Not much to report for the last few days... it has been hot here, high 30s, so I've done very little with the dogs. We are all inside in the air-conditioning today :) As usual though, I have been trying to find ways to do little bits of training. Today for example I had the treat jar on the couch with me, and every so often would reward some little things like Billie lying quietly on her mat, or giving things to me. (This includes every little thing she manages to find like tissues, cat toys, bits of fluff - if she brings them to me when I call her she can have a treat.) Eventually we did a little retireving game, where Billie would bring me a toy and get a treat, I would put it back on the floor, she would give it back and so on. Josh eventually joined this game too. The point of this is reinforcing them for bringing the toy back to me. Currently both are very keen to chase the toy but slower to bring it back. Billie in particular will want to play chase with toys if either of the other dogs are free in the yard with her.
Anyway, I had too much to write in my last entry to include the second part of what I wanted to, which is reinforcement and trying to use it effectively. This includes things which I consider 'self-reinforcement' for the dogs - things they like doing but which don't necessarily come from me. This could be stuff like sniffing the ground, peeing on a post, whatever. I have been trying to work these into my training so they become reinforcements for behaviours. This really follows on from what I was saying in my previous post, about criteria. So currently with Josh in particular I am working on improving recalls. To give him lots of chances at success, I have manipulated the situation as follows - currently he is on lead, a reasonably short lead at this stage. We haven't yet worked up to any place with a huge number of distractions. What distractions we do encounter I try to keep low level so he has a better chance of responding to me, i.e. other dogs running at the park, we work at a distance from them. I haven't added a 'come' cue as yet, but I do expect him to give me attention when he hears me call his name, first time, no matter what he is doing. He is allowed to wander and sniff and so on when released, I usually use 'go sniff' or 'off you go'. However, as he is still on lead, he has an added criteria that the lead must remain slack - if he pulls on the lead, I stop and wait for him to back up and give back some slack. In this case, the reinforcement is him being allowed to move towards something he wants. (To get what you want, you first have to do what I want, the Premack Principle - there is an excellent explanation of this and how it applies to dog training throughout Susan Garrett's book Shaping Success.) I am doing a similar thing if he doesn't respond to the first call of his name fairly quickly (within a second say). If he continues what he was doing, i.e. sniffing the ground I say nothing else but immediately use the lead (not as a correction, just a guide) to move him away from reach of that spot, then pause and call him again. If he responds this time we move back closer to that spot and do another. If he responds to that we move back to the original spot and repeat the exercise from there. If he responds to that he gets released back to finish sniffing whatever it was. I am also using food treats as reinforcement for coming back to me. I am also commonly asking for a nose touch by offering my palm as he approaches, so it isn't simply a case of him reaching me and racing straight back to what he was doing. I think of it as a circle of reinforcement - coming to me he gets reinforced (food) and then sent back to another reinforcement (the smell) and so on and so forth.
Occasionally I also do things like putting him in a down and recalling him, or reinforcing the wait as well by starting with 'Ready...' then rewarding him for staying. As mentioned previously, I have also being playing the 'Look At That!' game with him (see Control Unleashed). I believe that he HAS improved. The other day when we did 2x2 at the park for the first time, although he did get distracted and wander towards other things, he did respond quickly and come back when I called his name. Still lots of work to do but we'll get there!
The delivery of reinforcement is also important - certainly my dogs are more enthused if I throw food for them than just give it out of my hand. The plus to this as well is that it immediately moves the dog away from you so they then have another chance to come back and offer that behaviour and be reinforced again. Very handy for things like recall practice in the backyard - call the dog, mark 'yes' then throw the food; as he scoops it up call again and repeat the process. Suddenly returning quickly to the handler becomes a much more interesting game.
Dogs' rules - the reinforcement YOU consider high value may not necessarily be high value for the dog. I try to bear this in mind. For example, Fyre finds his dinner, regular dry dog food, extraordinarily exciting because he associated dinner time with high excitement. So me using a plastic container of dry food as a reinforcer is equally if not MORE rewarding for him than using fresh liver. Josh, I discovered by accident, is nutty about balloons and bubbles. A balloon is a high value reward for him, so occasionally I use balloons in my training - he does well, he gets to punch the balloon in the air for a few goes.
Handler reinforcement - I mention this because obviously it comes into the mix somewhere - why else would one spend all one's spare time out training/walking/playing with their dogs? It can lead to training traps though. For example - in agility, it is much more fun (note: high value reinforcement for handler) to put up a row of jumps and watch gleefully as your dog goes soaring over them, than it is to do circle work (note: potentially low reinforcement to handler). Whilst we know good foundation produces the best results, we all want instant gratification and can therefore be tempted to move onto doing things our dogs aren't ready for. Which leads to problems down the track, and frustration for dog AND handler. I try to bear this in mind to remind myself it WILL be worth doing all the foundation stuff for the end product, and also to make sure that even if *I* don't find an exercise particularly exciting, my dogs still think it is a great game. Often times also, it is possible to convince (note: shape
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