Conscious Dog Training

31/12/2023

Yep!!!! And then I see my own dogs around other dogs in the wild and realize that giving them choice and freedom has in fact helped them become more stable, resilient, and able to make lovely choices even when faced with very challenging and stressful situations.

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I am usually a trainer that sees very difficult cases and most of the time, the biggest challenge isn’t the dog, but the training the dog has received prior to coming to me.

It’s not about a dog’s level of obedience. It’s about a dog’s ability to function and choose in a world and culture that puts a dog’s level of obedience above their overall wellbeing. A down-stay will never resolve aggression or resource guarding but teaching a dog that moving away works AND that the dog has the choice to move away ACTUALLY WILL resolve aggression. In order to do that, you have to teach a dog that:
1) they have a choice
2) moving Away works
3) and it works just as well if not better than choosing to escalate into aggression.

Behavior serves a function.

The goal should be to set both the human and the dog up for success so that both can be safe and well.

Regardless of the case or the dog or the level of severity of the case, I can assure you that the issue is never about the level of obedience.

04/07/2023

4th of July food puzzle prep!

07/12/2022

Resharing because this trend of calling shock collars “communication” or “corrections” needs to stop. “Corrections” are generally positive punishment (+P) which is the ADDITION of an uncomfortable/painful/aversive stimulus as a consequence of a behavior in an effort to make that behavior less likely to occur because something “bad” happened.

Is it communication? Sure but there are more efficient and effective ways to
Communicate.

Leaders of teams or coaches or CEO’s are blamed or rewarded for the success of failures of the team. People will say to not anthropomorphize your dog and at the same time, the same people will say that you need to be the ”boss” of your dog. It’s interesting because leaders take responsibility for their “teams” yet in the world where shock collars are used as “correction”, it’s always the dog’s fault if they do something “wrong”-not the human for setting the dog up to fail. It’s so Ironic yet not surprising given the perspective.

Dogs and animals do what they know and what is natural. What’s UNNATURAL is expecting them to magically be Fluent in an unknown language and seamlessly pick up on human expectations when even some humans can’t manage to figure this out within a single lifetime.

Give your dog the grace of being able to learn without the risk of pain, fear, intimidation, or coercion. True Communication involves a conversation. It isn’t your dog’s fault that you aren’t listening or able to understand what they are saying.

I don’t know who needs to hear this today (LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK).... YOU DO NOT NEED PAIN TO COMMUNICATE. .....
The argument that an e-collar when used properly is just a “stim” is dead in the water because BY DEFINITION, in order to produce results, the learner must find it aversive or uncomfortable. Positive punishment or negative reinforcement ONLY produces the desired results when the learner experiences discomfort. ....
The question is NOT if punishment works. Although if punishment was effective long term, corporal punishment would be still be in existence and we wouldn’t have repeat offenders in our correctional systems. The question is at what cost does it work and whether you’re the type of person who would like your dog to experience discomfort. .....
BY DEFINITION, In order for positive punishment to be effective, it must be intense and it must be consistent and you must have perfect timing. ....
If you are that skilled, I would argue that you don’t actually need to inflict discomfort to “communicate”. ....
I would argue that ear flicking, spanking, and intimidation are all forms of communication. The question is if there is a better way and the answer is that yes....science and research has shown us that there is a better way. .....
We don’t use e-collars on undomesticated animals because the consequences would be devastating and often deadly. So why do we use them on dogs when we don’t use anything even remotely similar on dolphins, lions, tigers, elephants, crocodiles, etc. Surely if we can get a crocodile to respond off of a leash, we can get a dog to respond just as well. .....
Lastly, there is not a single piece of peer reviewed research that says yes....discomfort is definitely the best way to “communicate” and for a living creature to learn...let’s do that. AND if e-collars were just communication, they wouldn’t be banned in several countries. ......
So the next time a “trainer” says it’s just a form of communication, ask yourself if that’s your preferred way to communicate. ......
There is so much more to mention on this topic including the power of choice and control but that’s for another day. ✌🏻

09/11/2022

Replace whip with e-collar or prong and this is what we are seeing in the dog world as well.

To say that the e-collar or prong or Leash pop is not painful but rather a slight “increase in pressure” or a “correction” is completely untrue.

E-collars and prongs and choke chains and any other “training collar” (also an oxymoron because it isn’t “training”-it’s just aversive.) operate on positive punishment +P and negative reinforcement -R and BOTH require the stimulus to be uncomfortable at best and painful at worst. If you’re seeing results from an e-collar or a slip lead or a prong, BY DEFINITION, your dog is uncomfortable.

Have you ever learned well when you’re experiencing discomfort? When you experience pain or are anticipating discomfort, we move out of the “thinking” part of our brain and move into the limbic system. That is not conducive to learning. That’s not conducive to long term results.

So often people ask if they need to use treats forever and my response is that for any behavior to continue, there must be some level of reinforcement or the behavior must serve a function. Do you always win when you gamble? No. Intermittent reinforcement is the best way to maintain a behavior.

HOWEVER, you’ll find that most people require the e-collar or the prong forever. If it worked as a “learning tool” the behaviors would eventually be fluent. The collars become the cue and “pressure” so that the dogs try to avoid engaging in behavior that elicits the aversive. This is when I hear people say that they don’t need the shock anymore-just the collar. That doesn’t mean the behavior is fluent. That means you’re still using suppression rather than resolution. It’s the same with water bottles. If they worked, you wouldn’t need to grab a water bottle and show it to your dog. The behavior stops temporarily because the dog wants to avoid being sprayed but it does not resolve or address the cause of the barking.

Emotions always find a way out. Trying to suppress them is like trying to trap steam from a tea kettle. You’ll get burned.

Focus on teaching your dog rather than adding pressure or aversives. If you find that what you’re doing isn’t working, it’s not that positive reinforcement doesn’t work. It’s likely that you need professional help and if you’re working with a trainer and not seeing progress, find another trainer. Positive reinforcement ALWAYS WORKS when you know how to work it. It’s not about throwing cookies at your dog or using lures 100% of the time. I use a lure maybe 5% of the time and I fade the lure ASAP.

Rant over 🙌🏻

THE MYTH OF NON ESCALATING (AVERSIVE) PRESSURE

Recently there's a much talk going on about using so called * non escalating (aversive) pressure * . I've tried to find studies related to the subject but so far I haven't had any luck.

From my understanding the concept of non escalating (aversive) pressure emerged as a way of showing contrast towards still very popular approach to training horses via very visible escalation of the aversives often to the point of hitting the horse with a whip to get a desired behaviour if the animal doesn't respond to more "subtle" requests.

This concept quickly grew in popularity and has been widely accepted as a more humane approach to train horses, often times believed to be an approach where horses maintain their autonomy and voluntary participate in such training.

First of all it's fantastic that equestrians are starting to realise the harmful side of excessive averives and seek to find kinder and quieter ways to communicate with horses.

However I am yet to see this concept being factual to real life - below I'll share my thoughts related to it :

* Is it really non escalating?

If we are stating that we are using a non escalating (aversive) pressure then why are we holding a whip in our hand ?

There are many excuses from "it's a pointer " to "I swish flies away with it" but let's dive into what the horse feels about a whip as opposed to what we'd like it to be. The chances are that your horse has been hit by a whip quite a few times - either in his previous homes or by the less educated you in the past.

A whip will likely hold more aversive value than your own presence without it, so the presence of it is a visble escalation. "I don't need to use it - all I need to do is just to hold it " - this very popular statement about just a presence of the whip influencing the horse's behaviour in a desired way tells us that horses often times don't need whips being swished at them to feel more threatened.

Saying "I don't use escalating pressure " while holding a whip is in my opinion an oxymoron.

Another trouble with the "non escalating (aversive) pressure" I see is that we cannot guarantee that it truly isn't escalating because the only being that knows that is the animal in front of us.

Let's say that you're trying to move your horse out of your space by applying a physical aversive pressure on his chest via pushing your fingers into sensitive parts of your horse's body, you think you're keeping your pressure at the same level but you can't guarantee it, perhaps after few seconds of not responding your force increases marginally which generates a response in your horse.

And same goes to every single thing you do with horses, who are incredible at reading the most subtle changes in our body.

* Non escalating doesn't mean non aversive.

This is where my trouble is with the statements that horses can mainatin their autonomy when humans are using so called non escalating pressure.

Aversivness of the approach gives horses the "do this or else" choice. Even if we think we are not escalating it , the presitance of the aversive stimuli until the horse responds means that the horse doesn't really have a choice. The aversive is maintained until the horse responds , it wouldn't work otherwise.

This means that whatever we do is annoying, uncomfortable or even painful enough for the horse to take action to seek the relief from the uncomfortable sensations (physical or psychological).

18/10/2022

I am super excited to be featured in The Whole Dog Journal and discussing one of my favorite behaviors/skills.

If your dog struggles with birds, people, dogs, squirrels, etc, then THIS is for you.

At the end of this process, your dog learns that the stimulus (the thing that creates fixation or triggers big feelings) is the CUE to check back in with you and to do it all without ever asking them to with a verbal cue.

I’m including videos of this in the comments

With this “leave it” training method, the thing you want your dog to leave alone or stop obsessing over becomes the cue for him to look at you.

06/10/2022

SQUIRRELS!! Squirrels, bunnies, birds, deer…

So how do we deal with so many variables and so much stimuli in the Wild?

My preferred method will not come as a surprise to those that have been following me. I like to use the stimulus AS THE CUE to offer an alternative behavior. My go to is a quick check in (just as you’ve seen me do with reactivity and my dog with bunnies).

Many of you may feel like this is an impossible feat BUT this team has not ever done a private lesson with me and they are across the country. Enzo is also on a long line in this video!!

They have only been using the content from the Puppies in the Wild course.

NOT ONLY THAT, but this team has conquered reactivity to golf carts and other dogs and so much more.

If nothing else, remember that there is always help out there. You’re not alone.

Huge shoutout to .golden.boy.enzo for all of their amazing and hard work. Nothing makes me happier than seeing dogs like this out there living their best lives in the Wild. Huge shout out to for connecting Enzo and his mama to me 💕💕💕