Targeting.

We all do it. When we’re thirsty, we target the fridge before we head over and grab a drink. Making a sandwich? We target the bread box. When your dog was a puppy, he targeted his mother’s teat for milk. As a growing youngster, he targeted the closest littermate to instigate playtime. It is this natural tendency that we harness and hone to develop what will eventually evolve into “Targeting Your Retrieve” but that’s the beauty of targeting – it has soooo many applications for training. Considering our focus is nestled in the realm of upland hunting, successful retrieves are paramount. Often times the most common fumble in training retrieves is the final delivery to your hand. Even for natural retrievers, the tendency to lower the head upon approach leads to an opportunity for dropping the retrieved object (and when that could be a wounded bird that gets away, suddenly dinner isn’t coming home with you tonight and all that work was for nought.) So how do we avoid or even revert this tendency?

By running easy and repetitive targeting drills, you set your dog up for the habit of returning an object to hand by building muscle memory and making the effort second nature. When setting up for target drills, you will need the following supplies:

- A clicker, easily acquired at Petsmart/Petco. Many different types out there so play with each and see which fits you best.
- Treats, both dry and moist. You can use their usual dry kibble for low-value rewards and chopped/cubed hotdog chunks for high-value rewards.
- Patience and enthusiasm. Your dog will pick up on both and will make the learning experience much easier and more enjoyable for both of you.

Treat/bait bags are optional but ideal. You want the treats handy, but not in plain sight of your dog lest they become a distraction from the task at hand. Up on a counter out of site or in a loose pocket that’s easy to get your hand in and out of quickly work just as well for when first starting target drills as you’ll be in one spot to begin with before building criteria by adding distance. Avoid any snug pockets as this will only delay your ability to get to your reward which can greatly hamper and slow down the learning process.

Before beginning any drills, you must first CHARGE your clicker. This occurs by simply clicking and treating (C/T) – in that order. Click, treat. Click, treat. Click, treat. Do ten and stop for a few minutes, then go back and repeat throughout the first day of training. Do this in a quiet environment at home, maybe in the bathroom or bedroom with little chance of distraction at first, then branch out to bigger rooms and more distraction. You don’t need to speak to your dog, just keep C/T’ing him for charging. Your clicker will be ‘charged’ when your dog snaps his attention back to you the moment he hears the ‘click’ and from there, you can charge the click by ‘marking’ the moment he gives you eye contact. Looks at you, click, treat. Looks at you, click, treat. Repeat. The entire focus of this initial session is to convey that nothing EXCEPT food is coming, hence why this is a quiet process. We want the click to mean that and that alone – standby, food/reward is coming. Eventually, the dog will develop the awareness that the click actually means – standby, food/reward is coming if you do that same thing again. But for now, the emphasis is placed on ‘marking’ (clicking) that there is a reward immediately on its way.

When you begin target drills, you want to harness and capture the very moment of curiosity that a dog displays when introduced to something new. This occurs at the initial introduction of said object when presented to the dog, usually within 1-2 seconds of displaying the object. When this happens, you want to mark and click the very instant your dog looks at your hand (or better yet, goes in for a sniff!) Start within 2 feet of his face without crowding his personal space or sticking your hand directly in his face. Be mindful of when you subconsciously start to reach your target (hand) towards him to help, remain still. If he shows know interest, not even a glance, wiggle your fingers a couple of times or give a light flourish with your hand. Be ready to capture that initial ear twitch, eye glance, or head turn to look at the movement. Mark any gesture towards your hand if he is not readily interested and engaged in the target. Sometimes we miss their subtle gestures or they sometimes refuse to play along at first. If 7-10 seconds pass and he still hasn’t glanced to your fingers, take your hand away, wait a few moments and then display it again. If after 5 displays there is still no interest, put the game away for now and try again later after reviewing a brief clicker charging. Should he show great interest and make contact with his nose to your palm or fingers, C/T the moment you feel that first touch and JACKPOT the dog. A jackpot reward is delivering an abundance of treats (4-5 pieces) all at once to mark an exceptional behavior. You can deliver them individually or all at once, or change it up. Jackpots, when used sparingly and timed properly, build drive and emphasize the message that the dog has correctly performed as requested. With any luck, maybe doing the same thing again will get him more goodies and so the game continues for your dog.

Once he’s automatically targeting your hand at the moment it’s displayed, you can introduce a verbal command such as ‘touch’ for when you are cuing him to target from an area where he can’t see you. Overlay the verbal command at the same moment you display your hand, starting close to his face again and slowly moving farther out (though you’ll often find this goes faster the second time around when using a verbal overlay.)

Expect dips and rises in your dog’s participation. When he seems to leave the game entirely, he’s processing the new information. Give him a few seconds and should he come back around and give you his attention, present your target and see if he wants to keep playing. Should he duck his head away, put the game up for a while – check email, water the plants, give him some time to decompress. You can play the game later; try again before it’s time to feed him dinner when he’s most eager for a snack. After some repetition, he will soon catch on and you will see a rush in back-and-forth repetition that seems almost automatic. Touch, click, treat. Touch, click, treat. Touch, click, treat. Repeat. When you have gotten 80% correct target touches (8 of 10, or 4 of 5) then you can raise the difficulty by adding distance. When you started at 2-3 feet away from his face, move 4-5 feet away and ask he take a step or two towards the target. Mark and C/T the moment his muzzle bumps your hand.

Once your pup has mastered targeting your hand from across the room, branch out to other areas of the house and yard. From there, progress to public places and varying degrees of distraction. This is a fundamental, foundation behavior for future tasks that are more complex in nature and require a solid base to build off. If the plan for your dog involves retrieving to hand, this is the way to start as it places no negative pressure on the dog and harnesses his natural need to learn and work with us in a cooperative fashion. It’s fascinating and encouraging to watch what was once called a ‘stubborn’ dog transform into an active and eager participant in his training and you can expect the same from your pup by using this (and similar) approaches. There is a wealth of free knowledge on clicker training and clicked retrieve training via Google and Youtube, or you can schedule a training session with us at Spanish Oak for a firsthand lesson emphasizing proper timing and honing your observational skills for the most subtle behaviors.

The hullabaloo of Christmas is now behind us and we can all look ahead to 2012, which is right around the corner. Are you ready for the frivoloties of New Years Eve? Make doubly sure your pets are safely contained well before the fireworks begin and have an emergency plan of action in place should your pet become frightened and run for the hills. It helps to have a list of all vet and emergency clinics, along with all animal shelters within a 15 mile radius of your home (or where you will be staying). If you are traveling with your pet for New Years, take along something old and familiar like a worn towel or that old high school t-shirt that begs to become a drop cloth or a new batch of shop rags. The scent gives them the additional comfort of taking a piece of home with them. Finally, make sure your pet’s identification and microchip are current and up-to-date before heading out on the road. While tags don’t always make it when a dog gets lost, microchips save lives and will get your pup home. All Texas shelters are required to scan for these chips on all incoming strays which speeds up the process of reuniting you with your pet.

With the New Year comes the REAL cold weather, which brings in its wake the usual myriad of aches and pains. Sometimes it almost seems like your knees and back are working against you, and the same goes for our dogs… but never fear! Did you know that there is a cornucopia of alleviating remedies that you might not know are already in your home? Indeed! The therapeutic properties of simple things like garlic, chicken heads, and apple cider vinegar are simply astounding and have been glorified as medicinal assets since the early 16th century.

(Wait, did she say CHICKEN HEADS?)

Yep! Feet too. The heads and feet are full of marrow = glucosamine, chondroitin, collagen, sulfate, calcium phosphorus, magnesium sulfur, potassium, keratin sulfate and other trace minerals, all of which are building blocks for supporting healthy joints. Grandma wasn’t just being granny-like when she kept telling us to eat our chicken soup when we got sick; she might have actually been onto something! A real treat to bigger dogs (depending on the size, smaller ones might do better with a toe instead of the whole foot), you can give these individually to your pup to gnaw on and absorb the goodies. For us, the heads and feet make excellent chicken stock and we can also benefit from the therapeutic qualities that come with a yummy meal.

Hey in fact, while you’re at it, don’t forget raw garlic! Heated garlic will lose a lot of its medicinal properties, however dehydrating the bulbs preserves them natrally. When given in small amounts, garlic is an excellent natural feed-through flea repellant and is a powerful antifungal/antibacterial. Garlic also promotes the production of white bood cells, thus boosting the immune system and for those with diabetes, it also helps reduce blood-sugar levels. Crushed, chopped, or chewed, garlic has dated back over 5,000 years as a medicinal plant, well back into Ancient Egypt and was largely a part of how the Pyramids were built. Slaves were given a bulb of garlic everyday to ward off sickness and improve their strength. A mere 15 pounds of garlic bulbs as currency bought you another healthy male slave to knock out the pyramid project, so if it helped build one of the Seven Wonders of the World, imagine what it can do for your dog (and you!)

Apple cider vinegar is another excellent tool in any holistic medicine arsenal. A favorite of many village doctors for centuries, the therapeutic properties of apple cider vinegar are listed far and wide. The most common claims are that apple cider vinegar may reduce sinus infections and sore throats, balance high cholesterol, cure skin conditions such as acne, protect against food poisoning, fight allergies in both humans and animals, prevent muscle fatigue after exercise, strengthen the immune system, increase stamina, increase metabolism which promotes weight loss, improve digestion and cure constipation, alleviate symptoms of arthritis and gout, and prevents bladder stones and urinary tract infections. While there have been many claims it can cure obscure ailments, there are several medicinal studies out there that back the use for specific issues such as:

- Weight loss (Suggested Remedy: Mix 2 teaspoons of ACV with a glass of water, drink before every meal or sip it slowly through the day)
- Bad breath (Suggested Remedy: Mix 1/2 tablespoon of ACV into a cup of water, gargle for 10 seconds at a time until the cup is empty)
- Diarrhea (Suggested Remedy: Mix 2 tablespoons of ACV to a large glass of water, drink 3 times daily while the symptoms persist. )

It’s best to drink the solution through a straw as vinegar is highly acidic and can ruin the enamel on your teeth.

The beauty of apple cider vinegar is that it can be found in almost any major grocer and in literally every natural health or nutrition store. You want to be on the lookout for ACV with a pH level of 5 to 7, and it can even be found in capsule form which eliminates the strong sour taste that comes with liquid vinegar. With the rising use of pesticides and herbicides, organic is a safer bet to make when trying to decide which is better so keep an eye out for that label. Researching the manufacturer is a better way of educating yourself and provide the comfort of knowing your food better than most. The need to cut corners in order to cut costs ends up hurting only the consumer so it’s left up to the consumer to learn who in commercial production might still have a conscience. The same goes for your dog food, and especially your own food.

Being out in the field is certainly not for the faint of heart, in both dog and field enthusiast. Keeping fit and in the best natural shape possible is paramount to many more days out with your pup and we hope that this brief guide has helped point you in the right direction towards alternative sources of good health. And these aren’t the only ones! There is a wealth of good knowledge waiting to be found on the subject via resources such as online web searches, local nutritionists, and the experts at your local health food store. However, this blog in no way is meant to substitute any advice given by a medical professional, and if you or your dog’s symptoms are severe, seek medical help right away. However if you’re looking for a good place to start in kicking off your own system support without the heavy inundation and dependence on pharmaceuticals, you’re in the right place.

Wishing you MANY happy trails and happy tails in 2012 and beyond!

(After numerous discussions on using positive reinforcement as a means of training dogs, I was given this VERY well written article by Sarah Kalnajs. I am referencing this article as my basis for support in this style of approach as I can’t imagine a more well-thought-out response to the topic. I hope this sheds a better light for anyone questioning the efficacy of positive reinforcement and what the differences are between positive and negative stimulus. Thanks to Sarah Kalnajs for putting it all so succinctly – read more about Sarah here.)

Recently I’ve heard from trainers referring to themselves as “balanced” that Positive Reinforcement trainers use no form of correction or punishment, think all “positive punishment methods are “evil” and are… only about flinging cookies.

If you’re looking for a dog trainer, and you’re confused by all of the controversy, hopefully this short piece will help you.

Positive Reinforcement Trainers / Dog Friendly Dog Trainers / Clicker Trainers / Science Based Trainers – those are a few of the phrases commonly used to describe the group of trainers who promote dog training through the use of a thorough understanding of the science of learning theory. They use both classical and operant conditioning techniques to train dogs and while food is used in training, when done properly, reinforcement training is about just that – REINFORCEMENT, and not, as some would put forth BRIBERY.

Keep in mind that POSITIVE DOES NOT EQUAL PERMISSIVE (thanks Susan Garrett) and the trainers in this category DO IN FACT use punishers in training, including some positive punishers. The distinction is that their preference in training is whenever possible to use Positive Reinforcement and Negative Punishment (the removal of something the dog wants in order to decrease the frequency of a behavior) and when necessary use the tools of Positive Punishment (the addition of something unpleasant to the dog that will reduce the frequency of a behavior) and Negative Reinforcement.

Positive trainers fully understand that there must be consequences in learning but see no need for those consequences to be harsh physical punishers in order to have a wonderfully trained and well mannered family (or performance) pet. While they may sometimes opt to use Positive Punishment as a tool, their choice would be perhaps clapping their hands and making a noise or moving just a bit into the dog’s space.

My personal rule is this: If you wouldn’t do it to a pre-verbal child, then please don’t do it to your dog. Why? Because your dog doesn’t have the cognitive capability of understanding what you are doing any more than your pre-verbal child would understand that his drawing on the kitchen wall produced a sound spanking.

I am a crossover trainer. This means that many years ago (goodness how time flies), I used the metal collars, holding a dog on the ground, forcing them to “face their fears” etc.

Was I able to train dogs that way? Yes… BUT – The dogs didn’t get excited about training and many became fearful of the collar, the leash, the car, dog class (the list goes on and on). You CAN train a dog through force and intimidation but mostly you are training them what NOT to do with a good dose of “be afraid of the person on the other end of the leash”.

It is true that some dogs are much more sensitive to the use of the quite harsh physical methods than others, but the point I learned…the reason I switched training methods and did not look back?

WHY TAKE A CHANCE WITH A DOG IF YOU DON’T HAVE TO?

In other words, if you can get a wonderfully trained and well behaved dog using positive reinforcement and negative punishment methods, why on earth would you want to use a technique that at best the dog wouldn’t exactly love and at worst could create more problems than you started with?

Reinforcement trainers avoid the use of metal training collars, shock collars and physical manipulation methods (alpha rolls and the like) that have been shown in an impressive quantity of scientific research and literature to have no meaning or merit in dog training. (See David Mech, take a glance through “Coercion and It’s Fallout by Murray Sidman or Google Scholar search studies of the use of shock collars on dogs to learn more about this).

To state it plainly, both experience and science have shown us that it is erroneous to think that by rolling a dog over on their back we are “showing them we are dominant” and they will then change their behavior. It simply isn’t true.

There is a very large difference between an offered behavior and a FORCED behavior. One can not force an emotional state on another mammal by placing them in a physical position. Clients who comes to my office having done this to their dog report the same things:

1. THEIR DOG BECAME MORE AROUSED AND MORE AGGRESSIVE in response or
2. THEIR DOG BECAME VERY FRIGHTENED of them and shut down.

What didn’t happen as a result? LEARNING

Is it possible that an experienced trainer using those methods might get different results than those clients arriving at my office in droves by nature of having better timing or knowing when to back off by having a good understanding of canine body language? Of course. But that’s the point. If the tool you use to train has the capacity to do harm in the hands of the non-expert, then it should not ever be advocated for use by the non-expert!

People should NOT be able to walk into a pet store and walk out with a remote controlled shock collar to place on their dog’s neck shocking the animal each time they “misbehave”. Many times the damage of this type of, hmmm, I can’t even call it training….so INTERACTION then, is so severe that the dog must be euthanized. Also, we need to call it what it is. It is a collar that uses an electric shock as an aversive to the dog. It bothers me greatly that some put “gentler” names on these devices calling them “e sitm” or even “training collars”. I’ve never had to disguise the term “liver treat” after all!

A final comment on the shock collar, anticipating the typical response by it’s advocates, is the following…

“Well the dog is only shocked once or twice and then it’s ONLY a beep.”

Remember Pavlov’s dog everyone? The dog that began salivating at the sound of the bell since it came to predict food? That is an example of classical conditioning and it is exactly what happens with the shock and the beep.

To Pavlov’s dog, the bell BECAME the food in the dog’s mind. The bell produced the same physiological reaction in the dog as the food. In the use of shock collars and shock fences, the BEEP becomes the SHOCK. The dog experiences the same physiological reaction to the beep as they did to the shock. They become one and the same and THAT IS WHY IT WORKS! (That is, until the dog is sufficiently motivated to break through to follow a deer or rabbit and then too fearful to return as they’d have to endure the shock to enter back in to their own yard.)

For those that say the shock isn’t painful? Look, if it wasn’t painful, it wouldn’t work. Is it the most painful thing ever experienced? No. But how many of you would be willing to put it on a three year old and try it out? Enough said.

Am I biased towards this type of training? Absolutely! Proudly so! Am I passionate about this subject? Certainly! Do I hope that others will take time to learn about these issues and cross over as I did? I very much do.

At the same time, I believe firmly that everyone who works with dogs, LOVES DOGS. I don’t think any trainer of any method is clasping their hands thinking….”hmmm, how can I hurt a dog next”. All I’m saying now, all I’ve ever said is this:

If there is a way to train your dog JUST AS WELL IF NOT BETTER and without the risk of any fear, without physical discomfort and without the potential of fallout (such as the development of behavior problems from training)…

WHY WOULDN’T YOU WANT TO DO THAT?

(Just food for thought.)

“Kennel decay” is an issue many owners may not know about, as many kennels choose to overlook it. While not extremely common, there is a percentage of dogs that, when introduced to a public boarding environment, cannot cope with the stimuli that comes with the new setting.

For some dogs, it’s apparent immediately – the energy in the building is far too bombastic, SO many new smells, the echo factor of dozens of dogs barking all at once, the reverberation of kennel walls as the more hyper dogs go bouncing from side to side, and now the new dog is so overstimulated and overwhelmed that they either go absolutely bonkers or shut down entirely. Often, you see the former occur with high strung dogs with a high prey drive as they’re already naturally inclined to be wound a bit tighter, especially over long-term stays. The more timid dogs end up shutting down, though some with the right amount of curiosity can build up enough courage by the end of the day to see what’s out in the play yards.

Some dogs simply are not cut out for a public setting and usually, it’s apparent within the first day of drop-off. Many kennels overlook this factor because it means they lose a client by explaining that the pet may be better suited for a sitter or in-home boarding, something more low-impact and less abrasive. The key is first identifying the signs of mental decay in a kennel and then determining whether kennel boarding is the right fit. I always encourage a ‘play day evaluation’ when possible, where the dog drops off just for the day to see how they adjust to the routine and environment.

Common signs of kennel decay are usually found in conjunction with other symptoms such as…
- Excessive, repetitive barking throughout the day (often at nothing)
- Excessive spinning in their kennel run
- Rapid panting (AKA stress panting), sometimes with lots of drooling
- Dog exhibits full-body shakes/tremors
- Dog avoids any interaction with people or other dogs (wants to be left alone)
- Dog displays overly fearful behavior when approached (ducking away, hiding, crawling, looking for the farthest spot to run to as quickly as possible)
- Dog displays outright aggressive behavior when approached (growls, snaps, bites, lunges, etc.)

If it has come to your attention that your pup is just not acclamating to a kennel environment, then start checking out local pet sitters or kennels that offer In-Home Boarding. Here at Spanish Oak Kennel, we do have the In-Home Boarding option available, however it is on a limited basis and we suggest calling in advance to book your spot as it is first-come, first-serve and only one dog is taken at a time (unless 2 small dogs are in the same family.) There are also a numerous amount of wonderful licensed, insured, and bonded pet sitters in the Austin area waiting to make your pet as happy and as comfortable as possible!

Fall is finally upon us! While the cold weather hasn’t exactly caught up with it yet, I’m sure the majority of us here in Texas are anxiously awaiting our first REAL cold front (and not these piddly little cold puffs that drop into the 90′s for five minutes at a time.) The big issue for us here at the Spanish Oak Preserve is WATER, of which we are drastically low. Scratch that, we have none. Sad when this time last year, we were out on our pond in kayaks with four dogs swimming behind us as we started to ramp up for the Fall 2010 NAVHDA season. This year, and this drought, have made training exceptionally difficult for those of us out here in Central Texas, and we know we’re not the only ones. Countless NAVHDA/SOHC members have been encountering the same issue, many having to drive out of state just to find suitable water in order to train up for Utility and Invitational purposes. Speaking of the Invitational, we’d like to give a big CONGRATULATIONS to Larry Woodward who is bringing home THREE Versatile Champions from this past weekend’s NAVHDA Invitational. All of us here at SOHC know just how hard Larry trains to produce some of the finest Wirehaired Pointing Griffons in the country, and it certainly showed this weekend in Star, Betsy, and Sam! Aux Lake Kennels is an excellent place to learn more about these phenomenal dogs.

The heat and NAVHDA aside, all is well out here at the Preserve. The SOHC hunting dogs know that season is right around the corner and have been practicing on pointing grasshoppers all summer long. The 2011 crop of Spanish Oak puppies are all in their new homes and thriving beautifully judging by the wonderful updates their families have sent us. Many will be testing for Natural Ability this fall, so keep your eyes peeled for one of the latest and greatest Spanish Oak pups. We’ve continued to receive a lot of interest in our litters, and while we don’t have another litter planned yet, we hope everyone will keep checking back with us for when we do as these pups come with the full hunter’s package – conformation, style, drive, and some of the most endearing and personable dogs you’d ever want in your lap. So keep checking in on our Facebook pages or our website and we’ll keep y’all posted for your next chance to have a Spanish Oak future legend!