In this post, the second in a series, I want to share two things with you. One, what I heard as the essence of Dr. Dunbar’s message during his seminar, Science-Based Dog Training (with Feeling). And, two, ten tasty treats to savor.
In subsequent posts I’ll write about topics that are stirring spirited conversation among reward-based trainers.
I was hoping to have posted about the seminar last week. You know, strike while the iron of my memory of the workshop is still hot.
But alas, all hell is breaking loose in Boulder these days over dog-related issues.
Yet again, there’s a push to, well, push dogs off of hiking trails. Every few years or so the pro-dog community girds its loins for battle and rallies its forces to keep the Boulder’s powers-that-be from severely restricting dogs on urban open space and corralling them onto few and fewer, heavily trafficked trails.
I won’t bother you with the particulars of this struggle. Let it suffice to say that I spent the better part of last week carefully crafting my 2-minute speech to Boulder City Council for a hearing devoted entirely to this issue, and that was the culminating event of 18 months of fierce fighting that pitted anti-dog conservationists against recreational users of urban open space, of which I am one of many. It’s been nasty and emotionally draining. Fortunately the meeting didn’t last long–by Boulder standards, anyway. It started at 6:00 PM and concluded just a little before 1:00 AM Wednesday morning. If you’re interested, this guest editorial in the local newspaper says it all.
The point is I took a detour from writing about Science-Based Dog Training (with Feeling), and now I’m getting back on track.
For an overview of the seminar you can read Dr. Dunbar’s posts on Dog Star Daily here and here. You can also watch his vlogs about the ideas in the seminar here, here, and here. Basically, each of the three days of the seminar covers a topic: Puppyhood, Learning Theory Redux, and Lure-Reward Training.
Seminar in a Kong
If I had to distill Science-Based Dog Training (with Feeling) into concentrated bits of premium kibble easily stuffed into a Kong this is what I would say:
Given that:
- People are impatient and want results fast.
- People quit if they don’t get the immediate results.
- People naturally tend to look for “what’s wrong” and punish that, rather than notice “what’s going well” and reward that.
- Most of the millions of dogs surrendered to shelters and rescues are adolescents with “behavior problems,” many condemned to death.
Then:
- We need to teach people to train their dogs in a way that’s “easy, efficient, enjoyable, expedient, and efficacious,” meaning “without negative side-effects,” thereby increasing the likelihood that dogs happily will live out their lives with their first and forever families. This includes teaching people ways to “punish,” since as noted above they’re going to do it anyway, that are non-aversive and effective. (More on this in a future post.)
Thus:
- Science-Based Dog Training (with Feeling) — from puppyhood through adolescence and beyond.
Give people what they want so dogs get what they need. That’s the seminar in a Kong.
Ten Tasty Treats
As I mentioned in my previous post about the seminar, I took notes the entire time Dr. Dunbar lectured. Still, I’m sure I missed a lot. He talks fast when he’s on a roll. And, he rocks and rolls most of the time!
Each night after that day’s session was over, I reviewed my notes and highlighted thoughts that captured my attention. Sometimes they were things I already knew, but appreciated being reminded of. Others were novel, to me, anyway.
Here they are. Ten tasty treats selected more or less at random:
- If you move a dog through an environment too quickly, that’s too much stimulation. Over stimulation can cause the dog to become reactive. Stop at least every 25 yards and let the dog get used to her surroundings.
- We take good behavior for granted and pay attention to what we don’t like. That’s why dogs (and people) go bad.
- With handling and gentling we can help our puppies grow into adults that have so much buffering around them they can handle obnoxious people in their eventual environments.
- Biting. Chewing. Separation anxiety. House soiling. These are the big 4. They are predictable and preventable.
- The day you stop socializing your dog he starts getting worse. We (Ian and Kelly) just started re-socailizing our 12-14 yr old dog around other dogs using classical conditioning. We don’t want him to develop the geriatric grumpies.
- Lack of neonatal handling is the most inhumane thing you can do to a dog. They are far more likely to grow up being fearful of people.
- Think about it. What are 10 things a dog can’t do while she’s chewing on a stuffed Kong?
- Cue the dog to sit before everything. Then, sit becomes a secondary reinforcer.
- Protect your dog with preventative classical conditioning. For example, anytime there is a thunder storm, even if the puppy or dog apparently is not afraid of thunder, follow the thunder with a yummy treat.
- Reward training is accurate and very powerful. The classical conditioning fallout is that your dog loves you.
Next post: “Luring is the fastest and easiest way to get behaviors?”
Oops. The next post is: “Repeating cues until the dog offers the behavior, ‘sit’, for example, is an effective way to teach the dog to ultimately respond to the cue when it is said only once.”
Sounds like you had a busy week fighting the good fight for access to trails! I’ve never understood why some people think that dog friendliness and conservation are antithetical. And glad you’re back reporting on the seminar, which sounds wonderful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a lecturer as entertaining as Ian Dunbar — at the first APDT conference I went to — and one so effective at making positive training accessible to the nonexpert.
Thanks Edie. “Some people” just seem to hate dogs. Honestly, the “cons,” as the conservationists came to be known, painted such a vile picture of dogs. If all one did was listen to them you would think dogs are vermin and the people who hike with them are wantonly spreading pestilence across the landscape without any regard for people or the environment. Not true. But, “some people” are very stuck in their way of thinking regardless of evidence to the contrary. And yes, Ian Dunbar is wonderful to listen to. He an engaging story teller.
“Seminar in a Kong” is a good way to start for us impatient humans. But oh my, did not know it whas so wrong with us as a species, as you write we don’t want to invest the time and work, I always assumed we were just ignorant. Poor dogs.
I don’t think it’s human nature to be impatient or want things fast and now. I think it’s the times we live in. So many people’s lives are so jammed packed that they don’t have time. True, it is a matter of priorities and we do seem to find time for what is important to us. Still, I tend to agree with Ian, that if people can learn to train their dogs fast and well, that will be better for dogs.
Deborah, you hit a home run with this post (and the first/second in a series). I really appreciate your reporting of the seminar from your point of view. As for the open space and dogs issue, I had a friend who presented there as well. It’s definitely an emotional issue for many.
Thank you, Hilary. And, you are so right about the OS issue. I don’t remember the last time I felt so pained about something. I was so uptight about the CC meeting, so stressed, I proceeded to get sick with a head cold the following day. I never get sick. This is making me sick and a lot of other people too.
I hope you’re successful in your dog-friendly fight, Deborah! As for the seminar – thanks for the tips! I am particularly interested in #1. Since Buster is reactive and becomes over-stimulated easily, I’m going to try letting him sniff more as he becomes familiar with a new place.
Thanks! And, yes, I like #1 also. When Ian mentioned that I was reminded of Alexandra Horowitz’s book, Inside of a Dog. One of the many thoughts she left me with how important scent is to a dog and that we need to let our dogs luxuriate in smelling stuff on our walks, especially leash walks. We stop when they stop and not rush them along. Sound healthy for all of us.
a little late to the game on this, but really thankful i saw this post when i did. my wife and i are huge dunbar fans, and your outline of key points came at a really amazing moment – dealing with a very busy, teething adolescent. how true it is that we as humans can be so impatient (with our dogs and ourselves) and are so good at focusing on what’s going wrong rather than the myriad things that are going really well. often, the process of raising a puppy is teaching me as much about myself as it is about understanding dogs – and these unhealthy focal points are some of the first things that need to be purged. our whole family will be healthier for it. it’s so easy to take for granted the great strides a puppy can make in training – and easier still to assume that these moments will magically stick with the puppy well into old age without further reinforcement. i can almost hear my brain say, “Yeah we’re good on that sit thing. Stay, totally got it. Loose leash, yep. Guess we can throw out those treats now.” So silly. If we could remember to view every moment as a teachable moment as opposed to a loss or a win in the adventure of creating puppy submission, we’d have a lot more fun, and feel a lot less of that guilty pressure around fixating on the negatives. that’s our mission for today anyway. thank you for the post and for dr. dunbar for once again fueling some good thinking about how to be better parents to our puppy.
You’re puppy is very fortunate indeed to have parents like you! Best of luck.