19 Communication and Training

Question 1

most common reason dogs are surrendered to shelters?

Answer 1

lack of training

- people expect them to come trained; could have been prevented through proper training and socialization

Question 2

common mistakes with training?

Answer 2

1. often left till too late (trying to train a fully grown 35kg dog not to pull on the lead when couldve trained it when it was a puppy at 5 kg)
2. training not persisted with (most dogs need more than 4 weeks at puppy school; train at least until adults)
   * need to reinforce once they get to the confident age

Question 3

why train? (4)

Answer 3

1. great way to develop a stronger bond with pet
2. teaches you to communicate with pet and vv (opens communication channel both ways)
3. can be about setting boundaries, developing etiquette, teaching rules of household and developing skills
4. should be fun for both parties

Question 4

Dog body language: what to look at? (5)

Answer 4

1. mouth (open, shut, tightness)
2. eyes
3. ears
4. overall posture (hunched, upright, leaning)
5. tail (wag frantically when stressed, slow when thyere hunting/angry; doesnt always mean happy)

Question 5

Dogs: happy/content/confident

Answer 5

1. mouth relaxed/open
2. eyes relaxed
3. ears forward
4. body relaxed
5. tail up still (not stiff) or wagging loosely

Question 6

Dogs: playful

Answer 6

1. mouth open and relaxed
2. eyes alert
3. ears forward
4. body bouncy/relaxed
5. tail full wag low and loose

Question 7

Dogs: unhappy/fearful/appeasement

Answer 7

1. tight mouth/snarling
2. ears back/to the side (flat)
3. eyes wide open (half moon eye; crescent white in the bottom eye)
4. body: low crouched posture or belly exposed)
5. tail between legs
6. slow motion movement (bc they dont want you to attack; scared)
7. head low, looking away
8. lip licking, hypervigilant

Question 8

Dogs: aggressive

Answer 8

1. tight mouth/snarling
2. ears forward
3. direct eye contact
4. straight forward upright posture
5. tail up and stiff/stiff slow wag
   * hackles may/ may not be up

Question 9

when is it hard to read body language?

Answer 9

• for some dogs, facial features/bodies are hidden
• pugs cant wag tail
• rottweiler hasa no tail

Question 10

how to know if dog wants to be petted?

Answer 10

try pet and stop; see if the dog comes back for more

Question 11

what does it mean when a dog stares while guarding an object?

Answer 11

it does not want to share that object

Question 12

calming vs guilt?

Answer 12

a lot of calming signals in a dog looks like human guilt signals but dogs dont feel guilt in the same way that we do; just scared you’re gonna hurt it

Question 13

what NOT to do when training a dog? (6)

Answer 13

1. crowd dog
2. loom over them (appear threatening)
3. push/pull them around
4. force them to eat/take reward
5. hype them up
6. let them run up to other dogs

Question 14

things to remember when training a dog (2):

Answer 14

1. you are stronger than the dog (equipment can make you stronger than the dog even if youre lighter)
2. dogs can lunge and pull you off balance

Question 15

things to remember if you are holding a leash (2):

Answer 15

1. be aware of body language and be prepared to hold on if they lunge
2. brace; hold lead low, lean back one leg back and two hands on the lead

Question 16

why shape?

Answer 16

specific behaviors are more likely to exist on a gradual, continuous scale; must gradually “shape the behavior until ideal form is displayed

Question 17

rewarding for shaping (3)

Answer 17

1. reward behavior that approximates the ideal one
2. then only reward next behavior if it’s closer to ideal than previous
3. always look for improvement; too much reward may “fix” less than ideal behavioral form
4. end game reward (jaackpot)

Question 18

luring example

Answer 18

• take a piece of food, put it on dogs nose and move it so the dog follows the motion (sit, down, stand)
• in order to learn the command rather than fixate on the food, important to lure 1 s after the command
• command-lure-reward

Question 19

shaping vs luring

Answer 19

shaped behavior is stronger and behavior is more understood by dog than lured behavior

Question 20

why is shaped behavior stronger?

Answer 20

• shaping: the dog needs to think about it’s behavior in order to get food; behavior=food
• luring: dog doesnt think about what it’s doing; just following the food BUT if you get the timing right will eventually learn the voice signal

Question 21

shaping AND luring?

Answer 21

• can use a combination of both to get a dog to understand the task
• might lure initially to get dogs interest then wait for the dog to start thinking about what behavior it needs to give in order to get more reward

Question 22

what to do if animal is not getting it?

Answer 22

• dont blame it, youre not communicating it well
• think about how you might break the exercise down or approach it a different way
• allow the dog to think about the problem in a diff way
• smaller steps help you communicate what you want

Question 23

what to do when dog has a breakthrough?

Answer 23

give it a break, allow it to think about what just happened

* tempting to repeat again when the dog finally gets it but this will just exhaust/frustrate the dog