Vito's Halloween Agility Weekend- Happy birthday!

While I was at the Ian Dunbar seminar on Saturday, Vito was at the agility trial with Daddy.  Thank you honey :)  A bit nervewrecking for me to give up control, but well he did practice running Vito in agility for all of 3 weeks!  Actually, I was really happy with how they did.  Vito broke some startlines and got Adam into a bit of trouble with being in the right position, but overall listened nicely.  They even managed to qualify in 2 out of the 4 runs, fullhouse and wildcard.

Sunday I was able to go and retake control of my puppy!  I was very happy with how we worked, much more connected and listening then the last goofy trial.  He is continuing to pick up speed every trial and soon I hope to have the confident dog I have in practice. 

Running contacts were beautiful every single time, even with dad, and really great commitment to the next obstacle.  He was even able to do two rear crosses after the dog walk and the aframe.  We did fail on a right turn I wanted to practice in jackpot as he continued to run straight, but at least his striding was lovely!  I wouldn't say he is completely confident on the dog walks in trials, as he even did a quick sniff on it during standard today, as well as the teeter.  But really no complaints today and we even managed to get our first 100% Q rate!!!

Vito turned 2 today as well! Happy birthday little man!

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The Great Dr. Ian Dunbar, part 1

I had the great opportunity to attend Dr. Ian Dunbar's seminar the past two days along with my coworkers!  He is a very good speaker and had many great points.  I am sure my friend Crystal will post a very thorough analysis of it later (hint!) but I just want to record and talk through some of my impressions on a few points I had strong views on or disagreed with.

One of the big points of the weekend was that feedback needs to be binary.  The dog really needs to know when it is doing something right AND when it is doing something wrong.  He doesn't believe that aversives need to be used, but he does want constant feedback given to the dog.  If just given negative feed back dogs and people are clearly stressed and can shut down.  If just given positive feedback, Ian says that just shaping can cause a dog to be frustrated and get easily stuck in a rut of offering the same behaviors over and over again.  But playing hot and cold, with calm negative feedback and not yelling can result in very fast learning.

My argument with this is not the logic that giving both neg and pos feedback can be effective.  I do think that a lot of dogs can do quite well with it and definitely believe that punishment doe not have to be aversive.  However, I think that when a dog is first learning something that shaping a behavior is best done without any no-reward marker.  I know that Lance especially can very easily shut down on me and that he would not want to be told when guessing wrong.  Some dogs might not care, but I think that free shaping without the negative feedback can really promote creativity and without inhibiting a dog's behavior.  And with a dog experienced with shaping and with a great trainer, there is no reason a dog needs to be frustrated and getting stuck in offering wrong behaviors.  A good trainer would have a high rate of positive feedback (click lots) and even if the dog tends to stall out there is always something little one could reward (head turns) or treat placements to get the dog back on the right track.  So personally when teaching a new behavior to my dogs I am going to stick with the positive only feedback and see no real point in his argument against with a skilled trainer.

Once a dog has learned a behavior I see nothing wrong in using punishment.  Ian tends to use mainly positive* punishment* (correction, he  uses negative reinforcement) while I still prefer negative punishment.  I agree with him that time outs really aren't all that effective and tend to be used for too long, but I think turning your back on a dog, setting dinner back down on the table, or walking away from the door can all be very effective.  But I also use verbal reprimands with commands I am sure are well taught at the current level of difficulty.

One of my bigger beefs was with Ian's method of negative reinforcement.  He terms his technique Repetitive Reinstruction in Negative Reinforcement (RRNR), at least I think I got that right.  Basically if  dog doesn't adhere to a command, let's say a sit, Ian repeats the cue over and over again while walking closer to the dog until the dog finally does it.  It is negative reinforcement because the annoyance ends once the dog does the behavior, but relentlessly continues as long as long as the dog doesn't perform.  He previously termed it Instructive Reprimands as it also tells the dog what he wants them to do.  While it may seem like nagging, Ian states that it is not.  Unlike nagging, he will persist until the dog actually does the behavior, and then he will insist the dog to do it a 2nd time for any reward.  Clearly not nagging.

I cannot ever see myself doing that with my dogs, let alone recommend it to average Joe whose dog is already used to tuning out his drones.  I have seen lots and lots of "sit sit sit sit sit SIT SIT"s in my lifetime and it bugs the crap out of me.  I don't think that repeating a command is evil, but I don't see any benefit at all to repeating it a thousand times until your dog does it.  If my personal dogs don't sit the first time, I usually ask again, possibly in a more strict tone.  If the dog does it, I tell him thank you but don't reward it since it wasn't on the first cue.  If the dog doesn't do it, I silently walk in to help the dog (if at a distance) and then use gentle guidance with either body pressure, maybe collar pressure, or usually just a look. Once I get compliance I would then ask for it in the exact same situation (or maybe a tinier bit easier).  If the original blow off was a behavior at a distance, I go back to that distance, or if the original behavior was a stand to a down, well then I make sure that position change is what I practice, not a down from a sit.  I was disappointed that in all the examples, Ian would practice the behavior again so he could reward the dog for complying, but it was always right up close and the initial misbehavior was at a distance. (*note, in my personal choices of what I do, I'm talking about pet dog behaviors.  In training for dog sports, my dogs DO always have a choice on whether to comply or not.  My goal is to make training so fun that the dog doesn't even consider not playing with me.  I also don't do the same corrections when the dog makes a "mistake" in dog sport training" that I personally use in everyday life.*)

On the other hand, with a behavior the dog does not know very well or in a situation they haven't been it, I wouldn't even bother with those corrections but would instead give him the benefit of the doubt and immediately help him out.  Or in a training session where the dog is paying attention but simply not responding, I interrupt the opportunity by telling my dog "too slow," move a few steps before he completes the behavior if it was started, and ask for it again.

I have a few more points of his points I want to write out and think over and will likely post a bit more tomorrow.  And really I did enjoy the 2 days of seminar I attended, I think it is great when a presenter really makes you think, whether you agree with them or not!  The 3rd day of his seminar is tomorrow but I will be off at agility :)

Anyone have any comments on the above?  What do you see as the appropriate usage of punishment with a known behavior?  Do you agree with Ian in that a no reward marker, or even a a bit of punishment (non aversive) is a good tool in the learning stage?

Click here for part 2

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Cuddle Buddies

19 Weeks

5 Months

6 Months

8 Months

14 months

2 Years

And Luke is still feeling great.  No more incidents since the two blockages early last week.

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He's Back!

Chuck is back.  Just in time for the Puppy Raiser Halloween Party we sent Java back to the kennels and grabbed Chuck from his vacation.  

Lance didn't seem to care.

He did win the Godzilla contest though, knocking down the most boxes and in the fastest time, so maybe he just redirected his frustration.

Vito was pretty upset.  Not only did we take away his girlfriend but the presence of the wiggle butt was just too much.  Lots of grumbling but it quickly turned to sighing.

As for Chuck, we have had several conversations about manners since he has been back.  Yes the leash needs to be loose always, no you can't break a stay whenever you feel like it, and a few licks are ok, but teeth is  not.

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Day 2 and a 180

Another day of trialing, and Vito sure likes to keep me grounded.

Novice B Obedience:

 

Heel on Leash/Figure 8- 2 pts off
Is 1st heeling pattern ended up looking decent but I just didn't feel that connection.  A bit of a lag again on the about turn, but caught up nicely.  I didn't realize until done that I heeled with my arm at my waist, something I haven't done with either dog for a long time, but I don't think Vito cared.

The figure 8 wasn't bad either, but he seemed even more disconnected.  The 2nd time around he was lagging pretty bad and decided to cut in on my right.  I told him to heel and he did go on my left and proceeded to bite at his butt.  Probably shouldn't have given the extra cue as I think it just cost us more points then it was worth.


Stand for Exam- 0 pts off
I was a bit worried for this one as the nice judge got rid of her cane and hobbled towards the dogs.  A lot of dogs moved their feet to perhaps help her out a little, but Vito was good and remained solid.

Heel Free- 6.5pts off
I had to tap him to get his attention at the start and then Vito immediately lagged and twitched towards his butt.  As soon as he caught up and sat he proceeded to itch.  Vito was then very laggy and just out of it after that.  I gave another cue to heel on the return but it didn't seem to help much.

Recall- .5pt off
No stepping on my foot today :)

Long Sit- NQ
Vito was very distracted going in for the line up.  Right after the judge asked if we were ready she dropped a pencil on the ground.  Vito immediately fixated on it and as it took forever for the judge to hobble over and pick it up she told us to sit our dogs and leave our dogs in basically one breath before the pencil was off the floor.  Vito downed about half way through the stay.  I don't think the pencil drop contributed to it, but it couldn't have helped.

Long Down
Vito held it but was stressed the whole time.  Lots of eye blinking

Overall
His performance wasn't horrible, but I don't know why Vito was so stressed today.  He was laggy and scratchy the first half and then I'm pretty sure he was stressing up on the release from the heel free before the recall.  Our warm up seemed just fine and Vito was happily tugging with me and eating  the cookies.  But as soon as I was at the gate waiting to be invited in he became very distracted by the stewards and I had to fight for his attention.  I'm actually kinda glad we got an NQ today as I don't really want the title under today's performance.  I know it wasn't that bad, but attention and enthusiasm are the two most important things to me when trialing.

Rally Novice B:

Vito also had rally today.  At the start it was seeming that was going to have the same problem as in obedience.  He sniffed at the start sign instead of setting up and immediately started lagging a little bit.  I feel like was able to get him back by talking to him, but if it was the obedience ring we would have been lost.  We lost a point where Vito didn't do his automatic sit and I had to give a verbal.  Overall it wasn't bad and I'm happy with how we finished the course, but again am bummed about the start.  We got a 99 and fastest time for 1st place.

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Vito's 2nd Obedience Trial!

Today Vito has his 2nd attempt at Novice B!

 Heel on leash/figure 8- 1pt off
What a great dog!  Very attentive and really working hard on heel position.  A little bit of a lag, and a peek at the judge, after the first about turn but catches up quickly.

I remembered to go the left on the figure 8, unlike with Lance, and I think this helped.  He still lagged a tiny bit on the outside turn but I tried to remember to drive though it and Vito started to pick up the pace

Stand for Exam- 0pts off
Big head turn towards the judge but no feet moved!

Heel Free- 4.5pts lost
Some lagging at the first left turn, and another look at the judge.  Much tighter about turn but I felt some nuzzling on my hand as Vito checked to see if I was holding any treats :)  The last about turn Vito got distracted by a wall and went off to sniff but quickly caught himself before I had to say anything.  Actually quite a few dogs got lost in that corner today.  And I cost us 3pts during this as I forgot to let my left hand swing enough.  When I get nervous I tend to stiffen up and heel with a straight left hand.  I think it also makes me feel safer about my dog's heel position, as sort of a target.  The judge rightfully hit us for it and it's a good reminder for me to pay more attention.

Recall- .5pts off
Less bouncy this time :)  He still steps up my foot but I dont think the judge caught it.  She did get the crooked front though.


Overall
I am so excited by his performance!  Vito scored a 197, but I got that knocked to a 194.  Everything from his debut last month was much better.  Vito didn't get ahead of me on the fast time and had tighter turns.  He did steal a few glances at the judge so I think I need to practice with a "judge" following us.  Tomorrow I will try to relax and move my arms and hopefully get our 3rd leg!

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You have got to be kidding me

And it happened again.  Luke went back to the vet this morning as all weekend he continued to lick himself a ton and was constatly squatting with very little coming out.  The vet said he was partially blocked.  At least this time it was only 1/4 of the cost.  Are you going to give us a break kitty?

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Damn Cat.

Luke had to be taken into the vet for a blockage earlier this week.  This is the third time he has had issues down there in the past year and he has now been diagnosed with Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD).  Basically it's a catch all term for cats with bladder issues and they don't really know the cause.  Luke's 1st incident involved a lot of bloody pee, his 2nd had him lying in a pool of his own urine, and this third time he was blocked and needed surgery.

Risk factors include
1. gender (male) being spayed/neutered:  Well we can't change this.

2. not drinking enough water:  Already have a pet fountain after the 2nd incident so I don't know how get him to drink anymore.  Will have to consider wet food although we really can't afford it.

3. obesity:  Never been free fed and is on a diet currently.  I don' think he's too fat at 10.9lbs although I will start feeding him even less.


4. stress:  He really never seems stressed with the other dogs and upstairs cats.  Really flaunts himself in front of the doggy visitors even.  But the 2nd vet trip happened a few weeks after we got Chuck, and now this latest one is 2 weeks after Java came home.  Maybe a feliway diffuser?

5. diet:  Currently he eats Felidae and I am very bummed that the vet now wants to put him on Hills C/D.  She agrees with me that the food is crap but doesn't know of any high quality foods that will have the nutrient level she thinks he needs.  Mainly high in fatty acids, and very low in phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium.  She did mention Royal Canin veterinary foods and at least that doesn't have rice, corn, and byproducts as the first three ingredients (just the 2nd, and 3rd...).


Thank you kitty for continuing to add to our ever growing Care Credit bill.

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