FIRST, THE CAT
I just have to share this… one of our two house cats has been telling us he would like to go outside. Stripes kept trying to dart out the door when we would take the dogs out in the back yard. Fortunately on the few occasions he did slip out he just stood there and waited for us to pick him up – he didn’t make a dash for the fence.
Ever since working at the Marin Humane Society (1976 to 1996) I have been a huge advocate of keeping cats indoors – there are just too many risks for them outdoors. But as plainly as Stripes was telling us he wanted to go out, we purchased a harness for him, and now he goes out on a long line with us and the dogs. He’s loving it!!
AND NOW, THE DOGS
We held a two-day workshop last weekend – Beyond Sit and Down! The plan was to introduce a smorgasbord of more advanced training protocols so attendees could dip their toes into new waters and take away whatever they found useful for them. We built in a lot of flexibility – if you or your dog didn’t like something or weren’t interested in it, you did have to do it. No pressure – just fun!
The lineup for the weekend included:
· Hand Signals, Distance Cues and Blind Cues
· Nose Games
· Reading
· Behavior Chains
· Imitation
· Shaping, and
· Premack
Pretty ambitious, right? I think it worked – dogs and humans both seemed to have a good time! Here’s a little more detail on each of these:
HAND SIGNALS, DISTANCE CUES, BLIND CUES
Hand Signals
I encouraged attendees to use competition-style hand signals – big and bold so they can be easily seen by the dog from a distance. This is how we taught them:
Down: Right hand raised straight up in the air, pause, give the verbal “Down” cue, then lower the arm. Repeat until the dog realizes that the hand in the air is a new cue for “Down.”
Sit: Left hand makes a large circle, coming up from the chest, swinging far out to the side, pause, give the verbal “Sit” cue and finish the complete circle, finishing in the middle of the chest. Repeat until the dog understands this is a new cue for “Sit.”
Come: Right hand swings straight out to the side from the chest as if you wanted to smack someone standing behind you, pause, give the verbal “Come” cue, and swing the hand back to the chest. Repeat until the dog understands this is a new cue for “Come.”
Of course, with each of these you prompt the dog as needed to get the behavior to happen if they don’t do it on your verbal cue. And of course, we are marking and treating each time.
Distance Cues
For this one, you leave your dog on a sit stay, or leave her tethered or have someone hold her leash if she doesn’t have a solid stay. Facing her, take one step back, mark and treat, and return. “But wait!” you might be saying. “You didn’t cue her to do anything!” You’re right. If you cue her to “Down” every time you take a step back she will come to think that you stepping back is a new cue for “Down.” So for every one time you do cue the “Down,” you need to do several repetitions where you step back, mark and return without cueing a behavior.
For those repetitions where you do cue, take a step back while facing your dog, cue “Down!” (or whatever behavior you want to ask for) and be ready to remind your dog to stay where she is – since you’ve probably always asked her to lie down in front of you and she probably thinks that’s what “Down” means. When she lies down, mark and return all the way to her to feed the treat. Continue with repetitions of various behaviors until you are able to ask her for any behavior from various distances. Always return to her to feed the treat so she doesn’t think a mark-and-treat means to come to you. Unless, of course, you used your Distance Come cue!
Blind Cues
No, we’re not talking about a Seeing Eye Dog – we’re talking about teaching your dog to respond to cues even when you aren’t facing her. Since you will be turning your back on your dog you’ll need to stand in front of a mirror so you can see what your dog does when you give the cue, or have a spotter who can tell you if the dog did it. Again, you will tell your to stay or have her restrained.
Begin by turning your back, marking, turning again to face your dog and feed the treat. As with Distance cues, we don’t want your dog to think that turning your back is a new cue for “Down.”
Between multiple “blank” turns, occasionally turn your back to your dog and give the cue. “Down!” If your dog lies down, mark, turn around and treat. If she doesn't, give the cue one more time, and if she still doesn’t lie down, turn around and prompt, mark and treat. Continue to do occasional real “Down” turns in between the blank ones, until your dog will lie down (or do whatever other behavior you ask for) with your back turned. Now you can combine distance, back turned, and even out-of-sight cues in your repertoire!
NOSE GAMES
“Nose Games” involves teaching your dog to look for and find hidden objects when you ask him to. This is an exceptionally useful game as it uses lots of energy and can tire out your very active dog, plus has very practical applications as well. We start with treats, since most dogs will happily look for food. You can eventually ask him to look for hidden objects (favorite toys, your lost keys) and even hidden or missing humans!
Here’s how:
Step 1:
1. Have your dog sit and stay. (If he doesn’t know sit/stay, have someone hold his leash). Walk six feet away, show him a treat, remind him to stay, and place the treat on the ground.
2. Return to his side (don’t let him get up yet!), turn and face the treat, then tell him “Search!” (If he won’t get up until you release him from the say “Search!” and then give your release cue.) He should run right out and eat the treat. Repeat a half-dozen times.
Step 2:
1. Have your dog sit and stay. Let him watch you “hide” a treat in plain view (next to a chair leg, by a waste basket, etc.).
2. Return to his side (don’t let him get up!), turn and face the treat, then tell him “Search!” He should run right out and eat the treat. Repeat a half-dozen times.
Step 3:
1. Have your dog sit and stay. Let him watch you hide several treats in plain view.
2. Return to his side (don’t let him get up!), turn and face the treats, rub one of the treats you’re using on a paper towel, hold the towel in front of his nose (don’t let him eat it!) and tell him “Sniff!” (Don’t worry if he doesn’t appear to sniff it.)
3. Then tell him “Search!” He should run right out and eat the treats. Repeat a half-dozen times, having him “Sniff” before each set.
Step 4:
1. Have your dog sit and stay. Let him watch you hide a treat in a harder place (behind a chair leg, etc.)
2. Return to his side (don’t let him get up!), turn and face the treat, do “Sniff!”, then tell him “Search!” He may have more difficulty finding this treat. Don’t help him! This is where he starts learning to use his nose. If you help him, he won’t use his nose. If he truly can’t find it, reset, and hide it in an easier spot. Make sure he watches you! Repeat a half-dozen times.
3. Gradually hide the treat in harder places, having “Sniff” before each set.
Step 5:
1. Have your dog sit and stay. Let him watch you hide 2-3 treats in somewhat easy places (behind a chair leg, etc.)
2. Return to his side (don’t let him get up!), turn and face the treats, then tell him “Search!” He may have more difficulty finding multiple treats. If necessary, indicate an area by spreading your arms and saying “Search here!” Don’t point to the treat! This is where he starts learning to use his nose. If you help him, he won’t use his nose. If he truly can’t find it, reset, and hide it in a slightly easier spot. Make sure he is watching you! Repeat a half-dozen times.
5. Gradually hide treats in harder spots, having “Sniff” each time before you send him. Raised surfaces are even harder, as the scent moves in different ways as it flows down from the raised surface.
Step 6:
1. Put your dog in another room. Hide 2-3 treats in somewhat easy places.
2. Bring him back to the room, have him “Sniff!” then tell him “Search!” He may have more difficulty finding multiple treats. If necessary, indicate an area by spreading your arms and saying “Search here!” Don’t point to the treat! This is where he starts learning to use his nose. If you help him, he won’t use his nose. If he truly can’t find it, reset, and hide it in a slightly easier spot. Make sure he is watching you! Repeat a half-dozen times, doing “Sniff” each time.
3. Gradually hide treats in harder spots.
Step 7:
1. Generalize your dog’s “Search” behavior to other objects as you desire, starting with a favorite toy. Rub the toy on the paper towel, and proceed as your dog needs. Start back at Step 1, placing the toy in plain view and move quickly through to Step 6.
2. Then use less favorite or neutral objects. For humans, rub the human’s scent on the by having them rub it on their neck, and then have them hide – easy at first (let the dog find them in plain view, then watch them hide behind a barrier, or around a corner, then through Step 6.)
Note that this process is very different from the “Specific Scent” protocol taught for the K9 Nosework™ competition and for drug detection work. This is a “Smell Thie Smell, Find This Smell” protocol, and it also has many uses, including Search and Rescue work, and finding missing pets. I had a client come to my Nose Games class twice (6 sessions each time) and by the end of the twelve weeks her little Terrier mix could find her eight-year-old son when she had him go off and hide in the woods.!
READING
Reading is another very fun thing to teach your dog. Yes, dogs can read. Here’s how:
1. Make two white signs that are identical in size and shape, with the word “SIT” in large black letters on one sign, and the word “DOWN” on the other.
2. With your dog standing in front of you, hold up the “SIT” sign, pause, and verbally cue your dog to sit. When your dog sits, mark with your clicker or verbal marker, and feed him a treat. Lure or prompt if necessary. (If your dog won’t stay in a standing position, see the Sidebar, “Helping Your Dog Stand.”)
3. Repeat Step 3 until you can hold up the sign and your dog sits without you having to say “Sit, and with no luring or prompting.” He now thinks holding up a white square with black squiggles on it is a new cue for “Sit,”
4. Now hold up the “DOWN” sign in the exact same position you previously held up the “SIT” sign, and verbally cue your dog to down. Lure or prompt if necessary. When he lies down, mark and treat.
5.Repeat Step 4 until you can hold up the sign and your dog lies down without you having to say “Down, and with no luring or prompting.” He now thinks you’ve changed your mind, and that holding up a white square with black squiggles is the new cue for “Down.”
6. Now randomly vary which sign you hold up in the exact same position. Pause and cue the appropriate behavior, until you see that your dog is beginning to offer the correct behavior in response to whichever sign you hold up. If you realize he’s about to make a mistake (i.e. he starts to lie down when you hold up the “Sit” sign, cheerfully help him get it right – verbally cue the “Sit” and lure him back up into position.
7. Continue to repeat Step 6 until your dog is offering the correct behavior 80% or more of the time. Hey – your dog is reading!! He is recognizing that one set of squiggles means he should sit, and the other means he should lay down. He is able to interpret the meaning of the squiggles and offer the correct behavior – that’s reading!
8. If you want to take it further, you can make additional cue cards for behaviors your dog knows and use the same procedure to teach him new words. Note that if you use cues that require a body prompt from you, you won’t really know if he’s reading the card or responding to your prompt (i.e. shake – where you offer your hand; touch – where he touches his nose to your offered fist), so it’s best to stick to behaviors where you don’t have to move to invite a response.
NEXT
Okay, that’s half of our weekend workshop. Too much for one blog, so you’ll get the rest next time. Yes, that’s a tease… I want you to come back!!! And I’d love for more people to see these – please share with friends!
Until next time…
Loving the Fall weather, but boy, do we need rain – Maryland is under a “No Burn” advisory until further notice. My husband does volunteer Fire Police work and they’ve been out on several mountain fires in addition to their normal load of traffic accidents and house fires...
Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA