Don't Shoot the Dog - Jackpots Revised

Many of you have read Karen Pryer's book, Don't Shoot the Dog  It is an educational book for parents as well as dog owners.  After 20 years, Karen explains how the use of jackpots can work when used effectively.  The below insert is straight from Karen's Blog and is worth reading:

Remember, though, that no one is always right. We all keep learning things all the time, revising and adding to what we knew before. That's one of the joys of science and a valuable phenomenon in the clicker training world.

Looking back at the jackpot section in Don't Shoot the Dog, now, twenty years after it was written and six years after the revision supervised by Murray Newman, I think that I failed to differentiate between jackpots as I see them, and another tool altogether: the non-contingent reward.

A non-contingent reward "just because"

A non-contingent reward is also something you get by surprise, but it is not associated with any particular behavior. One example in the book was the two free fish we gave to a discouraged dolphin, which perked her up and set her to trying to earn reinforcement again. Another example in the book was the ticket for ten free riding lessons that my parents bought me when, at sixteen, I was behaving poorly for weeks on end. It instantly corrected my bad mood. I included these as jackpots, but they were not; they were both examples of a non-contingent reward. The most powerful use of a non-contingent reward is to counteract the effects of an extinction curve; I know the dolphin in question was undergoing extinction of a bunch of operant behaviors; probably this sulky teenager was, too. Getting the news that good things are still available revived the efforts to seek reinforcement again.

Like the jackpot, a non-contingent reward is a tool to use rarely. And, like a jackpot, if it is going to work, you only need to do it once.

Positive Reinforcement Training is Best

Interesting study reported in Psychology Today. I am not surprised by the findings — just further confirmation of my Training approach. Judy Moore

The Effect of Training Method on Stress Levels in Dogs | Psychology Today

The Effect of Training Method on Stress Levels in Dogs

Discipline-based training increases stress levels in dogs.

At a dog training seminar that I attended recently I found myself engaged in a familiar conversation, namely the effect of various types of dog training methods on the behavior of pet dogs. Nowadays the line seems to be drawn between two camps, one advocating "positive dog training" (which uses rewards such as food and play) versus "discipline-based training" (which incorporates slip collars and leash tugs and other physical interventions to enforce compliance).

To give you a bit of a technical background, in reality there are only four methods that are used to teach dogs the kinds of tasks and behaviors that we humans are interested in having them learn. The first is called positive reinforcement, where the term "reinforcement" refers to anything that increases the likelihood that the dog will repeat a behavior. The "positive" refers to the fact that we give the dog something that he wants, like a treat. The second method is called negative reinforcement, where the "negative" refers to taking something unwanted or annoying away, so for example, if you pull up on the leash causing a choke chain to tighten and push down on the dog's hindquarters while you tell him to sit, the negative reinforcement comes when the dog goes into the sitting position you take away the pressure around his neck and on his lower back. The other two methods involve punishment. A punisher is anything that reduces the likelihood that a dog will repeat a behavior. Positive punishment refers to the fact that when a dog does something which we don't want him to do we apply something the dog doesn't like, which could be a slap or a loud reprimand. Negative punishment involves taking something that the individual wants away from him. A human example would be if the child acts out the dinner table he doesn't get dessert when everybody else does. Positive dog training is almost always based on positive reinforcement, while discipline-based training uses a combination of negative reinforcement and positive punishment.

Prior to the mid-1940s, most dog training was done using discipline-based training, since most of the early training models came from military dog trainers who had the idea that a dog should be trained using the same kind of discipline-based procedures that were used for human recruits. The change toward more positive training came about because of a series of books written by Blanche Saunders. Although by today's positive training standards she was still a bit harsh, she clearly recognized the value of rewards and was much softer on her canine students than most trainers before her. Over time, positive dog training has come to dominate the canine training scene, following much along the model of the techniques used by Ian Dunbar and others. However over the past few years, due to the influence of certain high profile dog trainers who have popular television series like Cesar Millan, discipline-based training has begun to gain in popularity.

One of the people in the group that I was speaking with insisted that discipline-based training procedures should not have been abandoned, and that no real proof exists showing negative effects on dogs. She complained that there was a bias among canine researchers, who she referred to as "foodies" since they usually reward the dogs with a stream of food treats. "Just because we live in a kinder and gentler world doesn't mean that we can't teach a dog that when he does something we don't like it has negative consequences," she said. "Properly applied, by people who know what they're doing, there's nothing wrong with negative reinforcement or a little bit of punishment. The problem is that most researchers and the people they get to train the dogs they test probably don't really believe in discipline-based training, and so they either overdo it, or don't work as hard at using it properly."

As luck would have it I had just finished going over an article that was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior* that directly dealt with this issue. It was done by two French researchers, Stéphanie Deldalle  and Florence Gaunet who wanted to test the effect of the two training styles. They wanted to use the most naturalistic setting that they could find, and to collect data based on observation rather than upon changes in blood chemistry or heart rate or other invasive procedures. What they did first was to attend a number of dog training classes in their vicinity and observe the training procedures that were used. In the end they selected one class which used positive dog training methods almost exclusively and contrasted it to another dog training class which used discipline-based methods (mostly negative reinforcement). They reasoned that the instructors in both of these classes were teaching their students using the method that they favored because, as trainers, they believed it was the most efficient system and would produce the best results.

Once the classes were selected, dog and owner pairs were brought in and tested on familiar exercises such as heeling and sitting on command. There were 26 dogs trained using discipline-based procedures and 24 using positive training. The researchers were not looking at actual learning performance, but rather were measuring the amount of stress that dogs appeared to show when performing their learned exercises. They used easily observable behaviors associated with stress, such as mouth licking, yawning, scratching, sniffing, shivering, whining, low posture, attempts to run away, and whether or not the dog avoided making eye contact with their handler.

The results were rather straightforward. If we simply look at whether a dog showed any of the stress related behaviors we find that 65% of the discipline-based trained dogs showed at least one such sign, as compared to only 8% of the positively train dogs. For some selected behaviors the differences were quite striking, such as in mouth licking (38% discipline; 8% positive), yawning (23% discipline; 0% positive), and low posture (46% discipline; 8% positive). One of the results which I found most interesting had to do with whether or not the dog looked at the owner's face. Both humans and dogs have a tendency to avoid looking at things that raise their stress levels or make them uncomfortable, so the fact that only 38% of the discipline trained dogs looked at their owners faces as compared to 88% of the positively trained dogs seems telling.

This is a small study, but because it is done using actual class trained pet dogs and instructors who believe in their particular training method, it is quite interesting. It seems to be just one more study that suggests that using punishment and negative reinforcement can produce potentially harmful and unwanted emotional changes in dogs. For additional findings on similar topics click here or click here.

Stanley Coren is the author of many books including: The Wisdom of Dogs; Do Dogs Dream? Born to Bark; The Modern Dog; Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses? The Pawprints of History; How Dogs Think; How To Speak Dog; Why We Love the Dogs We Do; What Do Dogs Know? The Intelligence of Dogs; Why Does My Dog Act That Way? Understanding Dogs for Dummies; Sleep Thieves; The Left-hander Syndrome

 Copyright SC Psychological Enterprises Ltd. May not be reprinted or reposted without permission

* Data from: Stéphanie Deldalle & Florence Gaunet (2014). Effects of 2 training methods on stress-related behaviors of the dog (Canis Familiaris) and on the dog-owner relationship. Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 9, 58 – 65.

Good Things Happen...

When I introduce a new rule structure to my dogs or to my clients dog, I make sure good things happen when the dog performs the wanted or desired behavior. We can all agree that consequence

drives behavior in all of us, but I really want you to think of the consequence as a positive and rewarding one.  It is not just that I believe it works, it is scientifically proven that if a dog does a behavior and what follows is rewarding, the behavior will be repeated.  This repeated behavior performed several times per day and continued over a few weeks becomes a desired habit.  Is that not what we all are trying to do?  Shape our dogs behavior into good habits?

Here are a few examples you might want to try:

1. Good things happen when you are on your mat! 

Good things happen when you go to a mat,
these two are chewing on stuffed kongs.

Simply have your dog near you with a handful of treats and your dog's mat.  Lay the mat on the floor and when your dog sniffs it, looks at it or step on it, say "yes" and drop a treat or two between his paws.  Ask your dog to get off the mat, pick it up and walk a few steps with it in your hand.  Repeat the process of laying the mat down and rewarding your dog for moving onto the mat.  You can initially walk around the mat and stop while facing your dog with the mat between you two.  When he steps onto it, say "yes" and reward generously.  Initially, put the mat away between sessions and play this game a few times per day.  When you see your dog get excited that you are about to lay the mat down, add a cue like "go to your mat" just before you lay the mat down.  Once your dog is walking on the mat quickly, wait on the "yes" and see if your dog offers you a sit, then say "yes" and reward.  Eventually your dog will offer you a down and then you can jackpot this behavior.

To maintain this behavior of "go to your mat" you will want to randomly reward your dog when you see him go to his mat without being asked.  This can be a good massage, kong time, bone time, yummy treat or a good scratch, whatever your dog finds rewarding.  I use this each morning as we enter the kitchen, each of my dogs will move towards their mat and I will eventually feed them while they are on their mat waiting patiently.  I no longer ask them to go to their mat, they know going to their mat predicts they will get fed, which is rewarding to them and nice for me not to have 12 paws under my feet!

How does your dog feel when he looks at you?

2. Good things happen when you look at me!
Training your dog to perform a simple behavior is nearly impossible without first having your dog's attention.  If your dog is not quick to look at you, teach your dog that looking at you is ALWAYS followed by a reward.
Again, begin with a handful of your dogs yummy treats and your dog near you, maybe on a leash if necessary.  Say your dog's name, and when he looks at you say "yes" and toss him a treat.  Wait a few seconds and repeat, saying his name, and marking the moment his head turns towards you and rewarding.

Another game that works well to get your dogs attention is to simply sit in a chair with some treats in hand.  Toss a treat on the floor and when your dog eats the treat he will most likely look at you to see if more food is flying.  When he looks your way, say "yes" and toss another over his head.  When he eats the treat he will come near you again and you can smile and say "yes" when he looks at you and repeat the process.  Your dog will learn that looking at you predicts Good things happen, and will repeat the behavior.

If you are reading this Blog, then I assume you have a dog or are thinking about getting a dog.  My hope is that you are a positive influence in training your dog and not one who feels they need to dominate a dog.  Consider how effective science-based training is, and how your dog "feels" when you are training.  I hope your dog feels good when you are near, when he looks at you and when you reach to touch him.  If not, read more of my blog to learn how to train your dog while also having a happy, healthy and trusting relationship.