Category: Theory, Terms & Abbreviations, Advanced Stuff ¤
  Author: Shirley Chong ¤
   Title: More or Less Options? ¤

wldib wrote:

>   Recently I have seen a great deal of posting stating the premise that it
> is less stressful if we limit the options of the dog.  Setting him or her
> up with only one possible response, success.
>   How do you proof such a dog?  It is impossible to set up for one response
> only without also setting the dog up for a lot of correction for unwanted
> responses.  Without the dog learning that other behaviors than the ones
> being trained for will not have desirable consequences, or that they will
> have undesirable consequences, they remain optional behaviors to the dog.
>   Good clicker trainers don't allow their dogs to drift aimlessly about,
> waiting for a desired behavior to c&t.  They induce or otherwise stimulate
> the dog to give the desired behavior so that it can be reinforced and thus
> become more likely to occur again.  Then they allow the dog to begin to
> offer the behavior on its own....the dog gets the concept, and doesn't
> learn to wait around to be corrected or coerced into the correct response.
 
   Now, how can I disagree with someone conditioned to say "Amen!" to
whatever I post? <LOL> But, hey, since I'm an equal opportunity cranky
old lady...
   I think the above is too black and white. For one thing, there are
very few behaviours that I would place in the "don't ever do that again"
category. I DO want most behaviours to remain optional for the dog, just
not necessarily right now. I use the phrase "right idea, wrong place" a
lot in training as a way of keeping things in perspective.
   So how do I put things on command? I see it as a continuum. At one
end is training by making all other choices but the one I want the dog
to make seem unsafe to the dog. At the other end of the continuum is by
manipulating the environment so that -I- control the thing that the dog
wants most. I've never seen a trainer who falls at either extreme of the
continuum! Every single trainer I've seen falls somewhere in the middle,
usually closer to one end or the other. I try to stay as close to the
end that uses positive reinforcement as possible, but (so far) it isn't
always possible. I look for ways to make sure that I am the dog's best
option... and if I am the dog's best option, why would the dog want to
do anything but try to figure out what will inspire me, the Holder of
Most That Is Good, to dispense those good things? It's when we DO run
across something like that (for instance, a black fluffy bitch with a
flirtatious look in her eye...) that positive punishment or negative
reinforcement may come into play--although I will try to handle the
situation by stepping down the level of temptation to that which the dog
can handle first, etc. It wasn't all that difficult to get Luke to do a
150 foot recall off lead through a group of dogs playing off lead (of
course, Luke was only five months old at the time, too...) using that
strategy.
   Training for me often involves setting up a situation during the
learning phase so that it is easier for the dog to do what I want and
the number of options are drastically reduced. I think of it as "picking
my battles." If I am teaching something to the Belgian Princess that
involves crossing muddy ground to pick up a wet object, those are two
things that are inherently yucky to her. So I'll simplify it for her by
NOT throwing in a bunch of dogs playing off lead, not leaving a bunch of
other retrievable objects around, etc. If I am asking her to do a
majorly yucky thing (like get mud on the royal Belgian tootsies), why
would I tempt her to avoid it anymore than she's already tempted? That's
going to guarantee that she won't do what I want OR that I will have to
force her to do it. Neither of us will be happy under those conditions.
Heck, if I know we're going to be working on a muddy surface, I might go
so far as to shave out her feet for her and carry a wet rag to clean
them off for her (or she spends the next three hours grooming them into
perfection with a totally disgusted look on her face). She works for me
and I try to appreciate her as much as possible.
   Now, once we are through the learning phase, it isn't so necessary
for me to limit options. Not sure why, I think it has to do with
reinforcement history and knowing that there IS a reward for doing that
which is yucky.
   As for allowing the dog to drift aimlessly, I do that (sometimes)
too. Depends on what I want. I have noticed that the more I keep my
mouth shut, my eyes open and leave it up to my dogs to solve the
problems, the better they are at problem solving. It's a lot like
people--creative problem solving doesn't necessarily rely on the "bolt
from the blue" inspiration, it can be the result of lots of practice in
problem solving. So if my dogs know I have something they want (the
clicker in my hand is a big, obvious clue to them <G>), I will often let
the dog figure out what I want. I do a lot of training sitting in the
recliner! One of my personal tenets for good training (of any sort) is
that the trainee should be working harder than the trainer.

M. Shirley Chong
The Well Mannered Dog