Treats, treats, treats!

Beginner students always want to know, “What are the best kinds of treats for training?”  Ideally, treats should be

1.)    Small—roughly pea-sized or smaller

2.)    Smelly—holding a smelly treat in front of a dog’s nose is most effective at getting the dog’s attention

3.)    Soft—hard treats require chewing and generally are not as enticing or smelly

4.)    Variable—dogs get bored with a single type of treat, so mix it up!  Your dog never knows, in advance, which kind of treat he’s getting.  Training night is like Halloween trick-or-treating for dogs!

For the first night of a beginner class, you will need a lot of treats.  However many treats you think you need, multiply by four.  It’s OK to have too many, but training is very difficult in the learning phases when you run out of treats.

Recommended treats:  far and away, my favorite choice for a treat is Natural Balance Lamb or Turkey

dog food rolls.  Sliced into ½” thick slices, they are easy to break into pea-sized treats, nutritionally balanced as dog food, and most dogs love them!   The downside is that they need to be refrigerated after opening, and they will turn to crumbs if they are smashed in a treat bag.  Petco sells these rolls. 

Petsmart sells something similar, and also good, the Pet Botanics Dog Food Rolls.  You will need to experiment to see which ones hold up best (some are more moist, while some are more crumbly).

Other great options are diced pieces of chicken, turkey, ham, braunschweger, cooked liver or steak, small pieces of hot dog, or string cheese.  Check out the deli section of your local grocery store.   You definitely want to test these with your dog before bringing a huge amount to a training class.  For my dog, too many hot dogs will cause diarrhea, but he adores, and is fine with the messier turkey-cheese dogs!   Too much cheese can also cause digestive problems for some dogs. 

A final healthy option for dogs is dehydrated liver or dehydrated meat.  Most dogs go bonkers for the dehydrated treats, but they are expensive and very difficult to break into smaller pieces, so I use them sparingly.

Occasional treats:   variety is the spice of life, so I mix in some “occasional” treats while training.  Some dogs like crunchies: mini-Milkbones, Charlee Bear treats, or even Cheerios.  Try them first to make sure

your dog likes them—my dog likes the egg and cheese Charlee Bears, but not the liver variety.  In the “junk food” category of dog treats, are marketed soft dog treats like Bil-Jac Liver treats, Pupperoni sticks, Canine Carryouts, Milo’s Kitchen, and Beggin’ Strips.  These are not the healthiest choices for your dog, but may be okay in small amounts.

Things to AVOID:  Avoid any treats made in China, especially chicken or duck jerky.   The FDA is currently researching Chinese jerky treats to determine why so many dogs are getting sick from them, but for now, simply avoid them and make sure if you buy something with chicken, it is made in the U.S. or Canada. For info about the FDA and chicken jerky, click here: http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm092802.htm

Important reminder:  Your dogs will get fatter than a turkey at Thanksgiving if you start training them regularly and do not reduce their regular food intake.  If you are training at home, it is perfectly okay to use part or all of their regular meal to work with them.  Dogs are generally happy to work for their ordinary food, if they like their food. However, ordinary food will not entice them when they have extraordinary distractions such as other dogs and new smells in a training class.  Bring the good stuff to training and reduce their food for the day.  Your dog will thank you!

An introduction to AKC Rally

This video was taken several years ago, when I was competing in AKC Rally with my Giant schnauzer Atlas.  For those who aren't familiar with Rally, according to the AKC, "Rally is a sport in which the dog and handler complete a course that has been designed by the rally judge. The judge tells the handler to begin, and the dog and handler proceed at their own pace through a course of designated stations (10 - 20, depending on the level). Each of these stations has a sign providing instructions regarding the next skill that is to be performed."  The signs test your partnership as you ask the dog to perform maneuvers such as "left turn", "halt", and "send your dog over the jump".

The Advanced level, seen here, is more difficult than the Novice level because the dog is off-leash for the entire performance, and some of the course signs are more difficult than a Novice level.  As a handler, you are allowed to talk to your dog and encourage him as much as needed, and you can use hand signals and repeat them as needed.  In AKC Obedience sports, the handler needs to either have their left arm swinging naturally at their side, or have their left fist held up at the waist so it doesn't bonk the dog in the head.   AKC Rally doesn't require any particular hand or arm position, but I adopted the traditional obedience posture out of habit and to avoid accidentally hitting my dog.

In this video, Atlas is frequently gazing up at me intently to follow my next move.  This is exactly what you train for in obedience and rally.  It looks like the dog is completely devoted to his person, but in reality it is a behavior: practiced and trained and practiced some more.  That devoted, loving gaze is the same loving gaze you see in your pet when you are eating something delicious like a steak or a hot dog! In fact, the way I trained the sustained attention was by holding a hot dog in my left hand, and offering Atlas little tiny bits of it whenever he offered to look up at me.  For an AKC Rally trial, however, the dog has to learn to work without food, so it is important in training to gradually wean them off the expected treats.

For the record, we earned a perfect score of 100 with this routine.  It was definitely one of the best moments ever in my training with Atlas.  What was surprising, though, is that during the previous Rally trial, roughly 2 months earlier, Atlas and I disqualified because Atlas decided to go exploring the course without me and generally ignored me.  This is a common problem with dogs, and in the next video I'll show an embarrassing example of this and explain how I worked through those difficulties.

Finding a Good Dog Trainer

Currently, there is no licensing or credentialing system required in Illinois to be a dog trainer. Anyone can claim to be a trainer.  How can you find a good trainer?  Here are some questions to ask:

• Does the trainer have experience working with your breed of dog?  Each dog breed has different characteristics, and a good trainer will have experience with multiple dog breeds and hopefully with your specific breed.  A trainer who only works with German Shepherd Dogs, for instance, may not fully understand the timid nature of an Italian Greyhound or the tenacious focus of a Jack Russell Terrier.  
• Does the trainer keep up with the latest scientific methods of learning and behavior?  A good indication of this would be if the trainer is a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers. If the trainer is doing the same thing they've been doing for years, it indicates they might not care about finding the best methods of dog training. Older, outdated methods of training can be effective, but often are unnecessarily harsh.

  

  Group training classes cannot fully address
  difficult-to-manage behaviors at home.

• Will the trainer work with you to practice in your home, neighborhood, or areas of difficulty?  While learning in classes can help create good behavior, problem behavior is best addressed at the source. Correcting problem behavior almost always requires some creativity and a willingness for the trainer to observe and make recommendations based on the dog's environment during the behavior. 
• What training tools will the trainer use with your dog?  ​A trainer's motto should mimic a doctor's creed, "First, do no harm."  Find out specifically what the trainer will do to correct problem behaviors. Does the trainer plan to use a prong or pinch collar; an electronic collar; a harness; head halter; clicker and treats; or toys? If you are not comfortable with it, do not let him or her do it.  You are responsible for your dog's well-being.  Your dog depends on you to protect him in the human world.  You have the right to refuse any part of the training regimen that you think will be detrimental to your dog, no matter how learned or experienced the trainer is.  You know your dog best.  
• Finally, observe the trainer in action.  If a trainer isn't willing to let you see what he or she is doing, you probably don't want him or her touching your dog!

Product Reviews: Lighted leashes, collars, and doggy safety lights

During winter in the Northern latitudes, there never seems to be enough daylight.  I worry about walking along the sidewalk or street in the dark, and I have tried a lot of different products to make sure I am visible. Here are some helpful hints for making your night walk a little brighter:

Lighted Collars

Nite Dawg LED collar by Nite Ize

Lighted collars are a poor choice for dog walking at night.  If your dog has any significant amount of fur, it will partially obstruct the collar, and depending on the direction your dog is facing, may not be visible to oncoming traffic.  Lighted collars are a good choice if you want to keep track of a loose dog in a secure or fenced area, but definitely not the best choice for dog walking.

Nite Dawg LED Pet Leash by Nite Ize

Lighted Leashes

Lighted leashes are wonderful inventions for making dogs and walkers more visible to oncoming traffic. I have personally used the Nite-Ize lighted leash for 6 months of nightly dog walks, and it worked very well and was water resistant.  I have used it during several downpours, and many snow flurries, without any problems, although it does not claim to be waterproof.   When the light gets dim, the button-cell batteries must be replaced using a screwdriver.   The leash appears odd because it only lights from the handle to halfway down the lead, but that is more than enough to let someone know you are coming, plus it has a reflective stripe running the length of the leash for added visibility.

Dog-e-Glow lighted leash

I recently purchased a Dog-E-Glow lighted leash, and that also seems to work well, and I love the variety of styles and colors.  Note that the Dog-E-Glow leash has a tiny switch on the side of the light housing to connect the circuit. I was very frustrated when the second time I tried to use the leash I couldn't get it to light up because I had forgotten about this on/off switch.

Litey Leash

I also tried out the inexpensive Litey-Leash.  It worked well for about the first half of my dog walk, but then my 70-lb. dog apparently pulled the circuit apart and it no longer lit up.  Admittedly, the Litey-Leash says it is for dogs under 75 lbs, and my dog can pull a bit, but I was disappointed with the results.  Perhaps for smaller dogs it would not be an issue, but on the other hand, neither the Dog-E-Glow nor the Nite-Ize leashes had any problems, even with a 100 lb. dog.

UPDATE: (October 2014)  Dog-E-Glow has become my regular nighttime leash.  One caution, though: this leash is quite sturdy, with a heavy-duty clasp, and simply does not make sense for walking a dog less than 20 lbs.   Also, because of the thickly-padded handle, it is difficult to hold 2 leashes, and the 6 ft. length means a dog can really move away from you, which is not ideal at night in the dark.

Collar Lights

PetLit by Nite-Ize

Collar lights are designed to clip on to the dog's collar and help light the way.  In general they are small and the light is ineffective if you need to figure out where your dog just pooped, but nice for a little ambient light. I bought several Nite-Ize SpotLit (or PetLit) carabiners, which have two major product flaws.  The button is extremely difficult to turn off and on-- nice that the dog won't accidentally turn it off (or on), but frustrating when I had to literally step on it because I didn't have enough hand strength to turn it on.   The light worked great until the battery died, but after replacing the battery, it would randomly turn off after about 3-5 minutes. This happened with not one, but several of the SpotLits.  I was extremely annoyed to be left in the dark!

Miscellaneous

Puplight

The greatest light of all, for me, has been the PupLight.  It looks incredibly awkward, but the design is ingenious. It is basically a spotlight-type of light hinged to a plastic holder that allows the owner to bend it to any angle vertically.  This small light is designed to either be worn on a lanyard around the owner's neck, or worn on an elastic collar which slides over the dog's head as shown here.  Out of all my lighted tools, this is the one I found indispensable.  It was literally bright enough for me to wear as a lanyard and see several feet in front of me, as well as allowing enough light to pick up poops. I also felt confident that if anyone tried to mug me I could shine it in their eyes and temporarily blind them-- it was really bright! The light requires two AAA batteries which are easily replaced without needing a screwdriver.   It is definitely not waterproof, so if you put it on your dog make sure he isn't about to take a swim.

SlapLit by Nite-Ize

With me in my black winter coat, and my two black Giant schnauzers, high visibility is important not only from the front but also from the back.  For this reason I like the 360 degree visibility of lighted leashes, and usually supplement it with a SlapLit bracelet on either puffy sleeve from Nite-Ize.  I was worried about them falling off, but so far they usually stays on pretty well.

What about you?
Do you have any other tips or recommendations for high visibility during these cold winter nights?

Timing the CLICK

I just realized a major problem I was having teaching Phoebe to grab the dumbbell. My timing was slow. Phoebe is a super-quick dog, she grabs and lets go nearly instantly. So when I was click and treating, she thought I was C/T for grab AND let go. No wonder I couldn't get her to pick up (or hang onto) the dumbbell! No wonder she thought I was an idiot when I didn't click after she kept grabbing and letting go.

I had to take it back a step, and start clicking for the GRAB, which requires a bit of anticipation on my part. If I wait until she's grabbed, it is too late because by then she's already let go. Amazingly, over a very short session she figured out the click is for the GRAB and she will hold on, even bringing the dumbbell up off the floor sometimes. A miracle breakthrough!

I have also been working on a "touch my hand" trick, and I've had the same problem with it. She touches and then zooms back for a treat. The only way I could get her to stay near my hand is if I held the hand near the treats. I want to teach her to touch my hand until I click the clicker, but I realized that wasn't going to happen unless I started consistently clicking during the millisecond that she was touching my hand. Today I was moving briskly around the house, and she was following my hand with her nose. Success! She couldn't reach the hand easily, so she had to follow it-- and it was much easier to C/T that way. And I have started to build duration. I'm not sure if it will hold up when I stop moving my hand, though!

Frustration with clicker training

Phoebe teaches me something new every day. I'm just not smart enough to figure it out, most days!

Today I was working with her picking up a metal dumbbell. She will grasp it in her teeth about 90% of the time, but usually won't move the dumbbell. Or else she'll grasp it and simultaneously paw it. I have been C/T for clacking the dumbbell with her teeth. Today I decided to raise the criteria and have her move the dumbbell slightly. All I'm looking for is a little lift on either end of the dumbbell. We got "stuck." She wouldn't even clack the dumbbell with her teeth. So frustrating! I didn't want to end on a bad note, but I couldn't get her to go back to the dumbbell. She tried pawing it, moving it around with her paw, and finally she gave up and lay down, watching me expectantly. I know she's thinking "You're an idiot, I did what you wanted and you forgot to give me a treat!"

Finally I got her back to the dumbbell with a lot of encouragement, and when she lifted it up I jackpotted her. Whee! She did a couple more dumbbell lifts, and I ended with her wanting more.

Later I was working on having her jump over a stick, roughly 4 inches off the ground, with me standing at the end of the stick. For whatever reason, she'd jump to my right hand cleanly to get the treat, but every time she'd jump to my left hand, she'd clip the bar with her back foot. Almost every single time! I couldn't give her a treat for clipping the bar, and she didn't seem to realize she hit it. She started to think she'd just get treated for going one way. Major frustration!

I pulled out 2 children's chairs, roughly 12" across and 12" high when placed on their sides, and I used that as my "bar" for her to jump across. She had no problem with that, jumping easily from side to side!

Lesson: If it isn't working, try something else!

Retrieving a metal article

Atlas seems to be doing really well with retrieving his plastic dumbbell. I have "tested" him at the obedience club, and he will do a near-perfect retrieval both on the flat, and going over a jump. I didn't have to do much of anything to get him to retrieve over the jump, he just figured it out on his own. Hallalujah for smart dogs! I know Phoebe is going to be a bigger challenge when she gets to that level.

Over the weekend I bought my first-ever set of scent articles, in preparation for utility work. The articles have been previously used, and they are exactly the perfect size, but instead of a single rod in the middle, they have 2 rods, each on opposite corners of the dumbbell. I am really eager to start scent work with Atlas and Phoebe, but I realized I needed to make sure they were comfortable with the new equipment and understood how to retrieve *these* dumbbells.

I read somewhere that dogs often dislike picking up metal articles, and it is better to start with the metal articles to get them used to it. So I tried to have Atlas "take" the metal dumbbell, and he thought I was crazy. Why would he want to put that nasty metal thing in his mouth?

Now we are almost back to square one, teaching him to put his teeth on the metal for a click and treat. He actually did pick it up and bring it to me once, with the metal shivering in his mouth because he didn't want to hold it. But in general I am still working on having him put it in his mouth while it is on the floor. Because of the double-rods, he prefers to paw at it. No C/T for that, but he continues to try it!

Phoebe is a little better about the metal. Just now as I worked with her, I started getting her consistently "clacking" her teeth on the metal bit while the dumbbell is on the floor. With the giant schnauzer's beard, it is impossible for me to see it, so I have to listen carefully for that clacking sound and make sure she isn't knocking it with her paw. It is encouraging that she seems OK with metal. She is still not able to do a full retrieve with the plastic dumbbell, but I've put that aside for now in favor of working with the metal articles.