Tag Archives: dog training

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APDT Conference: Day 1.1

Ken Ramirez was only one third of the first day, his session was followed by Denise Fenzi who is a 30 year veteran of training, competing and titling in schutzhund, obedience, tracking, agility, mondioring, conformation and herding – www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com Denise’s talk was “Developing alternatives to food and toys: personal play!”

I kind of liked this session in that so many times we focus on everything else except us as a reward, yet what is the one thing we always have! Through video and talk, Diane demonstrated how to get a dog motivated and how to moderate dependent on the hardness or softness of the dog.

This was interesting as I think sometimes we expect that a dog will enjoy play but body language and what is acceptable makes so much difference. For instance, when you say play with your dog how many handlers turn and automatically confront the dog face-on and wonder why sometimes the dog is not interested. And what do you do with the dog that gets over stimulated and becomes mouthy.

I spend most of my time at off-leash dog parks watching interaction and learning about play so there maybe wasn’t anything overly knew for me but I did like the key message: why bother with play? – because people have dogs to enjoy them!

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APDT Conference: Day 1

No quotes just straight into the conference.

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First up was what I considered a key-note with a key-message as Ken Ramirez delivered his session on “Tales from the Field: The Diverse Faces of a Professional Trainer”. I have heard Ken before and if ever you get the chance he is highly recommended.

This session included Ken’s thoughts on professional dog trainers, ethics and philosophy, balancing science and practical application, skills beyond training, finding your niche, and the future of training. Actually before I get into this, the opening included some pretty good stats on this conference, for instance there were close to 800 people at the opening session and from countries including USA, Canada, Australia (yay, me!), Chile, Brazil, Venezuala, UK, and Finland.

The APDT in USA has recently changed their name from Association of Pet Dog Trainers to Association of Professional Dog Trainers. This is more than just training for a paycheque but more about how one represents oneself in the industry. Practical experience is a valuable asset but so is a knowledge of the science and a familiarisation with the current trends. I strongly believe in this, which is why I continue to go to these conferences. Learning should never stop.

Ken also spoke about the importance of an ethical foundation. The end goal should be the animal’s welfare not just reaching a goal. I think this sometimes goes past us, which is why I am not a fan of say fading out a lure because the curriculum says we should do this after one or two sessions – who says this, the trainer or the dog?

And talking about methods in dog training, Ken’s experience is in zoology not dogs but in any training program a positive regime should be first; however, there needs to be acknowledgment that there is more to training than positive reinforcement. Ken is disappointed that so many poo-poo any other method of training and if we are truly professional then there must be acknowledgment and there must be knowledge so that a trainer can explain why they may use a specific method over another.

Teaching is training – training an animal how to live in our care; how to live in our world successfully. The cornerstones of any animal care must be: health program, nutrition program, environment and behavioural management. The primary reason for training (for the benefit of the animal) is: physical exercise, mental stimulation and cooperative behaviour.

A professional trainer must be well-read and well-practised. They must understand various techniques, they must know when and how to adapt, they must be versatile and be able to speak about the myriad of techniques. Ken was quite critical of trainers who call themselves positive trainers, yet they spend their time criticising any other method or trainer without any acknowledgment that those methods are based on science and do work. You don’t have to use them but you have to be able to explain why you are using what you are in any specific situation and why it is the best for that particular session.

Training is successful because we adapt to the needs of the animals and the needs of the situation.

Ken also gave some practical experience of where his niche lies – as that is what we should do, find what you are good at, where your skills can be best used and be passionate.

Ken’s practical examples are based on “exotic” animal training for a purpose and they are great, he also spoke about his mimicry training with dogs (I have heard the full session on this before and it is fascinating to watch and hear – he is drafting a scientific paper on this). If I get around to it I might add some to this blog, otherwise come to one of my NDTF lectures as I have spoken about some of Ken Ramirez’s training in the past and now have some new examples.

Highlight of the day without a doubt.

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Got a Favourite Hobby?

hob-by – noun, plural -bies

1. an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation

alternative –

one of those things that Jim decides to pursue every couple of years just so he can learn something new and drive Caroline nuts.

 

It’s true – not sure about the driving Caroline nuts bit … okay, maybe a little nuts – but every couple of years my palms get itchy, the right side of my brain feels restless and it is time to take up something new. There is usually some kind of inspiration beforehand and I think – gee, it would be good to be able to do that.

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APDT Conference – Day 4

This was a bit of a lazy day for me – brunch and farmers market (see the earlier posts) rather than conferencing but then in the afternoon I rejoined the dog crowd. I only went to two sessions and then spent a few more dollars on books and dog stuff.

First up was a session on Rally-O. For the non-dog people, you can look this up and read all about it. For the dog people, it was a good session and once again I have expanded my knowledge on this dog sport that is still in its early infancy in Australia.

My second session was one I enjoyed because it was with the master – Bob Bailey. I’ve seen him before and I just love the early videos he shows of his work with the CIA and the Brelands and he even showed one with two pidgeons playing ping-pong that was research conducted and narrated by Skinner himself (if you don’t know these people, do yourself a favour and look them up and then learn a little about operant conditioning).

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APDT USA Conference – Day 3

Day three of the conference and all is going well – very tiring but interesting. This was the first day where there were different streams to follow – I went off to see Grey Stafford (Director of Conservation for the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium in Phoenix and author of Zoomility: Keeper Tales of Training with Positive Training) present on 2,4,6,8 – How Do We Approximate. I really enjoyed this session, many things were not new, but the way he presented the information and provided a different view on the Antecedent-Behaviour-Consequence of training was very enlightening. I will get around to doing a separate blog on this – maybe one quiet night in Memphis or Nashville – or maybe there will be no quiet nights.

In the afternoon I went on a field trip to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (a half hour drive to get there on one of those yellow school buses we in Australia see on the Simpsons – and a two hour drive to get home because some idiot decided he wanted to jump off some bridge over some highway). I love zoos and this one was one to love. (Wait for the blog on this as there is a bit to write – for a teaser, ever seen a Cheetah walked on a lead?)

Giraffes at San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Giraffes at San Diego Zoo Safari Park

 

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APDT USA Conference – Day 2

Reading this, you may not have caught up with what happened on day one of the conference as I didn’t write that post up until later – something to do with necessity for down-time. Anyway, Day 2 was dedicated to impulse control – very interesting topic with a variety of speakers offering thoughts on impulse control and management. A skill all dog trainers and dog owners wish they could just wave a wand and impart on to all dogs. Unfortunately, this is not always possible but all speakers agreed that impulse control is trainable just that with some dogs it is easier than with others and in all cases it takes impulse control from the dog owner.

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APDT USA Conference – Day 1

Day one of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) USA conference is always full-on and crammed with information and speakers. Nothing like a bit of brain overload when allegedly on holiday overseas. But there is always something to take away from a conference like this.

Sessions started with Karen Pryor (the “founder” of what we know as clicker training) who provided a comprehensive and interesting history of clicker training – or if you prefer, operant training with an event marker. One of the many things to come from this talk was a small snippet on using a mechanical clicker as opposed to a verbal “yes”. Research has demonstrated that behaviour response learning to a click is 43% faster than the voice during the acquisition phase of training. After this, a voice is better. In other words, to obtain the better results, use the click in the teaching phase but then this can be faded and replaced with a verbal marker once the behaviour is learnt.

I also liked her comments on primary reinforcers (e.g. food) as being good for teaching general information – “this is a nice place, you are a nice guy, I will hang around” – whereas a conditioned reinforcer (e.g. click) teaches a specific behaviour – “do this because it pays off”. So for example, you might like to go into the room because good things happen there, but the conditioned reinforcer will train you that once you enter the room you have to take your hat off and hang it on the hook.

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Dog Play

I read an article the other day by a trainer I really respect in the dog training world and he was talking about motivation and how to get the best out of your dog – There is no greater training tool or benefit than having a strong, direct and connected bond with your dog moulded around your and your dog’s personality. Done correctly nothing can match it. Developing this from when your dog is a puppy has the long term benefit of imprinted behaviour, which essentially means that ways of dealing with you (or not if not followed) are hard wired into the core behaviour the dogs carries through the rest of its life.

– and it made me think about motivation and play. For instance, how much should we play with our dogs and at what level?

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Dogtober?

Saturday 1 October was the start of an exciting month ahead for many of our four-legged friends – and I’m not talking about the Geelong Cats winning the AFL Premiership but the Super Pups who have dog-napped Dogtober for the fundraising and awareness month for Assistance Dogs Australia (ADA).

I’ve been lucky enough to be involved as a volunteer trainer with ADA for about the last five years – thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying but the real highlight is when I get to see a working dog with their new owner. And it was this feeling that I wanted to impart to my previous workmates at Victoria Police’s Legal and Policy area.

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BSL – yes or no

Today, Friday 30 September 2011, is a critical day in the dog owning world of Victoria, Australia. Today the amnesty on restricted breed dog ownership ends as council officers now embark on the government mission of hunting down the unregistered pit bulls, putting a loop pole around their necks and taking them away for a shot of the permanent sleep medicine.

You could well imagine the outcry, the planned protests, the unplanned protests – and the smiles on the faces of those whose life it is is to not live next door to a dog, especially a dangerous one.

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