"All-Positive Monday 16" - Canine Creativity?

This was something different. Today, I took Wally out to an open field and just waited for him to do something. When he did, I tried to go with it and see if I couldn't get him to extend it.

He started with his usual, the typical sitting and such that usually gets him rewarded, and I did reward it here as well. After a while, he was like, "hmm....what's up here?"

I pretended to ignore him and he sat next to me. I kept acting like I was looking at something and then he stood up on his back paws. I kept looking in the distance and he waved his paws up and down like "hey, I'm over here!". Turned and clicked and gave him a treat. He kept standing up. I held out for a little while and he started with the paws again. Another reward.

Next, the tail started going. Usually, this is a precursor to his barking (he always "winds up" his tail before he starts barking). It wasn't quite a bark, but he did make some vocalization. That got him another reward.

Then, I went back to "ignoring" him. He sat down for a moment just looking at me. He sort of "gruffed" and started looking around. I suppose he was looking for an object to grab or poke. He went over to the monkey bars (we were near a playground) and pawed the base. I rewarded that. I was hoping he'd act as though he'd climb them, but he didn't.

He came back. He sat, but I had gone back to the pretending again. He lied down. Still nothing. He tapped my foot with his paw. I looked at him and rewarded him. He did it again. Another reward. Again, but this time - nothing. Next, he put both his paws on my foot and barked. That got rewarded.

After that, we had some fun just running around before going back in because we were both getting quite hot.

Next time, I will have to do this near a light pole to see if he incorporates that into the things he offers!

"All-Positive Monday: 13: Object Discrimination, Wally's Choices

For this All-Positive Monday, I did some object discrimination, but this time, I let Wally make the choices.

Really, I didn't do anything except just observe. What would Wally choose when allowed to interact with which ever object he wants. I put out some of his toys and other objects out and rewarded him for touching/picking up any of them.

I did this kind of thing a long time ago where I just said "go get it" and he went to a pile of objects and could get any one he wanted, but for this he'll have some objects all around to choose from.

I'm interested in seeing if there's some kind of indication or preference he might have for certain objects, or what's going through his mind if ALL the objects are "legal", what will he pick, and if there's any sort of pattern to his choices.

I also changed up the objects, leaving the one he seemed to like the most and replacing the others with different things. I went with three objects.

Results

He often picked out his new ball. After that, he picked out the soccer ball the most. So the balls seemed to be his preferred objects this time around. I took the balls away completely and put his dumbbell out, and he went for it exclusively. This choice I can understand because he and I have worked retrieving with it frequently, so the object "suggested" to him what to do, go pick it up. When the balls or the dumbbell weren't there, he choices were much more random, and it became difficult to tell if there was any favorites among them or if there's any kind of pattern.

This tells me to try this again, but without the balls or using the dumbbell. Give him more time with the objects he showed no clear preference for (or against) and see if there's any kind of pattern that emerges. Also, I'll go with three essentially unknown objects (he might have seen them, but they don't have any names or much of any interaction with. I'll also try with the colors again, the blue and yellow cards, and see what he might pick most often.

I'm always interested in seeing how he thinks when left completely up to his own choices (in case you couldn't tell that by now). Hopefully, I'll learn something that can tell me how he thinks/relates to objects, and maybe give some insight on why he makes the mistakes he does during the "real" object discrimination training.

Blend of Object Immersion and Discrimination

Not sure what "catchy" title to call this. It's not just object discrimination or object immersion, but today we did some of both, with also giving him his first all-Spanish "sentence": 'Donde está ____ ?' which sends him looking around for the object in the blank.


Where's That Bone?

Since the bone, 'hueso', is the object we've spent the most time with, that was the first object. I pulled out his big soccer ball (not his new ball) and put that in the floor. I tossed the bone a little past the ball, so he'd have to cross the ball's path to get to the bone.

As I thought, he would try for the ball a lot. After some simple "nope" whenever he would even try to interact with the ball he started looking around. He found the bone and that got rewarded heartily (with homemade cinnamon banana bread).

Now that he's all hyped up because there's now a super reward attached to this, he kept going for the ball again! This was likely excitement combined with the fact that in the past we've worked only one object at a time - so the concept I might be wanting something else has a hard time sinking in so far.

But, once he got some more "nope" from me, he started looking for that bone. I kept calling "hueso! hueso!" and he kept looking around. After some successes with the bone in one spot, I tossed it somewhere else, again so he doesn't just get used to going to that spot.

He got into the groove and I hid the bone behind my back and kept calling "hueso!". I wanted to see if he could recognize the bone wasn't there at all. I wanted confusion because that means he's looking for the object, can't find it, and he's looking around and "asking" for help. Once I saw that and he wasn't looking at me, I'd hold the bone out. Once he turned around and saw it, he came running up to it, and I rewarded him.

Then that's when I threw in "Donde está hueso?". He already knows "Donde está?" as his cue to find it. So hearing that question will already put him in the "find it, find it!" mode. This time, I specified "it", the bone - hueso.

He looked around, and a few times wanted to go for the ball, but didn't! He pulled away and kept looking around (the bone was on the bed, not hidden, but not in plain sight). Initially, he was confused, still looking around the floor, but got a thought to try the bed. He jumped up and found the bone, brought it back, and got his reward.

Did this for about 10 minutes or so, and then switched objects.


Now, where's the ball?

For this trial, the soccer ball was replaced by his new ball (this would be the target) and I put down one of his favorite toys and another random object as the decoys.

To help his mind change gears, I did a quick touch exercise with the ball (pelota). I said "pelota" with the ball right there near him, so it was easy for him to touch it. What's interesting is the first few times, he was tentative - as if he knew that before he wasn't supposed to get the ball! That was interesting to watch.

Once he was touching the ball eagerly. I tossed it up on the bed (while he was getting the reward so he couldn't see it) and called "Donde está pelota?" He looked around and didn't see the ball. He went for his favorite toy, drawing a "nope" from me. He brought it to me anyway, and I just took from him and tossed it back and called for the ball again.

After a little more searching, he found the ball and retrieved it. He didn't try to bring back the other objects too often, which was good to see. A few times he went for his toy, but that was it.


Observing His Search Pattern

While he looked for the objects, I watched his searching. Often, he searches the same area repeatedly before thinking to move to a new area. It seems he's also broken down the room into three parts: the area with the bed, the area around his favorite corner (with the TV as well), and the area between the two. I'm not certain why he searches the same area multiple times - perhaps he thinks it will appear or show up and he doesn't want to miss it.

Of course, once he finds the object in an area, he will go back there the next time, usually as the first place he looks. He did go look in the "TV part" of the room a few times, but not particularly often (mostly when looking for the ball - wonder why).

Perhaps that could be the next thing down the line, trying to improve the efficiency of his searching. That sounds like a real big challenge!

Re-Training Front and Finish

We took a break from the games to work on sitting in front and finish positions. Wally's drifted out of position for these, and it's hard to understand where he got the idea from, but whatever the case, he needs to be refreshed in these positions. He used to be able to come from a looong distance away (don't know how long it is) and come to a perfect screeching halt-sit-front right in front of me. Then short distances became even a problem and I didn't even want to try the longer distances.

Fumbling Fronts

It got so bad at one point to where he didn't even want to do fronts anymore because he could understand why he was doing it wrong and I probably wasn't giving him good enough clues to help him along either, thinking he knew it and just needed to figure it out. Then, of course, calming signals kicked in as well, making him want to keep space between us, causing him to sit further out of position.

What I ended up turning into was good old targeting. Targeting my hand is almost a reflex at this point and using that to bring him to front position accurately also overcame his tentativeness in performing it as well.

With the clearer picture for him, he was getting the idea again and coming forward much more enthusiastically. He put his nose on my hand and sat down right in position. Getting praised, clicks, and rewards just made him more excited, which made him do the next one twice as good. The target could be faded as well, though at this point he still gets the target sometimes. It's looking like we are getting back to where it was.

Finding Finish

Finish wasn't as mixed up, but there was still problems with his execution. One of the most common errors he'd make was sitting more perpendicular to me instead of parallel to me. This is one of those times where I wish I knew what he was thinking to make him think that was the right thing to do! It was a very creative error, it's too bad there was anything I could do with it...

Another particularly interesting error was when he would sit in what would be front position, except in the opposite facing and location. For example, if I was walking forward where finish would be on my left, he would sit on my right in otherwise perfect position and be facing in the opposite direction! Write up another for the Mysteries Only Dogs Know file. Oh if only to swap places with him for a day...

Anyway, fixing this was another exercise in targeting. This time, my hand to my side brings him around (and this also means he actually does know what it is...) to sit in the proper place. Most of the more minor errors are him sitting too far back, which this corrects. Now as for the perpendicular thing, I don't know. I don't think I'll ever figure that one out...

Like with "front", he's getting back in the groove with finish. I think keeping up with the targeting and keeping up with the review will help him. I need to incorporate them more into "daily life" as well. If anyone has any ideas on day-to-day tasks (even if we have to make them up/start new routines) that can either be used with front/finish, please feel free to share!

Don't Be Afraid To Change The Cue: Biggest Lesson Learned in the "Spanish Experiment"

A cue is simply the signal the dog will key on to trigger a behavior. I say signal instead of sound or word because dogs pick up cues from their whole environment. A scent on the ground, a bird in the field, a piece of ham hitting the floor, all these things can trigger behaviors, and as such are cues, often termed "environmental cues". They are not, per se, from the human to the dog, but from the world to the dog. That said, humans can use them too. Something hitting the floor could be a cue for the dog to "leave it". An open door could be a cue for the dog to close it, or go through it.

Doing things like that can also help the dog navigate his environment independently. Some might not want that, but I do - I think Wally knowing what to do just by seeing me do something or seeing something that "needs to be done" and doing it is an awesome sight.

The type of cues most of us are familiar with are the ones we deliberately say or signal. Like "sit", or the palm moving down to signal "lie down", these cues come from a human to the dog. We tend to understand these if only to say it as "telling the dog what to do."


So why change them?

Reasons to change your cue:

1. Poisoning - A "poisoned" cue is one that the dog gets an adverse emotion upon hearing it due to being punished/corrected for doing what he was taught to do in response to that cue. For example, if I was mad at Wally, gave the recall cue, then proceeded to punish him, I would be poisoning my recall cue. In his mind, I just punished him for doing what I taught him to do. If this continues, he will either continue to do the recall on cue, but be hesitant and scared or he'll form a new association which tells him recall cue = "I'm in deep %&*(# and need to stay away from him!"
   
   
2. Confusion - Sometimes, dogs get confused during training. Sometimes we apply the cue too early in the process and the dog is trying to figure out the behavior, attach the cue, and form a connection. If we attach too early, the picture in his mind can get garbled and the cue then triggers this garbled up but kinda-sorta-maybe-somewhere-in-there-correct response. Sometimes the best way to attack confusion is to work back up to fix the problems and attach a new cue to it. This will give him a clear picture of the new cue, and can improve performance. This is what the Spanish words really did for us. I re-shaped the behavior of opening the door and attached "abres" to it.
   
   
3. Inconsistent Delivery - Sometimes, we just pick things we can't repeat. A hand signal we can't get right, or close enough, for the dog to understand consistently. A sound we can't repeatedly make, such as a word the syllables get squeezed or left out ("come here" vs "com'ere", it could be as if you made two different sounds and the dog is like "whaa?") or something like snapping fingers or whistling at a certain pitch/way. Teaching a new, repeatable cue for that behavior can be the only thing that's really needed as any errors/attempts by the dog are just his way of trying to deduce what your signal means.
   
   
4. Sound Mixups - Personal example time: I had taught Wally "downstairs" to send him...you guessed it...down the stairs. Then, I wanted to teach him to lie down on cue. So, naturally, I pick "down". So here we are in the middle of the playground, and I say "down!" and Wally looks around and back at me like, "Are you sure?". Of course, I say "down!" and try to get all encouraging, and Wally started moving around, looking for something. Guess what he was looking for? Stairs. "Down" and "Downstairs" sounded way too much alike for him. When I changed to "lie down", he got it almost immediately!
   
   
5. Ambiguous Situations - Another one I've been guilty of a lot (I've been guilty of all of these at one point or another!). Another personal example. Wally (appeared to be) good at closing doors just by seeing them open. An attempt at teaching an environmental cue. So I open the door to the basement. He waits for me to say something - and when I don't, he just picked a behavior (he went down the stairs). I was like "um...what?" and he came back. So I waited again - and he went down again. Turns out, when I open the door for him to go downstairs, he was waiting for the "downstairs" cue, and when I didn't give it, he thought he was just supposed to go ahead. I wanted him to close the door. Oops.
   
   
 

 

Some Ways To Change Cues

Just some ways I changed some cues I give to Wally:

1. Change the sound - I went from "down" to "lie down", from "upstairs" to "arriba", from "open the door" to "abres", from one loud clap to three rapid claps for non-verbal recall. All of these changes helped him with the attached behavior.
   
   
2. Change the type of cue - If a hand signal isn't working, try a verbal one. If words down work, try something like clapping or using a whistle (remember to be pick something where you can be consistent in delivery!). Perhaps go to environmental to induce the behavior, and then you can attach another signal to it.
   
   
3. Simplify the cue - For a hand/body signal, a simpler gesture could let the dog key on it easier and then execute the desired behavior. For environmental cues, this would involve removing as much ambiguity as possible so that the answer almost suggests itself (especially early in the teaching process), for verbal/sound cues, a simpler sound (including within the cue itself) could be all the dog needs to really understand what you're talking about.
   
   

And of course, you can mix and match as need and circumstance dictate.


Hopefully, this gave a little insight on cues and why changing them can be a good idea and perhaps the best way to solve the problems that arise in teaching and getting behaviors.

Observing the Dog is Both Listening To Him and Learning About Him

Since dogs do a lot of their communication with their bodies, it's almost like communicating with someone who 'talks' using sign language. Looking at them is then the equivalent to listening to them, because that is how you receive their signs to understand what is being 'said'.

It might also be part of why they want so much attention. It is how they 'talk' to us, so they want us to 'listen' to what they have to say. Unlike human sign language, dogs only have so many possible signals they can send, so it can be difficult to pick up on their message. This makes it even more important to observe the dog to start to understand when and why he uses certain signals or combination of signals. These aren't just calming signals, but things like certain body positions, the angle/orientation of his ears, what his tail is doing, and so on.

Once you start to put together a mental profile of sorts, you start understanding his "accent" of sorts on the universal dog communication. Sometimes, even other dogs have to do this since no two dogs are completely identical, including in their communications.

But observation is also for lots of fun things too. You can see what things will make him happy and which things he really enjoys. You can use this to have fun with him, come up with games based on these things, or see what would be really rewarding during training.

I've found some really unusual things about Wally this way. For example, is love affair with Dora the Explorer. He totally gets fixated about the show when it's on. He whines at the tv until I let him go up and "say hi" to his "girlfriend". I've used this as a reward during training to help him lay calmly beside me. If he's lying down, he gets to see the show. If he doesn't, well - Dora suddenly "disappears". I'll ask him to lie down again, and when he does, she "reappears". Dora likes good dogs LOL.

Other more mundane things such as which tree he likes to "leave p-mail" on or which areas he likes to investigate and "read the news" and "leave a message" of his own. Things like this I also use for training rewards.

Observing the dog can also show you his play style when romping with other dogs, which doggy games he'll play (Wally loves to chase and tries to instigate it when he's with a dog he's interested in), and what things he doesn't like in social situations and how he deals with it.

Looking at your dog with a curious and careful eye, you can learn all kinds of quirky and fun things about your dog as well as get a better insight on how he communicates and what's he's trying to 'say'! Have fun with it!