at something and I can actually get him away! Only when he knows I have a treat though. Fading rewards continues to kick my butt.

Other things we've tried are cheese (cheddar block and Kraft American singles), which he likes but doesn't love and Oscar Meyer sliced ham which seemed to work but made his stool runny (and stinky!) and was a pain to carry around. I'm going to try nuked-to-a-crisp hot dogs next, I think. He's on grain-free kibble (to which I suspect he might have allergies, we'll find out Friday at the vet) and in an ideal world a raw diet for treats, but I'll take what's cheap and gets results. I put more thought into what the dog eats than I do.

Future Plans, Long and Short.

2009-08-09T22:15:00.000-05:00

Gatsby is progressing nicely through basic obedience. "Stay" is kicking our butt, what a wonderful time for me to lose the clicker. We're about halfway through the Petsmart beginner class and just signed up for intermediate with a 10$ off coupon. The two classes actually overlap by a week, but they move to Sunday mornings instead of Friday which I need because school starts on the first. I really like the trainer, who happens to be certified to conduct Canine Good Citizen tests which I definitely want Gastby to earn. I know my aunt wants to get him into therapy work. Baby steps. I've got to get this dog to FOCUS! first. That is hands down our biggest hurdle. Then can come the actual hurdles of agility, which I am dying to do.

I'm making vet and groomer appointments tomorrow. I think I'll stick with his current vet, at least for this first visit. Gotta pick up a new rabies tag, one that doesn't have his old name on the back and get an updated id tag. I've got a good recomendation for a groomer and reference pics of how I want him to look from a mini schnauzer magazine. The last groomer took him way too short (as if this dog needs to look any ganglier!) and nicked him a few times besides. One last sigh for a clipped-not-stripped terrier coat.

Cody

2009-08-01T22:13:00.000-05:00

Before I really get into talking about Gatsby, I need to talk about the process leading up to him. And that story starts twenty one years ago, with a fourteen year old (admittedly he was not always fourteen, but he was always a grumpy old man to me) black cockapoo named Cody. Cody was two years older than me, and never liked me half as much as I adored him. My first word was his name; “Here, Cody!”, “Cody, sit!”, “Cody, no! Don’t drag the baby out by her bald and oddly shaped head.”

Cody was for the most part a well-behaved dog, his obedience school diploma was framed over his food dish, but he was also a little snit. He’d hide behind the couch when he was tired (of me), poop in the living room when he was displeased (at my father), and whine when the car slowed down. My earliest memory is when he bit me when I pulled his tail.

I don’t have a lot of heartwarming memories of him, he never mystically knew when I had a bad day or let me dress him up (there is one picture of him in a Christmas sweater, and he is snarling his little heart out), but I was head over heels for that dog.

Gatsby is a weird dog. He growls to himself nearly constantly, draws on the windows with his nose, and barks at leaves, but he also lays outside the bathroom door until I’m done with my shower, lays down practically on top of me, and goes absolutely nuts when I come home (complete with excitement pee). I have a dog, and that beats every single con and downside you can throw my way.

Greenlight Gatsby

Why Dominance Theory is Useless for Training Dogs

The Walters: Responsible Dog Owners Since 1986

Dunning-Krueger Effect

What I Want

The Dogs Win

Theory and Practice

It Just Bugs Me

Commands For Agility

Do What you Know in your Heart to be Right

What I Learned at Agility

Dog Training Law

Corrections

The Problem of Dog Training: Theory and Practice

"Whatever Works"

"He Only Listens When I Have Treats!"

Agenda

Frustration

The Lusty Month of May

Alliteration!

More Marsh + Contest

That Book With the Turtles

What I Did This Weekend

Road Trip!

Endings, Ongoings, and Beginnings

When I am a Dog Trainer... II

When I am a Dog Trainer...

Colitis

Gun Dogs - Part One

Taking Classes with the Reactive Dog

Clicker Training: Way Less Crazy

A Public Service Announcement

State of the Schnauzer

Why do people think we don't want them to own dogs?

Upcoming Events

In Which the Government Buys Me a Puppy

A Thought Re: Dog Breeding

It really pisses me off when people don't know how to use dog parks

*sigh*

Creative Reinforcements

Conditioned Reinforcers

Level Two - Distance

Level Two - Distance

Structure

And now for someone I do totally fangirl for

If you want to be a great dog trainer, change your name to Sue

The Great Gatsby

Just Chuck Food

Training is a Mechanical Skill

Back in the Fold, Day 1

Kool-Aid, Please.

Dogs are Hard, Let's Go to the Mall!

Adventures Are To Be Had

50 Feet of PVC Pipe

When Pigs Fly

If I Needed More Convincing

Training Paradigm of Choice

What is best in life?

Agility, here we come!

Who's Shaping Who?

That Explains So Much

Agility and our Progress Towards It

Playing Catch-up (Among other games)

Gatsby's Gastrointestinals

My Dog is Weird

"Nose Driven"

Crates are Great

Different Tricks, Different Treats

Future Plans, Long and Short.

Cody

sigh