Sundog Pet Services

11/03/2022

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09/17/2022

We could not agree more with Academy grad Katherine Davidson of Dog Inspired: the sooner we teach puppies that the world is safe and that they can use their behavior to produce consequences that work for them (and us!), the better!

05/25/2022

I understand. You don’t want to use treats to train your dog because he should learn appropriate behavior without having to be bribed. If you reward him with treats, it degrades more important rewards such as your approval. He’ll never learn right and wrong. You want him to respect you. He’ll ...

08/11/2021

AVSAB has come out with yet even more current, up to date statements regarding training etc for animals based on research, not popular media. Be wary of what advice you see.

https://avsab.org/resources/position-statements/?fbclid=IwAR34lQp1_POX9BWdpCJGnqCAv5CrYP8E64y2XtVuaVr1bNf98N8OfeXoYrc

These position statements were developed through the cooperation of the members of the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) and reflect the opinion of this association on a variety of topics related to the field of animal behavior. If you would like to order color copies, click on....

12/30/2020

Consequences are important!

Just a little reminder: Consequences drive behavior. How often would you bake if it no longer yielded cakes and cookies? Dog behavior works the same way: When we remove the motivating consequence, the behavior goes away too.

11/20/2020

𝗧 𝗶𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿.

At The Academy, all training plans start with what the dog can do right now and end with the terminal behavior. This is usually decided during the initial consultation with the client, i.e. what do they want the dog to do at the conclusion of training?

The terminal should read like a clear and precise contract (e.g. when the client returns from the grocery with bags, the dog will go to mat on a verbal cue, lie down, and stay for 5 minutes while the client unpacks groceries) rather than an idea with fuzzy criteria (e.g. the dog won't jump when the client puts away groceries).

The clearer the trainer is on what exactly the dog will do at the end of the plan, the clearer it will be to the dog.

10/22/2020

Forcing your puppy into a situation that makes them nervous or scared isn’t going to let them “get over it”. It’s much to make them more nervous/scared.

𝗦 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

It's a dog trainer's nightmare. With more exposure to the problem stimulus, the dog isn't getting any better. In fact, he's getting worse. He's become more fearful, more aggressive.

This is the reason that Academy students are taught to manage the environment so that clients' dogs are only exposed to "a version of the problem that isn't a problem." This means that the intensity of the stimulus is presented at a level that elicits no fear at all.

As practitioners, we bear the responsibility of not making our clients' dogs worse.

10/15/2020

If your boss doesn’t pay you in a timely manner will you still want to work for them?

𝗥 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

When training, your rate is the number of times the dog is paid per unit of time. It is typically expressed per minute, so a rate of 12, for example, means 12 reinforcements per minute.

There is an inverse relationship between rate and criteria (what exactly the dog needs to do to get paid). The higher the level of difficulty in your criteria, the lower the rate. And vice versa. At The Academy, we set criteria according to what rate it is producing.

We aim for the "Goldilocks" zone—when criteria is not so difficult that our rate is too low to win over competing motivators, but also not so easy that we aren't progressing as quickly as we could be.

We recommend a rate of 10 for most beginner dogs as a starting point. From there, adjust based on the dog's keenness and level of experience.

09/18/2020

Fear serves a purpose. It’s hard to get rid of so we need to make sure we don’t use it on purpose.

Have you ever thought about how the evolution of default fear applies to our dogs?

Let’s look at an example. Animals without automatic fear of heights will blithely step off cliffs. So if you’re a sheep that happens to have a fear of heights – without having to experience the consequence of stepping off – you will outperform individuals without this fear. And some of your offspring will inherit this tendency to not step off cliffs. Over time, you can see how such a trait could get pretty standardized in a population.

In the wild, the cost of spooking at something that is actually safe is much less than the cost of trusting something that is actually dangerous. Assume it’s safe, and you might be removed from the gene pool. Assume it’s dangerous, and you avoid any potential threat. This drives the evolution of the tendency in animals to be fearful.

Let’s remember this the next time we’re frustrated that our dogs are spooked by a garbage truck, or a stranger approaching them, or having their nails trimmed. They’re not being dramatic; they’re doing what they’re wired to do.