Puppy Diaries #8 : Treats and E-fences

September 12, 2009 By

dog_fenceThis week’s entry is written by Jill’s husband Henry, also a journalist for the Times. He discusses the evolution of his attitude toward dog training and then asks the readers a question.

One of a trainer’s biggest challenges is getting the whole family involved. Consistency is a key factor in any program, whether it’s a simple basic obedience program or a complicated behavior modification project. Having just one member of the family not involved or worse yet, actively resisting the trainer’s recommendations, can doom the entire engagement.

Somewhere well north of 80% of the people that seek out and secure dog training services are women. (I think it may be over 90%. I’m hedging and am having problems finding the number online.) So who do think is frequently the spanner in the works? Yep.

In addition to the coaching skills needed to successfully train people, dog training requires a bit of sales too. Sometimes it’s simply getting the rest of the family involved, but almost as frequently it’s convincing someone (usually a man) that treats are OK and showing the dog “who’s boss” has more to do with well-communicated rules and some rewards than it does coercion.

Henry discusses the family’s problems with keeping Scout in their yard and asks for opinion on electric fences. I’m not a fan for a few reasons:

  1. They don’t always work. One frequent reason people use them is, as Henry says this week, for a “backup.” Henry even specifically mentions Scout taking off after a rabbit. Many dogs will blow right through an e-fence when chasing game. Predation is remarkably hard to stop. The end result when this happens? A dog that is now stranded on the wrong side of the fence and may be reluctant to come home.
  2. They only keep the dog in, they don’t keep other animals out, making the scenario above more likely.
  3. Many dogs left alone in a yard will start to take an interest in nearby traffic, both vehicle and pedestrian. That interest, combined with running too close to the border and getting the collar’s warning signal (remember: the warning signal predicts punishment, making it unpleasant for the dog too) or a shock, can create aggression problems. I have seen this happen a few times.
  4. I don’t think dogs should be left outside unattended anyway, certainly not for extended periods of time. It sets up opportunities for nuisance barking (which just gets worse as time goes by), digging, and other mischief.
  5. Last, but not least, I don’t like equipment and training programs that rely almost completely on positive punishment (adding punishment to eliminate a behavior) or negative reinforcement (remove something bad when an undesirable behavior stops) and I don’t like electric shock in particular.

I am especially leery of the “do it yourself” electric fences sold at the big stores like PetSmart. The commercial installers at least involve some with some skill and experience in properly training the dog after the “fence” is installed. If you insist on getting one, a professional installer should be part of the plan, and the training involved is just as important as the technology. Probably more important.

No weekend update this week. I’m probably going to be offline this weekend for family stuff. Have a good one!

Of Desert Islands and Dog Training

September 2, 2009 By

This is an experiment with video blogging. I had an idea and couldn’t figure a way to get an entire blog post out of it, but at the same time it was too long for twitter, so here it is. Let me know what you think in the comments.

If You’re Not Having Fun You’re Doing It Wrong, the Sequel

August 30, 2009 By

Over on Youtube, Marge Rogers has posted some great videos of her clicker training with her beautiful Rhodesian Ridgebacks. In addition to displaying some impressive training skills. She and her dogs are having fun.

I’ll let this video speak for itself, but do yourself a favor and check them all out.



Guest Post at “The Three Dog Blog”

August 27, 2009 By

My guest post at the The Three Dog Blog is available today.

Check it out

It’s Not Rocket Surgery Folks

August 24, 2009 By

Smart Dog
I’m a big fan of Chris Brogan. I’m a regular reader of his blog and am also in the middle of his book right now.

Last week Chris posted about simplicity (or more accurately, about unnecessary complexity) and only rarely do I see something about business that can be so directly applied to what I am trying to write about training and living with dogs and puppies.

So I’m swiping his idea.

Hopefully, when you poke around my site you will pick up on a few common themes: reward what you like, ignore what you do not, make sure your dog is paying attention to you, pay attention to your dog, exercise your dog, play with your dog.

Simple stuff. Repeated. A lot. Unlike other training advice you may have come across, there’s no disclaimer here saying “Don’t try this at home.” I want you to try it. I want you to see for yourself.

Because it’s not rocket science.

Establishing Boundaries

August 17, 2009 By

In Five Tips for Starting Off on the Right Paw I referred to setting boundaries as one of the five steps. I can’t over-emphasize how important it is to establish clear and consistent boundaries in order to create and maintain harmony at home.
dog-fence
Dogs don’t see things the same way we do. They tend to see the world in black and white, or actually as “safe” of “unsafe.” They don’t have a sense of morality, propriety, or guilt. It is our responsibility to teach them what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. Punishing a dog for breaking a rule that’s never been enforced before is unfair.

Before you bring a dog home you need to decide the following. (If it’s too late, that’s fine. Work these rules out now.)

  1. What are the literal boundaries? Will your dog be given complete run of the house?
  2. Will your dog be allowed on the furniture?
  3. Where will your dog sleep? Will she have a crate? Will she be required to sleep in the crate overnight after house training is done?
  4. Will your dog stay in the crate when no one is home?
  5. If you have children, will they be allowed to play with the dog unsupervised? (Hint: NO.)

These are just a few questions to get you thinking. The important idea is to establish these boundaries up front and make sure that all of the human family members are fully aware of them and are prepared to enforce them.

Photo Credit: Travis Isaacs / CC BY 2.0

Evolution of the Dog (redux)

August 14, 2009 By

Silver Fox (vulpes vulpes)

Silver Fox (vulpes vulpes)

I find the origin of dogs and how their history is so closely intertwined with ours a fascinating topic.

There are a few different theories on how the domestic dog emerged. However, the actual event and where it happened will most likely never be known. As a matter of fact the existence more than one origin looks more and more likely.

The two domestication theories most frequently cited, “adoption” and “self-domestication,” are both verifiable as possibilities but neither can be effectively disproved. In addition, the question as to whether or not domestic dogs evolved from wolves, coyotes, jackals, or a common ancestor can neither be proven nor disproven given the current fossil record and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) information.

The oldest known fossil of a domesticated dog, a part of a jaw estimated to be from 14,000 years ago, was discovered in Germany. The next oldest was discovered in Iraq and is estimated to be 12,000 years old. But there is no fossil evidence for an intermediate species between wolf and the smaller dogs identified from this time period, leaving the question of the early dogs’ ancestry and date of origin unknown.

Recently, mtDNA evidence has lead some to place the origin of the dog as far back as 135,000 years ago in Asia. This interpretation of the mtDNA record assumes that mtDNA evolves at a steady, linear pace, which is not the case. Even the study admits this means the 135,000-year estimate “may be inflated,” without providing an adjusted estimate.

Given such a wide range of time estimates, a lack of agreement on how dogs emerged as a species would not be surprising. However, many authors indicate or assume that dogs descended from wolves, with some papers even treating this as a fact. Mitochondrial DNA analysis indicates that dogs and wolves are much more closely related than dogs are to coyotes or jackals, with significantly more variations between dogs and coyotes and jackals than there is between dogs and wolves. As a matter of fact, there is only as much variation between dogs and wolves as there is between different breeds of dog!

In 1993 the Smithsonian Institution and the American Society of Mammalogists changed their designation for the domestic dog from canis familiaris to canis lupus familiaris. This change is not universally recognized and some scientists explicitly reject this designation as it can be interpreted as settling the debate over the dog’s origins by designating it as a subspecies of the Gray Wolf.

A frequently cited theory on the origin of the dog is that man domesticated the wolf. This theory posits that early man took wolf cubs, raised them and somehow selected based on tameness. The remains of wolves, wolf cubs and other evidence of wolves living in or near human settlements dating 10,000 years before present (and earlier) support this idea. However, the time, effort and expense required in domesticating and training wolves must have been difficult, if not impossible, for early man. The effort required to not just tame a wolf, but teach it skills that would make it a useful member of the group, such as tracking or hunting, would have been substantial.

Early researchers found that wolf cubs, when separated from their mothers and socialized with humans daily, still preferred canine contact to human by the time they are 8 weeks of age. Mesolithic man would have had great difficulties problem obtaining puppies young enough, successfully separating them from their mothers, keeping them alive and healthy, and adequately socializing the puppies. If wolves ever were successfully “adopted” it would have required considerable effort, if not a great deal of fortune.

The adoption theory also implicitly assumes that dogs are descended from wolves, the same theory has not been proposed for coyotes or jackals, most likely because those species would not have been useful to Mesolithic man for anything other than food. However, for the same reason that the theory has only been proposed for wolves, it requires wolves be reshaped into a generalist role from that of a predator.

The self-domestication theory posits that wolves gradually evolved into the domestic dog because of adaptive pressure they encountered scavenging for food in and around Neolithic villages. Scavengers that had a shorter flight distance are able to gather more food and would have had greater reproductive success. Belyaev’s experiment with Silver Foxes (link to pdf) provides compelling evidence about how selective pressure on flight distance effects evolution.

In thirty generations of selection for tameness, Belyaev’s foxes were not just tolerant of humans; they solicited and competed for human attention. The foxes also developed significantly different appearances, with floppy ears, barking, curled tails, variations in the size of their skulls and jaws, and piebald coats. Significant changes in the levels of corticosteroids in blood plasma, the response of the adrenal cortex to stress as well as brain chemistry were documented.



The selection was based exclusively on the foxes’ reaction to the approach of humans at various stages of development. This experiment effectively tested and verified the effect selective pressure can have on the ability to tolerate close contact with humans. In evolutionary terms, thirty generations is a very short period of time, making it possible for Coppinger’s scenario to transpire very quickly, perhaps many times over in many different places.

New information regarding the origin of the dog hit the news last week. Researchers collecting DNA sample in Africa and South America have found evidence that the origin of the domestic dog might not be Asia. They found striking genetic diversity in Africa, which indicates a possible origin in those areas. My opinion is that this reinforces the notion of multiple origins. The “self-domestication” scenario could have transpired many times in several different continents over the course of many thousands of years.

Researching and discussing the origin of the domestic dog is a rewarding and challenging endeavor, but it’s important to keep in mind that the dog is a domesticated species and the single biggest difference between the domestic dog and the wolf is its relationship to us. Ian Dunbar put it very well in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle: “Learning from wolves to interact with pet dogs makes about as much sense as, ‘I want to improve my parenting — let’s see how the chimps do it!’ ”

This PBS show provided a great look into the origin of the dog:
Dogs that Changed the World

These papers are also very helpful. A few require paid access though.

Belyaev, D. K. (1979). Destabilizing selection as a factor in domestication. Journal of Heredity,70, 301-308.

Clutton-Brock, J. (2006). Origins of the dog: domestication and early history. In J. Serpell (Ed.), The Domestic Dog (Tenth printing ed., pp. 7 – 20). United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Coppinger, R., & Coppinger, L. (2002). Dogs: A new understanding of canine origin, behavior and evolution (2002 ed.). Chicago 60637: The University of Chicago Press.

Frank, H., & Frank, M. G. (1982). On the effects of domestication on canine social development and behavior. Applied Animal Ethology, 8, 507 – 525.

Koler-Matznick, J. (2002). Origin of the dog revisited. Anthrozoos, 15(2), 98 – 118.

Leonard, J. A., Wayne, R. K., Wheeler, J., Valadez, R., Guillen, S., & Vila, C. Ancient DNA Evidence for Old World Origin of New World Dogs. Science, 298, 1613-1616.

Olsen, S. J. (1). Origins of the domestic dog The fossil record. Tucson, Arizona: The University of Arizona Press.

Rafkin, L. (2006, October 15). The Anti-Cesar Millan. San Francisco Chronicle.

Savolainen, P., Zhang, Y.-P., Luo, J., Lundberg, J., & Leitner, T. (2002, November 22). Genetic Evidence for an East Asian Origin of Domestic Dogs. Science, 298, 1610-1613.

Vila, C., Peter, S., Jesus, M. E., Isabel, A. R., John, R. E., Rodney, H. L., et al. (1997). Multiple and ancient origins of the domestic dog. Science, 276(5319), 1687 – 1689.

Five Books Every Dog Owner Should Have

August 12, 2009 By

dog-readsA good book changes your mind and your life. One of the critical factors in my deciding to make dog training my next career was reading The Other End of the Leash. This book (described a bit more below) taught me many things, while at the same time leaving a desire to learn more.

I decided to put together a list of five training books that all dog people should have. Please take a look.

This list is not exhaustive by any stretch. If you think I missed one (or if you want to help with the inevitable Ten Books Every Dog Owner Should Have, leave some recommendations in the comments.

Click on the cover to pick up a copy at Dogwise.com, my favorite online store for dog books.


In “The Other End of the Leash” Patricia McConnell takes you about as close as one can get to being inside a dog’s head, helping you understand why they do the sometimes strange and infuriating things they do. She also explains why we do some of the things we do when around dogs. Patricia is a wonderful writer and all of her books are a pleasure to read.

Is there anyone in the world that who hasn’t, just once, yelled at his dog to “Shut Up”? The irony of this ineffectual response usually escapes us during the heat of the moment. But think about it. Since the natural behavior of dogs is to join in the barking, they well might assume that we’re barking, too, when we call out “Quiet!” or “Shut up!” Ask owner of multiple dogs and the they’ll tell you that their dogs’ natural response to barking is not to get quiet; it’sto bark themselves. At my house one booming bark from Tulip can riase Luke out of a sound sleep. He’ll rise scrambling to his feet on the wood floor, barking and running pell-mell for the front door before he’s even awake. He looks foolish and I tell him so….He looks at me as though I’ve missed the point. - Patricia McConnell in “The Other End of the Leash”


“The Culture Clash” is sometimes called “Dr. Spock for Dogs,” but unlike that famous book, this book is still very up-to-date and scientifically accurate. Jean Donaldson, the director of the prestigious SF/SPCA academy for dog trainers, changed the dog training world, and many lives, for the better with this book.

A few behaviors are hardwired, requiring little or no learning to be carried out to their fullest: dogs chase and bite moving objects; distress vocalize when alone; go for any available food; compulsively greet all novel people and dogs; bury things; pee away from their sleeping area, etc. without conditioning histories. The rest of their behavior is the product of contingencies in the environment. Owners have nearly total control of their dog’s environments; where they live and sleep, if and when they may go outside and which limited pockets of the galaxy they may visit, when, where and what they may eat, if and when they will ever see a member of their own species, the nature of their toys and activities, and even whether they may live or die. Owners who feel like slaves to their dogs need to understand this…. - Jean Donaldson in “The Culture Clash”


“Don’t Shoot the Dog!” was another landmark book in the dog training world. This book introduces very important concepts that all trainers and dog owners should be familar with. While the book focuses on clicker training, it is applicable to all methods and all species – not just dogs. Written by Karen Pryor, another pioneer in bringing behavioral science into wider use in dog training.

The laws of reinforcement are simple; you can put the whole business on a blackboard in ten minutes and learn it in an hour. Applying these laws is more of a challenge; training by reinforcement is like a game, one dependent on quick learning. -Karen Pryor in “Don’t Shoot the Dog!”


In “Dogs: A New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution,” biologists, breeders, trainers, and champion sled dog racers, Raymond and Lorna Coppinger have more than four decades of experience with literally thousands of dogs. Offering a scientifically informed perspective on canines and their relations with humans, the Coppingers take a close look at eight different types of dogs—household, village, livestock guarding, herding, sled-pulling, pointing, retrieving, and hound. They argue that dogs did not evolve directly from wolves, nor were they trained by early humans; instead they domesticated themselves to exploit a new ecological niche: Mesolithic village dumps. Tracing the evolution of today’s breeds from these village dogs, the Coppingers show how characteristic shapes and behaviors—from pointing and baying to the sleek shapes of running dogs—arise from both genetic heritage and the environments in which pups are raised. From the back cover. This book is very wide in scope and trying to summarize it in a few sentences seems futile. Get it. Read it.


In “How Dogs Learn” Mary Burch and Jon Bailey, pioneers in behavioral science, explain the science of training in a straightforward reference book that anyone lives with or works with dogs to do something can use. The book also opens with a very interesting history of dog training that may help put some things in perspective for newcomers and old-timers.

How Dogs Learn explains the fascinating science of operant conditioning. The authors, recognized experts in this field, are also experienced dog trainers, and they explain each operant conditioning principle using dog training examples. For the first time, behavioral procedures that are used with humans, such as Behavioral Diagnostics and Functional Analysis, have been translated for applications with dogs. How Dogs Learn will help all dog owners solve canine behavior problems and improve their proficiency as trainers. – from the book jacket.

What Do You Want?

August 10, 2009 By

outside
This weekend I took Buddha to an outdoor event. I wasn’t going there to work or anything — just to wander around. Buddha’s my best dog for that. He loves people and tends to not react to other dogs unless I tell him he is allowed to say hello.

There were quite a few people at the event with their dogs. One of the side effects of spending a lot of time coaching people on handling their dogs is that the running commentary in your head never stops. (I have to wonder – do orthodontists walk around parties looking at teeth? Do housepainters silently critique their friend’s living rooms?) Usually I can squelch this commentary down but sometimes well, I end up composing an entire blog post justing watching one person.

I saw a man with a beautiful example of a “macho” breed of dog. He (the dog) was a large intact male and was prominently wearing a prong collar. The man was holding the leash taut and had it wrapped around his hand, leaving the dog just about enough slack to comfortably stand at his side. As we walked by the dog looked at Buddha. The man immediately jerked the leash and said “NO! STOP!”

I kept walking, mentally shaking my head and thinking “Well, at least he didn’t make that idiotic tsst noise.”

A few minutes later I stopped and got myself and Buddha something to drink. An acquaintance came by and we chatted for a few minutes. I told Buddha to lie down. I noticed the man seated in a nearby booth with his dog standing immediately next to him on that short, tight leash. Every few minutes the dog would get a correction – a leash jerk and a “NO!”

My biggest problem with what I saw is this: at no point did I see or hear the man tell the poor dog what to do. It was all what not to do…although I’d wager the dog was baffled as to what the man wanted from him.

Meanwhile note what I said did: I told Buddha to lie down. I made it perfectly clear what I wanted, and had he gotten up I would have immediately told him to lie down again. The man and I both (seemingly) had the same goal — for our dogs to remain quiet at our sides for a few minutes — but one of us was frustrated and scolding our dog while the other was having a conversation.

How many times have you thought “I wish my dog would stop…?” Do yourselves both a favor: reverse your approach. Start thinking about what you want her to do.

A Very Sad Story

August 5, 2009 By

muzzleI find the story of how Cotton, a dog belonging to Diane R. Krieger, ended up being “disarmed” very sad and a little bit disturbing.

Cotton displays aggressive behavior toward people. The present tense is very deliberate: even by the Krieger’s own admission, Cotton still bites people. He even bit the photographer while the pictures were taken for this story.

Maiming a dog (yeah, I said it) is not a solution.

I’m not going to critique the article point by point, as it would be a bit tedious. For example the article opens with “Not even Cesar Millan‘s ‘idiot-simple’ method could ease Cotton’s biting problem…’” Cesar Millan methods are “idiot simple?” Then why does the show open with, and return from every break with a disclaimer?

The article goes downhill from there. Cotton has a bite history, but he runs free contained only by an invisible fence – dooming unexpected guests. He managed to slip a leash when the photographer came as “the restraint has yet to be invented that Cotton couldn’t wriggle out of.” More likely the restraint has yet to be made that Ms. Krieger can be bothered to correctly fit to her dog.

Reading the article I can’t help but think that the family didn’t really stick with any one method for any length of time, bouncing from “miracle fix” to “miracle fix.” Of course, given that the most popular dog training show is consistently showing dogs miraculously “rehabilitated,” it’s not really surprising is it?

So when a veterinary dentist says he has a “miracle fix” (Krieger’s words, not mine) it’s not a surprise that Cotton was subjected to it.

Please consider these two quotes:

For all the technology, Nielsen says the most profound effect of canine disarming is psychological. “You can see it in their eyes almost the moment they wake up from the anesthesia,” he says. “It’s like they’re wondering, ‘who took away my knives?’ ” An epiphany that humbles and subdues them for all time.

And then Krieger goes on to discuss an amusing (if you’re not the one who just lost part of your teeth) comparison to the Bumble in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Later:

As for Cotton, he seems to be in denial. When he gets the opportunity, he still pounces at any man who ventures onto our property. A few days after the disarming, our gardener Guadalupe Davila obligingly offered his booted foot for Cotton’s delectation. After 30 seconds of ferocious gnawing, Cotton had only succeeded in lightly scoring the thick leather.

Another miracle cure bites the dust. Along with part of Cotton’s teeth.