Communication Pitfalls

Communication Pitfalls

It often comes up in the dog training classes I teach that a dog is not responding to a command out of deviance because most certainly the puppy or dog ‘knows’ the word, such as “sit” or “come”.  There are many variables in communication especially when the communication is between different species. I’m considering the information shared between humans and dogs, and how easy it is for a ‘simple’ communication like asking a dog to sit can be complicated by misinformation, cause and effect of situations, and free will to react to a communication signal.

It is generally agreed that there is always a sender and receiver in any communication. In the Principles of Animal Communication by Jack Bradbury and Sandra Vehrencamp the process of communication is described as, “Involving two individuals, a sender and a receiver. The sender provides a signal which conveys information. The signal is transmitted through the environment and is detected by the receiver. The receiver uses the information to help make a decision about how it should respond. “ Signals are the vehicle the message arrives on. (3)  There are some choices to make, there can be true communication where both parties benefit, there is eavesdropping where information from another animal is used to their detriment such as a mouse rustling noise alerting an owl, or the sender may send misinformation.  A true and honest communication is always the best; it uses the least amount of energy and benefits both the sender and the receiver.

So we have the senders and receivers but there is another aspect of communication that should not be overlooked and that is cause and effect. In Animal Cognition, The Mental Lives of Animals by Clive D.L. Wynne he states that animals that have the ability to relate cause and effect into their lives will likely be more successful as they go through life. Success is relative to perception of any given situation. Let’s say your dog is digging a hole in the backyard and you call them to come to you, in the past when you have called the dog while in the backyard you have brought the dog into the house.  Digging the hole is fun! The signal of calling “come” by the sender means the fun is over to the receiver. The honest communication from the dog, now the sender, is to ignore to come and continued digging.  

Another example that came up recently in one of my classes is a dog that is leery of his dog door. When he people first got the dog, a young adult, he went through the dog door a few times; both times he bumped his shoulder, now he is leery of his people asking him to go through anything.  An honest signal from his people that the dog door is safe is now perceived as less than honest and generalized with fear of going through anything. Using the dog door for this dog has been affected by cause and effect.

How accurate are we humans at interpreting dog’s signals?  As it turns out not very good, this is shown over and over again by research ( O’Farrell, 1997; Schenkel, 1967…). We humans fall prey to giving our dogs human emotions and qualities such as defiance or stubbornness.  When we do this we take away from our canine friends by not appreciating who they really are; a species that excels in cooperation and faithfulness to humans. We must be keen observers of dogs and we can only do this by studying their communication style. This involves body language, facial expressions and vocal exchanges (Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training, Volume One, Steven Lindsay).  Luckily there are many resources for us to tap into to better understand our dogs. Turid Rugaas changed the way I looked at dogs. I had read her book Calming Signals but it wasn't until I went to spend the weekend with her in Sequim WA [I sat next to her at dinner] at a seminar presented by Terry Ryan that I came home changed and more keenly aware of the importance of dogs and what their behavior means in regards to communication. The PBS series NOVA’s program Dogs Decoded is also very informative about the evolution of dogs.

So when your commands are not obeyed by your dog take a step back and look at the situation, observe your dog’s body language and appreciate how difficult it can be send and receive honest communications.

Threshold

I am a member of the Yahoo group Clicker Solutions and there was a recent post about a reactive dog. In one of the responses there was a link to a blog written by Patricia McConnell PhD,  http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/tag/constructional-aggression-treatment

Over threshold

So I went to the blog and found it very informative, it is always good to review the language of behavior modification. A term that comes up often in dog training today is threshold, your dog is either above, below or at threshold. But what exactly does that term mean. According to James O’Heare in The Canine Aggression Workbook, “The stress threshold is the upper limit point at which stress surpasses the dog’s stress tolerance.”  It goes onto say that each dog has different limits and that it is thought by some researchers to be an inherited trait with some individuals calmer at birth than others. The other side of that coin is the dogs that are guided by their fight or flight reflex which can inhibit previous learned impulse control, as O’Heare states, “it suspends rationality.”

Under threshold

Further research lead me to Handbook of Applied Dog behavior and Training Volume Two by Steven Lindsay, it seems that although threshold levels are inherited, threshold levels are also influenced by events. Traumatic or influencing events, also referred to as setting events, trigger the over threshold response that establishes a fight, flight or freeze reaction resulting in a predisposition to that reaction to similar events later on. This predisposition to over react can be varied however through training and behavior modification. If you looked at the above mentioned blog you will get a quick review of some of the options available to dog caretakers whose companions over react.

At threshold, seems like Buddy could go over threshold
in regards to his new toy.

That makes sense and I’m sure you have experienced your own dog going over threshold and not able to respond to you rather only able to respond to the event such as a rabbit, another dog or a person. My home is relatively peaceful and so my new dog Buddy is below threshold while we are here together but once the UPS truck pulls up all bets are off. Even though he is over threshold and does not respond to his name I do not feel threatened by him. But that is not true at toenail trimming time, put the trimmer to his toenail, and he will try to bite. He is five years old [I have had him for six weeks] and over the years his fear of toenail trimming has spiraled, he is quick to react with significant anger until the trimming has stopped. I’ll be working to desensitize his feelings about nail trimming to help reduce his stress threshold and manage his black nails.

Buddy is also a reactive barker, he is after all part dachshund. I am following the advice of Leslie McDevitt in the book Control Unleashed doing mat work with him, playing Whiplash Turn Around and practicing Leave it to name a few of the activities we are working on in our home and around the yard. This practice will help Buddy make more rational decisions when stressed and choose to react more calmly. Plus the fact he is adorable!  

Say "Cheese!"

SAY 'CHEESE!'

Taking pictures of your pets is a challenge! Dogs find the camera pointing right at them upsetting. This ‘line-up’ of our family’s dogs is the same proud group pictured in an earlier blog. The dogs look like they are in a line-up of some sort, not the same sharp group you see when the photo was taken outdoors. Location, location, location.

This was the first picture I saw of Buddy...
no wonder I fell in love!

As it turns out there is more to it than that. One thing that makes picture taking easier today than 20 years ago, when the pictures of my dogs were taken, is digital cameras.  Now a days you can take many, many pictures and delete the ones that don’t work out.  So that is one tip, take a lot of pictures. I interviewed our local animal shelter’s photographer, Mary Jo Adams, for picture taking tips. She takes all the wonderful pictures for the WAIF website, http://www.waifanimals.org/adopt/dogs/dog-search-results/page/2/  and WAIF's Facebook page. If you copy the link it will open to the page that has my new dog on it, he was Sonny while at the shelter, but I call him Buddy. Those pictures of him are just a few of the examples of her excellent dog and cat photographing skills. How does she make 35 black cats all look like individuals? So I asked Mary Jo how she does it.

This is WAIF resident Kyla...
what a great picture!
She's looking right at you isn't she?

First she advised the aforementioned taking lots of pictures. Secondly be patient, it is a waiting game. Third, get down to the level of your pet. Closer is better, although you can always crop if necessary.  Mary Jo made it sound easy. So I am planning a taking a very adorable picture of Buddy to post in this blog and also send into the WAIF Happy Endings page.  Well wouldn’t you know my battery needs to be charged.  So you will have to wait for the happy ending picture of myself and Buddy. Great that will give me some time to take my own advice given below.

 My tips for successful pictures is do some practice. Get your camera out and have the camera in one hand and a few treats in the other. When your dog looks at the camera in your hand, reward! As you play this game move the camera closer to your face and rewarding your dog anytime he or she looks at the camera. Continue this until the camera is in front of your face. Make the training session short and fun, end with your dog wanting to look at the camera some more.  Now your dog is ready for a picture! Keep the picture taking session or moment of snapshot relaxed and lighthearted.

I took one of these pictures of Honey and the other was taken by Mary Jo. No need to say any more is there? I'll keep practicing.

Do you have any funny pet picture taking experiences you would like to share? Post a picture and tell the story!

Perfect Play

Perfect Play

The players: Mellie and Honey

I once read that play is defined as when both/all parties involved have equal interactions. In dog play it is one dog chases for awhile, and then the other dog is the chaser for a bit. While wrestling one dog is on the bottom for a while then the other takes a turn. Honey is a one year old mixed breed from WAIF Animal shelter here on Whidbey Island and is a service dog in training that has been living with me for 4 months and Mellie is a 6 month old Golden Retriever staying with me for a week while her dad is on vacation. These two young dogs have a compatible play style that has a lot of give and take.

Relaxed equal play. Look at the c-curve on both dogs and
Mellie offering an off-balance posture by lifting her paw.

Honey is more agile than Mellie due to her age and body type so they started out with Honey running in front with a toy in her mouth. Mellie ran after her, Honey then slowed down and played some tug with the stick or other toy. Mellie ended up with the stick and then ran out in front of Honey. When Mellie stopped they both mouthed the stick and then Honey took a turn at racing around the house.

You can see below that the stick is forgotten as they roll in the
 grass some. Honey is about to do some time on her back.
Note the c-curved bodies again from both dogs.

 Watching dogs play gives us the opportunity to practice our canine observation skills. Dogs are much better at reading us than we are at understanding them. Are tails up and tight or relaxed and low? Are the dogs approaching head-on or curving? You might notice that dogs' bodies are often shaped in a c-curve when meeting or playing with other dogs.  You can see the c-curve in these pictures of Honey and Mellie romping, a sign that all is well.

Honey is tired of sharing the stick, her tight and curly tail,
c-curve gone as well as the look in her eye gives the clue to
Mellie to take a break.

To find out more about these subtle signals that dogs use in communication. Check out the web site of Turid Rugaas:
http://www.canis.no/rugaas/onearticle.php?artid=1
Turid is an internationally respected trainer and became best known for her description of the 'calming signals' dogs use to communicate with each other. Once we humans begin to learn the language of dogs we can enjoy our companions all the more!

Taking a break for a drink with a friend.
Great way to end a perfect play session with a friend.

Love that Name!

In all that there is to living successfully with dogs one of the basics is that your dog should love hearing its name. There is no better place to start than that. Say your dog’s name and they should spin around and head your way. There are a good number people who have accomplished this behavior but instead of the dog’s name the dog responds beautifully to the word ‘treat’ or ‘cookie.’ Why is this? Without even considering the consequences, whenever we say ‘treat’ and the dog comes to us we reliably give them a treat, isn’t that great? Works perfect if your dog’s name is Treat or Cookie. You will feel like you are cheating a bit otherwise, even though your training was perfect.

How can you help your dog love hearing its name? One of the best descriptions of it I had read recently was in the book Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt. McDevitt refers to this name game as the Whiplash Turn Game, because of the result of your dog, upon hearing his name, whipping around to look at you so fast he receives whiplash. You start the practice in your home where you will toss a treat and just as your dog is about finished chewing it you say “Fido!” invitingly and the dog whips around and looks at you, you then toss the food again, invitingly say name, and when the dog looks at you toss the food again. This game is a good one to play while using a clicker or a verbal marker like ‘Yes”. You would use the behavior marker as soon as you see thedog's neck turn toward you, click or yes and then reward. At first the dog only needs to look at you but ideally the dog would come towards you and sit looking at you.

Once your dog is good at the Whiplash Turn in the house you can use it on your walks, if your dog is about to pull ahead, say his name and he should look at you. In this picture you can see the dog is more interested in what is ahead, the other dog, than who is behind him, me.  Let’s say I say his name and he looks at me and then I add more information like let’s go, come, or leave it. Now we are working more like a team, the tension in the leash is eliminated, the dog is looking at me and we are ready to continue on our walk. To keep building on our teamwork I might head in the other direction, talk to my dog, and reward him generously for his attention.

Keeping the sound of your dog's name in the same category as hearing treat or cookie is up to you. Never use the dog’s name in anger, which will undo your hard work. Keep it fun and lively and your dog will look forward to hearing you say it again.

Animal Behavior

Goose Bumps!

Isn’t that a great picture? Those were my family’s dogs in 1993, from left to right, Gentry, Duffy, Vicki, Annie, and Alf. In 2009 I started going to school at the University of Washington in the Psychology department and I was finally taking my first Animal Behavior class. These two seemingly unrelated facts became a goose bump creating event for me, here’s how….

 I had never been to college at an age appropriate time so I started at Skagit Valley College and my naïve goal at the time was to be an applied animal behaviorist which is a PhD level degree. Little did I know what that really meant, believe me I am thrilled with my BA. I took a lot of classes that had nothing to do with animals and as a result I was struggling to decide if maybe it was time to change my focus after 20 years as a dog obedience instructor. I also love kids and wondered about becoming a teacher.

Let’s get back to UW and it is now the second day of the Animal Behavior class, there are about 300 students in the class and Dr. Mike Beecher is talking about Darwin and ‘natural selection’ vs ‘artificial selection’ when up on the big screen pops the above picture of my dogs. I was blown away, I wanted to raise my hands and say something but I refrained. I was really shook-up seeing my dogs in class and email Dr. Beecher after I got home and told him ‘never in a million years did I expect to see my dogs in his class!’ I asked where did he get the picture, he said he had been using the picture for so many years he did not remember where he got it, but thought the dogs looked so varied it was a perfect representation of artificial selection.

The next day Dr. Beecher introduced me to the class and told the story. Mike Beecher became a true mentor to me and had a huge influence on my education during my time at UW. Seeing my dogs on the big screen seemed to me to be a message to stay the course and continue assisting people as they learn to live successfully with their dogs. Thanks Gentry, Duffy, Vicki, Annie, and Alf for being there for me, as always!

Yikes! Tight Leashes

Let's Loosen Up

If everyone in this picture said their puppy's name and the pup looked at their person, the leashes would become loose, and the handler would be able to further guide their youngster. It takes practice on the human end of the leash to loosen it up. Giving out some slack, and say the pup's name. Reward when the puppy heads your way.

When leashes are loose dog's are better able to remain calm, there is less tension obviously. Starting your training in a controled environment such as your home or a well organized group class will help the handler learn loose leash skills and build your dog's interest in you. When a person pulls on a dog's leash the dog has no option but to pull away. When the leash is loose the dog is able to choose walk back to you.

I often see trainers have the leash wrapped up in there hand because the feel they need to 'hold on' but in fact because of that tension the dog wants to pull away.

I recently ordered "The Buddy System® is a unique hands-free
leash system designed to make it easy to take your best friend along." http://www.buddysys.com/
Watch for some blogging on that it will be nice/interesting to be hands-free while walking dogs.

Holding onto a loose leash will help you and your dog relax. Maybe you are not using the correct equipment for your dog. This dog is comfortably wearing a harness that hooks at his chest, this give his person the confidence that she will have control of her young dog. Watch for my blog compairing collar, harnesses, and halters.