Every single time I walk with Woody, I bring along a treat pouch with a mishmash of various goodies. Maybe some kibble, maybe some dried liver, maybe some cheese, maybe some apple chunks, or maybe some of Woody's favourite Zuke's.
Recently, someone remarked, "What? You STILL need to carry treats for your dog??"
Well, no. Of course I don't need to. But why on earth wouldn't I? During our walks, I can come across plenty of perfect opportunities to toss him a reward to let him know he's done something I liked.
Like the day we came face-to-face with someone walking a dog who clearly didn't want Woody to approach him. What did Woody do when he saw the dog? Well, in the past, he would have taken off like a bullet towards the dog, with me skidding behind him on my heels like a cartoon character. But this day, Woody paused and turned towards me. Yesssssssssss! Good boy! Here's a treat. Here's another! Here are three more on the ground... Find it! Find it!
By the time Woody looked up again, the other dog had passed, and we went on our merry way. In those few seconds of activity, I reinforced a behaviour in my dog that originally took me a very long time to instill. It cost me precisely 5 treats. Yay for Woody! In return, I have a dog who is much more likely to repeat this behaviour the next time we come across a similar situation. Yay for me!
"But isn't he only doing it because you have treats?"... Well, no. He did it because there was the possibility of treats. I did not promise a treat beforehand by waving it in front of Woody and saying, "Here Woody! Look what I have! This way.. this way! Woooooo-dy! Look at me! Look at me! Want some cheese? Woody? Woody? WOODY?!! Want some liver? Here Woody! Over here! Cookie? Cooooooookieeeeeeee??"... in a desperate attempt to win his attention.
Instead, because I had tossed him a treat in the past whenever another dog was in the vicinity, Woody quickly calculated the odds of getting a treat on this particular occasion. He saw the dog, then took a gamble and glanced at me. "Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!!!" Jackpot! Glancing at me is exactly what I want him to do. To let him know, I reward him. Woody has now figured out that offering this behaviour works out very well for him indeed. By rewarding him, I've just made this behaviour stronger and more likely to happen again. Everyone wins.
With a bribe, the promise of payment comes before the behaviour is executed. With a reward, the behaviour comes first. I waited for Woody to offer me the behaviour I was looking for, and when I got it, I rewarded him.
I see nothing wrong with snatching up random opportunities like this to let your dog know he's doing something right. I assure you, you're not "spoiling" him. On some walks, Woody might get three treats. On others, he might get ten. And still on others, he might get none! Thanks to this unpredictable treat schedule, I've successfully turned Woody into a gambling addict, which in turn makes him a very well-behaved dog.
Well... most of the time.... ;)
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Saturday, 19 March 2011
The noise from within
I'm lucky. I get to spend lots of time at home with my dog. I guess that makes him lucky too. It also means I can walk him in the middle of the day, when most of the people in my neighbourhood are away at work.
As Woody and I make our way along the quiet residential streets, I take the opportunity to study him while he makes his rounds. His paws are moving at my slow (to him) human pace, but his nose is in turbo. No odor gets past him, and I'm more than happy to oblige when he gets completely focused on a single, extremely important blade of grass for a solid 3 minutes.
So intense is his concentration that he doesn't bother to look up when we stop squarely in front of a house with a very vocal Yorkie slamming the living room window with his tiny paws. Woody used to be mildly interested in what this little guy has to say, but it seems with daily repetition, the news has gotten old and stale.
The Yorkie lives in a corner house, and his routine involves darting from the front windows to the large side windows as he follows our progress around the street corner. To his credit, Woody doesn't bat an eye.
Further along our path is a house with a Schnauzer also barking up a storm from the front window while perched on the back of a couch. Again, no reaction from Woody, except maybe to flick an ear in mild curiosity. The Schnauzer doesn't quite put his whole heart into it like the Yorkie does. It almost feels as though he's doing this out of obligation... like the spectator in a sports stadium who feels he must stand and do the wave when it comes around, even though he'd really rather not.
Up a hill and around another corner, we reach the house I've dubbed "Team Lab". This house gets Woody's undivided attention, every single time. The barking from inside the house starts slowly at first; one Labrador Retriever suspects he might hear something in the street (us!) and lets out a couple of tentative phishing barks. Woody doesn't fall for it, but the second Lab in the house says "What the hell, we've got nothing better to do!", and lets out a series of alarmed barks.
Aaaaaaaand so it begins. The two Labs bark in unison while Woody takes his sweet time inspecting the curb in front of their house. He's pretending to be very involved with a scent, but he doesn't fool me. I see those ears moving. I know his position is deliberate. I prompt him to move on.
Right on cue comes the yelling and shouting from inside the house. A woman - I've never actually seen her - starts to yell at the dogs, I assume to get them to quiet down. Instead, she creates an even louder mess as the dogs erupt into a barking, snarling frenzy, probably convinced she's barking right along with them. Team Lab. The chaos doesn't die down until we're long gone. (Unfortunately for Team Lab, the only way back home for us is to walk by this house again!).
So why are all of these dogs barking at us? Are they bored? Stressed? Being protective? Afraid? Neurotic? The short answer is: Yes. Or no. Maybe. Does it really matter why?
I used to think it did. Whenever I was contacted to consult for a barking dog, I'd ask a bazillion questions, trying to get to "the root of the problem". It turns out the root is actually not that important. The problem, is the barking in the window. The problem, is that this behaviour is immensely reinforcing to the dog, no matter why he does it. The problem, is that it won't go away on its own.
The problem, is almost always solved by simple management. Remove the dog's access from the window; give him something to do while you're gone; don't be gone for 10-12 hours a day (seriously... like I even need to say that). And in the case of Team Lab - for god's sake, resist the urge to bark with them.
The sad truth is that most people aren't even aware of what their dog does while he's alone in the house. Set up a video camera one day. Or park up the street and walk back. See for yourself.
In the meantime, I need to take Woody for his walk....
As Woody and I make our way along the quiet residential streets, I take the opportunity to study him while he makes his rounds. His paws are moving at my slow (to him) human pace, but his nose is in turbo. No odor gets past him, and I'm more than happy to oblige when he gets completely focused on a single, extremely important blade of grass for a solid 3 minutes.
So intense is his concentration that he doesn't bother to look up when we stop squarely in front of a house with a very vocal Yorkie slamming the living room window with his tiny paws. Woody used to be mildly interested in what this little guy has to say, but it seems with daily repetition, the news has gotten old and stale.
The Yorkie lives in a corner house, and his routine involves darting from the front windows to the large side windows as he follows our progress around the street corner. To his credit, Woody doesn't bat an eye.
Further along our path is a house with a Schnauzer also barking up a storm from the front window while perched on the back of a couch. Again, no reaction from Woody, except maybe to flick an ear in mild curiosity. The Schnauzer doesn't quite put his whole heart into it like the Yorkie does. It almost feels as though he's doing this out of obligation... like the spectator in a sports stadium who feels he must stand and do the wave when it comes around, even though he'd really rather not.
Up a hill and around another corner, we reach the house I've dubbed "Team Lab". This house gets Woody's undivided attention, every single time. The barking from inside the house starts slowly at first; one Labrador Retriever suspects he might hear something in the street (us!) and lets out a couple of tentative phishing barks. Woody doesn't fall for it, but the second Lab in the house says "What the hell, we've got nothing better to do!", and lets out a series of alarmed barks.
Aaaaaaaand so it begins. The two Labs bark in unison while Woody takes his sweet time inspecting the curb in front of their house. He's pretending to be very involved with a scent, but he doesn't fool me. I see those ears moving. I know his position is deliberate. I prompt him to move on.
Right on cue comes the yelling and shouting from inside the house. A woman - I've never actually seen her - starts to yell at the dogs, I assume to get them to quiet down. Instead, she creates an even louder mess as the dogs erupt into a barking, snarling frenzy, probably convinced she's barking right along with them. Team Lab. The chaos doesn't die down until we're long gone. (Unfortunately for Team Lab, the only way back home for us is to walk by this house again!).
So why are all of these dogs barking at us? Are they bored? Stressed? Being protective? Afraid? Neurotic? The short answer is: Yes. Or no. Maybe. Does it really matter why?
I used to think it did. Whenever I was contacted to consult for a barking dog, I'd ask a bazillion questions, trying to get to "the root of the problem". It turns out the root is actually not that important. The problem, is the barking in the window. The problem, is that this behaviour is immensely reinforcing to the dog, no matter why he does it. The problem, is that it won't go away on its own.
The problem, is almost always solved by simple management. Remove the dog's access from the window; give him something to do while you're gone; don't be gone for 10-12 hours a day (seriously... like I even need to say that). And in the case of Team Lab - for god's sake, resist the urge to bark with them.
The sad truth is that most people aren't even aware of what their dog does while he's alone in the house. Set up a video camera one day. Or park up the street and walk back. See for yourself.
In the meantime, I need to take Woody for his walk....
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