Importance of a Release Cue

The Importance of a Release Cue

By LukEli K-9, Dog Training and Behavior Modification Professionals

Probably one of the most common training questions we at LukEli get asked is how to teach a dog to reliable stay in a position (sit, down, stand) or a place for extended periods of time and distances. Many owners are successful in teaching their dog to sit or down but have problems when trying to get the dog to stay in that position.  

How many dog owners have you heard do this; “Fido, sit. Good sit. Now stay, staay, staaaaaayy, staaaaaaaaayyy.” In most cases the dog will probably staaaaaaaayyy in the position asked of him as long as the owner is watching and repeating the word stay over and over again. How great would it be if you could give the “sit” command and walk away from Fido without another word or backwards glance?

You can achieve that goal through the use of a release cue. The problem of dogs not staying in place arises when, during the acquisition phase of learning, the dog is learning how to perform certain behaviors but has not been taught a release cue to tell him when he is finished performing that behavior.

What do I mean by teaching a release cue?

A release cue is a specific word, a hand signal, a touch, etc., something that the dog associates with being released from performing a certain task. It should be something clear and easily defined, make sure that the dog very easily understands it. I recommend using a word AND a touch, this will become important if you ask your dog to sit and your release word accidently gets said by anyone in the dogs surroundings. The most important thing however, is that there is a release cue, and you are 100% consistent in always giving the release cue before the dog breaks the behavior.

Without teaching the dog a release cue the dog never knows when he is allowed to stop doing the required behavior. For example, the dog is asked to sit. The dog sits, then immediately jumps right back up. The dog did what was asked of him. Dogs do not just “know” to sit still until released they have to be taught what it is we want. If he was not properly taught to stay until released how is he to know how long he should stay in any position?

Some dog owners and trainers alike teach a “stay” command. This will work in teaching your dog to stay where he is, but it is not necessarily teaching him to stay in any certain position. The stay command also requires more work from me as a handler. I not only have to teach the dog sit, I now also have to teach stay. By using a release cue from the beginning each and every command has an implied stay associated with it. This is also referred to as a sit/stay, down/stay, stand/stay, etcetera.

How do you go about teaching a release cue?

Assuming you will be using food lures for teaching a new behavior, (this is by far the quickest, easiest, and least stressful way to train, as previously mentioned in prior blogs) start out using your chosen release cue from the very beginning. At LukEli we use the word “OK” AND a touch on the head.

1.     Lure the dog into a sit. Place the treat in your hand, allow the dog to sniff it. Slowly move your hand with the treat inside of it from the dogs nose up and back towards his hind end. The dog will naturally lower their back end and eventually sit. As soon as their rump hits the ground use a marker word like “good” or “yes” if not using a clicker to mark the exact moment of the correct behavior.

2.     Give the dog the treat.

3.     As soon as the treat is given, give your release cue (OK with the touch on the head)

At first the dog will not have any understanding as to what the release word means. In following along with the four stages of learning, as the dog becomes fluent in sitting when asked to do so with an 80% accuracy, begin lengthening the time between the dog sitting and you giving him the release cue. Once this is mastered you can begin taking steps away from him between him sitting and giving him the release cue. Remember to only work on one thing at a time, and expect slight confusion from your dog when you change the rules on him.

When teaching a release cue to a dog who may have already gone through obedience training, you will have to take a few steps backwards in order to teach a really reliable release cue. In some cases it is best to start completely over and teach the sit/stay using a different word for sit. If you remember from our reliable recall blog, this is sometimes best for dogs who have already formed negative associations with performing a specific behavior.

If you are unsure where to start with training your dog a release cue, be sure to contact a dog training professional for advice.

Once you have moved through all four stages of learning using the release cue, you may want to teach another separate release word for your dog that excuses them from performing any more tasks. Working dogs used for assignments such as herding or protection almost always have a release cue  when they are done doing their job. “That’ll Do” and “All Done” are some examples of frequently used released from duty cues. I use the word “Free” along with a swooping hand motion to release my dogs from duty.

Teaching another release is not necessary but is something to think about if you plan on later training your dog off leash or if you frequently visit dog parks, or other off leash areas with your dog. 

Click on the picture below to see a short video of my dogs Luke and Eli practicing both recall and their two release cues. Notice when they are given the OK release they still stay close to me, once I give them the Free cue they are now allowed to wander as they please. 

With consistency in ALWAYS giving the release cue BEFORE the dog breaks the required behavior, the dog will learn fairly quickly that he is not done with any given task until the release word is given. When your dog knows precisely what to expect from you every time you ask him to perform a certain behavior, he will much more reliably perform the task in the long run.

If you need have questions or need advice in how to go about teaching your dog a release cue or would like to learn more about our off leash programs, be sure to contact LukEli K-9 today!

Stop Your Dog From Jumping Up

FIVE METHODS TO STOP YOUR DOG FROM JUMPING ON YOU

By: LukEli K-9, Dog Training and Behavior Modification Professionals

 

Does your dog jump on you, your family, and your visitors?

Dogs jumping up on people is at best an embarrassing, annoying habit and at worst a danger for all involved. What starts out as a cute habit in young puppies often escalates into a big problem that can be very difficult to correct. Any small child or elderly person (or anyone, really, depending on the size of your dog) who crosses paths with your dog could be in danger of being knocked off their feet or injured.

Here are five methods to put your dog’s jumping behavior on the path to extinction:

THE IGNORE METHOD

When the dog's feet first leave the ground, quickly turn your back on the dog. (note: this may encourage jumping in certain dogs). During this process don't make any eye contact with your dog and don't say a thing. Ignore your dog and make it clear to him that when he jumps he gets nothing from you. If your dog circles around in front of you and jumps up again, turn your back again. Continue doing this until the dog chooses a more desirable behavior, such as sitting, standing still, or even turning to leave. The instant this happens, immediately turn your attention to the dog and praise and pet them. You are reinforcing the preferred behavior of keeping all four feet on the ground. If the attention causes your dog to stop the desirable behavior and begin jumping again, immediately withdraw your attention and turn your back again If you are consistent and persistent with this method, your dog will soon learn that staying with all four paws on the ground is a much better alternative!

SIT METHOD

In situations where your dog is excitable and prone to jumping up, give him something else to do (called a replacement or incompatible alternative behavior). Teach your dog to sit if you haven't already. This will give your dog a replacement behavior for greeting you. When you are leaving or returning to your house (or whenever it is that your dog normally jumps on you), give the "sit" command before your dog starts to jump.

•   If your dog sits, praise him. Give him lots of praise and tell him how good he is.

•   If your dog ignores you and still jumps on you, work more on the “sit” cue or use one of the other methods mentioned

Once you have stopped your dog from jumping on you, repeat the "sit" command if necessary. Praise your dog when he sits. Keep doing this every time your dog starts to jump on you. Gradually, your dog will learn that he should sit if he wants you to greet him. Giving your dog an incompatible alternative behavior works well for unruly dogs who like to jump on visitors as well.

LEASH METHOD

Keep a leash attached to your dog’s collar while undergoing this training. Step on the leash so that there is some slack in the leash but not enough to allow your dog to jump up. Praise your dog for staying down (you set them up for success by making sure they couldn’t jump in the first place). Eventually they will get the idea that staying on the floor will get them what they want, while jumping does not.

STOP METHOD

When the dog starts to jump up, hold out your open hand and when they jump up push your open hand downward against their nose/face, while at the same time pushing them down towards the ground and saying "OFF". Dog's noses are sensitive and after repeating this method several times, they will not want to get pushed back down by their nose/face with your open hand. This method can be successful if you consistently do this every time they jump up.

TRAINING COLLARS/HARNESSES

There are many types of training collars and harnesses, some designed specifically to curb jumping behavior in dogs. Harnesses can be harmful if used incorrectly so be sure to understand their proper use before using them as a training tool for your dog. Training collars such as prong or pinch collars can be an effective tool but should only be used after being instructed as to their correct use and whether they are the best option available in your case by a canine training professional. I don’t ever recommend the use of choke collars as they are easily put on incorrectly which renders them ineffective. They have a design flaw that prevents them from doing what they were designed to do in the first place. They are also an unnecessarily harsh tool for physical corrections.

General Tips For Correcting Jumping Up Behavior

•   Always keep in mind that your dog doesn't understand that the jumping up behavior is "inappropriate". It's up to you to clearly communicate this to your dog.

•   Start as early as you can. It's much easier to prevent behavior problems such as dogs jumping on people, than to correct ingrained, existing habits.

•   Punishing or hitting a dog for jumping up just doesn't make sense and will never work. Your goal, and your best chance of stopping your dog from jumping up, is to clearly communicate that jumping up is always an unacceptable behavior.

•   Never reward a dog that jumps up on people by giving them the attention they are seeking. Rewarded behavior is reinforced behavior, meaning it will become more common.

•   You have to send a consistent message to your dog in all circumstances. Make it simple for your dog and eliminate any confusion. This means that everybody who comes into contact with your dog has to reinforce the same message. It's pointless and unfair if you give your dog a pat and attention when he jumps up on you, but then yell at him when he jumps up on a delivery man.

•   Never hit your dog or use other abusive behavior to make him stop jumping on you. Remember that your dog is most likely jumping up to greet you because he is glad to see you. Hitting or yelling at your dog will make him afraid of you or more aggressive.

By the way, kneeing your dog in the chest is only minimally effective and I have heard of dogs dying after being only moderately kneed in the chest for jumping. I don’t recommend you use kneeing as a training tool.

The good thing about jumping up problems in dogs is that they are usually an easy fix. As long as you are determined to correct the problem and follow the above training techniques consistently you should be well on your way. Contact a trainer at LukEli K-9 Training to get you headed on the right track to reach your training and behavior modification goals.

Resource Guarding

Resource Guarding

By: LukEli K-9, Dog Training Behavior Modification Professionals

 

Resource Guarding is an often loosely used term. Many people have the idea that a dog guarding its resources does so in a way as to declare his “dominance” and power over his subordinates, i.e., his owners. While a dominate aggressive dog most always shows some resource guarding behaviors, not every resource guarder is dominant aggressive (stay tuned to learn more about dominance aggression in our upcoming blogs).

Before we continue on, let me make clear what it means for a dog to be a resource guarder: a resource is anything the dog sees as necessary for its survival: food, a dog bone, water bowl, people, a favorite toy, a certain spot on the bed, the couch, floor space, a blade of grass. All of these things and more can be seen as a resource worth protecting to dogs.

When talking about resource guarding behavior, another point to think about is this; not every guarder will bite, snap or even growl, as a guarding display. In some cases the dog just simply does not allow you to have the object by walking away with it. Other signs of a guarder are: body freezes, stiffness, tongue flicking, and “whale eye”.

One of the most common myths regarding resource-guarding behaviors is that genetics are to blame and thus the behavior cannot be changed. This is untrue, although some dogs may exhibit this behavior as a pup or adolescent, resource guarding has not been linked to any specific gene in dogs’ DNA. That being said, it is of the utmost importance to perform some of the exercises we will be discussing in this blog to prevent any formations of resource guarding behaviors in the future. These exercises will also help to counter condition any dog that has already begun showing signs of resource guarding.

I would also like to remind you again that Guarding of Resources although common in dominant aggressive dogs does not automatically mean your dog is “dominant”. If you have not read our blog “Who’s the Boss”, in which we discuss some of the problems with the way dominance theory was derived, I highly recommend reading that before continuing.

Factors That May Affect the Onset of Resource Guarding.

It is not uncommon for many shelter and rescue dogs to exhibit some form of resource guarding. This is largely due to environmental factors such as abuse and neglect, which often times make dogs think they may need to guard their resources. In these instances the resource most commonly is food, treats, or anything that even remotely resembles food.

For dogs who show guarding behaviors towards food, especially rescue or shelter dogs, counter conditioning of these behaviors will be the best tool to use when teaching your dog that guarding is not necessary.

We discussed counter conditioning a few blogs back and have also discussed its use in detail for the rehabilitation of Hank, the Shar Pei/Catahoula mix. For those of you who may have missed it in the past I will give a short elevator description of what this means and how to use it to your advantage.

Counter Conditioning is done through taking a negative or unpleasant stimulus (taking the dogs food), and changing it into a positive good stimulus (you take the bowl add some chicken and give it back). This starting point of counter conditioning with every dog is different. Some more intense cases may require you start at a more comfortable distance say tossing food into the bowl from few feet away.

Object guarding is another form of resource guarding in which the dog guards toys, trash, or any other thing it puts in its mouth. Object guarding, though not quite as common as food guarding is prevalent in many housedogs in particular. In many cases our efforts to get back whatever thing the dog may have in his mouth often times is what leads the dog to feel it is necessary to guard it. If the human wants it so badly then it must be something of upmost importance, right?

This begs the question; what to do when your dog has decided to pick up a chicken bone he found out on a walk? While we most certainly do not want our dog to covet the dangerous piece of deliciousness, our overly exuberant efforts to convince the dog to spit it out immediately almost certainly encourage the dog to guard it even more or worse, swallow it all together. So what do you do?

I have to admit if you have not done any sort of counter conditioning or object exchange games with your pooch before this unfortunate event occurs it is highly unlikely that any effort on your part will convince your dog to spit out the ever so satisfying chicken bone. I am going to give you a tip on things to work on so as to prevent this from happening in the future.

Play the Object Exchange Game. This game is also the perfect way to teach “drop it” or  “leave it”. While your dog is playing with one of his most desirable toys approach him with a new and better toy or with high motivating treat. When your dog drops the toy in his mouth for whatever it is you are offering him in return say “drop it” and allow him whatever is in your hand as a reward. If practiced enough times the dog should form positive associations with giving up whatever you do not want him to have in his mouth in exchange for something better you represent.

The Third and final from of resource guarding I will mention is Location Guarders. A location guarder is one who feels the need to guard a certain spot in the living room, the bed, or position on the couch. Many times this form of guarding starts out so quietly most pet parents do not realize they have a problem until the day the dog bites or snaps at a person or other animal when asked to move from the place the dog deemed “his spot”.

A placement command/cue is often used to refocus the dog from location guarding to completing the task we ask of him. The most common cue used for placement training and our word of choice at LukEli, is “Off”. Make sure to not use the word down as that word already has a meaning completely different than what we want our dog to do. We are not asking the dog to lie down, we are asking them to get off the spot they are guarding. Make sure to use praise, food, toys or any combination of the three when training this command so that your dog forms a positive association with removing himself from the spot he feels he needs to guard.

It is important to understand that dogs displaying resource guarding behaviors are not doing so because they are conniving, stubborn, or dominant.  Dogs are animals, and are therefore hard wired to protect themselves and any resource they deem necessary for their survival.  Dogs do what works and in turn learn what works for them from every interaction with humans and other animals. A resource guarding dog is not born with the urge to attack any foreign object reaching for its resources. This behavior starts out small and through conditioned responses from animals and humans in the dogs surrounding, grows in intensity each time. Think of resource guarding as a small tropical storm, way out in the ocean. With each passing day the storm grows in intensity and destruction power. Your dogs guarding behaviors change in the same way. What starts out as a tropical storm, a dog who growls, quickly changes into a full fledge category five hurricane; biting, snapping, and snarling in order to get you to retreat past the dog’s reactivity threshold.

Resource Guarding is not something to take lightly no matter how small the intial onset of the behavior is. It will eventually become a problem for you and any other person the dog may come into contact with. If you are unsure how to begin counter conditioning your dogs resource guarding or would like to know how to stop it before it starts, do not hesitate to contact a professional behavior consultant right away. It is much easier to clean up the damage after a thunderstorm than to clean up the destruction left by a hurricane.

How Dogs Learn Classical vs. Operant Conditioning

How Dogs Learn: Classical vs. Operant Conditioning

By LukEli K-9, Dog Training and Behavior Modification Professionals

The first book they had us read at Highland Canine Training’s school for dog trainers was Excel-erated Learning by Pamela J. Reid. We had to read a book every week or so and after tackling this book I thought my brain might explode. It is, however, chock full of insight into how animals learn, and I’ve borrowed heavily from it today to do my best to begin to explain how B.F. Skinner caused dog trainers-in-training everywhere to curse his name as they struggle to grasp the concept: operant conditioning. Before I can tell you about operant conditioning, I should explain another type of learning to you - classical conditioning.

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Classical conditioning, Pavlovian conditioning, associative learning - these are all terms for what happens when an animal learns associations among things. Learning associations means learning that things go together: when one thing happens (you burn your dinner), another thing will follow shortly (the smoke detector will go off). You say “Let’s go for a walk”, and your dog jumps up excitedly because he has learned that this particular phrase always signals going outside and chasing squirrels. Your cat runs to the kitchen every time it hears the can opener because it has learned that this sound precedes feeding time. In each case there is a predictable relationship among the events and the animal learns to respond to the first event in anticipation of the second. That’s what classical conditioning is all about: anticipation.

You’ve probably heard of Pavlov’s bell. Ivan Pavlov was interested in how reflexes work and set out to study the salivary reflex in dogs. In his experiments, he would ring a bell before presenting a dog with food. The dog eventually began to salivate at the sound of the bell, even though no food was present, because it had learned that the bell’s ring always preceded feeding time. Pavlov’s experiments embody the basics of associative learning; an initially neutral or meaningless stimulus (the bell) is presented prior to the delivery of an unconditioned stimulus (the food). It’s called an unconditioned stimulus because presentation of the UCS (food) always elicits an unconditioned response(UCR)(salivating). For instance: Food always elicits salivation. The dog doesn’t have to learn to salivate, it just happens. Once the animal has learned the association between the neutral stimulus (bell) and the unconditioned stimulus (food), the neutral stimulus (bell) itself elicits a response which is called the conditioned response (CR).

Keep in mind there is nothing that requires the animal to perform the conditioned response. The dog doesn’t need to salivate when the bell sounds. The food is delivered no matter what the animal does. The CR (salivating) just happens; it’s involuntary. When you attempt to classically condition your dog, you are trying to get them to have an automatic, involuntary reaction to a stimulus.

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Operant conditioning, Skinnerian conditioning, instrumental learning - these are all terms for what happens when an animal learns that it’s behavior has consequences. It’s called operant conditioning because the behavior operates on, or has an effect on, the animal’s world. This applies to us humans as well. We do all sorts of things every day that lead to consequences that wouldn’t happen if we hadn’t done something. If you don’t work, you don’t get paid. If you don’t cook, you don’t eat. If I ask my dog to sit and he doesn’t sit, he doesn’t get a treat. Animals learn the relationships between the things they do and the consequences of those actions just as people do.

A popular way to remember the formula for the process of operant conditioning is to think of it as the ABC’s of learning:

Antecedent(a cue like sit) --> Behavior (the animal sits) --> Consequence (you give them a treat)

Operant conditioning is very different than classical conditioning in that the animal must perform a behavior in order for the stimulus to be presented. Aside from the antecedent, the events that occur are under the animals control.

In the operant sequence there are four possible scenarios: two of which increase the likelihood that a behavior will occur again and two that decrease the likelihood of the behavior reoccurring. All learning also involves stress, and each of these induce a differing amount of stress while learning.

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

Positive reinforcement (P+) involves the presentation of a good consequence when the behavior is performed. For instance, you say “sit”, your dog sits, and you give him a treat. This serves to increase the likelihood that your dog will perform the behavior again. Human behavior is also regulated by positive reinforcement. Child does homework, child is awarded a good grade. Child does chores, child gets an allowance. Person works hard for several months, person goes on vacation. You get the idea. Much of dog training is based on ideas that incorporate R+. Quick learning takes place with low stress when using this quadrant for learning.

NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT

Negative reinforcement (R-) involves the removal of a bad consequence when the behavior is performed. As with R+, the reinforcer must be contingent on the behavior; you cease “prodding” once the behavior has been performed. For example, you apply pressure with a choke collar and say “sit”, your dog sits, and you release the pressure from the choke collar, removing the unwanted action. This also serves to increase the likelihood of the response in the future. Negative reinforcement is a very common method of controlling behavior in people as well. Child does homework to avoid mom’s nagging. Person goes to work to earn money to avoid being homeless. You say uncle to get your brother to stop twisting your arm. You drive the speed limit to avoid tickets and fines. Some examples for dogs: Applying pressure on the rear end of the dog while saying sit until they sit and then you stop pushing down. “Escape training” such as pinching the dog’s ear until they open their mouth to receive a dumbbell for forced fetch retrieving is an often used R- method. Behavior Adjustment Training utilizes this quadrant heavily for rehabilitating aggressive dogs by applying a negative (whatever stimulus causes the dog to be reactive, i. e. another dog) and then taking the dog away when they’ve given the correct response (like a look away or paw raise) to the aversive. Negative reinforcement can be a powerful training tool when utilized correctly and humanely. When used inhumanely, R- can seem like nothing less than torture. Negative reinforcement is the fastest way to learn and is also the most stressful.

POSITIVE PUNISHMENT

Positive punishment (P+) involves the presentation of a bad consequence when the response is performed. For instance, you say “sit”, your dog lies down instead, you jerk him back on to his feet with the leash. This serves to decrease the likelihood of the behavior in the future. Positive Punishment happens a lot: child hits brother, father spanks child. Person drives drunk, person ends up in jail. Puppy pees on floor, puppy gets hit with a rolled up newspaper. Dog continues to bark after being cued to stop, dog gets squirted in the face with water to startle it. I’m pretty sure we’re all fairly familiar with P+, though we may not have known that’s what it was. This quadrant is probably the most widely used. Animals learn pretty quickly when using this quadrant, but it’s also pretty stressful.

NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT

Negative punishment (P-) involves the removal of a bad consequence when the response is performed. For instance, you say “sit”, your dog lies down, so you eat the treat instead of giving it to your dog. This serves to decrease the likelihood of the response in the future. Child calls friend a booger head, friend goes home and won’t play anymore. Person drives drunk, person loses license. Dog plays too rough, you stop playing with them. Puppy jumps up on you, you turn your back to puppy. Animals learn fairly quickly this way, and the stress level is pretty low.

All four of these scenarios will cause your dog to learn. You must choose which combination of techniques you feel is right for you. This knowledge will aid you when searching for a dog trainer as well. Remember not to hesitate to ask questions about a trainers methods so you can decide if that program is right for you. There are many books on the subject a well should you decide to read more about learning theory and behaviorism.

Contact a trainer at LukEli K-9 today to learn more about the methods we utilize and how we can help you reach your training goals today!

Schedules of Reinforcement

Schedules of Reinforcement

By: LukEli K-9, Dog Training and Behavior Modification Professionals

Finally! Yes, this is the blog we keep referencing so I better make it worth your while, right? Well I shall do my best! Now, put your learning theory caps back on and I promise after today all the pieces over the past few blogs should start to fall into place.

Before I go into the detail of different kinds and rates of reinforcement, let me briefly describe again how it is dogs learn through the use of operant conditioning. One of the easiest ways to remember this is A-B-C, Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence. For example, you ask the dog to sit (antecedent), the dog does or does not sit (behavior), you reinforce or do not reinforce, depending on the behavior (consequence). No matter which quadrant of operant conditioning you are using (meaning positive and negative reinforcement, positive and negative punishment) the progression will always follow the ABC’s.

So, what is a reinforcement schedule?

A reinforcement schedule is a rule or program that determines when a response will be given a reward. There are three basic schedules to choose from; Continuous Reinforcement Schedule (CRS), Fixed Ratio Schedule (FRS), and Variable Ratio Schedule (VR). The type of schedule used for your dog will greatly depend on which stage of learning you are in. Remember two blogs ago when we discussed the importance of following the four stages of learning closely and only proceeding to the next stage when the dog was correctly responding 80% of the time? Hopefully you do; if not make sure to catch up before reading this one.

In order to effectively make it through to the last and final stage of learning, the maintenance stage, the dog should have learned the relationship between the response and the consequence; this is largely influenced by the reinforcement schedule used.

Continuous Reinforcement Schedule (CRS)

During the acquisition stage of learning the tunnel,
Izzy was on a continuous reinforcement schedule

On a continuous reinforcement schedule, each correct response is followed by a reward. In the first two stages of learning, acquisition and fluency, each time the dog responds with the correct behavior a primary reinforcer reward is given. This is a continuous reinforcement schedule.  

Lets go with an example of teaching your dog to shake. You are still progressing through the first two stages of learning; therefore a continuous reinforcement schedule is still in use. Each time the dog performs the desired behavior of raising his paw to your hand to “shake” he is given a reward, most likely in the form of food. Each correct behavior earns him a reward.

Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR)

Fixed ratio schedules are considered a sub category of partial or intermittent reinforcement schedule including variable ratio, random ratio, fixed interval and variable interval. For the sake of your brains, and mine for that matter, we are only going to be discussing fixed and variable ratios of reinforcement. 

A fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement means there are a fixed number of correct responses needed before the reward or reinforcement is given. A FR(fixed ratio)-3 means that the dog must correctly perform the behavior three times before receiving reinforcement. Similarly an FR-6 requires six responses a FR-9 requires nine correct responses, so on and so forth. The fixed ratio number is dependent upon both which stage of learning you are at and how difficult the behavior is for the dog to perform. During the very end stage of fluency it is ok to start a low number fixed ratio schedule as long as the dog is performing 80% very consistently. When transitioning from a continuous reinforcement schedule to a fixed ratio schedule, you should start at number no higher than five, also known as a FR-5. 

Using the same example of teaching your dog to shake, on a FR-3, the dog must correctly perform the behavior of “shaking paws” with you three times before the reward/reinforcer is given. Keep in mind that whenever we change the rules, in this case the number of correct behavior responses needed to get a reward, the dog may regress. That’s ok! He will very quickly pick up the new rules.

Variable Reinforcement Schedule (VR)

A variable reinforcement schedule is when the amount of times a correct behavior is rewarded varies each time. It is recommended that a variable reinforcement schedule only be used once the dog has reached the very end of the generalization stage of learning and should be continued throughout the maintenance stage.   

This schedule of reinforcement is the same way slot machines or playing the lottery works. There is an unknown amount of times needed playing before a reward, in this case a jackpot, is given. When you begin using a variable reinforcement schedule it is just as important as when beginning the fixed ratio schedule, to start very low in the number of times a response receives a reward.

Why are the changes of reinforcement schedules so important?

For starters, those of you worried about having to continue to treat your dog for the same responses over and over again; have no fear! As I have mentioned in past blogs, the road to not having to carry a treat pouch with you everywhere you go, is in reaching the variable ratio schedule of reinforcement. Once you have made it to that schedule of reinforcement, which should also be at the same time you have reached the maintenance stage of learning, your dog will soon learn that “playing the lottery” is rewarding.

Changing the rates of reinforcement when training your dog will also help to greatly increase the learning capabilities of your four legged friend. It is necessary to keep in mind that learning, if done correctly, is a game for dogs. By changing the reinforcement schedule we have made the game more interesting and stimulating than it previously was.

As one a closing statement, let me remind you about the importance of consistency when teaching your dog new behaviors. As you progress through the stages of learning and begin to change reinforcement schedules, consistency in between all members of your household, each time you interact with your dog will greatly affect the end product of both you and your dogs hard work in training.

If you are unsure which schedule to use with your dog or how to properly integrate the use of a different reinforcement schedule, seek out the help of dog training professional. Contact a trainer at LukEli K-9 today to begin the first step of your journey towards reaching your training goals with your pet.

Really Reliable Recall

Really Reliable Recall

By: LukEli K-9, Dog Training and Behavior Modification Professionals

So You Wish Your Dog Had a Really Reliable Recall:

Three Keys to a Dog Who Comes When Called

Be honest;  how many times do you tell your dog to “come” before he actually listens? Have you yelled “come” over and over, only to have Fido completely ignore you until he finally decides he’s done sniffing the bush? Does your dog seem to pretend they don’t hear you at all? After some reflection are you wondering how you could improve your dog’s recall? I’ll share a few secrets with you about training a dog to consistently return to you when called. Here are the three keys to a reliable recall:

Consistency

First things first: Also, keep in mind: dogs learn constantly through every interaction with us. If they learn that they can wait until the 5th time you call them before you actually make them comply, then they’ll push it to 5 every time. Does this sound familiar? “Fido, come. F-i-i-i-do. Come here. Come HERE. FIDO. F-I-I-DO COME. COME.

ISAIDCOMEHERERIGHTTHISVERYINSTANT!!!! If this or something similar has been the interaction between you and your dog in your household, and you’re ready to train a reliable recall, I would seriously consider changing the cue so that your dog learns that the NEW cue is not optional. If you have been using the word “come” you could change it to “here” or something similar. Chose a word that the whole family agrees on. Dogs learn one word cues much more easily and retain that knowledge longer as well, which means ISAIDCOMEHERERIGHTTHISVERYINSTANT is probably a poor choice. Also make sure everyone is on board with the new training plan. All your training will be for naught if everyone uses different words for recall and doesn’t follow through with the rules.

You must only call your dog with your chosen cue when you KNOW he’ll respond, at least through the first three stages of learning. If you say your cue and your dog does not return to you, you must go and get your dog. Remember not to stamp up as though you are about to rain fury down on your dog’s head because you’re frustrated with them; the idea is to make your dog want to be near you and come closer to you, not retreat in fear.  Let me reiterate: Once you say your recall cue and your dog doesn’t respond, don’t say another word: just go get them. Again, keep in mind that every member of your household must be consistent in this manner or you won’t see the benefits of training your dog, you’ll just get the same old response.

Positivity

This is a really important point to keep in mind: you MUST NOT use the cue for your dog’s recall to bring them to you to do anything they dislike, or they will learn to associate some negativity with coming to you. This should be avoided at all cost if you want your dog to have a reliable recall. Don’t call Scruffy to bath her if she hates baths. Just go and get her. Don’t ever, EVER call your dog to punish them. This will completely ruin your positive efforts at getting your dog to understand how much better it is to be with you and drop what they were doing to come to your side.

If your dog has a less than positive association with returning to your side currently, you have some counter conditioning work ahead of you. You’ll need to change the dog’s perception of recall as a negative event. There are quite a few ways you can do that: changing the cue word used and relying heavily on high value reinforcers as you re-teach your reliable recall cue will go a long way to making it a good thing to return to your side for your dog. Some dogs may need more help with counter conditioning. Contact a dog training professional for further help if necessary.

One other point to consider: make training fun! In the beginning this is especially essential, but it’s important to remember to make training fun even long after you’ve reached the maintenance stage with your dog. Be excited and silly; hop around like a maniac once in awhile when your dog comes back to you. You should try to convince your dog they just won the doggie lottery! This practice will help form long-lasting appetitive associations

It’s OK to Use Treats!

If it’s not more rewarding to be with you than it is to chase the squirrel, your dog will choose the squirrel every time! You have to have a way to compete with self-rewarding behaviors that are reinforced by things in the environment out of your control. High value reinforcers are essential for counter conditioning as I mentioned, as well. Use the highest value treat that motivates your dog for training a really reliable recall; cheese, hot dogs, roast beef, chicken, chicken livers or anything your dog can’t resist (my dog Jackson goes crazy for bananas and carrots). This ensures your dog will try above and beyond to earn his treat. We use food to lure or bait dogs in the beginning stages of learning. Eventually, the food reinforcer becomes variable and intermittent. You’ll intersperse verbal praise, petting, playing, toys, and functional rewards like allowing your dog to go outside and play throughout training and maintenance to reward your dog for a job well done.

Conclusion

With patience, time, and the three key points mentioned above, you too can have a dog who enthusiastically returns to your side. All training should be broken down into small, manageable steps so your dog can learn to put them together for an end result. A Certified Canine Obedience & Behavior Modification Professional can help you develop a training plan for you and your canine companion so you can take your dog anywhere and trust that he will return to you when called.

Checkout the link below to see a video of us demonstrating all the skills discussed in this blog!
http://youtu.be/U-BD_PeU-g0

Factors that Affect Learning

Factors That Affect Learning New Skills in Dogs

By: LukEli K-9, Dog Training and Behavior Modification Professionals 

If you have been following along this month, you will remember a few blogs back we talked about the four stages of learning: Acquisition, Fluency, Generalization, and Maintenance. If you haven’t read that blog yet I strongly recommend reading it before diving into this blog topic. As I’m sure you’ll recall, (because you are all such great listeners) each stage of learning must be completed with at least 80% accuracy before moving onto the next stage.

Gracie is super focused during her agility training session.

How quickly or thoroughly a new behavior is acquired (acquisition and fluency stages) and how easily or long term the behavior is retained (generalization and maintenance stage) can affect the learning process, both positively and negatively. In order to ensure both you and your dog quickly and efficiently move through the four stages of learning, lets discuss some of the factors that affect learning.

Deprivation Level

When scheduling a training session with clients or before attending a group class, many times (especially for those dogs hard to keep focused), we recommend not feeding them their meal before the training session. By doing this we have altered their deprivation level. It should be of no surprise that a hungry dog works much harder for a treat then one who has just had a meal. I am, by no means, suggesting that you not feed your dog. I am suggesting that you hold off on a meal, have your training session, then offer them their meal (or the remainder of it if you used a portion of their meal for training as we recommend) once your session is complete.

The opposite can be said for dogs who are highly food motivated. Sometimes it is in your finger’s best interest to feed your dog before training so as to not lose a hand when rewarding them for a job well done.

Deprivation level does not just include food. Withholding play or free time will have the same affect if using a functional reward type system. For some dogs, high drive working dogs in particular, spending longer times in a crate than most pet dogs do will increase their focus and learning capabilities in the same way withholding food from food motivated dogs will. Beware if you choose to limit play; your dog will be very highly stimulated when you decide to work with them. Make sure to use it to your advantage for increased learning potential.  Many other types of things can be withheld to motivate an animal, from water to social interaction. With the exception of food as described above, I do not recommend the use of deprivation of these life essentials except under the guidance of a trained professional.

Quality of Reward

When training a new behavior or sharpening a behavior your dog already knows, it is important to take in to account the quality of the reward you are using. I know that I am much more willing to comply with something if there is a big juicy steak waiting on me as opposed to a dry, tasteless cracker.

The same is true of your dog. In laboratory tests using mice in a maze scientists theorized that the rate at which the mouse completed the maze was exponentially dependent upon the reward at the end. These tests required the mouse to run the maze multiple times. The mice that found cheese at the end of the race, as compared to the ones finding mouse kibble, ran the maze at top speed.

The experiment was also used to test Deprivation Level performance by using mice who had been deprived a meal before running the maze. One mouse was rewarded with cheese at the end the other with kibble, both the mouse finding cheese and the one finding kibble ran the maze at the same speed, when deprivation levels were effected.

Other factors to consider when taking inventory of the quality of the rewards offered are; Contrast Effects, Jackpots, and Reinforcer Samplings. These three things tend to sound really complicated on paper, but I assure you if you make it through the next few paragraphs to the example, the world will seem right again.

What is Contrast Effects and how do we use it to our advantage?

The simplest way to explain it is this; a good reward is considered a really excellent one if the dog was last given a mediocre one. Likewise, a mediocre reward is seen as pretty insignificant one if he just received a good one. For example: if you normally use kibble for training your dog and then one day decide to use liver instead your dog will work even harder to get the reward, this is a positive behavioral contrast. If you always use liver and run out of it one day and decide to use kibble instead for training your dog will be less than thrilled with this option as a reward. This is a negative behavioral contrast.

Does Jackpot mean I play the lottery with my dog?

Not exactly. In the human world, the use of the word jackpot brings up the image of a slot machine pouring money everywhere. Jackpots, when used for dog training, are the same idea; lots of small pieces of a reward given at the same time. In studies using chimps, it was found that animal’s logic when it comes to the amount of food is different than ours. When offered the choice between one big, whole reward versus the same amount divided into tiny pieces, the chimps picked the reward that was in pieces. From this scientist proved that animals find a lot of small pieces more rewarding than one big piece.

Using this to your advantage is recommended when training a dog for recall. When your dog comes running to you instead of giving him one piece of cheese, give him one piece of cheese divided into multiple pieces. The dog feels as though he has gotten a monumental reward for coming when called, when you know its one piece of cheese you broke apart a few times.

Reinforcer Sampling: Is that like a taste test?

Gracie practicing her down/stay in Walmart.

Yes it is! Many times dogs will work much harder for a reward when they know the reward is worth working for. Often times when training a new service or therapy dog in public, the amount of distractions is sometimes too much to bear for dogs in the first two stages of learning. To help combat this I will show them whatever tasty treat I brought with me and offer them a freebie treat. In most cases that is all it takes to get our training session back on track.

This is not a bribery tool. This is merely assuring the dog that I do have something of value to offer for his time, focus, and obedience. Who wants to go to work and not know what kind of currency we are getting paid in?

So how does your brain feel after all that scientific learning jargon? Don’t worry, learning theory can be difficult to wrap your head around, especially when you are not used to thinking in that manner when discussing dogs or animals in general.

The most important thing to remember, even if you didn’t understand a word I said after the title is this; The quality or palatability of a food reward along with the use of deprivation levels in your dogs can and will greatly influence the amount of learning achieved in each training session. Oh, and remember not to worry about bribery or an overweight dog because a blog on how to integrate Reinforcement Schedules is just around the corner. Stay tuned!

Who's the Boss? You or Your Dog?

Who’s the Boss? You Or Your Dog?

Is There Such A Thing As Dominance In Domesticated Dogs?

By LukEli K-9, Dog Training and Behavior Modification Professionals

Are you confounded by all the different opinions on dominance in dogs? What is dominance?

How can you tell if your dog is dominant? It’s difficult to filter through all the information you read on the internet, see on TV, or hear from the people in your life. Your uncle swears that every time your dog charges out the door ahead of you that what he’s really communicating in his own doggy way is that you’re lower on the proverbial totem pole than he is and unless you show your dog who’s boss, you’re going to end up as Fido’s subordinate. Your co-worker is convinced that because her dog pulls on the leash during their daily walks that she does not possess the coveted “Alpha Dog” status in her household. The dog whisperer tells you to roll your dog on his back and hold him there to show that you’re a strong pack leader, while an internet search on “my dog jumps on me” reveals a mind-numbing amount of confusing and contradicting information. Who and what should you believe?

The truth about dominance in dogs lies somewhere in the murky gray waters of behaviorism, learning theory, dominance studies, and traditional ideas of dog training and behavior. Dominance studies in the 1940’s were based on wolves who had been placed together in wildlife preserves and sanctuaries. The wolves didn’t choose the “packs” they were placed with and the preserves and sanctuaries did not replicate life in the wild for the wolves. Another point to note: wolves don’t really “choose” a pack. They are born into a pack and sometimes pack members leave the group to start a new family unit. Studies not based  on wolves in their natural habitat, caused some to contend that the studies (and hence the dominance theories developed based on them) are faulty. Regardless of the validity of these original studies on dominance and pack hierarchy, much of traditional dog training methods almost completely revolve around dominance as a basis for determining and modifying canine behavior. Though dogs aren’t wolves, it’s generally agreed that they are descended from wolves and have the same hierarchies, though not enough research has been done to satisfactorily bear this theory out. 

Dominance as defined by wikipedia: “Dominance hierarchy arises when members of a social group interact, often aggressively, to create a ranking system. In social living groups, members are likely to compete for access to limited resources and mating opportunities. Rather than fight each time they meet, relative relationships are formed between members of the same sex. These repetitive interactions lead to the creation of a social order that is subject to change each time a dominant animal is challenged by a subordinate.”, There are two types of hierarchical systems in which intrasexual conflict manifests: linear and despotic. In a linear hierarchy(pecking order), each member is assigned a rank relative to one another, creating a linear distribution of power (hyenas are an example of this system). In a despotic hierarchy, one member is assigned dominance while all other members are subordinate (wolves, African wild dogs).

If I had to pick one of the two types of hierarchical systems as the model for domesticated dogs, I’d pick despotic, though I’d do so begrudgingly. It becomes hard to determine exactly what system dogs have in place, because they’ve lived with, been shaped, and influenced by humans for so long that any serious resemblance to wolves and their behavior patterns becomes questionable. Innate behaviors remain, yes, but they have been forever and significantly modified through human interaction and selective breeding. Different breeds of dogs also exhibit different behaviors from others and have been selectively bred to retain more of certain traits than others. I can’t say with certainty that dogs fall into this system, and I don’t think anyone can. Dominance very probably exists in some form or other in domesticated dogs, however behavior problems that are routinely blamed on “dominant” dogs can usually be traced to poor socialization and lack of fundamental obedience training.

Are you more confused than when you started reading? Me too. Not to worry though, what you really need to know is this: You’re the boss because you provide and control all the resources a dog has access to; be it food, water, toys, affection, playtime, or his comfy bed, your dog owes it all to you.  He must understand that he needs to earn access to these things by acting appropriately, as you have taught him. Your dog learns from every experience he has and you control those experiences. Want him to learn that pushing past you to get out the door allows him access to chasing squirrels because he decided what was happening and not you? Then by all means let him dash out. Would you rather your dog sit quietly at the door, waiting to be released by you to gain access to the outdoors which he loves (he had to earn that reward!)? Then teach him a rock solid sit/stay. He can’t be “dominant” when he’s busy focusing on you.

My advice? Worry less about being the “Alpha”, and more about being consistent and fair with your dog. I will add that not all behavioral issues are easily solved. Only a qualified obedience and behavior modification professional can accurately assess and develop a treatment and training plan for dogs with serious issues. Seek out the appropriate professional and begin to help your dog learn boundaries and rules. He’ll thank you for it!

Using Food Rewards for Training Dogs

Using Food Rewards for Training Dogs

By: LukEli K-9, Dog Training and Behavior Modification Professionals

The topic of using a food rewards system for training is one of the most heated discussions in the dog training industry. Many dog owners and even “professional” trainers have opposing ideas on the topic of a food rewards system, some feel it is bribing the dog to do whatever it is we ask of them, while others feel it will make their dog fat and cause them to beg for food uncontrollably. Not one dog owner, myself included, wants a fat, begging, bribe motivated dog for a pet, so the argument ensues. Why is it after all the scientific and psychological research done on the subject of reward vs. bribe that so many people still hold onto the idea that treats are a bad idea?

Marley likes getting paid in treats,
he works hard and diligently for those!

Dogs are like any other living organism on the planet, they are self-motivated beings focused on the well being of their own survival.  These same self-preservation tactics, as much as we may try to argue the opposite, motivate humans as well. In other words we, just like our dogs, are motivated by our primal instincts of survival; food, water, social freedom, and reproduction. How is it as humans we obtain what it is we want? We work for it.

How many working adults do you know that attend a nine to five job, five days a week and do not get a paycheck? Probably none. You see, when posed with the question “Do you work for free?” the answer is always, with the utmost inflection, “Absolutely not!”. So why, if we require that we get paid for a hard day’s work, should our dogs be any different?

Some “trainers” rely on the idea that your dog will work for your praise, because they want to “please” you.  The idea of working for praise sounds like a pretty good theory, after all we can see how excited our dogs get from a high pitched voice and a good job pat on the head. We too enjoy a pat on the back and a public recognition of a job well done, but we still expect to be paid for our time and efforts in the most universal payment method, money. It is an accurate statement to imply that our dog complied with our wishes because he was seeking our praise, at least that’s the way it looks on the surface. However the proposal that dogs will do what we ask because they want to is more logically placed in line with the idea that dogs abide by our rules in hopes of avoiding something unpleasant.

I have heard many a trainer try to convince me that their dog works for their praise and they do not ever use a food rewards system of training. However, upon observation of these “trainers,” I start to notice a trend. Their dogs are not doing what they ask of them because they want to please their owners, instead these dogs do what they are asked free of charge (food rewards) for fear of an aversive happening.  

The definition of an aversive as defined by Webster’s Dictionary is “any situation, object or behavior that causes an unpleasant or punishing stimulus.” That being said any training tool from choke chains, prong collars, or remote collars to head halters, gentle leaders, and yes even plain flat collars can be used as an aversive, along with the leash itself. Any and every tool no matter how tame or malicious they seem can be used as an aversive.

As an example, let’s go with one of the more subdued versions of a trainer against using food rewards. The trainer asks the dog to sit and the dog does not adhere to the command. The trainer then applies a mild pull to the dog’s leash. The dog then sits and no food rewards were given. After a few cycles of this happening the dog, when asked to sit does so, again without the use of a treat. The trainer will then believe that they have proved their point, the dog was learned to sit without the use of treats. The more likely explanation is NOT that the dog obeyed the command because he wanted to “please” the trainer but instead because he feared the aversive leash correction, no matter how mild it was, he learned would follow if he did not sit when asked to do so.

I just blew your mind right?

How many times do we teach our dogs that an aversive is to follow if they do not abide by what we ask them to do? How many times do we use training tools, leashes, collars, head halters, etc. as an aversive?  As humans we are hard wired to believe that our dogs have reasoning skills similar to ours that should allow them to understand the reasons we use those aversive techniques. This is largely due to the fact that we anthropomorphize (giving human-like characteristics to animals or objects) mans best friend.  Dogs do not know what it means to “please” their owners; they are only concerned with avoiding the unpleasant stimulus that follows the non-compliance of whatever it is you ask.

Cain the GSD really liked cheese
 this pup would work all day for a piece!

In 95% of humans money is their highest, or primary motivator, as we call it in the dog training world. Humans see money as the most important object in our daily lives, followed very closely by food, water, social freedom, and reproduction (yes just the same as animals). Dogs, as I hope you are aware, have no use for money (please don’t attempt to pay your dog for a good sit with a five dollar bill. You will have just lost five dollars). In using a food rewards system, just as we get paid with money when we clock in at our job, our dog is essentially being paid for his time, attention and obedience.

Those of you concerned with having an over weight dog on your hands, I have an easy solution. Instead of feeding Rover his full cup of food in the morning, give him only half at meal time and use the rest for his training. Now Rover cannot gain weight from training treats because he has gotten no more during the course of the day then he would have gotten during his regular meal.

As for the pet parents concerned with having a begging dog on their hands; yes, the dog has learned he gets treats from you when he sits in front of you. However, remember yesterday’s blog about extinction of unwanted behaviors? NEVER reinforce him for begging, aka sitting at your feet while you’re eating, and the behavior will no longer exist. If the behavior was never reinforced in the beginning chances are the dog will give up on the idea that sitting at your feet gets him food.

I am by no means trying to convince you that treat based training methods are the only ways to teach your dog. I am however asking you not to shoot down the idea of treats as a training tool so quickly. Your boss does not expect you to come to work and do a good job without handing you a paycheck, therefore you should not expect your dog to do a job well done without paying him for his efforts. Food is very hot commodity in the dog brain use it to your advantage!

****In the same way not every person is as motivated by money, not every dog is motivated by the same rewards, food being one of those. Though it may be that you haven’t found the right food reward. Dry dog biscuits wouldn’t get me to do much either, but offer me a piece of cheese? Heck, yeah! I’m all for it! Your dog will be too, once you find the right treat. For dogs who are not highly food motivated other primary motivators can be used for reinforcement such as toys or functional rewards. Stay tuned for another post about how to use different kinds of rewards.

Use It or Lose It: Maintenance and Extinction of Behaviors

Use It or Lose It: Maintaining Your Dog’s Learned Behavior is Key to Successful Longterm Learning and Performance Reliability

By: LukEli K-9, Dog Training and Behavior Modification Professionals

Hank os still looking for his forever home,
contact Great Dane Friends of Ruff Love, if you think it could be yours!

Remember Hank? That shy guy who’s hanging out with the Conlans until he finds his forever home? I’ve been wanting to share a few stories about him in a blog for awhile. It fits perfectly with what I’ll be talking about today which is: maintaining behaviors (which you may or may not want to see continued), as well as extinction of behaviors offered by your dog. I’ll go over extinction of behaviors first.

When I talk about behaviors I’m not just referring to a cue you may have taught your dog, like sit or off. Dogs offer us behaviors all the time in response to the reinforcers, whether primary or secondary, that we (knowingly or otherwise) offer them in return.

Extinction of a behavior can be achieved by withholding reinforcers for a behavior that’s previously been maintained through reinforcement. The behavior goes away because it’s no longer rewarding to the dog and it no longer works.

I’ll give you an example of a behavior that I wanted to stop Hank from continuing and I how it came to be extinct.

Example:

Though it was only for a short period of time, Hank nonetheless became a champion counter surfer. It was fairly early on in his stay with us too, so I was walking a fine line between encouraging confidence building exploration and teaching acceptable behaviors.

One day I was preparing the kitchen to scrub the floor and placed the water bucket on the table to get it out of my way. I started to turn back to the task at hand only to see Hank hop right up on the table, all four feet, and help himself to a cool drink of water (a primary reinforcer). He hopped back down quickly once I took a step towards him. Still, the damage had been done. Once he discovered that the first elevated area in the kitchen came with good stuff, he decided to see what the other counters offered. I found him in the kitchen repeatedly over the course of the next several weeks, front paws on the kitchen counter, sniffing around for a snack. Hank definitely discovered the joys of counter surfing. He was rewarded quite nicely for that confidence building exploration pretty well at first by the food he found on those counters. Hank really loves food. Counters with food? Hank said “Yes, please”!

What would you do if your dog were to jump up on the counter? Some people have told me they would yell, clap, stomp their foot, swat, jerk the dog off the counter, smack, shake a can of coins, say no loudly, or numerous other startling, painful, or aversive things in an attempt to create a negative association with jumping on the counter for the dog.  Aversives can be effective when used correctly and humanely in some instances, but there’s one sure-fire way to get a dog to stop doing something: remove any reinforcement for that behavior. If it doesn’t work they won’t do it (Yes, I said that earlier but it’s worth saying again).

So what did I do to end Hank’s infatuation with all things counter related? After two episodes I removed all food from the counters at all times. No reinforcer for him, should he jump up on the counter if unsupervised. He continued to jump up and look a few times a day for a few weeks, thought the occurrences got less and less over that time (Hank can be pretty determined when he’s previously been reinforced for something. Your dog may get the hint in only a few days). I also said “Hank, off” every time I lured him off the counter. That equaled an extinction of the counter surfing behavior and at the same time I taught him a new cue: off.

Extinction is one method trainers use to get rid of unwanted behavior. When used correctly, extinction is a powerful tool. The key is 100% consistency; never rewarding the unwanted behavior. All of the reinforcers for a behavior must be identified and withheld. If a behavior persists even when put on track for extinction, chances are the dog is still being reinforced in some way. Self-rewarding behaviors(counter surfing is a prime example of such a behavior) can be difficult to overcome. The key, as always, is remaining consistent with your rules.

Follow through is crucial and needs to continue as long as the dog is displaying the behavior. If the undesired behavior is reinforced, even occasionally, that behavior will become much more resilient to extinction.

A schedule of reinforcement like this is called a variable reinforcement schedule. It’s exactly what you should use to get the most reliable performance of behaviors from your dog (more on that in another blog).

Pretty ironic, don’t you think? You don’t want your dog to do something, but when you don’t remove reinforcers you’re making darn sure they’ll try their hardest to do it even more! In Hank’s example, had I not kept the counters clear and he found a morsel of food even once or twice in all those attempts, it would have encouraged him to continue trying. He probably would’ve gotten lucky again eventually and the cycle would continue.

In some cases it may seem that, for example clearing all your counters of any food for a few weeks is too much of a task to accomplish. In some cases the easiest, most effective plan is to never set the dog up for committing to something you deem undesirable. If the dog has zero access to the kitchen, the unwanted behavior of counter surfing can not continue. Take into account how badly you want the behavior to become extinct before deeming the task of clearing the counters “too much to handle”. Remember that any form of dog training,whether it be through extinction of behaviors or reinforcement of them, takes time, effort, and consistency.

Speaking of consistency, lets briefly talk about how to maintain a behavior you want to keep reoccurring. Now that you’ve read how to end a behavior, it should be pretty obvious how to maintain a behavior. You guessed it! Reinforce that behavior occasionally once you’ve gone through the four stages of learning and reached the maintenance phase. You have to practice what your dog has learned fairly regularly in order for them to continue to perform a behavior that works for them. You also have to remember to reward them variably as you practice the behavior you want to keep occurring. Remember, “Use It or Lose It”!  Simple as that.

Here’s a little experiment to try at home: stop paying any attention at all to your dog when they’re sitting and see how long it takes for them to stop sitting. If it gets them nothing (food, praise, or otherwise) it won’t take too long for them to walk away. Now, variably reinforce that same sit, and observe how often your dog offers that behavior even when you don’t ask them to perform it. They’ll try it to see if it works for well...forever! if you follow through on the maintenance stage of learning.

This principal of extinction can be used in numerous different applications in dog training and behavior modification. Contact a trainer at LukEli K-9 today to speak with us about how we can help your family reach your training or behavior modification goals.