Marking with a visual “finger flash” & reinforcing attention behavior.

Most people enjoy taking their dogs for walks. However if you have a dog who pulls, lunges, or otherwise drags you along, the walk might be a less than pleasant experience.

Teaching our deaf dogs to walk nicely on a leash requires patience, consistency, & positive reinforcement training. Training behaviors using positive reinforcement means looking for behaviors that we like, marking them with a visual signal, and then reinforcing them with something that the dog is willing to work for.

To start teaching a loose leash walk behavior you will need the following tools:

• a well fitted harness (recommended)

• a 6-8 foot leash

• a marker signal

• a pouch or pocket of high value reinforcers

When training any new behavior you always want to begin in the least distracting environment possible. This may mean starting to teach walking nicely on a leash inside of the house.

If you have not yet taught your deaf dog a marker signal you will want to do this first. The marker will be the communication tool which lets your dog know that in that exact instant they have done something that you like and that has now earned them access to something that they like.

Some people use a thumbs up sign or a five finger “flash.” Every time that you give your dog this signal you are letting them know that you liked the thing that they just did and that they now will get access to something that they enjoy.

In this case we will use small, high value treats. You want the treats that you have available to be small, soft, very exciting for your dog (try cheese, chicken, or hotdogs), and plentiful.

Now that you are prepared with your marker (hand signal) and reinforcers (the treats) we are ready to begin.

The first step is to teach your deaf dog that it is very reinforcing to look at you. Each time that your dog looks at you, mark with your signal, and reinforce with a tiny bit of treat.

Part of loose leash walking is being able to put on the harness while the dog is calm. As you begin to put on your harness, go slowly. Mark and reinforce your dog looking at you and/or remaining calm. If your dog begins to jump up or move around, calmly stop, remove the harness (even if you have almost gotten it on), and wait a moment for your dog to calm down.

Once they are calm, mark and reinforce the calm behavior and try again. You might have to repeat this process several times at the beginning. However, this way your dog will learn that in order to put their harness on (which equals fun/walking), they must remain relaxed.

The next phase is to literally take one step and wait. Because you have stopped, your dog will-at some point-likely look in your direction. Mark and reinforce this behavior.

You want to deliver the reinforcer (tiny bit of something yummy) very close by your side (think: the side seam of your pants) so that your dog comes close to you. Then, the leash should be loose (think “J” shaped) and you can mark and reinforce this also!

During the process, any time that your dog checks in with you, mark and reinforce this behavior!

If, at any time the leash becomes taught, stop. We also want to teach your dog that pulling does not get them to move forward. In other words, we don’t their pulling to be reinforced with forward movement.

Instead, stop. If your dog glances back at you, mark and reinforce! If not, begin taking steps backward with your eyes on your dog. Eventually they should turn to look at you. Immediately, mark & reinforce this checkin behavior.

Again, be sure to deliver the reinforcer close to you so that you set your dog up for success by having a loose leash which you can then also mark and reinforce.

Keep in mind that in these early stages, your walks will likely be much shorter. However, they will also be much more focused on training the behavior that you want to see continue. Too, as your dog catches on to this “game” they will be using their brain to figure out how they might earn reinforcers, which provides mental stimulation and is thus tiring as well.

Set everyone up for success by having short, successful sessions. Mini focused walks in low distraction environments will eventually translate to longer laps in higher distraction areas.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d5dLOi4gaQ

As a re-cap, some final tips include:

1. Train & reinforce “checking in with you” behavior.

2. Begin in a low distraction environment.

3. Take it one (literally) step at a time.

4. Mark & reinforce the “j” shaped loose leash.

5. If the leash is taught, walk backwards & wait for your dog to orient to you-then mark and reinforce that “checkin.”

6. Reinforce close to you so that your dog is close to you.

7. Mark & reinforce behaviors that you like as often as you see them!

Soon with lots of consistent repetition, you and your dog will be strolling comfortably down the road!

Newly released pocket guide to deaf dog training: A Deaf Dog Joins the Family 

Contrary to popular belief, dogs would prefer not to eat straight out of the bowl, but rather, if given the choice, opt to work for their food. Although it seems counter intuitive, animals enjoy and are instinctually built to search for their meals.

The science behind this phenomenon is called contra freeloading and it has been demonstrated that when offered a choice between food provided or food that requires effort, the animal prefers the food that requires effort.

When animals must seek out, search for, or work for their food it helps them to interact with and find out more information about their environment.

Furthermore, making meal times into a game and thus providing mental stimulation has great benefits for our dogs. Giving pups a job to do, engaging their minds, allowing them to use their behavior on the environment are all key factors towards decreasing boredom, creating a “thinking” dog, and helping your furry friend to be more independent and confident!

Bowls are a wasted opportunity for your dog. Instead of giving your canine their next meal in a dish or a bowl, try using a Kong (http://dogs.thefuntimesguide.com/2006/02/dog_recipes_for_kong_chew_toys.php), or a Tricky Treat Ball, or a Waggle!

In addition to commercial dog puzzles, there are many DIY toys that you can create. Dogs, love to hunt, search, and use their keen sense of smell. As such, toss some of their kibble into an empty paper towel roll, squish the ends closed, pop into a box with some crunched up newspaper, and let the “treasure hunt” begin!

Another idea is to use an old plastic bottle and put the kibble inside. Leave the cap on or off. Make some additional holes in the sides for an easier version at the start, and let your dog figure out how to move and toss it around to get his food to come out!

By providing behavioral enrichment for your pet dog (or other animal!) you will reduce problem behaviors and increase learning and retention capacity. A win/win situation for all!

*With all food puzzles, animals should be supervised during use. Particular care should be taken with home-made puzzles.

Do you sometimes feel like your dog is ignoring you or misbehaving on purpose?

Often folks may ask the question, “I wouldn’t let my child get away with that behavior, so why would I let my dog?”

The answer lies in the fact that we are not being permissive by ignoring behavior that we don’t like, but rather we are choosing to communicate and educate.

Addressing unwanted behavior with punishment, either physical or even verbal, actually serves to reinforce that behavior by paying attention to it; even with a stern “no.” Verbal corrections or exclamations are, by definition, punishment as they intend to decrease or stop behavior.

Instead, what we want to do is to ignore the behavior that we don’t like, while teaching an alternative or incompatible behavior that we can reinforce.

People say, “But don’t we need to tell the dog when we are displeased?” The issue here is communication. Shouting, “no” etc. when a dog does something that we don’t like is confusing to the animal. From the animal’s perspective it learns that sometimes the human acts unpredictably and violently or angrily.

If our timing is poor, they may also associate the punishment with something else unrelated going on in the environment. For example, if a cat happens to be passing by in the distance at the exact second that we are shouting at the dog for jumping up behavior, the dog may associate the cat (not the jumping) with the behavior that has caused the human’s erratic or scary (in the dog’s eyes) response. This then can turn into more aggressive behavior towards cats.

It is true that punishment can work. If the timing is impeccable and delivered at the appropriate intensity the behavior may decrease or stop. However, there are several risks.

Again, first our timing may be off. This is frequently the case for folks who have not studied the science of behavior (unless they happen to get lucky). In this case we actually “punish” the wrong behavior.

Two, as stated above, we may cause other dangerous side effects including aggression, or fear (of the “unpredictable” human) or escape/avoidance (because they are wary around us as we-from the animal’s point of view-are random with our violent outbursts) or apathy, which is when we break the animal down into submission and they are hesitant to do anything at all lest they (again in their eyes) be unduly chastised.

According to behaviorist Ian Dunbar, if in fact we have perfect timing, great understanding of canine body language and learning theory then we do not need to use punishment.

More effective behavioral change comes by ignoring what we don’t like, training and educating behaviors that we do want to see, and reinforcing the behaviors that we like!