Had a great day at the Super Pet Expo with Ashlie from Animal Behavior College! Met and talked with lots of people AND I got to meet Roger and Sandy from Walk With Your Dog With Love.

Lola, HarnessLife.org Spokes-dog!

I was asked to do a blog on things to consider before getting a puppy or dog for the holidays.  Check it out on HarnessLife.org. Great cause with great people!

While you’re there take some time to check out their mission along with the ‘Howl-i-day’ poster campaign they’ve got going on.

Thank you Dee and Lola for asking me – I so appreciate working with you!

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Is this your dog?

This type of barking is not why people call me in desperation.

I get the call because the dog wont STOP barking. They’ve tried EVERYTHING and they don’t know what else to do.   What is rarely easily recognized by owners, myself included, is how we contribute or reward the behavior that we get from our dogs.

If your dog is offering ANY behavior excessively then you are most likely REWARDING and REINFORCING it.

I can see you shaking your head right now that this just isn’t true. Let me ask you this. Do you combat your dog’s barking with a ‘No’, ‘Be Quiet’, or when  your really frustrated with a loud “Shut up”? Then you are unintentionally contributing to the problem and REINFORCING your dog with exactly what they want.

Your Attention.

I know this can be hard to hear and most people want me to give them some miracle cure on how to fix the problem immediately. Unfortunately the problem didn’t happen over night and changing the behavior will take some time.

The upside in all of this is that you have been EXTREMELY successful in training your dog so there is lots of hope!

People don’t like when I tell them that either because no one wants to think that they had any part in training a bad behavior.  But a dog only does what they get reinforced and  rewarded for.

Let me say that again.  Dogs only do what they are being reinforced and rewarded for.

So if your dog is doing something that you don’t like they ARE getting reinforced for that behavior somehow and will continue doing it as long as the reinforcement continues.

This tells me that you are good at both reinforcing and rewarding and that, in many ways, makes my job easier.

When I come into the picture my job is to let people see exactly how they are reinforcing the behavior they don’t want.  I usually get “I do ignore him but he keeps doing it”.  So if we go back to a dog only does what gets reinforced, I then get “I do ignore him but then I just can’t take it anymore and I tell him to stop”.

AHHA! Here we go the truth is out and the person is aware of HOW they are contributing to the problem.  Now we can start working!

If your dog is barking at YOU because they want your attention and you yell “Stop”, are they getting your attention?  The answer, in case you had any doubt, is YES! So you can’t say ignoring doesn’t work because you’ve never really ignored. (That is of course if this applies to you – I really don’t know your specific situation…but If you’re still reading you probably fall into this category somehow.)

What if this isn’t you and you’ve NEVER SAID ANYTHING to your barking dog? Then I have to ask, do you make eye contact to give the “Shut up now before I kill you” angry stare? Yes? I hate to break this to you but you might as well have said “Stop” to your dog.

Eye contact is just another way for you to reward your dog with attention. A barking dog is saying “talk to me, look at me, play with me or give me what I want!” If you are doing any of these you are rewarding the barking.

Are you convinced yet? No, that’s okay. Start paying attention to how you react when your dog is barking. What do you do? Do you look, talk, play or give? Really analyze yourself.  Until you recognize what YOU ARE doing to contribute to the behavior, nothing can change.

When you are convinced come back and find out how you can change your reactions and thus your dogs behaviors.  I’ll be here ready with the information you need.

If you are already convinced – or just desperate enough to try anything – lets begin!

First, start paying attention to what you do when your dog barks. Finding out how you contribute to the problem is the first step.

Do you yell? Stare? Give in and play? Give the dog what they want? What do you do? How long or how loud does your dog bark before you give in and do whatever it takes to get them quiet. It’s important to know exactly so that you can catch yourself doing it and STOP yourself.

Remember you are one REINFORCING and REWARDING the behavior.  It only changes when what you do and how you react changes.

So once you know what you are doing to unintentionally reward the behavior, lets get you rewarding what you want.  QUIETNESS!

Finally I am going to tell you what to do to stop your dogs barking!  YAY.

IGNORE IT!  What?  She didn’t just say that!  Yes I did.  Your answer is to IGNORE what you don’t want and REWARD what you do.

You want a quiet dog, so you need to start REINFORCING the QUIETNESS!

When your dog is barking at you because they want to play fetch (or whatever their favorite game is), in fact they even brought you their toy and dropped it in your lap for you. The only thing, you didn’t throw it yet so they give you a bark that says “Dude, throw!”

Normally you would wait until you couldn’t take the barking anymore and then throw the ball to shut them up. We then repeat, until the dog decides its time to stop.

Now I want you to simply not engage.  Your dog doesn’t get to TELL you when its time to play fetch. You get to tell your dog.  If your dog brings you the ball, bring the ball back to it’s place (maybe the dog’s toy box). Don’t play when your dog wants to.

Your confused dog will not understand but they will get the hint.  That you won’t play with them on command because you are doing something different.

This will take a while for them to understand but it will make a change.

When you do decide to play fetch, only throw when your dog is quiet.  If your dog gets excited and starts barking, game over. Without looking at them, talking to them or touching them bring the ball back in its place and stop engaging.

Are you seeing a pattern yet?  You are deciding when to engage and when not to engage, what to reward and what not to reward.

Let’s talk about barking at dinner time.

Its 6pm and you are getting your dogs food ready. They now it’s dinner time and they are ready to eat but you’re not moving fast enough. So your dog starts telling you how hungry they are.  You get their food ready and put it down for them.  Sound familiar?

To change this start feeding at different times, be sporadic. If your dog sees you getting dinner ready and starts barking at you – stop what your doing and leave the kitchen.  Come back and start over.

Every time your dog barks you are going to stop and leave. Don’t talk to them, look at them or touch them, just leave.   Your dog will learn that if they bark at you, they are not getting dinner!

These may take some time but if you are consistent and only give your dog what they want (food, play, attention (eye contact, conversation, petting) when they are doing what you want things will change and rather quickly.  Your dog wants all of these things from you and will start doing more of whatever will get it from you.

I know this sounds crazy and you think it will NEVER work, in fact YOU’VE already tried ignoring and it DIDN’T work. But did you really?

I will give you an example.  Mattie (my dog) knows that barking won’t get him anything. He doesn’t even bark when he wants to go out – he comes close to me, hovers and stares at me.  This is how I know he REALLY has to go to the  bathroom.

I do pet sitting and most of the dogs I watch bark. I have to teach them that barking in my house doesn’t accomplish their goal.  Yes I want to kill them at times and yes I get frustrated – I’m human!  BUT I work really hard to accomplish this goal because I like my peace and quiet.

I don’t always get it accomplished in the amount of time they are staying with me and my neighbors probably want to kill me, but when they come back for another visit the barking is not as excessive as the last time and we continue building on what has been accomplished so far.

My point – IT WORKS!!  Ignoring what don’t want and rewarding what you do WORKS but it takes time to change the behavior and you need to have the tenacity to go through the growing pains.

It may get worse before it gets better, this is called an extinction burst, but it will get better.  YOU CAN DO THIS!  Just be as determined to train what you want as you have been at training what you don’t want.  I have seen it done numerous times and have faith in you!

If you have any questions or want to simply want to share your frustrations  don’t hesitate to contact me at www.allstarpaws.com/contactus.html.

As Always thank you for reading and I hoped you’ve learned something new and helpful!

To be honest this wasn’t something that I really delved into until it was brought to my attention by another trainer who’s book I am reading and it got me thinking. When I was studying to become a dog trainer Operant Conditioning and Classical Conditioning  (think Pavlov’s dogs) along with the ABC‘s (Antecedent, Behavior and Consequence) of training (see picture below) were the main focus of my education.  I continued to read more books and to put what I learned into practice and was using ‘positive’ training methods. I still do. But this book has made me question why exactly I call myself a positive trainer.

I thought I was calling myself a positive trainer because I was using Positive Reinforcement and that’s partially true, BUT at times I also use Positive Punishment, not very often but I do.  I also use Negative Reinforcement and Negative Punishment but I don’t call myself a Negative Trainer.  On top of that I don’t think you’d want to hire me if I did!! So in my reassessing what I realized is that I use all 4 Quadrants of Operant Conditioning, I tend to use Positive Reinforcement and Negative Punishment more often than the other two but I do use all them at one time or another.

Okay, now that you’re all positive, negative , punishment and reinforcement’d out and still have no clue what the heck I’m talking about let me explain what I am actually referring to when trainers use this lingo:

1. Positive – You are ADDING something.
2. Negative – You are TAKING something away.
3. Punishment – Something that DECREASES your dog from continuing a behavior.
4. Reinforcement – Something that INCREASES your dog to continue a behavior.

When I say ‘Reward what you want and ignore what you don’t’ what I’m actually saying is “Positively Reinforce the behaviors you like and Negatively Punish what you don’t.” HUH?  That’s sound crazy.  But when using what we just learned about negative and positive and punishment and reinforcement it makes sense.

Here’s why with some examples:

1. Positive Reinforcement – by giving our dog a treat, verbal praise or a toy that they like when they Sit they are likely to Sit more often. We ADDED (Positive) something our dog does like so we’ve INCREASED (reinforced) the likelihood of that behavior happening again and again.
2. Positive Punishment – by yelling (Hey, Stop, Fido) at our dog or popping the collar to correct them from pulling on the leash we’ve ADDED (Positive) something we hope our dog doesn’t like so that in the future it will DECREASE (Punish) them from pulling on the leash.
3. Negative Reinforcement – We push our dogs butt to get them to sit and then stop pushing when their butt hits the ground.  We TAKE (Negative) away the pressure our dog finds unpleasant which then in turn INCREASES (Reinforces) the likelihood of our dog staying seated.
4. Negative Punishment -  Your dog is jumps on you and you turn away ignoring them.  You TAKE (Negative) away your attention, which your dog thoroughly wants, to DECREASE (Punish) the jumping up on you.

I always hear how people have tried turning around when the dog jumps and it just doesn’t work, but what people usually do is yell at the dog, usually stop or down, while looking at the dog and making lots of hand gestures to get them off BEFORE turning around and ignoring. Unintentionally they are REINFORCING the jumping by giving the dog what it wants – OUR ATTENTION.  They also tend to be inconsistent and sometimes ignore, while other times reward the unwanted behavior (jumping).

Reinforcement and Punishment ONLY work when our dog finds what we are using to be positive or negative, not what we THINK they will find positive or negative.  Start paying attention to what your dog will work for and what they won’t – that’s how you’ll learn what your dog finds to be REINFORCING or PUNISHING and once you’ve figured out what those are training will be a breeze.  Most dogs WANT our attention or affection and when we TAKE that away without, talking or looking at them when they are offering a behavior (jumping) we dislike while GIVING them our attention/affection when they are doing what we want (sitting) – they will start to offer what we want more often.

I hope this helped you to understand more about how your dog learns and that you are able to apply these concepts in your daily life.  I know they can be confusing but the truth is you are USING all of them with your pup now to some degree. Now that you understand the differences I hope you will start to see where.  Check out the images below for some more examples.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me with them at www.allstarpaws.com/contactus.html.

How has it been going?  Is your dog running faster and faster to their spot or in their crate??  Are they staying for longer and longer periods of time?  At this point you should be seeing your pup responding to the bell or a knock, possibly still barking, but definitely running to their spot or crate when you tell them.

I’m so excited for you and I hope that you are happy with the results you are seeing.  You are almost ready for the big day!

The last thing that we need to work on is opening the door while your pup is at their spot or in their crate. Those of you who choose to use the crate will have an easier time than those of you who are using a spot because you can close the crate door and keep your dog contained.

Okay, let’s get the ball rolling and working on the final stage!

1. Start with the bell/knock and send you pup to their spot/crate. Reward your pup with some treats.  ( I would continue to use a friend, neighbor or family member to help you – don’t use someone actually at the door who wants to come in)

2.’Crate’ owners close the door, Spot owners tell your dog to ‘Stay’ and then walk to the door. (‘Spot’ owners make sure to check that your dog is staying and not following you. )

3. ‘Crate’ owners if your dog barks (and they most likely will) ignore them. ‘Spot’ owners be prepared for your dog to get up as you open the door. If they do close the door and put them back in their ‘Spot’ and tell them to ‘Stay’ don’t reward this time since you are correcting them. Go back to the door and try again. Keep doing this until they ‘Stay’ in their spot while you open the door.

4. Have a pretend conversation with the person and then close the door.

5. Close the door and then return to your dog.  If they are in their ‘Spot’ go all the way back to them and reward them. Then release them. If they are in their ‘Crate’ wait until they are quiet, then reward them and let them out.

6. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.

Just keep practicing this and building up until you are able to let people IN the house while your pup ‘Stays’ in their ‘Spot’ or are quiet in their ‘Crate’.  For now just let your focus be them staying in their spot and being quiet in their crate while you are opening the door and talking to people.  You can even throw in some ‘Trick-or-Treats’ when opening the door.

Always remember to REWARD before you RELEASE.  Use higher level treats as you continue to up the ‘ANTE’ on the ‘Stay’ and quiet in the ‘Crate’ when opening the door with people.  Most importantly HAVE FUN!

If you keep this exercise up you will have a dog who absolutely LOVES going to their ‘Spot’/'Crate’ when the door bell rings and receiving guests will be a JOY not an Anxiety Attack!

As always don’t hesitate to contact me if you are having problems. Please SHARE all of your successes!!  I’d love to hear them.

I hope that you have been having fun and enjoying teaching your pup to enjoy this ‘game’ we’ve been playing.  Let’s get on the next step, I’m sure you’re anxious to keep moving!

Now that we have our pup heading to their crate or spot we are going to add the door bell and ‘Stay’.

Ideally having a second person for this exercise will work best.  If you don’t have access to a second person ask a neighbor if they are willing to play ‘ring and run’ explain exactly what your doing – you’d be surprised how responsive people are when they feel like they are helping.  Ask them to give you about 5 minutes so you can get set up and be working with your pup in the crate or spot for a bit BEFORE the doorbell rings – allowing practice to become real – and it will make for an easier transition then just having the doorbell or knock happen.

If that isn’t possible then just use a knock in place of the door bell.  Knock on the floor or the wall and make it sound as much like a ‘real knock’ as possible.  EXPECT your dog to bark and run out of the crate and off of their spot (if you are actually able to get them in).  IT WILL HAPPEN at some point in time so don’t be discouraged.

7.  Start with Step 1 and move on to step 2.  Repeat this a few times fast and as if there is someone at the door.  Remember to use your ‘real-life’ tone.

8.  Repeat Step 1 but this time while your dog is running to the crate or their spot have your helper ring the bell (use the knock here if you don’t have a helper) Barking and wanting to turn towards the door WILL happen.  Excitedly, and possibly loud,  say “Fido, in your crate” or “Fido, go to your spot” (this is where your ‘real-life tone’ will come in handy) while walking towards their place.  If, you get them there – AWESOME!! – go to step 9 -  If not, see step 10.

9.  Close the crate door and drop all of the remaining treats in (if they are on a spot just drop the remaining treats) while verbally praising as well.  We are not opening the door yet – just getting them used to going to their place when they here the bell.  (We don’t want to add the excitement of a person just yet the bell or knock is ENOUGH at this point.)

10. IF they don’t go in – no worries,  just means it was too soon for the test and that you need to make their crate or spot a higher reward space.  Once they realize no one is coming in they will look back to you.  Tell them again “Fido, in your crate” or “Fido, go to your spot” and reward. Go back to practicing without the actual bell or knock for a few days and up the ‘ante‘.

Now that we’ve got our pups responding to us and going to their place when the door bell rings it is time to teach our pups that they are going to their spot to ‘Stay’.  (For our crated dogs you can either teach them the below or you can close the crate door – your choice .  If you choose to close the door we will teach them later that they don’t get to say hello until they are calm and quiet in their crates.   )

If your dog knows ‘Stay’ already then you are just going to give your dog the ‘Stay’ command.  Take a step or two back, stand there for the count of 2 or so, then come back to your dog and reward them on their spot.  Practice walking further and further away BUT always, ALWAYS reward your pooch on its spot! Release them with a ‘Finished’ or ‘Okay’ (I choose not to use okay because I tend to say okay ALOT!) from their spot.

Don’t release away from their spot because we want them to know that they STAY THERE until you COME BACK to THEM.  This is a very import point.  Otherwise your dog will start looking for your what your body looks like when you Release them rather than waiting for the word.

If your dog  doesn’t know ‘Stay’ follow these steps.

11.  Start with taking a step with one foot (not both) back, return to your dog and reward.  (we don’t want to say anything since we want to teach your dog NOT to follow your body – we will add the word once they are not trying to follow you.)

12.  Repeat Step 1 with your other foot.  (If your dog gets up to follow just send them back to their spot and start over – don’t reward.)

13.  Work up to distance one step at a time.

14.   Add duration (how long you stay away) one second a time. GO SLOW!  This is not a race and the slow and steady will win here.

15.  When your dog is not moving towards you and you can take about two full steps back then add the word ‘Stay’ before you step back.

16.  Always come back to reward.

17.  Pick a release word and after two or three repetitions, as you come into reward release.

Practice this a minimum of three times a day.  Slowly work up to going all the way to the door and then even opening it.  Do this when NO ONE is there.  Expect them to get up just keep practicing.

We are almost ready and you’re doing great!! Remember to keep up the good work and HAVE FUN!

If you have any questions or problems please  contact me and I’ll be happy to offer some suggestions.  Have fun!!

Remember to go slow, have fun and be consistent!

First, you need to figure out what behavior you want from your dog. Do you want them to go to their crate? Sit or lay down in the same spot until you release them? Once you figure this out then you can get to work.

I am going to cover sending your dog to their crate or a specific spot but you can use these training tips to help you with wherever it is that you choose to send your dog when the door bell rings. Just some suggestions to help you and your dog succeed:

1. Try to keep it as far from the door as possible to help your dog succeed.
(the spot can be in the same room just not directly in front of the door.)

2. Practice as often as possible before putting this to use in a ‘real-life’ situation.

3. When you practice act as if IT IS a ‘real-life’ situation.

4. Use a HIGH REINFORCER (something your dog considers high – not you) and a HIGH RATE of reinforcement. (Don’t be stingy – your dog going to it’s spot has to be a bigger deal and more reinforcing then them barking at the door).

5. If your dog doesn’t like the crate and that’s what you’ve chosen to use then when not training leave their food and water in there while not attempting to close the door once they go in. We want them to go in by themselves and feel safe that they won’t get locked in. Put any and all treats there (they don’t get them ANYWHERE else – the crate is the PLACE TO BE!) and make sure they are in the far back so that your pup has to go in to get them. LET THEM GO IN ON THEIR OWN – NO HELP! (ie. shoving, pushing.)

Okay lets begin. Get about 50 (little more or little less) pea sized treats ready (this can be in place of breakfast, lunch or dinner just but don’t use their food as the treat..remember HIGH REINFORCEMENT TO THEM not you!)

1. Start dropping treats towards the back of their crate or in the center of their ‘spot’ while saying “Fido, in your crate” or “Fido, go to your spot”. (use your ‘real-life’ tone)

2. Keep dropping treats- You want your dog to think that this is the BEST PLACE EVER! (don’t walk away from the crate or spot, stay close – if your pup isn’t stepping a foot in the crate you can drop the treats closer to the front to get them in)

3. When your dog seems content to stay at the back of the crate or on their spot repeat Steps 1 & 2.

4. Practice this for a week every day for a few minutes a day as many times as possible.

5. After a week of this you should be able to close the crate door without any trauma. Start to close the door after they go into their crate. Continue to drop treats towards the back of the crate – HIGHLY REINFORCE especially with the door closed. After a few seconds open the door and release them with a word like ‘Finished’.

6. If you are using a spot rather than a crate start to create some distance between you and your pup while still tossing treats on their spot back up as far as you can while still being able to toss treats to their spot. You want them to learn that if they ’stay’ there that treats happen. If they get up to follow you go back to the spot reinforcing “Fido, go to your spot” and rewarding only there. If they continue to want to follow you you are moving to far to fast. Don’t rush – go slow!

6. As you see your dog excited about going to the crate or their spot and you are able to close the door and walk away from them on their spot – your ready for the next phase.

Practice this for the next week. Towards the end of the week you can add start to send them to the crate or spot when you say “Fido, in your crate” or “Fido, go to your spot” then walk towards it with them. We want to start practicing “sending” them there.

Work to move slower rather than fast…patience is always the key. Try to thing of this as a game and make it fun rather than a goal that you need to accomplish yesterday.

If you have any questions or something is working please reach out to me and I will be happy to give you some additional tips to get you moving.

Don’t forget to stop by my website at www.allstarpaws.com for more tips and suggestions.

Mattie in HIS Halloween costume!

As if that isn’t enough we now have to find some way to hold the dog back so that we don’t terrify the kids.

At least I do! (That’s my dirty dog trainer secret, the knock at the door. Sigh. )

Since we have lots of time before this dog-fun day happens I thought I would do a series of different tips from training your dog to go to it’s crate or spot/place when the doorbell rings to getting your pup to WANT to wear their costume.

Check back in a few days as I cover how to get your dog to go to it’s crate or place when the doorbell rings or a knock happens.

Do you think this dog will bite?

If you have a dog that you think will bite “to muzzle or NOT to muzzle” becomes a very good question! Whenever I am working with a client who is afraid that their dog is going to bite I do suggest getting a muzzle. In my opinion, if you are really afraid that your dog biting is a real possibility it is better to err on the side of caution then to take that risk. I also feel that by using a muzzle your anxiety level drops because you are no longer as afraid of your dog actually hurting someone, which in turn allows the dog to relax. It’s really a win, win and can be quite beneficial when you are dealing with an aggressive dog. It is not the only solution but it is a start and can help with the re-conditioning process.

Teaching your dog that the world it has come to fear outside of your home, or the strangers that come into your home don’t need to be chased away, is always a long process and requires lots of commitment and patience on your part. It also requires lots of acceptance for who your dog is and where they may be at the moment. I know that it can be very frustrating, and most owners simply want a “normal dog!” (I know I did MANY TIMES!), this is why we start the process with you learning how to be calm and how to be proactive with your dog and the leash, rather than waiting for your dog to start reacting to a person, place or thing. If you are being reactive with your dog you are not helping, but are actually contributing to the problem.

The leash is like an umbilical cord, any tension, fear, anxiety or anger that you are feeling is being sent directly to your dog. When you view it this way you can see how you are either: 1. Contributing to the problem or 2. Being part of the solution. While you are figuring out how to do this a muzzle can help you and your dog while you learn how to monitor your feelings, emotions and reactions.

Most dogs don’t like having something around their snout, in fact most people don’t, so getting them to accept the muzzle without making it a negative experience is very important. It is also important to make sure that you measure correctly so that your get the right muzzle for you dog. We don’t want it coming off as this defeats the purpose of having it on in the first place.

I have included some links to a site that will help with measurements and getting your dog to accept the muzzle. ***Please note – I don’t advocate or agree with all of the training methods that Leerburg advocates and uses. I respect them as trainers and appreciate the information that is provided for fitting muzzles and getting a dog to accept them which is why I am referencing them and sharing their information with you.

Click here to learn how to correctly measure and fit your dog for a muzzle.

Click here to go to a video that will teach you how to help your dog accept the muzzle.

If you think that this is for you but would like some additional help in making your decision please don’t hesitate to contact me and I will help you in anyway I can.

Please know that this doesn’t have to be forever or even long term. It can just be used until you are more confident. You can make the muzzle something that your dog enjoys putting on – good associations with it will do that. It is not the answer for everyone but it is something to be considered if you are afraid.

As always thank you for reading!