Dog Training Myths?
Interesting post by well known trainer about "busting" dog training myths. Alleged myth #1 is that one should end training on a good note. Alleged myth #2 is that if dog is scared, take him back immediately to show it is "okay". I have a huge amount of respect and awe for Silvia Trkman. I love her you-tube videos, and she is so much more of a trainer, and more accomplished, than I will ever be.
But yet, I don't view her advice as my gospel. I both agree and disagree with the hypothesis. I agree with it because "ending on a good note" is not a sure path cure for success. But quitting just when the going gets a bit tough isn't a cure all, either. I guess every trainer needs to find their own way. For myself, I've learned a HUGE amount by working through issues and not just stopping when things got a bit rough. My definition of "rough" may be quite different from others. "Rough" means not going as planned... not getting the 100% "happy" response. Tristan, in his earlier days, could not deal with the stress of "being wrong". How did he know he was wrong? I guess he could sense it in my attitude. If I gave him some kind of cue, and he ignored or refused it, I didn't "correct" him, but my posture and demeanor telegraphed an attitude to him. This caused him to exhibit avoidance behaviors. These avoidance behaviors, in turn, caused a mini-panic attack deep within me. Which caused even more avoidance on T's part.
Ending the session is okay. But after a few of these, I decided that T needed to learn how to cope. I did alot more shaping, so he could learn that offering a behavior was good. And gradually I learned that dogs do slow down when they are learning, and that's not a bad thing. Recognizing this made me evaluate the entire situation in a different light. I no longer considered such behavior as "undesirable", but simply as information. There was no need for the inner panic on my part. The behavior is what it is.
As a result, I think both T and I learned a set of skills that we wouldn't have attained had I simply quit the session.
I've had even more revelations with Scout. From watching her body language, and her reactions, I've gained valuable information. I realized that she never really learned to weave properly, even though she earned her MACH at barely 3 years of age. I never let her work through those stages in training that are in-between experimentation and true mastery. We always quit too early. I also learned, through very patient observation, that "sheep poop eating" during herding is displacement behavior. She does something really similar when she sees a bunny on our morning walks, when she is in her exercise harness. She grabs at grass or dirt because she can't really get the bunny. I can't work through these issues by avoiding them.
So, I tend to stick to the old adage of ending on a good note more so now, then not. But oddly, hardly any of my training sessions "go bad". I just don't have that attitude any more- well, at least not most of the time. If I fear that I'm "practicing failure", I'll try to set the dog up for a high probability for success, and get that success before stopping. This helps me to feel really good about my sessions, which in turn, rubs off well on the dog.
But then again, I'm starting to look at everything we do together as blending of companionship and partnership. "Training sessions" are simply blending in to every day life. Not that my dogs don't have down time, they do. But it feels that we are always learning and growing together.
Silvia decided to leave myth #2 for another day, and so will I. I have definite thoughts about it, but I'm simply too tired right now for coherency.
But yet, I don't view her advice as my gospel. I both agree and disagree with the hypothesis. I agree with it because "ending on a good note" is not a sure path cure for success. But quitting just when the going gets a bit tough isn't a cure all, either. I guess every trainer needs to find their own way. For myself, I've learned a HUGE amount by working through issues and not just stopping when things got a bit rough. My definition of "rough" may be quite different from others. "Rough" means not going as planned... not getting the 100% "happy" response. Tristan, in his earlier days, could not deal with the stress of "being wrong". How did he know he was wrong? I guess he could sense it in my attitude. If I gave him some kind of cue, and he ignored or refused it, I didn't "correct" him, but my posture and demeanor telegraphed an attitude to him. This caused him to exhibit avoidance behaviors. These avoidance behaviors, in turn, caused a mini-panic attack deep within me. Which caused even more avoidance on T's part.
Ending the session is okay. But after a few of these, I decided that T needed to learn how to cope. I did alot more shaping, so he could learn that offering a behavior was good. And gradually I learned that dogs do slow down when they are learning, and that's not a bad thing. Recognizing this made me evaluate the entire situation in a different light. I no longer considered such behavior as "undesirable", but simply as information. There was no need for the inner panic on my part. The behavior is what it is.
As a result, I think both T and I learned a set of skills that we wouldn't have attained had I simply quit the session.
I've had even more revelations with Scout. From watching her body language, and her reactions, I've gained valuable information. I realized that she never really learned to weave properly, even though she earned her MACH at barely 3 years of age. I never let her work through those stages in training that are in-between experimentation and true mastery. We always quit too early. I also learned, through very patient observation, that "sheep poop eating" during herding is displacement behavior. She does something really similar when she sees a bunny on our morning walks, when she is in her exercise harness. She grabs at grass or dirt because she can't really get the bunny. I can't work through these issues by avoiding them.
So, I tend to stick to the old adage of ending on a good note more so now, then not. But oddly, hardly any of my training sessions "go bad". I just don't have that attitude any more- well, at least not most of the time. If I fear that I'm "practicing failure", I'll try to set the dog up for a high probability for success, and get that success before stopping. This helps me to feel really good about my sessions, which in turn, rubs off well on the dog.
But then again, I'm starting to look at everything we do together as blending of companionship and partnership. "Training sessions" are simply blending in to every day life. Not that my dogs don't have down time, they do. But it feels that we are always learning and growing together.
Silvia decided to leave myth #2 for another day, and so will I. I have definite thoughts about it, but I'm simply too tired right now for coherency.