My Dirty Little Secret To Dog Training

Yes, my dirty little secret is the Bite Me Game.  My whole career as a dog trainer has been based on finding ways to motivate dogs to do the things I want them to do.  Dogs who are motivated respond quickly to cues and pay very good attention to their owners.

Here is one of my motivation games for my own dog.  Gator, my 5 yr old pyrenean shepherd, struggles with the concentration and drive required to do agility.  I call it "his work" which is probably the problem.  Maybe it's work for me to make him happy enough to play my agility games.  Wonder what he calls it?  Play?  Hm, maybe.

Anyway, we get Gator in the mood with the Bite Me Game (Confession #1). Some dogs like to tug before agility, not Gator.  Most dogs at least look excited to do it.   Not Gator.  Why?  That's the million dollar question.  It certainly hasn't been from a lack of effort on my part to make it as fun as possible.  It's just hard for him to concentrate and he gets nervous with any pressure (even the pressure to have a good time).  

My friend Meha invented the Bite Me Game.  I was sold.  Gator did not have to do anything except eat food and do it enthusiastically.  How do we know when he's primed and enthusiast, he's biting her fingers to get the food.  I know, I know.....no dogs should nip when taking treats right?  Not in the world of Gator.  Meha, says Bite Me, and those words are magical to him.  He is eager to play.  I have even transferred some of the biting to a toy which makes training easier obviously.

So before it gets around that I teach dogs to bite people, let's look at it.  Gator hardly ever does anything wrong, except destroy crates and xpens to be with me.  I don't mind that so much (confession #2).  Okay, he's barks a little but I use that to pump him up.  He's never aggressive, towards anyone or anything.  That's the main reasion we can play the Bite Me Game safely.  

Having a warm up game for agility that involves no rules, just biting for food, and me running my butt off to direct him, we just make actually get our Perf ADCH sometime this year.  For you non-agility peeps, this would be like winning the lottery, or maybe paying off your mortgage, or winning a new car.  Yeah, that amazing.

So the next time you see Gator, be his pal and give him a free treat that he doesn't have to work for.  It's money in his bank of happiness.  Be creative in the ways you motivate your dog to do their training.  Dogs were put on this earth to make us happy, let's give a little back.  They will teach you how to play the games they like.

Laurie Zurborg, CPDT, Founder

Our Favorite Dog Treats--Homemade, Quick and Easy. Promise!!!

We have quite a few dog nutrition sticklers around here at Wags, who go above and beyond to make sure their dogs only are eating the best possible foods.

At agility trials where there are lots of Wags "family" in attendance, the dogs can often be found crowding around Romi and myself for the tastiest rewards for their efforts! Specifically, a favorite treat recipe known as "Tuna Fudge" really makes the pups go crazy! I have also had great success with some of our pickier training dogs really going gaga over these treats when they would not touch anything else.

This is the version I have more-or-less perfected. I have also used a 15oz can of Salmon that worked great as well. You also could probably substitute rice flour if your dog has wheat issues, but you may have to play with the consistency a bit. Let us know how it turns out for you!

TUNA FUDGE
2 6oz. cans of tuna in water (do not drain)
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups all purpose/whole wheat flour
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Put ingredients in food processor and process lightly to break up big chunks of tuna and even out ingredients. If you don't have a food processor, just first break up the tuna with a fork, then add other ingredients.

The consistency should be thick, but moist... like cookie dough. If it looks too dry, you can add a little bit of water at a time to moisten it.

Spray or lightly wipe pan with olive oil. Pour in 9x9 square or pie pan and spread evenly with spatula.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Let sit until cool - then take out of pan and cut into bite size treats! They keep in the fridge for about a week. Or, you can freeze them to extend their life. This makes about 1.5--2 cups of 1/4 inch cubed treats.

Happy cooking!!!

~Liz

Agility & The Importance of Understanding Distance

Can you just look at a piece of wood and immediately know how long it is?  What about if I asked you the distance driving from your house to your work?  Would you be accurate?  I should probably would not be.  I can be directionally challenged.  In agility, this can be a problem for dogs and humans that don't naturally calculate distance well.

On course do you notice the distance between jumps changes?  Sometimes they are closer together and sometimes farther away.  When you walk a course, notice when the course has been designed to collect or extend your dog.  Dogs will need to learn the skills of shortening their stride, expanding their stride, and going back and forth.  Do you know what is the largest distance your dog can 1 stride?  Can you clearly describe what cue you give your dog to shorten their stride and what cue you give your dog to extend their stride? 

Shouldn't your dog do this on their own? 
My personal view is that agility is team sport and handlers should

assist their dogs in every way possible.  Handling is more than directing your dog around the course.

Like humans, some dogs are not naturals at this.  This is one of the most missed skills in dogs that knock bars.  They can turn, they can jump, they can go, but they can't read the distance without handler assistance.  This is where you can learn to help your dog.  Notice in advance on walk through places you will need to run or slow down to aid your dog's jumping through a course.  You may need to adjust your handling plan to assist your dog.

Here is a great video showing a dog's mastery of changing its stride when necessary on course.  When the spaces get wider, he jumps longer/harder.  When the distance shrinks, he shortens his stride.

Laurie Zurborg, CPDT Wags & Wiggles Founder.

Doing the Chicken Dance!

Recently I had the pleasure of attending the Association of Pet Dog Trainers Conference in San Diego. This annual conference hosts the leading positive reinforcement animal trainers, behaviorists, and scientists. It is always such a pleasure to attend these conferences to learn the latest and greatest positive reinforcement techniques, reinforce what I know, and to network with other trainers.

This year I decided to attend the much talked about Click-A-Chick seminar held by Terry Ryan. This seminar is a hands on workshop clicker training, yes you guessed it, CHICKENS! Real live chickens. The purpose of this experience is to sharpen up the mechanical skills of the trainer (improving the timing of the click and the criteria designation for the behavior). Chickens move extremely fast so capturing the behavior that you are looking for with a precise "click" of a clicker takes some skill. (see information on clicker training here http://www.wagsandwiggles.com/clickertraining.pdf)

I have avoided this workshop for years because I have a bizarre phobia of flying birds. When Wags was first in operation in our little 3000 square foot building in Rancho Santa Margarita, the Wags birds "Wiggles" and "Giggles" used to fly around the office and freak me out. So, sitting in this seminar before the chickens came out, I was a nervous wreck. Nicole and Liz, trainers at Wags & Wiggles, were with me and helped me remain calm every time the chickens moved. During demonstration Terry Ryan had a chicken who was wildly flapping its wings. It made me very scared to start training one myself.

Then we got started. Once I laid my hands on that sweet Chick, I was calm and excited to train. We worked on teaching the chickens to peck a target at first. The timing of the click was very important. There were a few people in the room that did not have good timing, therefore their chickens walked to another trainer, pecked their hands, or flew away. Luckly none of us from Wags had that happen. We were amazing and our chickens were stellar. The chickens not only learned to peck the targets, but also to peck the small dot in the center of the target. Precision was what we worked up to and conquered!
We then taught the chickens to distinguish between targets by having them peck a red poker chip. After she was pecking the red one, we introduced a blue poker chip that we wanted her to ignore. If she pecked the blue one we just removed the red one (removed the opportunity for reward) until she stopped. Then the red poker chip came back as did the opportunity for more clicks/treats. She was pecking the red poker chip so hard she was flinging it off the table! Smart girl knew exactly what I wanted and was going for it with gusto!

This was such a great experience for me. I got to practice my mechanical skills and add Chickens the species of animal I have trained. It also helped me with my fear of flying birds.

I now have an obession with Chickens. Now I'll have to have those too. My husband is so thrilled.

~Lysa

Nationals Wrap Up

The trip to Kentucky for the USDAA 2011 Nationals was a good trip but not a great trip.  We didn't come back with any wins or trophies this year.  While I was proud of what we did, we just had an off trial.  Gumbo, my steady Catahoula, and I were just not in sync.  After close examination of video, there wasn't anything obvious I did most of the time, we were just off.  He was paying attention and trying hard.  It just figures we won almost every event all year long and then not do well at nationals.  Luckily, my long time agility partner and friend Shelley Permann won Performance Grand Prix and Performance Speed Jumping with her 10 yr old Cardigan Corgi, so at least I got to celebrate with her.  Gem, my 2 yr old border collie, was just fabulous for her age.  And Gator, my Pyrenean Shepherd, actually was the most consistent of all my dogs which is quite the shocker considering we joke that "he's got issues".

We had other lessons to learn apparently and the one thing I took away from my trip is that training your dog to handle the real world, come when called, and be social makes traveling much more enjoyable.  The best time we had was finding a river for the dogs to swim.  Then other agility competitors showed up with their pack and it was game on. 

Gumbo's most memorable moment was at the river.  Gumbo disappeared for awhile unnoticed. He dug up a mole, tossed it around and about to swallow! Shelley yells "he's eating something, laurie". I yell "well stop him". She yells "no way he's growling at me" and I get into a muddy wrestling match to save the mole. Guess who won, yes Gumbo got the prize.

Rodent, my new agility chihuahua, was adored by all at the event.  He learned to be handled by strangers, get measured, sit in the stands, and beg for food.  He also was a frequent visitor of the FitPaws booth where he wobbled, jumped, tumbled, and learned about his body. He even kept his anger management in check and made some new doggie friends.  That's not easy for him. 

USDAA did a really great job this year and really listened to the competitor complaints from last year.  The running surface was much better, the competitor result area was much better, and the dust was virtually non-existent.  I applaud USDAA for their efforts.  Not to mention the courses were perfectly tough yet fun.  The best news is that next year the event will be in Colorado.  So excited not to drive to Kentucky again.  Lastly, the IFCS 2012 World Team was announced at nationals.  Sadly, Gem will not be on the team but it wasn't expected since she was the youngest dog to try out.  It was a great learning experience for us all and we hope to be selected for a future world team.  Rachel Sanders, the World Team Coach, will be coming to Wags & Wiggles to share her expertise with us in December. 

Laurie Zurborg, CPDT, Founder