ITS JUST ANOTHER BEHAVIOUR

Kayak, my horse, is four years old.  In dog terms that means that she is an uneducated older adolescent; she had great early socialization and lots of good handling and vet experiences, and she wasn’t permitted to develop bad habits, but really she doesn’t know much.  Kind of like Widget and Friday, the service dog candidates who are growing up with us.  They can sit, lie down, come when called, and for most part not drag me through hell and back when we walk on leash.  I am familiar with their sorts of dogs; I have handled dozens of them over the years.  When Widget jumps up on a stranger, I am not even annoyed; it is a recognizable error and I take steps to avoid it or decrease it.  When Friday scavengers a piece of bread dropped in a restaurant, I would prefer she hadn’t done it, but it is JUST ANOTHER BEHAVIOUR.  Yup.  That is right.  It’s just another behaviour just like sit, down, stand, come when called, pick up my socks and bring them to me, open the door, close the door, load the dishwasher (that is a behaviour that I encourage in my DH, not one I hope for in my service dog candidates!).

When it comes to Kayak, I am a beginner on a big learning curve.  I am learning about horse behaviour.  I am learning to read when they are annoyed with one another.  I am learning about how to ride in a more balanced way.  I am learning about a whole lot of things.  And Kayak does stuff that I don’t always recognize.  For instance, I would like to teach her to canter.  Actually, I should rephrase that, she knows perfectly well and has since she was about four hours old, how to canter.  I would like her to learn to canter when I want her to canter, on the correct lead, when I ask her to do so, and to stop when I ask her to do so.  Unforetunately, I am a novice horse trainer.  I am however a very experienced operant conditioning trainer and I recognize that when she doesn’t do what I want her to do, and does something else, it is JUST ANOTHER BEHAVIOUR. 

What does Kayak do that I don’t like?  Well, to start with, she and I had to come to an agreement about what lunging was.  What I meant by lunging was to move around in a smooth circle around me, with me in the centre of the circle holding a line attached to her halter.  What she meant was wander around, graze some of the time, stop dead and snort and once, she meant to bolt and run around the farm while I stood in my winter field boots and mockpurs and called out to anyone listening “horse loose, horse loose!”  She ran to my DH and his horse and stayed very nicely by them while I made my way over to retake her line.  And start again.  Because bolting is JUST ANOTHER BEHAVIOUR.  

Once we came to an agreement about walking and trotting on the lunge line, we began to work on the canter.  For awhile, Kayak thought that this new gait was called “trot really, really fast”.  No click there.  And no clicks means a frustrated horse.  So she tried something else.  What she tried was bucking.  Now, if you have ever lunged a thousand pounds of animal, who thinks that bucking and kicking and snorting is fun, you will realize that watching a horse kick out in mid air (not at me, just out!), at high speed doesn’t feel like JUST ANOTHER BEHAVIOUR.  It FEELS really scary.  It FEELS like you might die.  It FEELS like your universe is out of control and everything is coming to a crashing halt.  Really though, bucking and snorting and kicking is JUST ANOTHER BEHAVIOUR.  And behaviours change.

Kayak Trotting, Really, Realy Fast.  No Click!

I work on a regular basis with dogs with serious behaviour problems.  Dogs who bite.  Who charge and lunge.  Who jump up or who surf the counters and the garbage bins.  Dogs who bark incessantly.  Dogs who are afraid.  Often these dogs are doing things that feel out of control, dangerous or deadly.  When my young service dog candidates do something boneheaded, such as grabbing a lady’s purse in the mall (yes, shame of shames, I had a service dog candidate walk by a table with a purse just sitting there and whoops, he picked it up and walked several steps with it before I noticed!), I can recognize that this is JUST ANOTHER BEHAVIOUR.  Bucking and kicking doesn’t feel like just another behaviour though, and it is hard to remember what I know from dog training. 

Here is what I have learned from my years of dog training.  Behaviour is governed by emotions and contingencies and is subject to change.  Change the motivation(through classical conditioning, desensitization, counter conditioning, habituation, flooding or by using some medications), and the behaviour itself will change.  Reinforce (anything you do that increases the behaviour) alternatives and the undesired behaviour will not surface.  Use punishment (anything that decreases the behaviour) and you may never see it again.  So, although I do not advocate intentionally allowing a horse to buck and kick, or a dog to bite, it is important to remember, it is JUST ANOTHER BEHAVIOUR, and thus, it is something I can change.  And tomorrow, I will go out and change behaviours in the dogs, people and horses I encounter.  Its lots more fun when I remember that it is all JUST ANOTHER BEHAVIOUR.

Rectangular Thinking or Being Congruent When Teaching and Training.

Definition of CONGRUENCE

1

: the quality or state of agreeing, coinciding, or being congruent

2

: a statement that two numbers or geometric figures are congruent 

Six years ago or so a friend and I were sitting in her kitchen and she paid me one of the highest compliments I have ever been paid.  She looked right at me and said “Sue, you are the most congruent person I know”.  Although I like to be complimented, and she obviously meant this in a good way, I was confused.  I was thinking about rectangles and the third grade, and the rectangles having to have properties that were the same; the same angles in each corner or the same lengths of each side.  My confusion must have shown on my face because my friend said to me “I mean that you do what you say”.  I was still confused and I asked her to explain.

Her explanation was fairly long but it related to how I train my dogs and it boiled down to this.  As a dog trainer, I do what I say that I do.  I believe certain things and I work those principles.  I believe for instance that the majority of dog training should be based in positive reinforcement.  But I also believe that a professional should have the choice to choose to use positive punishment in appropriate situations.  I believe that when you goof and hurt someone’s feelings or you say something in anger it is important to apologize and make amends where you can.  I also believe that you should treat people as well as you strive to treat your canine pupils.

This subject came up today with some colleagues after a seminar.  Not all of us treat our human clients as well as we expect them and teach them to treat their dogs.  With three professional certified trainers around the table and one up and coming assistant, we relayed example after example of trainers treating their clients (often ourselves!) poorly all while telling them how they needed to be kinder to their dogs.  We hear over and over again that punishment has no place in training, and then the person doing the telling will crash down an audience member for having the wrong idea or answer.

This very thing happened to me at a seminar offered by a very well known professional.  On the first day, she asked the audience what Ivan Pavlov had won the Nobel Prize for.  I put up my hand and astounded her by answering correctly that it was for Physiology and Medicine in 1904, for the work he had done studying the salivary secretions of dogs, which led to the understanding of conditioned reflexes or classical conditioning.  You can find out more about Pavlov and his Nobel prize at http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1904/pavlov-bio.html

The speaker was a bit stunned and let the audience know that no one had ever gotten that question right, and gave me a little slip of paper so that I could enter a draw to win a prize.  Hmmm...sounds good; here is a presenter who is violently positive reinforcement based, and who believes that R+ is the way to go, and when I get an answer right, she rewards me.  Sort of.  The problem is that she isn’t rewarding me at all; she is in fact setting me up for potential disappointment.  No matter; I am willing to play games so I happily all day try really hard to answer her questions.  And I collect a bunch of tickets.  And I don’t win anything.  Gambling is a funny thing.  If you gamble, you might win, but if you don’t win, you feel bad.  So I went home feeling bad.  Although she had reinforced me each time I had answered a question correctly, in the end the reinforcement, slips of paper, were not something I actually wanted and could not be turned in for anything tangible.  I would have been happier with her praise or acknowledgement than I was with slips of paper, promising something big, but getting nothing in fact.  

Never the less on day two, I played her game again, but this time she was less enthusiastic about my performance, so she called on me less frequently.  This was mildly annoying but where she lost all my respect was when she did call upon me, and I got the right answer, and she held out the ticket and then TOOK IT BACK, justifying to the audience that I had already won enough tickets.  And I was really, really angry. 

The trainer in question set up a reinforcement schedule which was dicey to begin with; winning the CHANCE to get a prize is a twisted form of token economy where the learner may or may not get a prize.  It is like a click where treats are on a variable schedule, something we were lectured never to do!  And when she started to give me a ticket and then didn’t I became very resentful.  So here was a trainer who was trying to teach us the importance of reinforcement and the value of positive reinforcement based training and she was scrambling it up so very badly that in the end, I decided that I just wouldn’t reward her performance with any more attendance, potentially keeping money out of her pocket.  In point of fact, I was so annoyed that when directly asked what I think of her methods, I am pretty clear that I don’t think that she is as good as her press kit would have us believe.  I don’t slander her, or bad mouth her ( and no, I won’t kiss and tell you who she is), but I don’t support her either and don’t encourage others to go see her.  The problem isn’t that she mis-used reinforcement, although that IS a problem.  The problem is that she was incongruent.

I have been to several large educational seminars, where speakers are invited to teach about science based, dog friendly training.  And at these seminars, I often hear that dog friendly means exclusively positive reinforcement training.  The sad thing is that most of these speakers don’t have anything in their definition beyond dog friendly means positive reinforcement.  Do I believe that the bulk of our training ought to be positive reinforcement based?  Yup.  I do.  I use it all the time, and reserve the use of positive punishment for occasions when I don’t think that positive reinforcement will be effective or efficient training.  The problem is that I don’t see a whole lot of evidence of these trainers really taking the needs of their animals into account.  I see live animal demos with dogs who are afraid and anxious, being handled by people who don’t connect with the animal before trying to get behaviours from them with a clicker.  Dog friendly means a lot more than not using pain to train; it means also looking at the “Left Side of the Dog” (http://dogsinthepark-suenestnature.blogspot.com/2010/10/left-side-of-dog.html) and acknowledging that there is more here than an input/output machine.  It should also mean acknowledging the dog; greeting the dog, saying hello and checking in with him frequently to see if he is still doing okay and ready to work.  It means standing up and saying something when you see another trainer doing something that is unpleasant or dangerous to the dog.  If you are going to be dog friendly and be congruent, you need to have a broad and complete definition of what you mean by dog friendly, and you need to apply those principles not only to the dog in your hands, but congruently to all the creatures, including the humans in the audience.

Which brings me full circle to being congruent.  I goofed today when I was teaching and spoke harshly to a student and hurt her feelings.  I am sorry and I told her so.  Sometimes I goof with my dogs; I have lost my temper with my puppy and expressed my frustration when she has been barking for a very long time.  One of the reasons that my friend felt that I was congruent was because although I advocate for primarily positive reinforcement based training, I will also admit that from time to time, I goof.  I use punishment when there might be another alternative.  I sometimes lose my temper with my students, both canine and human.  I have even been known to lose my temper with John, my husband.  What I have learned from the speakers I am thinking about is that we must be congruent in our thinking about how we train, and how we live our lives.  Warts and all.  Being congruent is what allows us to be real to our friends and clients.  Jung may have said it best when he said that if you want to know what a person’s values are, you should look at what that person does.  With so many of us trying to provide humane training solutions to dogs, we need to look at the big picture of what our own behaviour says about how we should treat both our human and our canine students. 

THE MYTH OF CORRECTION

I have recently had to revisit the whole issue of correction when a friend and colleague went off to Vet Tech college and was required to attend an obedience class where each student was taught how to use a “correction” collar.  Simply put, they were instructed that if they did not apply a strangulation device on the neck of the dog they were working with to correct his behaviour, they would never be permitted to become Vet Techs.  This course was taught by a Vet Tech, who is mentored by a local compulsion based trainer.  Food treats were also permitted in the class, but any time the dog got out of line, the students were instructed on how to “correct” the dog, using a snare type collar.  Furthermore, the students were told never to use negative reinforcement or punishment; that was bad.  The instructor was unable to define any of the three terms, and was completely unaware of the AVSAB position papers on punishment and dominance, and taught the class that they needed to dominate the dogs they were working with.

This has me thinking about a number of important issues.  The first of which is that this explains why I get such baffled looks from the techs I encounter when I tell them that they need to stop using punishment-they have after all spent time in college where they were taught never to use punishment, only correction.  And what you learn in college must be correct, right?  After all, the facts taught at college are correct, are they not?  In this case, they are not.  

The next thing that this brings to mind is the whole idea of “correction”.  What is “correction”?  Used in the context of dog training it usually means some unpleasant penalty applied to bring the dog back in line, closer to what the trainer would like him to do.  So if the dog lunges forward and you want him to stand by your side, you either yank back on the leash and “correct” the dog back into place, or you brace yourself so that the dog corrects himself back into place.  Won’t sit?  No worries; jerk up on the leash and scoop under the knees and “correct” the dog’s position.  No problem.  How about the down?  Well there you could “correct” the dog’s position by yanking the dog’s collar towards the ground and pulling his legs out from underneath him.

I should add that I am fairly accomplished in this form of training.  I learned to train this way, so I am well familiar with the misconceptions that go along with learning a new way to think about training.  When I was learning this, everything was framed in terms of the dog not doing what I wanted, and I needing to “correct” his behaviour.  I was fairly resistant to the change too; I heard about clicker training and my initial impression was “That can’t work!  How will the dog know that he must do as I say?”  Time passes and I have learned and grown.  By learning and growing, I found some things out.

To start with if my goal is “correction”, then there are lots of ways to achieve this, beginning with using a treat to achieve the correct behaviour.  Much easier on the dog for sure!  Or I could put the dog in a better position to get the right behaviour to begin with so that he doesn’t need to be “corrected”.  And I need to be clear; “correction” implies that the dog knows what I want him to do.  How can you train a dog to do something that he doesn’t already know by correcting wrong behaviours when he doesn’t know the right behaviour to begin with?

Correction is a euphemism for positive punishment and negative reinforcement, plain and simple.  So when my colleague went to vet tech college, armed with information about the science of behaviourism and was told by an instructor that she should not use these accurate words, but instead should “correct” the dog she was working with, a travesty occurred.  The travesty is that the education she went to get is continuing the myth of correction that is holding solid, science based training back by between twenty and forty years.  And that is a pity.   

The implications for this are wide ranging.  When I have a client who goes to the vet in a couple of years, and I have explained correction to her and why she should not use it when training her dog, there is a good chance that her vet tech, a professional with credibility, will contradict my information.  Ultimately, the client loses out because the professionals who are trying to help her don’t have the same information, and it becomes a match of credibility between me and the vet tech.  It doesn’t matter that the vet tech knows about as much about medicine as I do about behaviour; both of us and the client and ultimately the dog all lose.  

My challenge is to find a way to reach out to the veterinary technician college and help them to understand that they should change their curriculum and stop teaching information that is incorrect.  We also need to help vets and vet techs to find people who are well trained and who understand the science of behaviour to help their clients.  Vet techs, vets, trainers and behaviour consultants all need to keep in mind that we each have specialized information.  We need to work together and not against one another.  And ultimately we need to work to ensure that the dogs in our care all get the best most up to date care from the appropriate professional, be it medical or behavioural.

Is My Trainer Certified? (or, the jungle of dog training certification)

The following post is courtesy of one of our staff at Dogs in the Park, Helen Prinold.  Thanks Helen, this is a gem!


There can be lots of letters after your prospective dog trainer’s name:

AAB CTB       CDT.CCS      CDBC              ABCDT        CPDT      CBCC     IAAB     IPDTA-CDT are just a few.  How do you know what they mean and what to look for in a professional?

You may want to look at the list below and what the “letters” mean when you’re trying to decide who to trust to work with you and your dog!

There are a few ways to follow a career path for dog trainers and people who work with dog behaviour.  For a quick overview check out this previous blog post and these posts from the Canadian Association of Professional Dog Trainers and the (U.S. based) Association of Pet Dog Trainers.

So what are the qualifications of folks who are advertising their expertise with “multiple letters”?

 

Historically, dog behaviour professionals and dog trainers tended to get qualified in one of two ways – they apprenticed with someone who did dog training and behaviour work or they learned dog training in the police force.  Formal degrees and certifications either did exist or weren’t widely advertised.

Currently, you have a mix of trainers who have those “multiple letters” after their names – people who learned from other trainers (worked in animal shelters or competed their dogs in sports), some who have degrees in animal behaviour from universities, others who have taken correspondence programs or short one or two day courses and some – by simply paying a membership fee.  

There is no required or mandatory certification or licence needed to be a professional dog trainer or dog behaviour specialist in Ontario. 

Because multiple certifications are allowed and there is no provincial dog trainer licensing system you must do you homework and “buyer beware”.   

No doubt professionals with the letters on their business cards are likely hoping that the certification will reassure you and imply they are qualified.  And certifications can show you’re dealing with someone who has studied and worked with dogs for many years and has been independently examined on their knowledge and skills.   Also, some of the letters after your potential trainer’s name may simply indicate they are a member of a industry trade association or group of like-minded friends. 

They also might indicate the professional is a vet (DVM) who may (or may not) have had training in dog behaviour.   Regardless of vet behaviour expertise, it’s really important to have your vet as part of your dog care team – to look at the whole of your dog (a holistic or “whole” view that looks at their physical and emotional health as both areas are related and influence each other).

This review of qualifications should help you be aware of the background of your trusted dog professional.

CERTIFICATIONS (North American)

Acronym	Full Name	Owner of Certification	Certification Requirements
CAAB or Associate CAAB	Certified Applied Animal Behaviourist	The Animal Behavior Society	Must have a Master's or Ph.D. degree in a behavioral science with specific courses in animal learning, and ethology (behavior) from a university. Earning a DVM or VMD, with advanced training in animal behaviour also allows certification.
DACVB	Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists	American College of Veterinary Behaviorists  (professional organization of veterinarians who have achieved board-certification in the specialty of Veterinary Behavior)	Veterinary degree and two additional years of coursework, but especially hands-on training with a board-certified veterinarian
CABC or CDBC	Certified Animal Behavior Consultant (covers all species including dog) Certified Dog Behaviour Consultant	International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants	A minimum of 3 years and 1500 hours in animal behavior consulting; 500 hours minimum of coursework, seminars and mentorship related to the core areas of competency; the ability to communicate clearly through written work and case studies, and demonstrable knowledge of all 6 Core Areas of Competency. Veterinary Behaviorists and ACAABs and CAABs are granted membership with the submission of three (3) applicable case studies
CPDT or CPDT-KA CBCC or CBCC-KA	Certified Professional Dog Trainer Certified Behavior Consultant Canine – Knowledge Assessed	Certification Council for Pet Dog Trainers	5 years of training experience plus a passing score on a national well-respected exam administered by an independent testing agency (may add – Knowledge Assessed when completed practical work of over 300 hours and exam)
CCAB	Certified Clinical Behavior Consultant	Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour	Must be currently-active practitioners with extensive clinical experience who demonstrate that they possess appropriate skills, knowledge and abilities - including an Honours or higher degree in a relevant subject, appropriate specialist courses, and at least three years of regular clinical experience.
CDT, CDTA	Certified Dog Trainer (may add Advanced)	International Association of Canine Professionals	Written exam including case studies and client/colleague references, practical evaluation via video, being a CDT for one year, having 5 years experience for advanced certification.
CTC	Certificate in Training and Counselling	San Francisco SPCA Dog Training Academy	Six-week program on-site in San Francisco
ABCDT	Animal Behaviour College Certified Dog Trainer	Animal Behavior College  (private school)	Correspondence courses
CCS	Canine Communications Studies	Norma Jeanne dog training (private school)	Correspondence courses as of Mar, 2010 must pass IPDTA exam
Certificate or Diploma - CBST, CF, CN, DDC, DT, PDTST, SRW	Certificates in: - Canine Behavior Sciences and Technology - Canine Fitness - Canine Nutrition - Dog Daycare - Dog Training - Professional Dog Training Science and Technology - Shelter and Rescue Work	Companion Animal Sciences Institute	Correspondence courses
CDT-IPDTA	International Positive Dog Training Association – Certified Dog Trainer	International Positive Dog Training Association	A minimum of 100 hours training experience including at least 50% of the experience as a private dog trainer and/or classroom instructor. References from each of the following; an animal health care professional, a client and another dog trainer, agree to Code of Conduct
AKC CGC	American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Evaluator	American Kennel Club	Must be at least 18 years of age. Have at least 2 years of experience working with owners and their dogs Have experience working with a variety of breeds and sizes of dogs.  Application evaluated, online test, $50 for two-year certification.
NADOI  Endorsed/Provisional /E - Certified /C - Companion /N - Novice /O - Open /U - Utility /P - Puppy /T - Tracking /A - Agility /L - Lifetime Member /R - Retired Member	Endorsed member of NADOI	National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors	At least five years' experience in dog obedience training, two years as a full-charge instructor, worked with a minimum of 100 dogs, group instructors must have taught at least 104 class hours; private instructors 288 hours, written test which may be supplemented by personal interviews, observation, or a video (DVD or Online) which the applicant may be asked to provide, added certifications require, 52 weeks of instructing experience at the level of the sought-after certification
CAP1, 2, 3, 4	Clicker Trainer - Competency Assessed Program Levels 1 – 4	Kay Laurence – England	In person assessment by previously certified trainer (prices unpublished)
CTDI	Certified Trick Dog Instructor	Kyra Sundance – author and DVDs - Do More With Your Dog! (private school)	(prices not published)
KPA – CTP	Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner	Karen Pryor – US originator of clicker training) (private school) and her Karen Pryor Academy	Correspondence online and online certification exam, 10-day in person workshop, about $5000
VSPDT	Victoria Stillwell Positive Dog Trainer	Positively Dog Training – US  (Animal Planet’s “It’s Me or the Dog” TV host) (private school)	Be a practicing positive-methods, dominance-avoiding trainer with insurance and purchase a licence (price unpublished) after a one-hour interview, evaluation
BPCTE	Brad Pattison Certified Training Educators	Brad Pattison – Canada (BC) (TV host of “At the End of My Leash”) Hustle Up School of Dog Training treat and talking-free (private school)	3 days/week for 6 weeks, 30% theory, 70% outdoor practice, privately-administered exam, once a year conference attendance to recertify (prices unpublished)
PDT	Professional Dog Trainers Program	Ben Kerson – Canada (BC) (private school)	7 hours per day, 5 days per week for 12 weeks with evening classes for 4 weeks during the program which run for an additional 2 hours, work with 35 dogs minimum for practical experience (prices unpublished).
PMCT	Pat Miller Certified Trainer	Pat Miller’s Peaceable Paws (private school)	Several levels of intern/apprenticeship, e.g. Level 1 – 6 days in-house, about $1600
CF1 & CF2	Certified Freestyle Instructor	Canine Freestyle Federation (non-profit incorporated firm)	Details available by contacting CFF,
CNWI	Certified Nose Work Instructor	National Association of Canine Scent Work	Classroom coursework taught by one or more of the founders, application of key concepts in practice groups and classes, on-going training of a dog in K9 Nose Work through the advanced level, emphasis on positive experience
M.Sc. or Ph.D. –  Companion animals, lab animals, livestock and wildlife(MS)	UBC’s Department of Animal Science courses in animal behaviour and management	University of British Columbia	See University calendar for individual course tuitions and pre-requisites.
Link to list of American universities and colleges offering certified applies animal behaviour courses: http://www.certifiedanimalbehaviorist.com/school.html

Note: Canadian’s spell it “behaviour” and American English uses “behavior” for the same word

INDUSTRY TRADE ASSOCIATIONS

Member’s Acronym	Full Name
ABMA	Animal Behavior Management Alliance
ABS	The Animal Behavior Society
APDT	Association for Pet Dog Trainers
CAPPDT	Canadian Association of Professional Pet Dog Trainers
CCPDT	Certification Council for Pet Dog Trainers
IAABC	International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants
IACP	International Association of Canine Professionals
IPDTA	International Positive Dog Training Association
NADOI	National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors

Update February 16, 2013:  I received the following from Shelley Moore regarding the CCS and IPDTA:

IPDTA - Must also pass written exam with a minimum 90% score and successfully complete the practical requirements.

CCS - Business name is no longer Canine Communication Studies - It's been Canine Correspondence Studies since March of 2011.  Must also pass written exam with a minimum 90% score and successfully complete the practical requirements.  IPDTA exam is not required.  Owner's name is Norma Jeanne Laurette (not Norma Jeanne dog training)

If people notice inaccuracies, please understand that the article was carefully researched and accurate to our knowledge at the date of publication, and we are happy to post updates as we learn about changes to certification.  Any inaccuracies are unintentional, and we are more than happy to update as information becomes available and certifications change.