A Second Look at the Puppy Bowl

It's that time of year again. Game fans are gearing up with a bounty of snacks and cold ones, eagerly awaiting the day where they all gather around the TV. I'm talking, of course, about Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl! What else could there be? ;)

I have to say that I am a big fan. People are shocked when I tell them that I get a real kick out of watching puppies play for almost two hours. What the heck is so fascinating about puppies playing, anyway?

There's plenty, especially if you're interested in canine body language. In addition to some instances of utter cuteness, as well as the occasional sight gag from Animal Planet (who could forget the streaking Chinese Crested?), Puppy Bowl is a gold mine for students of the dog. Of course, the best way to learn from this event is to have a text nearby or at least read, such as Roger Abrante's Dog Language or Brenda Aloff's Canine Body Language; both are excellent reference materials that I would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat. Once you know what to look for, you begin to see this puppy playtime as a giant social experiment and experience for them: what happens when I do this? What happens when I do that? That puppy is doing that, I'm going to try that too! Oops, shouldn't have done that. Oh well, what's that? The subtle cues dogs give each other--every lift of the eyebrow, tail tilt, or body shift--suddenly jump out at you, and you are now learning along with the puppies. Talk about a trip! How can you not get excited for Puppy Bowl now?

Yes, it's a great learning experience for we the students. The puppies are the ultimate beneficiaries, though. Every year when I watch the Puppy Bowl, I can't help but think that a whole handful of pups is going into the world with better social skills that most dogs severely lack, and will most likely never see. I think of all the "cute" dogs who were bought as a fashion accessory or a cuddly toy and will grow up terrified because they missed out on the critical socialization period in puppyhood. No, Puppy Bowl won't guarantee a perfect pup, but it will certainly get them started in the right direction.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm rooting for the Nordic puppies this year!

The Bare Mechanics of Training

NOTE: I do not claim to be a professional ethologist or behaviorist by writing this blog. The following information is an accumulation of material from various authors I've studied since 2007. The list includes, but is not limited to: Dr. Ian Dunbar, Patricia McConnell Ph.D, Nicole Wilde, Jean Donaldson, Karen Pryor, Victoria Stilwell, Brenda Aloff, Turid Rugaas, Paul Owens.

I've been wanting to do a blog on behavior and training for some time now. Finally I feel I have enough information and experiences to work with. However, I realize that there are plenty of different views--some of which are terribly skewed--on the different terms. So, I decided to do this little write-up and put it at every header of all future training posts. Now we can all be on the same page! I realize that this is a re-hash of everything I've studied, but it amazes me how many people get their terms mixed up. So here it is in clear and simple print.

In my experiences, there are four forces that are constantly at work when teaching and training, even if we don't realize it: positive, negative, reinforcement, and punishment. It's common to associate "positive" and "reinforcement" with only things that are good, while tying "negative" and "punishment" to only things that are bad. When dealing with training, it's best to view these items through a psychologist's eyes.

Positive (+): adding
Negative (-): removing
Reinforcement (R): something intended to increase the frequency of a behavior
Punishment(P): something intended to decrease the frequency of a behavior

Now these can be combined into four basic mechanics:

Positive reinforcement (+R): adding something intended to increase the frequency of a behavior
Example: Dog gives paw on cue. Gets a treat.
Positive punishment(+P): adding something intended to decrease the frequency of a behavior
Example: Dog barks. Gets a zap from a shock collar.
Negative reinforcement(-R): removing something in order to increase the frequency of a behavior
Example: Dog stops pulling on lead. Tightness of the collar subsides.
Negative punishment(-P): removing something in order to decrease the frequency of a behavior
Example: Dog is playing tug and his teeth catch your hand. The game is over.

Note that when I define reinforcement and punishment, I use the word intended. In order for either one to work, the "something" must be effective. Example: if you ask my dog Xavier for a series of complex behaviors and you have a big broccoli in your hand, you will get snubbed--he hates broccoli! If you have a little sliver of chicken, you've won his heart and he's ready to impress you!

More often than not, the mechanics work closely together. Someone who says that they never use punishment, in actuality, has used it in some form. If you've ever taken your dog back inside for being too noisy, that's (-P); you've removed the dog himself from something--being outside--in order to cease his carrying on. Before you go thinking that you're a horrible person for having done so, let me point out that not all punishment needs to be brutally aversive; by the same token, not all rewards need to be the equivalent of hitting the jackpot lotto. Again, it simply must be effective.

One more point I'd like to touch on for now: the mechanics need not be only physical. Not all (+P) consists of giving the dog an uncomfortable feeling, nor does (+R) have to be about stuffing the dog full of treats. Dogs are very sensitive to our vocal tones. One good displeased "Ah!" sends out a clear message: I don't like what you did there! Also, a happy "Good dog!" is an excellent example of (+R) because, let's face it, dogs aim to please.

In the coming articles I'll be talking about types of training, the power of (P), and other things - stay tuned!!

Give Yourself a Happy Face

There's been a lot of talk around here about behavior and handling, a subject I'm very passionate about. I picked up a fully engrossing book about clicker training called Reaching the Animal Mind. Author Karen Pryor shares her experiences working with animals using non-aversive training. I'm about halfway through the book. There hasn't been too much mention of using positive reinforcement with humans, other than kids teaching ponies to surf. Yes, you read that right! It got me wondering if +R could really be effective on humans, and then it hit me: I was the recipient of +R training, and at a very young age!

1991 meant entering the first grade. Mrs. Thompson had the foresight to understand the importance of proper spelling; teaching us to get high marks on our papers was her passion, and she knew just how to do it. The first few weeks were very easy words. She read down the vocabulary list, and we wrote what we heard. We checked our papers all together, one word at a time. "If you got that one right, give yourself a happy face!" Wow! What kid doesn't like happy faces, especially in exchange for a good job? "If you didn't get it, don't do anything." Oh no, not nothing, anything but that! Six-year-old kids just crave attention! I remember the elation and frustration of my classmates, as well as my own, depending on how we answered. Everyone really wanted those happy faces! We turned our papers in, and she gave us a grade.

Here's how it worked: the happy face was the marker, similar to the clicker, to let us know we did the right thing. The grade was the reinforcer, the payoff, the result of getting happy faces. With everyone wanting the happy faces so badly, the grades stayed high.

After a few weeks, Mrs. Thompson collected our papers immediately after we were done. They got graded and handed back. No more happy faces? That's just fine. Mrs. Thompson phased out the markers and went straight to the reinforcer. After we fully associated the marker with the reinforcer, the happy faces were no longer needed; we understood the importance of the grade, and our test scores remained high. How do I know this? She posted them on the halls for everyone to see. Parents and other teachers were impressed. This is what a true trainer of +R does: the markers don't become a permanence, and eventually the reinforcer is phased out as well. This is when real learning takes place.

So then, the skeptics will ask, why isn't everyone still a perfect speller? The answer is simple: the reinforcer, the grade, suddenly became the fastest route to unpopularity. Learning wasn't the "cool" thing to do from a social standpoint, so kids misspelled words frequently, and on purpose. It still continues today: just look up any teenager's Myspace page! If you're an English major like me, you might just feel disgusted. However, sharing a laid-back attitude towards proper spelling--peer pressure--is now the reinforcer. Since I didn't give a lick about popularity, my spelling remained excellent. Thanks Mrs. Thompson, wherever you are!

The above is an example of just how complex behavior patterns can be, yet how easy it can be to create and change them. Animals are nowhere near as complex as we are, so most anyone can get a handle on what +R is all about. Give it a try! Teach your dog how to dance, show your cat how to wave hello, have your gerbil press a lever... and if you do it successfully, give yourself a happy face :)

Enough is Enough, you Whipper-snappers!

That's what two dogs would've told me the other day, if they had the ability to speak English.

Two old dogs, a brother and a sister, came into the shop for a bath and neaten. We're not talking eight or ten years old, but sixteen - each! You wouldn't have guessed it from looking at the sister, as she was the calmer of the two. Her brother drooled and panted in his crate while waiting for his bath.

Sis was OK in her crate, but was crying and whale-eyed for her entire bath. I'm guessing that it was the water that was making her panic, because she seemed to ease up a little when I blew it all off. She got to relax in the crate dryer while I got her brother in the tub. He was acting a little squirrelly, so I had the idea in the back of my head to prepare for the worst. Good thing I did - when I turned the dryer on, even with just one motor, he completely wigged out. Thrashing, screaming, and snapping at the air, the poor dog was in full-on panic mode. My first thought was to restrain him so he didn't hurt himself or me. He ended up biting his tongue and flinging a few spots of blood on the tub. Not as bad as I was prepared for, but enough to leave me a little gun-shy of the HV for a day! We put him in the crate dryer with his sister and called mom.

Now, neither one of them ever had a bad reaction to being groomed. We thought it was just that time when age caught up with them, and that their tub days should become a thing of the past. We let them relax with each other in the dryer for a little, then I got the girl out and did her nails, with no problems. Same thing for her brother, he was a total sweetheart for his paws - definitely NOT what I was expecting after his encounter with the dryer! He even gave me a few friendly nudges, as if to say, "Thank you whipper-snapper, I'm getting too old for this!"

I'm glad mom was understanding about everything, but I hope that clients in the future can be the same way. We see people's dogs more often than the vet, after all, and something like this temperament shift is not to be taken lightly. Also, owners need to know how strong a dog's breaking point is, and what better place to hear that than from the groomer? I know that those two dogs are going to have a good road prepared for them, one of ease and quiet. What more could an old dog ask for?

This has got me thinking that someday, I'd like to offer a waterless treatment for senior dogs. No tub and no dryers. Just get 'em on the table, spray 'em good, brush 'em down, towel 'em off, all done! Sure, it won't get them as clean as a regular bath, but there is only so much an old dog can tolerate. Hmm, maybe I'll end up using Dogs in Style?

Wag on, my wise old four-legged friends!