I know that this Academy – with the prospect of analyzing and discussing scientific behavior articles and studies – can be intimidating. I so appreciate this week’s class – they jumped wholeheartedly into the discussions as well as the more advanced training with their dogs. They all passed their written and practical finals with flying colors (all with final scores in the 90's!). For the practical, they each presented an analysis of their selected behavior study, and then did a demonstration with their dog of three of the behaviors they worked on this week.
Here's the graduating class – and we now have four new PMCTs (Pat Miller Certified Trainers) and 2 new PMCT2s! Congrats to all, and extra kudos to High-Scoring Graduate Kimberly Agzigian, PMCT2 with her Rough Collie, Liam! Left to Right, Front: Julie Wintrob, PMCT and Cannoli, Kimberly Agzigan, PMCT2 and Liam, Kimana Merrill, PMCT and Josie. Back: Nedra Woodard, PMCT and Keenan, Patrick Bryant, PMCT and Indie, me, and Jess Kelley-Madera, PMCT2 and Bear.
Here are the behaviors we added to the list since Tuesday’s blog:
Bucket Game and Chin Rest: We can’t emphasize enough the critical importance of giving our dogs agency in their lives. Only in recent years has the dog training world come to understand the importance role that choice plays in emotional health and behavior. These are just two protocols of many we are now using two enhance quality of life for our dogs. Here’s a link to an article of mine with links to additional resources on these two protocols: https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/training/cooperative-care-giving-your-dog-choice-and-control/
Reading: Yes, we can teach dogs to read!! We barely scratch the surface of this complex cognitive behavior in the T&BS Academy – we take a much deeper dive in the Cognition Academy week. But it is still great fun and always mindboggling to see dogs learning to read! Here’s a quick version of how to do it:
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. Repeat until you can hold up the sign and he sits without you having to say “Sit.” He now thinks holding up a white square with black squiggles on it is a cue for “Sit.”
3. 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. Repeat until you can hold up the sign and he lies down without you having to say “Down.” He now thinks holding up a white square with black squiggles is the cue for “Down.”
4. Now 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. Your dog is reading – if recognizing that one set of squiggles means he should sit, and the other means he should lay down.
5. If you want to take it further, make additional cue cards for behaviors your dog knows, and use the same procedure to teach him new words.
Operant Cue Transfer: This one is pretty simple. While dogs can really only know one behavior for a particular cue (i.e. “Down” should mean lie down or “Get off the sofa” but shouldn’t be used for both), they can learn multiple cues for the same behavior. This exercise teaches them a new cue for a behavior they already have one cue. To do this simply give your new cue, then pause, then give the known cue, and before long your dog will realize and respond to the first (new) cue before you give the second (known) one.
Classical Conditioning: Creating an association or changing an existing association (counter conditioning) to a husbandry procedure: https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/care/a-counter-conditioning-protocol-for-nail-trimming/
Match to Sample: Another fun Cognition game, in which you show your dog an object and she has to pick out the matching object from two or more items on the floor or platform. Fun! (And much easier for most dogs than you might think!) Want to try Advanced Match to Sample? Show your dog a photo and they have to pick out the matching object!
So there you go. We are all happily exhausted. And no more academies for a month! (Next one starts September 9th – a Level 1 Basic Dog Training and Behavior.) But there will be plenty going on here at Peaceable Paws, so don’t go away! (Photos not from this academy - just to give you the idea)
And now, time to feed the dogs, feed myself, and then REST!!!
