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Are you walking the dog or is the dog walking you?

This topic is important to me because – like so many of us – I walked Leus too much. Then I learned that she has arthritis and had to change my attitude. And then I went to a conference where I heard countless professional dog trainers talk about over-exercising and over-stimulating our dogs. During another conference that I attended there was a whole presentation dedicated to the question of our dogs’ “workload”. Here is what I learned:

Trust your dog. If your dog likes running, they will run a lot. You don’t have to plan extra activities like jogging or dog sports – just provide your dog with the right kind of environment where they can decide if they want to run like crazy or just sniff around.

dog in the bushes at dawn — I like walking Leus in the morning when the world is quiet.

Dog sports (agility, dog cross, flyball etc.) are a bit controversial, some trainers consider them unethical. They argue that dog sports satisfy our needs, not the dogs’ needs. I don’t want to make a blanket statement about all dog sports. However, be aware of the physical toll that high-speed sports can have: all these jumps and rapid turns are not necessarily good for the dogs. If you really want to do dog sports consult a veterinarian first and make sure there are no contraindications (for example German shepherds and bulldogs tend to have congenital hip problems).

Moreover, these high-energy activities also increase adrenaline production – they stress your dog. Stress in itself does not have to be bad but if your dog is already easily (over)excited, this might not be the way to go. You might end up with a very fit, very fidgety dog simply because they can’t bring their stress levels down enough to rest.

2 people walking 2 dogs in the fields — If your dog has good recall, they can enjoy off-leash privileges.

Playing ball is an example of a beloved activity that should actually be approached with caution. If you (or your dog!) insist on this activity, try re-thinking it:

If your dog loves chewing the ball – let them! Just make sure they don’t swallow pieces of it. Chewing also relaxes your dog so it is good if your dog does it.
Ask your dog for a stay and hide the ball, then let them sniff it out. It might also be a great alternative for dogs who love playing ball but should not chase after it anymore for health reasons.
Don’t make them fetch. Once they understand the principle they will bring the ball back to you if they want to play. I know that watching them chase and fetch is incredibly satisfying, but this is supposed to be about them, not about us.
If your dog loves the ball you can use it as a reward in training (for example throw it after a successful recall).

The most important thing is to give your dog choices. The dog training world is buzzing with phrases like “learner empowerment” and “initiating a training conversation”, and for a good reason: research has shown that the more dogs are allowed to make their own decisions and interact with their environment on their own terms, the more self-confident and calm they are. That does not mean that you let your dog do whatever they want all the time. But try to let them choose as much as possible. I mean honestly, does it really matter if you go left or right at that particular intersection in the park?

a park, people on benches, runners, people walking — A busy place full of joggers, people on picnics, children and other dogs can stress out your dog.

empty-ish island shore, city in the background — The less you have to control your dog, the more you can both enjoy the walk. If possible, just pick a less frequented path with fewer distractions.

The sense of smell is another thing we theoretically all know about, but in practice we often fail to acknowledge its relevance. I don’t think there is any way we can imagine what smelling things means to dogs – it has been compared to us reading the news or scrolling social media, which may or may not be close. The fact remains that dogs engage with their environment best through their sense of smell. So let them smell. Imagine if every time you started reading a post on facebook, someone interrupted you. Not very nice, is it?

Which brings me to my last point: take your time when you walk your dog. Remember, the walk is for them, not for you. If your dog doesn’t feel like running that particular morning then let them be. You can still spend that hour outside (if they want to walk at all), just try to refrain from telling them what they should do. Dogs actually get tons of mental stimulation when they sniff and at the same time it has a calming effect (it literally slows down their heartbeat), so after an hour of intense sniffing around your neighbourhood they might be more relaxed than after playing ball.

This does require a change of attitude from walking the dog to walking with the dog. But watching them be happy is, I think, inherently rewarding to all of us and it’s really worth it.

Surviving the summer

The summer is finally here. For us it may be the time for wearing cool summer clothes and drinking spritzers outside but our dogs might be less happy about it. Firstly, they can only sweat through their paws and their main way of regulating body temperature is panting. Secondly, contrary to popular belief, dogs can also suffer sunburn – especially the ones with short coats. Owners of flat-faced¹ dogs such as bulldogs, pugs or boxers must take special care of their furry friends in the summer as they already have trouble breathing under the best conditions.

Short-snouted dogs (pugs, boxers etc.) struggle with breathing at the best of times. Their owners must take special care in the summer. — Source: http://www.balancebehaviour.org

Continue reading “Surviving the summer”

Why I’m not happy that Cesar Millan visits Budapest

Cesar Millan is one of the most famous dog trainers in the world. His TV program “The dog whisperer” ran on the National Geographic channel for 8 years and was only taken down after he was accused of animal cruelty. But I will not go into details about Cesar Millan and his commercial career.

Instead, I would like to provide an alternative, science-based explanation of what is happening in the preview that Cesar Millan did for Index. If any good training is based on setting the dogs up for success, this is clearly an example of bad training because the dogs were set up for failure.

My interpretation¹:

Two dogs who do not know each other are forced to confront each other frontally² in a small room full of people.
They are both on the leash.
They are sliding on the floor.
The handlers don’t tell the dogs what they want them to do.

In the beginning both dogs are curious and a little excited. Then you can see a change especially in the vizsla that Cesar is handling: the tail goes down, he looks away, nearly freezes, his mouth is first shut tight, then he starts panting heavily. From a dog that was excited but fine, he turns into a dog that is tense, shows clear signs of stress and uses many calming signals.

If you look at the small dog, it’s actually doing a great job of communicating his preferences, using a lot of calming signals to de-escalate the situation. He clearly attempts to walk away.

There is one more thing that I must mention. It is Cesar’s “training tool” which, according to him, “calms the brain”. BULLSHIT. It is a thin leash that forms a noose at one end. He puts it so that it circles the dog’s muzzle and is fastened where the skull and the neck meet. Even though he talks about how the dogs shouldn’t pull, once the device is placed he applies constant pressure effectively depriving the dog of oxygen. He doesn’t have to apply a lot of force because the laws of physics and nature work in his favor:

The smaller the area we apply pressure to, the less strength has to be applied to achieve the desired effect. Put simply the thinner the rope, the easier it is to suffocate the dog.
The area where the skull and the neck meet is especially vulnerable, which means that this device is also probably causing pain.

Cesar never stated what the purpose of this exercise is but let’s assume it was to stay by their handler’s side without pulling on the leash. Can dogs do that under such unfavorable circumstances? Yes, they can. BUT YOU MUST TRAIN THEM, not terrorize them.

Below you can find a small selection of signs exhibited by the vizsla in the video. If anyone is interested in a more detailed analysis that I compiled with the help of dog trainers from the Canis Pacalis network, I would be happy to send it by email:

in the beginning of the video the vizsla is pulling on the leash and moving
00:07–00:10 the dog already starts tongue-flicking when Cesar stands very close to him and gesticulates wildly
00:17–00:20 when Cesar puts the device on he stands directly in front of the dog and leans over him³, you can see the tail slowing down
00:32–00:34 when Cesar holds the leash: the dog is barely moving anymore, the head and tail are low, the whole body seems tense, the ears lean slightly backwards, the dog tries to turn away but can’t
00:52–00:59 the dog is barely moving, his tail is low, his mouth is wide open, he pants heavily and his head is facing away from Cesar as much as possible. His panting and wagging speed up when Cesar touches him. When Cesar goes to the back and demonstrates pulling on the leash, the dog freezes.

Do not shout at your dog – pt. 2

Let’s recap: I was walking my dog off leash and talking on the phone. She walked onto a street. I shouted at her to come back, in response she lied down in the middle of the street. Not good. But why? The answer is of course: body language. Let’s have a look.

The human side: what was I doing?

I was standing tall, probably with my arms outstretched to some degree, leaning forward somewhat, using a loud, unpleasant tone of voice. Dogs can learn the meaning of verbal commands, but they’re hard-wired to respond to body language and it’s hard for them to overcome it.

Continue reading “Do not shout at your dog – pt. 2”

Why train by positive reinforcement?

This is the short answer: because positive reinforcement is a humane, science-based method of training animals that focuses on rewarding desirable behaviours. It is safe for everyone to use and it strengthens the bond between you and your animal.

It is humane and safe because it does not involve punishment (be it verbal or physical). Animals have different levels of sensitivity and even though many dogs tolerate punishment, for others it may be a trigger to bark, bite or hide, ultimately escalating the situation instead of solving the problem. Therefore, using punishment is not safe. Secondly, punishment damages the bond between you and your animal, teaching the animal that they cannot trust you or even should fear you. (I also think that punishment is plain wrong and useless but it’s a matter for a different post).

It is science-based because it mostly uses the principles of classical conditioning and operant conditioning that have been well documented over the last hundred years. There has also been research into positive reinforcement itself that showed that animals trained by this method learned faster and retained the new skills much longer than classically trained animals.

It is a method because once you learn the principles you can yourself train your animal. Of course what you train them to do and how long it will take depends on many factors (the animal’s age, experiences and predispositions, your skills, the amount of time you’re willing to invest…) but you definitely do not need to be a ‘dog whisperer’ to use it to your advantage.

Positive reinforcement…

is not a quick fix. Like all successful training methods positive reinforcement requires us to think about our goals, plan ahead and manage the animal’s environment so that we can set them up for success. Most problems consist of multiple “bad behaviours” and each of them has to be fixed individually. (For example problematic greeting behaviour may involve barking, lunging and uncontrolled running. All separate issues for training.).

does not mean that you have to use treats (or any other kind of reward) all the time. Yes, initially you treat each time. But once a behaviour is stable (reliable) you can gradually wean the animal off treats and only reward them from time to time. Unless it’s something that is really hard for them. Speaking of which, why are we so opposed to rewarding our dogs? No one ever asks when they can stop punishing their dogs… Without delving deep I’d like to make an argument for treating our dogs lavishly: most of the things we ask them to do are contrary to their instincts and obeying all our requests is hard work. In my opinion hard work deserves pay. Full stop.

does not equal permissiveness. The difference between positive reinforcement based training and “traditional” training is how we react to the unwanted behaviours. Where a ctraditional trainer might opt for correction¹/punishment, the positive trainer opts for telling the dog what they want (instead of what they do not want)²because really, just expecting them to “know better” is plain unfair. Example: your dog wanders off the sidewalk. Instead of yelling/jerking the leash, one way would be to teach your dog the cue “sidewalk” and reward them for getting back onto the sidewalk.

Not everything can (or must) be trained.