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just say no to saying no

2/15/2016

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Picture"What does "NO!" mean?
“Can I say no to my dog?” is a question I often hear from new clients.

My short answer is “Yes, you can use any word or sound you please in training.” Pavlov proved that long ago. The problem is in the way dog owners use “no” and whether it leads them closer to success.

Owners usually approach dog training as a way to stop undesirable behavior and saying “no” seems a logical choice…to a human being.

I begin reframing their goal by suggesting “Let’s think about what you want your dog to do, rather than what not to do. When we do that we can use language and methods that help your dog learn and succeed.

To put things in context I explain how my wife and I adopted Buddha and Gandhi, each at two years of age. Neither had training and both had separation anxiety. Today they are well-mannered pets and registered therapy dogs…who have never heard the word “no” in training.

At this point most of my clients acquire a puzzled expression, with a subtle hint of doubt. They have been saying “no” to their dogs from the start and it probably seems inconceivable to refrain from doing so. After all, they want their dogs to behave.

I explain how the word “no” affords no utility as it fails to give instruction. Imagine the many situations in which a dog owner may say “no” to their pet and how the dog is expected to parse out the meaning. “No” may mean to stop barking at a squirrel, get off the sofa, stop begging food, stop pestering the family cat, to remain in position at the front door or come when called when it is time to leave the dog park.

Spoken language is not part of a dog’s natural communication, but it comes naturally to humans. After all, we invented spoken words! Perhaps we can be forgiven for assuming all other life forms understand what we mean when we say “no.”

To help a puzzled client, play a little training game. Put their dog on a leash and instruct the client to hold the leash, a clicker and treats. Explain their task is to start walking and whenever their dog is in the “reward zone” by their side, to click (without moving their hand) and put the treat to their dog’s mouth within one second. Easy, huh?

Your job is to tell the client when to begin walking, when to stop, which direction to turn, whether to speed up or slow down. Your only feedback in response to their job performance is to say “no” whenever they make a mistake.  Be sure to use a soft voice so you do not stress the dog.

Most clients are quickly undone by their fuzzy observation skill, poor timing and lack of hand-eye coordination. I have seen some clients put the clicker to their dog’s mouth and drop all of their treats, before throwing up their hands in surrender.  Uh, not so easy.

In only a few steps they will understand the futility of only saying “no” and answer their own question. As trainers, we know how important it is to engage the prefrontal cortex and let the learner figure things out.  Dogs are smart; so are their owners.

Now ask them to try again and assure them that you will coach them through the process, just as you coach their dog when you are the handler. Use a perky upbeat voice, give them constructive and frequent feedback on every component of the overall exercise and celebrate their accomplishments. Tell them how wonderfully they are doing and how easy it will become with just a bit more practice.

At this point you should see a broad smile on their face and may ask them which exercise was most helpful to them. Once again, let the client figure it out and enjoy that sense of accomplishment.

I also explain that we have all likely been conditioned since childhood to hear the word “no” in a manner that is very often threatening. It is hard for most folks to say “no” without making it sound like “NO!” Primates yell at one another, after all, and dog owners often shout the word when they are frustrated or angry.  Sometimes the dog is punished after hearing the word.

Dogs want to feel safe and respond to tone of voice. Shouting “NO!” at a dog will likely impede the learning process and will agitate or excite the person as well.

​As I grew up, hearing my father shout “NO!” was a pretty good predictor that the next thing I experienced was going to be very unpleasant…and sometimes unsafe. Pavlov’s work was unknown to me then, but I understood the principle of associative learning.


We live in a punitive society and as human beings we have been conditioned to say “no” but that does not help our dogs. As a trainer I empathize equally with the dog and the family. When the owners understand the learning process from the dog’s perspective they find it easier to say “yes” or use a clicker as a clear path to accomplish their goals.

With a little more coaching they can remember to apply the training skills you taught their dog. If their dog jumps upon visitors for attention, try using “Touch” to guide the eager dog to a space beside the visitor and “Sit.” A “Down” position works even better to prevent jumping and affords the dog a belly rub.  Woohoo!

Let’s just say no to “no” and help our clients learn how to say yes to success.

Daniel H. Antolec, CPT-A, CPDT-KA is the owner of Happy Buddha Dog Training. He has membership in Pet Professional Guild, Force-Free Trainers of Wisconsin, Association of Professional Dog Trainers and Dog Welfare Alliance.  He also sits on the Board of Directors for Dogs on Call, Inc. and is Chairman of Pet Professional Guild Advocacy Committee.

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dogs r superheroes

2/2/2016

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PictureSuper Buddha strikes a pose
​Superheroes have been popular in American culture for decades, in the form of comic books, blockbuster movies and TV shows.  Many of these superheroes go masked or otherwise secretly assume the role as savior of the human race as needed, taking care not to reveal their true identity.

This makes me think many Americans long for the influence of a superhero in their lives.  If super-powers are what constitute a superhero, then I am happy to announce they do indeed exist.  Actually, many of us live with them on a daily basis.


​Meet
canis lupus familiaris…family dog.  As evidence of their super-powers I shall reveal them one-by-one.

Let’s start with vision.  Although they lack the precision of 20-20 sight, they see better in low light conditions and detect motion 10-20 times better than humans.  There peripheral vision is an astounding 270 degrees, compared to a human range of 180 degrees.  That means they can see things beyond our field of view and respond to them as quickly as The Flash.


Most folks know that dogs see two primary colors, compared to human ability to see three primary colors…but they can see in the ultraviolet spectrum.  Yes, pretty much like Superman and his x-ray vision. 


They also sense variations in the magnetic field, recognize familiar friendly faces (resulting in the release of feel-good hormones) and can tell the difference between a friendly facial expression and an angry face.


As for hearing, a healthy young human can hear frequencies ranging from 12 Hz to 20 kHz, the notable exception being teenagers…who seem utterly incapable of registering human words at critical times.  Dogs, on the other paw, hear frequencies of 40 Hz to 60 kHz, and up to four times as far as humans.  They hear things that we cannot.


This means we really don’t have to shout instructions at our dogs.  If they do not respond to our words it is very likely due to lacking English as a native language, or other human languages for that matter.  Dogs learn hand signals far more readily than our words.


If this is not amazing enough, canine sense of smell is utterly fantastic.  Their olfactory cortex is 40 times bigger than it is in humans and up to 100 million times more sensitive.  To put this in context, if you walk into a bakery you will smell freshly baked bread; your dog could smell the individual ingredients from a city block away, and would know that you visited the bakery upon returning home.


Dogs can move the tip of their nose and smell individually with each nostril, channeling scent through the vomeronasal organ in the soft palate directly to the olfactory process in the brain.  They can virtually taste odors and process scent, determining the path of an animal, for instance, based on which direction the scent is strongest.


Researchers around the world have learned that dogs can smell testicular cancer and two ovarian cancers in humans, with greater accuracy than modern medical tests.  They also detect changes in human chemistry that occur prior to the onset of a diabetic emergency or epileptic seizure.  Dogs also detect chemical compounds in narcotics and explosives and may be trained to tell us so.


In short, a dog’s super sense of smell may just save your life one day.


Dogs have other super-powers as well, such as reducing stress in heart surgery patients, reducing heart rate and blood pressure and boosting the immune system.  Simply gazing into a familiar dog’s eyes or stroking them produces the mutual effect in dogs and humans alike, including release of oxytocin…the love hormone that helps a mother immediately bond with her newly born infant.


​People who live with dogs tend to live longer and healthier, get more exercise, have better social support networks…and then there is the role of therapy dogs.  A large body of evidence has shown us how dogs improve human mental and physical health in therapeutic context.


Yes, indeed friends.  Superheroes are real and they have been making human existence better for 32,000 years.
 
 
Daniel H. Antolec, CPT-A, CPDT-KA is the owner of Happy Buddha Dog Training. He has membership in Pet Professional Guild, Force-Free Trainers of Wisconsin and Association of Professional Dog Trainers.  He also sits on the Board of Directors for Dogs on Call, Inc. and is Chairman of Pet Professional Guild Advocacy Committee.

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    "If you talk to the animals,they will talk to you, and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them, you will not know them, and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears, one destroys."

    Chief Dan George


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    "I am a humble conduit of information from bona-fide experts in the world of dog training and behavior, dedicated to helping pet dog owners avoid the many mistakes I made with my first puppy."

    Daniel H. Antolec

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