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I Am My Dog's Leader
When our sheep are lambing we add grain to their
diet. Once a day in the evening we go out to the barn on the ATV and feed
them. We fill buckets with corn and carry them to the feeders and pour it into
the plastic troughs. Within a few days, no matter what time of day it might be,
the sound of the ATV sets them into a frenzy, racing to the barn, bleating,
carrying on as if they are starving. The sight of my husband or me carrying a
bucket across the yard will send them racing back to the barn, for they can
actually see us from several hundred yards away from the house. The sound of
corn pouring into a bucket or into a plastic trough will result in the same
response, even if it is early in the day and they are not the intended
recipients of the grain. Within a week of beginning their added nutrition, I
get the feeling that they perceive me as one huge corn cob.
A couple weeks before the lambs are to be
weaned, we begin to reduce the corn in their diet until they are receiving no
additional grain on the day we take their lambs from them. The process of
reducing their caloric intake helps them through weaning and the eventual
complete lack of lactation. By the time the lambs are weaned, the sound of the
ATV, the image of my husband walking with a grain bucket, or the sound of
pouring grain no longer elicits the frenzied bleating or racing to the barn.
The triggers no longer are followed by the reward and the behavior is
extinguished.
Even though our sheep are crazy about eating
corn, I have learned that I cannot count on using grain to get them to go where
I want them to go. Regardless of how hungry they may be, they will not follow
me with a bucket of grain if they simply do not want to do so.
We use herding dogs to manage our sheep, and
even if the sheep are greedily eating their dinner, the dogs can make them move
off the feeders if we instruct them to do so. That is because the sheep have
learned to respect the dogs. When necessary, the dogs will “punish” a sheep
that is not staying in line. Herding dogs nip sheep that are challenging the
dog’s authority and are not moving where the dog is directing them to go. The
worse the challenge from the sheep - the harder the grip will be. A ram that
maliciously charges a dog can expect a much harder grip than a ewe that is
merely trying to double back to the grain or hay. This ability to measure the
correction is programmed into a well bred herding dog. The sheep learn that
they can avoid a nip by complying with the dog’s demands and they understand
that the punishment fits the crime, so to speak. So, they do not panic at the
sight of the dog, they simply assume the posture of well seasoned students
lining up to go indoors after recess.
There is a contemporary method of dog training
that is strongly based on using treats to reward specific behaviors. This, in
and of itself is not a bad thing. But, like our sheep at weaning time, when the
treat goes away, so may the behavior. The method was developed in the captive
aquatic mammal realm, where dolphin trainers were attempting to get their wild
subjects to perform circus tricks. Since a killer whale, walrus or a porpoise
cannot be physically controlled, and because it has no natural affinity to
subordinate to human keepers, they needed a way to communicate their pleasure
when the animals performed natural behaviors. It is now used routinely by wild
animal trainers in performance areas like the motion picture industry or animal
theme parks.
At some point, a dolphin trainer decided to try
the method with her domestic dog. Through good marketing, the technique has become quite popular, sometimes
referred to as “click and treat” or “all positive” training. The method is not
based on leadership, loyalty or genetically programmed subordination. It does
not acknowledge the thousands of years of genetic selection that we have
designed into our domestic dogs. It works for pretty much any species with a
nervous system. It disregards the very unique status of dog, and puts him in
the same category as a porpoise or a grizzly bear.
To perform the method, you just need a stimulus
(the sound of the ATV for our sheep, or perhaps a small clicker device for a
dog, a whistle for a porpoise) and you need to pair that with the treat (corn
for our sheep, a piece of hotdog for your pup, a mackerel for the dolphin).
First, you teach the animal that the sound is associated with the treat. The
sound of the ATV engine preceding the sound of pouring grain worked for our
sheep. Dolphin trainers whistle and then toss a fish at the dolphin’s smiling face.
You click then offer the hotdog to your pup. Once the animal has figured out
that the sound is associated with the treat you can begin to use that sound to
inform the animal that you are happy with a particular behavior when the animal
presents it. You wait for the animal to perform the desired response (a dolphin
jumping out of the water, a bear standing on his hind legs, a chicken scratching
her head, a lizard licking his eyeball) and then you click or whistle to inform
the animal that behavior was “good”. Upon hearing the sound, the animal’s
brain says “yummy!”, he comes to get his goodie, and you give it to him! This
reinforces the behavior. The animal may then choose to perform the behavior
again to see if it can get the reward once more. If you click or whistle again
as the animal is exhibiting the behavior, you begin to reinforce the behavior.
Then, you can begin to pair a command (hand signal or voice command) to try to
“control” when the animal performs the behavior. It is a method that works on
dolphins, bears, chickens, sheep and even lizards because it is based on a
response that is found in animals with central nervous systems!
But, in the same way that the sheep consider me
a big cob of corn and have no sense of respect for me or a need to do my
bidding, dogs that are trained exclusively with this method begin to view their
human as a big hotdog, or a gumball machine filled with Jerky Treats. This
method completely excludes the use of negative re-enforcers for behaviors that
you find objectionable. It excludes the concept of punishing bad behaviors and
only relies on the learning that takes place when a dog chooses to present a
behavior and when the dog wants to receive a goodie. If the reward begins to
loose meaning, the behavior may begin to extinguish. A dog that is not food
motivated, is not hungry, or just doesn’t care to play the game will not
comply. The method does not utilize the thousands of years of designed
selection that have gone into creating modern dog. There is no need for a
special relationship with the animal. I find that a real shame, since the whole
point of that selection was to make the training and management of dogs easy,
and to make living with a dog far superior to living with, say, a Brown Bear.
The clicker method works well for teaching dogs
to do tricks or to do behaviors that are not based on compliance. If you want
to teach a dog to walk up a ladder, using the click and treat method is a good
choice because the behaviors can be broken down into many steps, the dog can be
rewarded for the little steps and then for adding steps together. Tricks
usually have no meaning to the dog, so the click and treat method can be used
successfully, albeit it is not the only possible method. And, depending on the
dog, it may not be the best method, to accomplish that task.
In my opinion, the clicker method does not work
well to extinguish existing “bad” behaviors. The method actually ignores half
of the learning strategies that animals (including us humans) use to survive in
the world. Avoiding negative events based on receiving uncomfortable responses
for the behavior is a valid method for training animals, including humans. In
fact, the ability to avoid discomfort is a basis for many behaviors. When used
appropriately and fairly, it puts the animal in complete control of his own
destiny, resulting in a very confident dog. When he knows the ramification of a
behavior and he can avoid it by controlling his own behavior, the dog develops
into a self-assured animal with a heightened loyalty for his leader (who he sees
as a deliverer of information about the rules of the household).
We have twelve dogs. It’s a pack, one could
say. It is comprised of dogs as young as 6 months old and as old as thirteen.
There are intact males and neutered ones. There are intact females and spayed
ones. We have dogs that are rescues that are obvious results of poor early
management. They tend to lack some basic dog social skills that the pups we
have raised seem to exude. We have dogs that we have bred or raised ourselves
that appear to have good dog-social skills.
I often watch my dogs play in the yard. They
are constantly reminding each other of their rank in the pack. For example,
Breeze (a neutered, nine year old male) and Sage (a two year old, intact male)
are very good at peace keeping. Several times in an hour they might be seen
running up to certain dogs and licking them under the chin to affirm, at least it
seems, that they are still “cool” with the more dominant dog. They also perform
calming type behaviors (like yawning, turning their eyes away, bowing) when
there are little uprising amongst the dogs. And, yet, at the same time, when a
subordinate dog or pup acts too silly, they are the first to take the
youngster’s muzzle in their own jaws and clamp down at the perfectly appropriate
level to demand the sort of respect that the pup failed to present.
I have also seen a dog demand a “down-stay” from
a subordinate, putting the dog in its place and then reinforcing that position
for some period of time by the turning up of a lip, showing of teeth, staring
down the subordinate, uttering a low growl or even physically punishing it with
a nip. I see this turf control when we have dogs in the house, as well. Much
of the dog-on-dog communication that I observe is based on punishment, or
avoiding it. It does not rely upon seeking rewards from other dogs. Certainly,
when two or more dogs are playing it appears that they are “getting” something
good from the other dog, but the obvious communication between dogs appears to
be based on negative reinforcement, not the “all positive” training that is so
in vogue today.
Along with playing games of “keep-away”,
“chase-Me!” or “I’m gonna chase you”, dogs spend a lot of their time
establishing rules, enforcing them, avoiding getting punished by another, making
peace to avoid getting punished by showing subordination, and peace keeping
behaviors that usually include measured “corrections” for the dog that steps
over the line. Dogs understand that language. It makes sense to them. It
works for them. They appear happiest when all the players know the rules and
play by them. So, I use that approach in my dog training. It makes sense to
me to do so.
I want to be my dog’s ultimate leader, not a
hotdog dispensing machine. Using their own language that is heavily based on
providing rules, setting boundaries, enforcing those lines, correcting the
negative behaviors when necessary with fair and measured feedback; those
approaches go a very long way in establishing a comfortable environment for the
dog. Most “behavior problems” fall into the “extinguish an existing behavior”
column, not the “create a new behavior” bucket. So, using a correction based
method makes sense, is fast, fair, and highly understandable for the dog.
Once the dog recognizes me as his very faithful and competent leader, learning
of the other behaviors or tricks (where we can use treats, toys or even lures
and bribes) goes quickly and smoothly.
© 2005 Tammie Rogers - all rights reserved.
For permission to reprint
email Tammie.
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