Bungee's Wednesday Night Agility Class
I decided against trying a time out with Bungee in class this week, over this distraction challenge during contacts. With a new plan, contacts went better and everything else went wonderful as usual. Bungee is an all-around fabulous dog! But because I mentioned time outs, I wanted to talk about them and why I chose to defer using one. Most of what I am about to share about this I have learned from Susan Garrett through the many years of attending camps, workshops, classes and private lessons.
Time outs are also explained in the book: "How Dogs Learn" by Mary Burch, Ph.D. & Jon Bailey, Ph.D., which I highly recommend and is also recommended reading at Susan's school.
What is a Time Out?
A time out is a type of punishment. A time out deprives a dog of earning another reward at that moment in time (by denying it the opportunity to continue working or self-reinforcing). Thus, a time out takes something of value away.
Time outs can include turning your back on your dog, holding the collar (and thus the dog) still, asking the dog to sit or down, leaving the room (dog), putting the dog in a crate or another room, etc. Clearly, those are normal behaviors and are most often NOT, in and of themselves, punishers. So it is the way the time out is used that constitutes the punisher.
A time out is never used in angry, rough or forceful way!
The next thing we must do if we're considering a time out is ask if it is appropriate. Our two primary considerations to decide the answer to that are: will it be fair and will it be effective? We use the information below for our guidelines.
A time out is a type of punishment. A time out deprives a dog of earning another reward at that moment in time (by denying it the opportunity to continue working or self-reinforcing). Thus, a time out takes something of value away.
Time outs can include turning your back on your dog, holding the collar (and thus the dog) still, asking the dog to sit or down, leaving the room (dog), putting the dog in a crate or another room, etc. Clearly, those are normal behaviors and are most often NOT, in and of themselves, punishers. So it is the way the time out is used that constitutes the punisher.
A time out is never used in angry, rough or forceful way!
The next thing we must do if we're considering a time out is ask if it is appropriate. Our two primary considerations to decide the answer to that are: will it be fair and will it be effective? We use the information below for our guidelines.
Time Outs are Ineffective If:
1. The dog can continue to self reinforce
2. The dog does not know "HOW" to be correct
3. The dog didn't enjoy the work you took from him
Rules of Engagement ~ as Susan calls them
1. Avoid using time outs
2. Should only be used in an environment rich in positive reinforcement
3. Should always be executed without anger
4. Should be evaluated with each use
5. The location of the time out and the body position of the dog (sit, down, crate) should be varied to avoid anxiety developing
6. The location should have an association rich with rewards
7. Should not be given if there was any possibility the handler caused the error
8. Should not be over-used or will cause frustration in the dog and should be used no more than 5% of the time.
Let's examine that for Bungee and her contacts in class
2. (above) Does the dog know how to be correct? (I am not sure of that)
7. (above) Is there any possibility I caused the error? (Indeed there is)
Thought Process
On being correct - While I get correct nose touches in certain environments and I am frustrated by and dislike the behaviors that occur during nose touches in class sometime, that does not justify assuming she knows how to be correct yet.
Did I cause the error? Shaping contacts is SUCH a fine art, of course there is a possibility I have contributed to her poor understanding of this behavior.
Did I cause the error? Shaping contacts is SUCH a fine art, of course there is a possibility I have contributed to her poor understanding of this behavior.
A New Plan
To help me continue to teach, and rule out any question of technique on her part, I took my electronic target to school for the 1st time. (I'd been using plexiglass in class). I also chose to use toys 1st, though I had food rewards at the ready as well.
Right off the bat we had a little problem of distraction. I had moved to the 2nd ring which was empty, well away from the class in ring 1, to work. But we had some interference (from Bungee's point of view) from some tree-trimming work taking place at the far edge of the gully below. Though it was distant it was unusual, it was dusk, and this caused her some concern, in fact she warned us a few times with a single "woof" and really wasn't able to focus.
Since I had just read about this from a new perspective with Turid Rugrass's new book: "Barking" (another I HIGHLY recommend!) I was able to put Bungee at ease and then work in another direction.
Once I got her focused and working, I got better results than the week before. Two things were clear: I'm on the right track and we have a lot of work yet to do!
I was pleased with the result and my decision not to use a time out to deal with distractions. Any thought of it on my part at that point in time was born of frustration. Thank goodness I no longer train with force, and take training plans seriously, deferring to pen & paper (instead of the dog) when a training moment falls short of my expectations.
Again and again in class this week, I saw things come together. I saw understanding occur as she put "pieces" together here & there with many different exercises. When she did so, she was driven and brilliant and it was exciting! The dog turns heads I can tell you that!
Distraction indicates a lack of motivation.
To help me continue to teach, and rule out any question of technique on her part, I took my electronic target to school for the 1st time. (I'd been using plexiglass in class). I also chose to use toys 1st, though I had food rewards at the ready as well.
Right off the bat we had a little problem of distraction. I had moved to the 2nd ring which was empty, well away from the class in ring 1, to work. But we had some interference (from Bungee's point of view) from some tree-trimming work taking place at the far edge of the gully below. Though it was distant it was unusual, it was dusk, and this caused her some concern, in fact she warned us a few times with a single "woof" and really wasn't able to focus.
Since I had just read about this from a new perspective with Turid Rugrass's new book: "Barking" (another I HIGHLY recommend!) I was able to put Bungee at ease and then work in another direction.
Once I got her focused and working, I got better results than the week before. Two things were clear: I'm on the right track and we have a lot of work yet to do!
I was pleased with the result and my decision not to use a time out to deal with distractions. Any thought of it on my part at that point in time was born of frustration. Thank goodness I no longer train with force, and take training plans seriously, deferring to pen & paper (instead of the dog) when a training moment falls short of my expectations.
Again and again in class this week, I saw things come together. I saw understanding occur as she put "pieces" together here & there with many different exercises. When she did so, she was driven and brilliant and it was exciting! The dog turns heads I can tell you that!
Distraction indicates a lack of motivation.
I should know by now that if a dog is distracted in work then it is not sufficiently rewarding work, and that is always the trainer's (my) fault. In such cases the trainer has either done something wrong or needs to do something different to make that work more rewarding.
In keeping with that, I did a little "contact soul searching" this week and decided I might have been guilty of lumping by expectation or "past precedent", (previous dogs), which has nothing to do with Bungee and the way she learns.
In keeping with that, I did a little "contact soul searching" this week and decided I might have been guilty of lumping by expectation or "past precedent", (previous dogs), which has nothing to do with Bungee and the way she learns.
In Conclusion
Here's what I know: Bungee has a great big heart for working with me! If something is not going right it is clearly because she has not yet learned how to be right. I definitely made the right decision not to use a time out to deal with distraction during target work in class.
I also took a closer look at what I know about my subject, Bungee, and what she likes. More next post...
I also took a closer look at what I know about my subject, Bungee, and what she likes. More next post...
Here's our beautiful Bungee, practicing her contacts
(photos taken May 24, 2008 - a little out-of-date)
Happy training! ~ "It's About Love"
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