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Rover's Resolution for the New Year
Up The Ante
 Ever worry that your dog is performing her cues just for the treat? Do you always have food in your pocket or a treat pouch on your waist when you are out and about with your dog? Do you have to pull a reward out of your pocket BEFORE your dog will follow your request? Do you have to shake the box of cookies to get your dog to come in from outdoors?
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, or if your dog's starting 2009 looking more like a pork roll than a pup, it's time to phase out the food lures and rewards. Using a food lure more than a few times to teach a new behavior quickly becomes a crutch, a cue, or worse - a bribe.
It is essential to phase out the use of training lures and rewards as soon as possible, otherwise your dog will only respond when you have them.
Training lures become unnecessary as soon as your dog learns the relevance of your hand signals and verbal requests. You should be able to phase out training lures completely during the very first session and very quickly make quantum leaps in the training process.
Here's how to get started:
Step 1: Less Is More
Ask your dog for a puppy push-up. That is, with treat in hand, lure her to go from a sit to a down and back to a sit again. Reward her for doing two positions for one lure and reward. Then up the ante, ask for three positions, then four, and so on. She only gets rewarded when she completes each sequence. Your dog should be able to perform multiple positions for one lure and only one reward at the end of an increasingly long sequence of positions.
Step 2: More For Less
Now remove the food from you hand entirely. Repeat the first step, but keep treats tucked in a pocket or out of sight - in other words, use your hand signal as the lure and don't be so obvious about the reward that will come at the end. Will she do three push-ups in a row for just one food reward? Five? More? The number's really not important. What matters is that you've mastered the first step: getting multiple behaviors with fewer rewards.
Then, ask for something a little different. For instance, cue a push-up with a stay or ask for a come-sit-down before you treat her. Most importantly: Reward her randomly: this time for a quick pair of push-ups, next time for an impeccable come-sit.
Step 3: The Phase-out
As food rewards become fewer and farther between, phase in the life rewards, that is: toys, praise, petting, and games. Life rewards are every bit as reinforcing as food rewards - and they're everywhere.
For example, your dog's a fetch fiend? Cue her to come, but instead of rewarding her with a treat, toss the tennis ball. Out on a walk? Periodically stop and ask for a sit. Her reward is an enthusiastic "good dog!" and the continuation of the walk. Voila! Your pup has learned that obedience pays big time - and not just when you're holding the cat-shaped peanut butter nibbles.
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And While You're at It...
... Resolve to tighten up your training routine. Here's how to do it without putting a single crimp in your schedule.
· Had it with the begging/mouthing/jumping? From now on, you really are going to ignore that unwanted behavior (rather than reinforce it by responding in any way) until she's quiet/calm/still. Better yet, ask her to down-stay on her bed when you are both greeting and eating.
· Instead of raiding the fridge during American Idol's first set of commercials, teach your pup leave-it or perfect her high-five. She's there in the living room with you anyway, right? Be productive during breaks in your favorite show. This way you'll both enjoy TV time.
· Practice NILIF, or nothing in life is free. She's dying to head into the dog park? Ask her to sit and give you her full attention for 3 seconds before you open that gate. Dinner is served? First she's got to demonstrate that high-five you've been practicing all week.
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Better Know A Blogger
Dr. Nicholas H. Dodman, BVMS MRCVS
 Current Position and Latest Projects
My current position is Professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences at Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, and also Director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at the veterinary school.
We have a number of projects going on currently, one of them in conjunction with PhD. behaviorist, Dr. Alice Moon-Fanelli, is designed to look into the genetics of obsessive-compulsive disorder in dogs and, eventually, in cats and horses too. To that end, we have collected hundreds of blood samples from two breeds of dogs, Bull Terriers and Doberman Pinschers, and have extracted DNA. In comparing the DNA of dogs with compulsive disorders and matched controls, we hope to be able to identify the exact gene or genes that increase susceptibility to these troublesome behaviors. The first wave of tests is underway and results should be forthcoming shortly. We have also precisely detailed the phenotype of the behaviors under study, tail-chasing and blanket-sucking, and are currently assembling relevant genealogies.
Two other ongoing studies are in conjunction with Behavior Service Coordinator, Ms Nicole Cottam. One involves our evaluation of an anti-static cape in treating thunderstorm phobia in dogs and another project is designed to assess at the value of supplementing borderline to low thyroid levels in dogs with owner-directed aggression.
Finally, along with other researchers at Tufts University's main campus, we have discovered a new pharmacological treatment for compulsive disorders which is currently undergoing field trials in animals and humans.
Professional Background
I graduated in 1970 from Glasgow University Veterinary School and did a one-year surgical internship before heading to California for what would become a life-altering experience of living in the USA. On returning to Britain, I became a lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the Department of Surgery at Glasgow University and specialized in anesthesiology, a discipline which led me to my current interests in animal behavior. In the late 1980's I founded the Behavior Clinic at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and have continued to work in and organize that clinic ever since. I teach animal behavior to veterinary students, conduct research into animal behavior, publish scientific articles, and write popular press books. I became board-certified in veterinary behavior in 1995.
Little Known Facts
I am married to another veterinarian, Dr. Linda Breitman, and together we have engaged in various projects including a thirty minute air-ready pilot TV show, called The Pet Docs, which is currently still looking for a home. Check out our website, thepetdocs.com. I am an avid animal welfarist and activist against the cruel practice of horse slaughter. Check out the website that I helped found called vetsforequinewelfare.org. Partly as a result of my equine lobbying efforts in Congress, I have recently been seconded as one of the leadership counsel of the newly-formed Humane Society of Veterinary Medical Association. Check out HSVMA.com. My family has owned lots of different pets over the course of time but currently we are down to two horses (one a rescue), one parakeet, and one very dog-like yellow-naped Amazon parrot (who is quite a character). I have no dog at home right but I'm usually knee deep in dogs at work so have no shortage of interactions with them.
Training Tip
Any dog will learn better to the backdrop of a happy, healthy, well-adjusted lifestyle. To this end, adequate daily exercise, a proper balanced diet, clear communication with care providers, proper control and leadership by owners, and an optimally-adjusted indoor and outdoor environment, provide the groundwork for excellence in training. I describe these measures in detail in my latest book, THE WELL-ADJUSTED DOG.
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