Deaf dogs are dogs first, breed second, and deaf third. As such, working with a deaf dog in many ways is similar to effectively communicating with a hearing dog, but with a few obvious modifications. 

1. SIGNAL: You will want to use a visual “signal” with your deaf dog that conveys the message, “Yes! That’s exactly what I wanted and now you have earned access to something that you find reinforcing!”
2. ATTENTION: Any time that your dog looks at you, use your signal to mark that behavior and be certain to follow that marker with something that your dog finds reinforcing.
3. REINFORCE: Every marker is followed by something that your dog finds reinforcing. That is, each and every time you like something, mark and then reinforce it!
4. CONSISTENCY: Use your marker consistently. Keep the signal the same and be sure that each time you mark, you also reinforce behavior.
5. VALUE: Be sure that you are using high value reinforcers! You want it to be worth it to your dog to work with you, so keep reinforcers exciting!

For more information on working with your deaf dog, contact PAW today! Terrie is a deaf dog mom as well as a certified, professional trainer and will be happy to help you improve your deaf dog communication starting now!

Often times folks believe that their dog is being stubborn. I frequently hear, “he knows how to do it, he just doesn’t want to” or “she can do it, she just doesn’t feel like listening to me!”

The fact of the matter is that while dogs can experience joy, love, and fear, stubbornness is not in their repertoire. Hence, most times it is actually faulty communication at play rather than a decision to be obdurate.

Frequently, people also forget or don’t fully grasp that we are communicating via limited verbal (few words plus tone and inflection) and mostly visual (gesture, facial expressions, body language) information.

Dogs don’t speak the way that we do and with all of the confusing background noise, extraneous verbiage, and general distraction going on while we are attempting to convey something, it’s down right amazing that dogs are intelligent enough to glean what we want!

Let’s take an example. Say that we have three items on the floor in front of the dog: a book, a toy, and a cookie. Now, we’ll presume that I’m intending to train my dog to place the cookie on top of the book. I’m doing this via positive reinforcement, so I’m marking (with my clicker) and reinforcing (with a treat) each correct repetition of this behavior.

Two weeks go past and I’m fairly certain that my dog has discovered that with our three items, the toy actually has nothing to do with the behavior that we are training. Furthermore, he’s consistently been placing the cookie on top of the book for a significant time and as such I’m thinking that he’s got the behavior down!

After two weeks of us practicing, one day I cue the behavior and instead of what I’m expecting, my dog places the BOOK on top of the COOKIE?!!? What you say? Not listening you insist! Stubborn you exclaim!

Meanwhile, your dog is now really baffled and confused. Instead of your happy response to his actions, your face is contorted. There is no click and treat. You seem…upset.

Now, here’s a plausible explanation for what’s likely really going on: a lack of communication. While all along you believed that you were training: cookie on top of book. Your dog coincidentally placed the items in this order, however your dog believed the behavior to be: stack up the cookie and the book!

Do you see what has happened? It’s not your dog being stubborn at all. It’s a lack of clear and precise communication and thus confusion.

The solution, you ask? Teach and train! As Dr. Susan Friedman (exalted behaviorist) likes to state, “performance-feedback-revision.”

Your dog has let you know that there is a problem in the communication loop. Thus, you need to work a bit more on revising your training for success.

Do so and you will improve communication, have successful behaviors, and there won’t be a stubborn dog in sight!

Are you passionate about training animals with the most humane and science based methods? Or have you been considering attending Ken Ramirez’s Professional Animal Training Seminar?

As part of my ongoing commitment towards continuing education to keep PAW at the forefront of positive reinforcement training, this past August I had the opportunity to attend the one week Professional Animal Training Seminar at Shedd Aquarium with Ken Ramirez.

For those of you who might not know, Mr. Ramirez is a thirty-five plus year veteran of animal care and training and a leading voice in the positive reinforcement training profession. In the very near future (October 2014) Ken will become the Executive Vice-President and Chief Training Officer of Karen Pryor Clicker Training. His duties will include helping to oversee the vision, development, and implementation of training education programs for the organization. (Note: Portions of the previous paragraph have been adapted from http://kenramireztraining.com/about-ken/.)

Below is a snapshot of my notes for the week. It was a wonderful learning experience and a terrific opportunity to see cooperative care training in practice and to hear real life successful applications of positive training in action across many fields and disciplines.

1. Training equals teaching! This was one of the pivotal messages of the week.

2. Teaching animals how to live in our world is a shared and natural process.

3. The student needs to want to learn and it should be a fun partnership.

4. Training is one of the four cornerstones of animal care. Health care, nutrition, environment, and behavior management (training and enrichment) are all necessary parts, which collectively represent a good animal welfare plan.

5. There are many reasons for training, including physical and mental exercise and stimulation, and cooperative behavior (teaching animals things that help with their own care and management, husbandry, and medical needs).

6. Training and enrichment in animals’ lives is not optional, nor a luxury, but is a vital and key component.

7. Training includes both formal and informal interactions. Animals are learning all of the time and therefore it makes logical and ethical sense to set everyone up for success with a thoughtful, inclusive animal care plan.

8. Training utilizes the sciences of operant and classical conditioning.

9. The basic premise is that we can and should reinforce rather than punish to effect behavioral change. Whenever possible, focusing on achieving the desired behavior rather than eliminating the unwanted behavior will enable emphasis on relationship building, which is a pivotal part of training and teaching.

10. The animal is never wrong! Everything that the animal does is because it is in some way reinforcing. Implement a plan which reinforces behavior that you want to see repeated!

Whether you are a professional animal trainer or are interested in learning more about how to work with your own companion animal, Ken Ramirez’s book, Animal Training-Successful Animal Management Through Positive Reinforcement is a great resource.