Canine Manners Class at the Richmond SPCA. Teaching Good Manners to Dogs of All Shapes and Sizes

Transcription

1 Canine Manners Class at the Richmond SPCA Teaching Good Manners to Dogs of All Shapes and Sizes

2 Introductions About your instructor: Tray Welch Loki Tic Tac About YOU: Tell us your name, and then tell us your dog s name, breed(s) and age. Tell us your favorite thing about him or her. Tell us why you decided to take Canine Manners Class.

3 General Information Richmond SPCA Who we are What we do (EARS) Canine Manners Class 7 week class Park in the side lot Class meets in the Track & Training Center Must miss class? Apocalyptic weather? Emergency? Call or instructor TraysK9class@gmail.com Multiple handlers okay/quiet guests okay too

4 Rules of the Road Manage your dog at all times. Keep at least 6 feet between your dog and other dogs before, during and after class. Be especially careful on stairs, using elevators, coming around corners. Not all dogs are friendly. Please clean up after your dog. Scoop all poop and mop all pee. (Supplies will be available, but please bring bags for outdoor pickup.) Keep dogs on leash except when asked to do otherwise for an exercise.

5 Equipment Collars Flat Martingale Head halters/harnesses Leashes 4 ft. or 6 ft. Long line optional Clicker Pooch pacifiers Stuffed Kongs Bones, chews, toys Treats Variety Small and soft Plentiful Bait pouch Drinks For dogs For humans Poop bags A hungry dog An exercised dog

6 Goals of the Class Main goal: teach YOU to teach your dog Increase your understanding of how your dog learns (and doesn t learn) Improve communication between you and your dog Learn to train and reinforce good behavior Understand the dual use of management and modification

7 Your Relationship with Your Dog

8 What Your Dog Needs For you to understand him --- what he is, what he wants in life and the way he learns For him to understand you --- clear communication Physical exercise Mental exercise Companionship and quality time Leadership and consistency --- make rules and stick to em, BUT

9 Be a Leader, Not a Bully Control the resources Your dog can work for all good stuff Manipulate consequences to modify behavior Provide feedback Control your dog s environment and experiences Positive vs. permissive Prevent unwanted behaviors

10 Canine Learning 101 How Your Dog s s Brain Does and Doesn t t Work

11 What Dogs Do Well Interpreting body language (canine AND human) and using it to communicate Detecting tiny differences in their environments Smelling --- the nose KNOWS (they have amazing olfactory powers) Learning through operant and classical conditioning

12 2 Ways Dogs Learn 1. Through the direct, immediate consequences of their actions ~ I do Thing A and Thing B happens. (operant conditioning) 2. By forming associations ~ Thing A reliably predicts Thing B. (classical conditioning)

13 What Dogs Don t Do Well Verbal language Mentally moving backward and forward in time --- remembering the way humans do Moral behavior Guilt --- He knows he s done wrong. The aims to please myth Generalization

14 Laws of Dog Learning Dogs do what works Behavior that pays off will happen MORE Behavior that doesn t pay off or results in something unpleasant will happen LESS

15 Your Job As Trainer Make sure behavior you like pays off Make sure behavior you don t like doesn t pay off (management) Teach and reward behaviors you like to replace behaviors you don t like

16 About Rewards Who decides what s rewarding? Does that change depending on the situation/context? What kind of rewards can you use?

17 Why Use Positive Reinforcement? It s effective It s less stressful for your dog (and for you) It enhances, rather than damages your relationship with your dog

18 How to Train Specific Behaviors

19 The Basic Steps 1. Find a way to make a behavior you like happen and then reinforce it with rewards to make it stronger 2. Fade the lure (bribe) if this was part of early training 3. Name the behavior add the cue 4. Increase distraction and help your dog with generalization 5. Switch to slot machine reinforcement

20 Getting Behavior to Happen Old school ways Pushing and pulling Punishing all behavior except the one you want Modern methods Capturing~ catch your dog doing something you like Luring ~ use the nose magnet Shaping~ reinforcing successive approximations

21 Clicker Training What It Is, Where It Came From, How to Do It, Why to Do It

22 What Is Clicker Training? Clicker training ~ a training method based on the science of animal learning Method focuses on positive reinforcement Origins ~ marine mammal training The clicker itself A precise communication tool Marks behavior when it happens A conditioned reinforcer Tells training subject that he or she has just earned a reward

23 WHY Clicker Train? Precise communication Quick results Creative process It s fun for the trainer AND the trainee Highly motivating, creates avid learners Happy, well-mannered dogs with minimal stress Can be used to train NUMEROUS species

24 How to Use a Clicker 1.Get the behavior. Luring Capturing Shaping 2.Click! to mark the behavior 3.Deliver a treat to reinforce the behavior

25 Clicker Rules Charge it up (classical conditioning). Click once, right when the dog does what you want him to do. Think of it as a tiny Polaroid camera that clicks a picture of desired behavior. Every click should be followed by a treat. Dog s job is to figure out what makes the click happen so that he or she can collect the payoff. Dog has some control over the situation. Human s job is to make the rules.

26 Training Practice Human Trainees

27 Training Practice Guidelines Get ready Choose who s going to be the trainer first and who s going to be the dog. Use the clicker to train. When you finish, wait (without talking) for everyone else to finish too. The rules No talking. No mimicking.

28 LURING We ll use this method first to get behavior. When you re the dog, target the treat your partner uses with your nose. (Or, in other words, act like a dog.)

29 Dog #1 ~ Close Your Eyes

30 Trainers Job: Luring Train your dog to SIT in a chair (NOT the one they re already sitting in). Go!

31 Dog #2 ~ Close Your Eyes

32 Trainers Job: Luring Teach your dog to STAND against a wall. (You must get your dog s back to touch the wall.) Go!

33 CAPTURING Now we ll use this method to get behavior. It s a bit trickier. Be patient and don t give up! When you re the dog, offer LOTS of behavior. A hint: The target behavior will have something to do with facial expressions.

34 Dog #1 ~ Close Your Eyes

35 Trainers Job: Capturing Train your dog to stick out his or her tongue. Go!

36 Dog #2 ~ Close Your Eyes

37 Trainers Job: Capturing Train your dog to frown. Go!

38 Homework Assignments

39 Canine Manners Class Homework Assignment #1 The Perfect Dog 1. Write down WHY you got a dog in the first place. 2. Describe ideal life with this dog, focusing more on what you DO want your dog to do (not what you DON T want your dog to do). 3. Boil your answer down to 150 words or less if at all possible.

40 Canine Manners Class Homework Assignment #2 Introduce the clicker Take 10 soft treats and go to a quiet place. Simply click once, then deliver a treat. Wait a few seconds (and not the same number of seconds each time) and repeat until you re out of treats. Click, treat, pause, click, treat, pause, click, treat. Practice twice a day for a day or two. You want your dog to start to associate the click with the treat that follows. You will know you have it when the dog startles and looks at you immediately when he or she hears the click.

41 Thank you for coming! See you in class.

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