Time to Think
Have you ever been in a situation where you were learning something new, understood the process, but it wasn’t committed to muscle memory, so you still had to think through it?
Have you had that same situation with someone lurking over your shoulder? Watching to see if you do it right?
How does that make you feel? Can you complete the task?
Could you complete the task if the person walked away and gave you a minute to think through it?
This happens to me frequently when using computers, an area I am challenged in. We recently incorporated a new scheduling program, designed by a company. I had to do a lot of work to customize it for our business. I thought being the one customizing the program, would help me understand the operational side, so I jumped into the project knowing it would be a challenge.
About 5 months later, after much tweaking and testing, we went live. My brain was overloaded with mounds of new information, new processes, ongoing modifications, customer questions and issues and employee questions, complaints and requests.
I would have a customer or employee standing in front of me and I would struggle to recall even a simple process. Often co-workers would step in to help or do it for me. This frustrated me, because given a minute, I would figure it out. I wasn’t going to learn if people kept doing it for me or directed me through it. I just needed a minute to think.
As I worked through the process more times, it became easier and more thoughtless. If a new challenge arises, I can usually figure it out given a little time and maybe some direction. Generally, I just need a minute to think.
I’m sure you’re asking what this has to do with dog training, I assure you it is very relevant.
During an initial evaluation with an owner and dog, we gather as much information about the dog’s history, prior training, successes and challenges, the environment, owner’s lifestyle, health etc. Often when we discuss previous training and methods, we find gaps in the process creating confusion or lack of trust. We often see dogs being forced into a position or physically restrained. The dogs are frequently overstimulated when first entering our facility making it difficult to listen. Many owners are unsure how to manage the dog and the dog doesn’t understand or have any expectations of self-control. That is why they are here.
We work with the owners and dogs on their skills and establishing a mutually beneficial, respectful relationship. There are numerous methods to get a dog to respond, but generally you can lure them to help them understand the behavior you want, physically force them into a position or condition them by marking and rewarding desired behaviors.
Luring can be helpful when trying to teach something new, especially a behavior that is not natural for your dog. You can use food, a toy or stick to have them follow; moving up, down, left, right, forward, back, over, under, on and side to side to teach them movements and create positive associations.
Luring should be diminished as the dog better understands the desired behavior. Luring is not an effective way to develop cognitive thinking skills. Continuing with this method too long results in lazy thinkers’ who are dependent on constant input. Our goal is to create a clear method of communication with your dog, so we need them to respond to our cues without guidance. It is common to have difficulties moving away from luring and developing a dog who responds quickly and willingly without assistance.
Physically forcing dogs doesn’t promote learning and can diminishes trust, often resulting in a less willing dog. Force may include pushing, pulling, lifting or restraining with a leash or anywhere on their body. Intimidation with your body and/or voice can be forceful.
There are times when force or restraint are useful or necessary; however, force or restraint being used in lieu of proper training is quite common and unproductive. Use of a training collar can be beneficial when used appropriately but it is not fair to your dog to use as a means of teaching a new behavior. Forcing a dog can create fear and resistance and have a negative effect on the relationship with your dog. One must be deliberate in how they apply these methods and conscientious of the varying needs of different dogs.
Conditioning a behavior encourages thoughtfulness and positive association. A dog is conditioned by marking a behavior you like with a word like “Good” or a clicker, then giving a reward. Once the dog understands and offers the behavior reliably, you correlate the behavior with a cue. The dogs are actively thinking, developing better learning skills and willingly offering behaviors. This is a force free method of training, can be a slow process, but the learned behavior is deep seeded.
There are a lot of variations to the above methods and a combination generally works best. Most people I work with like the idea of using positive methods but are anxious to eliminate rewards and get impatient with the process. When a dog doesn’t immediately respond, there is a tendency to quickly reach in to help or force the dog into a position.
Training is the process of teaching your dog a new language and takes time. We must be clear and consistent, or we create confusion. If you were learning Spanish and the terminology and structure changed daily, you would become confused and likely give up. Before you start teaching this new language, you should be clear with yourself about the cues and responses you are trying to achieve.
We must be patient and allow our dogs time to take in the information, commit it to memory, process and respond. As your dog better understands the cue, the response will become more reliable and come more quickly; however, the cue could include you helping them if you never allow them to think. Some of my training sessions include long periods of waiting, maybe with a foot on the leash or the dog behind a gate, just waiting for them to offer the desired behavior.
If you want a well-behaved dog who can think independently, will offer behaviors and respond without luring, you must give them an opportunity to think. As you transition from luring, work in an area with minimal distractions, give your cue and just wait. If your dog gets bored and wanders, use a lead to prevent them from finding entertainment elsewhere. Yes, this is restraint, so remain neutral with the management of the lead, stepping on it is a good way to do that. In the case of an uninterested dog, I will begin with an engagement activity, often an eye contact exercise.
EYE CONTACT
A simple way to begin teaching eye contact, is by sitting in a chair with your foot on a lead attached to your dog and a few handy treats. Watch and wait for your dog to glance at you, mark with a word like “good” and deliver a treat. Once they get the idea that looking at you brings the reward, start adjusting the period of time you reward for the eye contact, counting by seconds in a variable pattern……ex: 1s, 2s, 1s, 1s, 2s, 3s, 1s, 3s jackpot and quit. While the dog is distracted, you are just waiting for the opportunity to capture the look, mark with “good” and give a reward. You’re just sitting and waiting, giving them the opportunity to think and learn on their own that looking at you brings good things.
TIP: Sometimes, if the dog is really struggling in the beginning, I will adjust my body weight or make a subtle sound to solicit a glance. Be careful not to make this a lure or cue by overusing. We want the dog to think, understand and offer the behavior, so once they get the idea, it is best to patiently wait for an opportunity to reward.
DOWN
During my most recent writing break, I worked with a 6-month pup being trained as Diabetic Alert Dog. He is very intuitive, owner focused and sweet. He’s also very cute and cuddly and likes to suck up next to me when I ask him to down. I am working on extinguishing the luring, so we had a quick 2-3 minute session on downing. I admittedly cheated by using my GSD to show him the desired behavior. While the pup sat and processed the cue (and the fact I moved away from him when he tried to schmooze me), I rewarded Glacier for downing. I could see his mind processing the picture. It seemed like an eternity, but it was probably only 20-30 seconds before he downed, quicker than the night before. We tried again with response time about 10-15 seconds, then about 3 seconds. We quit with a little party. He was mentally exhausted and ready for a nap after the short session, so I was able to get back to my writing.
Note: You do not need another dog for this process to work, just patience. You can attach a lead to step on while you patiently wait for the down.
PLACE
We implement a lot of “place” work in our training practices, using platforms, cots, obstacles and environmental objects like stumps, rocks and manhole covers. We stress the importance of allowing the dog to explore a new obstacle without force, encouraging them to check it out with front feet on before 4 feet on. We frequently use luring to promote interest, but for an insecure dog, even aggressive luring can be too forceful.
Insecure dogs are most negatively affected by force, they need more time to check out an obstacle to assure it is safe. Begin by putting a few treats on the obstacle, take a step back to reduce spatial pressure and allow them to check it out. Reinforce any effort or improvement calmly so you don’t startle them. Build confidence on easy obstacles and slowly increase the level of challenge as they are ready. Respect your dog if they are telling you it is too much and absolutely do not try to drag or force them onto an obstacle. Lower your expectations allowing for self-initiated successes to build confidence and develop rational, cognitive thinking.
Take it slow while building a solid foundation and trust. Making big leaps in expectations sets dogs up to fail, potentially scaring or injuring them and ultimately decreasing their confidence. A highly sensitive dog may never recover from a traumatic experience, so it is important to build confidence through success and without force.
Force free training can be applied to all learned behaviors. Once a dog knows how to physically perform a behavior, provide opportunities for them to think and make an association with a cue. Do not be too hasty to reach in and give them help. Set your dog up at a level they can be successful, stand back and allow them to try. Dogs do what works to get what they want. If you hold out for a minute, they are bound to try something they know has worked in the past.
The bottom line………
Give your dog time to think.