#control unleashed

[thelei-nero-dogs]

Trying to figure out what dog training school to save up for....

A few days ago Leslie Mcdevit invited me to get my CCUI, but I have neither the money nor the prerequisites yet lol.

So now I have an even bigger reason to keep learning! I suppose I could get the CU books and make my own study of it for now? That would give me clear goals? I could even blog it here and do summary videos for the YouTube channel me maybe?

I'm super excited about this!

[albusthefakepitbull]

first control unleashed class ! when we got there she was like dogs ?? but i was like okay but consider i have cookies, she was the only dog that didn’t need an extra visual barrier

we knew some of the exercises already but not all and i mainly wanted to go to work on her dog feelings safely anyway, so i’m glad it was simple stuff for both our brains. she also played with me when i offered to tug as a reward (although i kept it low key for the sake of the other dogs). stoked on her and how nice of a little dog i have

[asdpawprint]

Book recommendations/reviews for my fellow service dog owner trainers:

(I kept reading for years after successfully training my service dog, because autism.)

Forward Together: An Inside Look at Guide Dog Training by Christie Bane

Yes, it's about guide dogs specifically. Yes, it's very long. But it's by far the most detail I've found about the entire process of training a service dog. Read it for the temperament descriptions, read it for the puppy raising chapter, read it for the examples of breaking down complex behaviors into smaller pieces, read it for the discussion of which behavior issues are generally worth the effort to fix vs which issues generally justify a wash out, read it for the consideration of how corrections look to the surrounding public.

The only substantial dislike I have of this book is the escalator section. It's harsh and very dependent on how extremely resilient and forgiving guide dogs have to be. But that's 12 pages out of almost 600 total.

Read it! It's so good! This is genuinely one of my favorite books of any topic, and certainly my favorite service dog book!

Control Unleashed: Creating a Focused and Confident Dog by Leslie McDevitt

This one is written in the context of reactive dogs in agility classes, but most of the exercises are excellent for teaching a dog that potential distractions predict that good things are about to come from the handler! It's especially great for dog distraction training, obviously. Plus great skills for a handler wanting to reduce or avoid punishment in your training!

Some of it seems counterintuitive if you're reading it from a perspective of simply "reward good behavior and punish bad behavior," but it genuinely does work. Looking at it in terms of classical conditioning instead of operant conditioning helps it make a lot more sense.

The Ultimate Service Dog Training Manual by Keagan Grace

"Finally," you say, "something specific to what I'm trying to do!" But this is actually my least favorite of this list. It is a decent wide overview, but doesn't go into complex details or nuances, and was almost entirely information I'd already learned online after a few months of research. The proportion of accurate information is also pretty similar to the internet, meaning there are weird or outright wrong tips mixed in there alongside the helpful parts.

My biggest dislike is the breed recommendations in this book. I think too many guardian breeds are included, and too much benefit of the doubt is given to various designer crosses. But in all fairness, the book also has enough emphasis on genetic temperament and disqualifying traits to mostly offset that. By following the information in this book, a person may waste time looking for the right temperament in a poorly fitting breed, but they probably won't pick a poorly fitting temperament just because of the breed.

This particular book might be helpful if you're brand new to learning about service dogs and prefer to read a book rather than learn online, but otherwise I wouldn't bother. (Read Forward Together instead. It's so good!)

[hazard-and-friends]

Hot button dog training question! What's your preferred method dealing with sniffing/distraction? Does it differ between pet dogs and sport/working dogs?

Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes

(Frodo, The Fellowship of the Ring)

Or: My favorite response as a trainer is "it depends". It depends on:

Why the dog is sniffing and getting distracted

What that actually looks like (and how problematic it is in context)

What contexts it occurs in (and how much I care)

I can come up with a whole slew of different scenarios: A recently rehomed dog who is sniffing everything to the point of owner annoyance, an adolescent dog who has recently started sniffing certain objects to the point of obsession, a dog whose distraction looks like chronic pulling on walks but is in tune otherwise, a sport dog who stares around the ring before each run, a dog (Hazard) who "goes deaf" in new situations and 'excessively' sniffs. Each of these dogs has a different 'problem' and I'd approach each one differently.

CUT BECAUSE HOLY SHIT THIS GOT LONG

1. Why is the dog doing this/what's the function?

Especially with a sudden behavior change I'd want a full vet check first and, if the dog is from a breeder, to ask the breeder if other dogs have shown this. For example, I've seen a number of Facebook & Reddit posts going "why's my dog so distracted/staring into space?" and including a video of a dog going through a seizure. That's not something we can train away.

Some dogs sniff to get information on their environment and, because it's a new environment or they're predisposed to anxiety, they need a lot more information than we think. The first dog in the paragraph above is a current client: The dog arrived in the home a week before the owners contacted me for excessive sniffing; by the time I met with them a week later, the sniffing had substantially reduced; by the second visit it wasn't even on their radar as a problem. This was a dog whose life had been uprooted and dramatically changed (outdoor rural dog to indoor suburban dog), so it's no surprise that there was a massive amount of information gathering during the first few weeks.

In that case (if you've owned the dog for less than 3 weeks), I wouldn't do anything yet. See if things change as the dog settles into their environment.

But the other big category here is a dog who is overstimulated by the environment or afraid of the environment, and is sniffing as a displacement behavior. A displacement behavior is when an animal (the dog) is torn between two, equally promising behaviors and resolves this by going with a third option. In this case, the two behaviors are "investigate the environment" and "leave the environment", and instead the dog sniffs--in this context, not in a 'useful' (or healthy) manner. I'd expect to see obsessive sniffing, sniffing over a small area (not actually exploring the area), sniffing interspersed with other displacement behaviors (yawning, lip licking, scratching), and other signs of fear (stiff body, tucked tail, ears back) or overarousal (ears up, tail quivering, wide eyes).

2. What do we mean by 'distracted' and is it actually problematic in context?

This is where we start bringing in the working/sports aspect. A dog whose preferred walk is nose to the ground for 30 minutes and a service dog who is needed for mobility or guidance are in two extremely different situations.

I find it's easy for humans to forget how good a dog's nose is, and how much information they get through it. If I walk into a new training facility and Hazard goes nose to the ground for 3 minutes and I'm mad because class started right when I walked in, that's on me. This is a new building filled with novel smells, dogs, and people (in that order!), of course he's going to want to spend some time investigating. As long as he's not over threshold or bothering anyone else (and I check the former by seeing if he can eat a treat), I let him sniff it out.

Humans think of walks in a certain way (moving briskly along a predetermined path, no stops) that doesn't really match with how dogs like to explore the world. With Hazard, I do dog-directed walks about half the time, and human-directed walks half the time. (I need exercise and he still can't be left at home, plus it's better cardio for him than the pace we move when he's in charge!) On dog directed walks we meander. We pause. He sticks his nose in a tree and doesn't move for 30 seconds. He investigates a bush for a solid 2 minutes. None of this is unhealthy or something I feel any interest in changing.

On the other hand, that's not where we started walks. When I got Hazard in May, 2020, going outside put him over threshold. He would go stiff, move abruptly, and not respond to any cues from me. Several times I shoved chicken under his lips and it fell out. This is a distracted dog. This is the dog from point 1 who's overstimulated by the environment. And that's a problem that needs solving.

Zooming out, a characteristic of distraction that I view as "needs solving" instead of "wait it out" is that it doesn't self-resolve. If your dog gets to the ring, looks around, and then looks back at you ready to work--sure it'd be nice if they walked in ready to work but who cares? They're on the ball now. If your dog gets to the ring, looks around, and doesn't stop? That's when I worry. How long this takes (both for individual occurrence and over time) to make me worry is dog dependent--certainly a lot longer with a scent hound than a retriever!

To get away from sniffing: Hazard has a very specific pattern of over threshold behavior where he takes shorter, faster steps, head & ears up, tail level with his back, eyes fixed (if one interesting thing) or swiveling (if several). Usually this does not self resolve, although the frequency over time is decreasing. It's always striking because it doesn't feature the behaviors that we usually think of as "over threshold"--no barking, lunging, cowering, vocalizing at all, the leash remains slack. But he can't eat in that state, and he's not 'thinking'.

That's a problem.

3. Does this occur in certain contexts, and are they ones that are a problem for me?

A service dog who has horrible distraction on fun walks isn't a problem (probably). A service dog who has horrible distraction when vested is. A sport dog who explodes when off leash in the woods is a totally different story than one who "can't hear" in the ring.

If a dog is distracted in every situation--problem. If a dog is distracted in situations which they're in regularly and which are unavoidable--problem. If a dog is distracted in the contexts for which the owner got them--problem. (In this last, maybe the dog is not suited for that owner, but that's a different post.)

But just because Hazard goes a little nuts on hiking trails doesn't mean I have any wish to change that. My dog doesn't need to be focused 24/7 on me.

Okay so after about a thousand words of lead up: What do I do in situations where there is a problem?

Assuming it's not medical, it's not universal, and there's a certain moderation to the emotions involved (this isn't for a dog who is labeled as "distracted" but is actually catatonic with fear), I ask one more question: Can I do repeated, small exposures or is that unfair/unsafe/too much work?

Straight up, "exposure therapy" or desensitization is the most ethical way to get an animal to care less about a stimulus. With Hazard and walks in general, it was all about patience and time. A lot of tiny "walks" (due to his crate rest, for a dog without crate rest I'd incorporate tiny walks with regular walks) where we'd go outside and hang out while he sniffed and investigated a 6 ft area around me. Gradually broaching the idea that eating could be done outside. That marker cues could happen outside. That sitting could happen outside (which led to eating!). And so forth.

For my sniffy client, it was time to settle into the household. For dogs worried about new buildings, brief, low stress trips to a new building until it's no longer new, then pick a new new building. Hazard gets 5 minutes after we arrive anywhere new to be brainless before I want anything from him.

If the distraction is actually information seeking, what you're doing is providing small, manageable amounts of information at a high frequency until the dog no longer needs more. If the distraction is actually a displacement behavior, you're allowing the dog to do first one thing (explore) and then reminding/encouraging the dog to do the other (retreat) so the displacement isn't necessary.

But sometimes it's not reasonable or safe to do lots of tiny exposures. One example comes immediately to mind: A house on one of our walking routes recently got goats--who are, please note, safely behind a fence and entirely blasé about the whole thing. Hazard sees them and lights up--just 100% the over threshold behavior from above, except if we get close enough he will start lunging and trying to chase. We take that route about once a week, so we're looking at infrequent exposures, and Hazard's window between "goats? what goats? i don't see no goats" and "HOLY SHIT IT'S A GOAT" is about half a second, which makes under-threshold training difficult to say the least. (Note: If the goats cared one whit about this I would stop going on that street at all, but they don't.)

Instead I either work engage/disengage (more here), where Hazard gets rewarded for looking at the goats until he is able to look away on his own, or a variety of Control Unleashed games.

As a general approach for distracted dogs, where that distraction needs to end completely (working, sport dogs) or where it's harming their daily life but could continue in low levels, I use Control Unleashed games. These are as basic as putting a treat on the ground, marking when the dog looks up at you, and putting another treat back down on the ground (Up and Down). What the hell does this do? Well, if your dog is looking right back up at you, probably not much (other than reward eye contact!). But if you're in a distracting place, where the dog eats the treat and swivels their head around to see everything, and then looks back up at you--you're creating a loop (treat, distraction, eye contact, click, treat, distraction) where the only unreinforced behavior is staring at the distraction and, over not very long at all, the distracted behavior will get cut out in favor of getting the treat sooner.

Hannah Brannigan just had an episode (here) addressing excessive sniffing in agility dogs. Her solution (trialed on her Border Terrier, so not exactly a handler focused breed in the first place!) was to teach a go-sniff cue using a boring object in a boring location, escalate intensity slowly, change locations, etc, and then use it when you don't care if the dog spends 5 minutes examining every speck of dirt--and reward heavily when they come back to you. Again, by allowing the dog to do the distraction behavior and following with an engagement-reward-dismissal pattern, you end up with a dog who's glued to you.

Does this, in any way, answer your question?

[canisitsnotlupus]

https://www.cleanrun.com/product/conference_unleashed_2020_3_day_virtual_conference/index.cfm YALL I AM LOSING MY MIND IM SO EXCITED https://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&page_id=188 all the sessions!!! aaaaaah!!!! I’M SO EXCITED!!!

[lloonlloon]

a question for you to ask yourself while you are working with your dog … is ‘Does this learner feel empowered?’ If the answer is no, then you need to re-evaluate your training plan and how you have set up your environment.

— Control Unleashed: Reactive To Relaxed by Leslie McDevitt

[justthrowmeabone]

Knowing When to Work--Or Even to Play

One of my favorite passages from Leslie McDevitt’s Control Unleashed (one of many) is this passage about “thresholds” and crossing them:

“All of us have a threshold. Beyond it, depending on our personalities, we might have a totally reactive response, or we might shut down and sit rocking in the corner sucking our thumbs. Each of our dogs has his own threshold, too, and his own response once he’s crossed it. Once a dog has crossed his threshold, he is too pumped, scared, or stressed to learn.”

Anyone who thinks on this for a few minutes knows it to be true. 

I like that threshold does not just apply to aggression/frustration/what have you in this case. It’s over-excitement, it’s stress, it’s fear, it’s everything. Everything has a threshold, and that’s so very important for me with my dogs. Because they’re very sensitive, and sometimes so am I.

When they go over threshold, they tend to tune out and walk away, to sniff or simply just leave. It’s how they cope. I wait until they’re ready to tune back in and we do something simple and easy to warm back up--or, if they’re really mushy-brained, to just try to end on a good note.

But I forget that sometimes I, too, have a threshold where I need to cut MYSELF off. Today, for instance. I missed lunch. It was 87 degrees. I’m babysitting two dogs so I have four dogs. Two of which need to stay on leash and seem to take a pleasure in getting me tangled up.

I was ok for a bit... but then, the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes tipped me over the edge and the next time one of the dogs did something naughty (poor Annie) I flipped. I yelled. I herded all of them back to the car complaining how terrible they all were. 

Aren’t I lucky that my dogs don’t behave the way I do when THEY go over their limit..... 

I still have a lot of bad habits saved up from the old days, and they all come flooding back when I go over my own stress threshold. So I reminded myself of a valuable lesson for me. When angry, hot, hungry, and covered in bug bites... just find a cool place to sit and don’t do anything.

[aspensbark]

We met quite a few people today! We went for a walk at the park and Aspen met one dog there, as well as my friend’s Fox Terrier and Dachshund. She also met my mom and my friend’s family and a few strangers outside... socialization is going well! 

I did an intro to the clicker today, intro to the crate and intro to sitting as a default behaviour. She is easily distracted but we’re getting somewhere!

Tomorrow we’ll do some desensitizing to sounds and spending a bit more time alone in the crate. Hopefully I can also start working on her whiplash turn or watch me!