What Is That Creature?

This calls for a serious drink of water

A few days ago, SSD Scarab encountered a really weird creature as we were returning to the office from a walk. As we walking down the alley, Scarab came across a human! So weird!

And he barked at the weird creature.

Granted, this particular human was sitting on the curb, taking a smoke break. When I think about it, this might be the first time Scarab has ever seen a person sitting on the curb in that alley. And when you're a 4-month-old puppy, a human sitting on the curb where you would least expect it is weird.

Now, Scarab is a really good puppy. He's very calm and usually takes things in stride. He also has excellent attention on me. Since I got him, we've been working on looking at me whenever there are distractions in his environment. He's gotten really good at it. When he sees something he thinks is interesting, he'll look at it, but then look right back at me. If it's really interesting, I might have to say his name, but then he'll look at me.

So when we encountered this really weird creature, I immediately tried to get Scarab's attention. Like the good puppy he is, he looked right at me. I clicked and gave him his treat. However, as soon as we started walking back toward the strange creature, he stopped and barked. I got his attention again and we started moving forward. Of course, he barked again.

At this point, I realized I had some decisions to make. If we continued on our current course, we would need to walk right past the weird creature. Scarab had already clearly told me that he's going to bark the closer we get. All he would learn in that situation is to bark at things he doesn't understand.

Option 2 was to turn around and go back the way we came. There were other ways to return to the office that didn't involve walking past the weird creature. If Scarab had been so worked up that he was beyond thinking, I probably would have chosen this option.

But Scarab was still capable of thinking. He was still turning back to me immediately after I said his name. It was only when we walked toward the creature that he barked.

So I chose option 3--show him that the weird creature is, in fact, a human.

Now, I should clarify that the man sitting on the curb is someone who works in the neighboring building. I've talked to him before, so he was not a complete stranger. I also asked him if he would be okay if I brought Scarab over to see him. So I wasn't just taking my dog over to a random person in an alley.

I also didn't just walk Scarab right over there since he would bark as we got closer. I wanted a nice calm dog, so instead, we turned around and walked back to what Scarab deemed the "safe zone." This was the distance from the weird creature where Scarab decided he could see him but didn't need to bark at him.

At this point, I simply clicked and treated Scarab for looking at the weird creature but not barking. After about 5-6 clicks and treats, Scarab just sat and looked at me, so we took a step forward. He again looked at the weird creature and I clicked him for looking but not barking. We did this for the next few steps, and then he was able to walk calmly next to me on a loose leash--with lots of clicks and treats--all the way to the weird creature.

Normally, puppy raisers aren't supposed to let their dogs just go up to people to say hello, but since Scarab had been a little fearful, I let him sniff and investigate so he'd know there's nothing to worry about.

And guess what? Scarab's little tail started wagging and then his whole body started wiggling and while he was being petted he turned to me as if to say, "Hey! Hey, did you know this thing is really a human! Who knew? This is awesome!"

I could have taken Scarab inside after that, but I wanted to really capitalize on this learning experience for him. I thanked the man and told him Scarab and I were going to go back the way we came and walk past him again, but this time we weren't going to stop.

I took Scarab back to that original safe distance and we started walking toward the man again. Scarab stayed right next to me on a loose leash and barely even glanced at the man as we walked by him. Success!

I hope this experience helps Scarab learn that people are still people, even when they're sitting on the curb.

Go away, It's naptime. 

Puppy stole old man Fire's bed

The Power of a Click

"Hi, human! Look at me walking here! Just checking in to get a treat!"

The clicker is a powerful thing.

For those of you who are new to my blog, Susquehanna Service Dogs uses clicker training to train all their dogs. It’s based on positive reinforcement. Every time the dog does something you want, you click and give the dog a treat. What dog wouldn’t love that? The clicker is also a very precise way to communicate with your dog. It marks a specific behavior or moment in time.

And it’s powerful. Let’s take loose leash walking. Well-timed clicks can transform a dog from one who pulls on the end of the leash into one who walks right next to you on a loose leash.

Of course, poorly timed clicks can turn your dog, who used to walk perfectly on a loose leash, into a dog who continually pulls to the end of her leash.

Now let’s take Dakota. When Dakota was a puppy, she used to walk beautifully on a loose leash. She’d stay right next to me, and the leash would be in a perfect, loose J shape. I was pretty proud of how nicely she walked. As she grew older, however, her perfect loose leash walking started to fall apart. She’d take a few steps right next to me, and I'd click and treat, but then she’d trot quickly ahead until she was at the end of her leash. And after that initial click, she'd keep pulling to the end of her leash.

SSD teaches puppy raisers to use penalty yards when dogs pull on the leash. Basically, when the dog starts getting too far ahead, you simply walk backward—the penalty yards—until the dog is back by your side. Then you walk forward again, clicking and treating after a few steps.

Well, penalty yards weren’t working with Dakota. Oh, she’d come back and stay right beside me for a few steps, but as soon as I clicked and treated her, she’s trot ahead again. We’d do more penalty yards, she’d take a few perfect loose-leash steps, I’d click, and she’s zip ahead again. More penalty yards, and well, you get the picture. We were getting nowhere. In fact, we were literally moving backward.

I chalked up her poor loose leash walking to being a teenager. When dogs hit those teenage years, at least half of what they learned goes flying out of their head. I figured little teenage Dakota thought the world was too interesting, so I tried what I did with teenage Doppler—I clicked and treated much more often. As soon as I gave ‘Kota a treat, I’d click again while she was still walking next to me.

Her loose leash walking got WORSE the more I clicked. So frustrating, because I thought I was doing everything right! I was doing the penalty yards. I was clicking while she was next to me. Why wasn’t it working?

That’s when I realized the problem wasn’t a teenage Dakota. The problem was ME. I was inadvertently clicking Dakota for walking quickly to the end of her leash.

See, I discovered that immediately after ‘Kota got her treat, she’d take 3-4 really fast steps. When I clicked right after giving her a treat, I was actually clicking her for walking really fast. Because the clicker marks an exact behavior, Dakota thought I was clicking her for walking fast. Of course, she kept walking fast which quickly put her at the end of her leash. After all, she’d been trained all her life to continue doing the thing she’d been clicked for. Walking fast became the behavior instead of loose leash walking.

Once I figured that out, I took a moment with her to simply click and treat for attention. I wanted to give both of us a chance to reset and focus. When we started walking again, I began delaying my clicks. Instead of clicking immediately after giving her a treat, I let her take those 3-4 fast “yay, I got a treat!” steps while I kept a steady pace. And what do you know, after her four fast steps, she slowed down, looked at me, and readjusted her pace to mine.

After a few nice steps—click, treat! I kept walking at a steady pace and waited for her to finish her fast “yay, treat!” steps and again, she readjusted her pace to mine and checked in with me. Once she had walked a few steps nicely with me, I clicked again.

Within five clicks, she stopped going anywhere near the end of her leash. She still took a few fast steps but she never went farther than a head and shoulders ahead of me before she re-matched her pace with mine. And she continually checked in with me instead of focusing only on the environment around her.

My loose leash walking puppy was back, thanks to the power of the clicker!

There are still times when Dakota sees the most interesting thing in the world and goes to the end of her leash. When that happens, I still give her penalty yards until she comes back to me. But now I know that when we start walking forward again, I need to be very precise with my click. 

It’s All About Self Control

Just two big goofballs waiting for a treat

Well, Doppler’s almost as big as Fire now (and Fire is BIG). Little Dop is a solid, 10-month-old, 70-pound ball of awkwardness. Although he’s not tall and gawky like most teenage dogs, he still seems to be figuring out exactly how his body moves. Half the time his feet are sliding out from underneath him.

But this giant puppy has been soaking up everything he can. I think about half of it sticks. The other half, well, we’ll just keep plugging away at it.

Take loose leash walking, for example. When he was a little puppy, he was the best loose leash walker. He’d walk right next to me and the leash would be in this beautiful J-shape. I used to think, hey, teaching loose leash walking is a snap! No problem! We got this.

Then Doppler discovered smells. And people. And other dogs. And grass, bushes, trees, garbage cans, and random spots on the sidewalk that just smell awesome.

My puppy who walked with a loose leash disappeared.

We’d take a few steps together, and I’d click and treat. He’d walk a few more steps, I’d click, and he’d surge ahead, completely ignoring the click and the fact that he was about to get a treat. It didn’t matter what kind of treats I had—goldfish, hotdogs, peanut butter—he didn’t care.

For a while, I used the penalty yards method. Every time Dop Dop pulled, I’d walk backwards until he was next to me again. Then we’d start walking forward again and I’d click and treat him for staying on a loose leash. But after that first click, he’d surge ahead to the end of the leash again. It would continue like that down the entire street. He wasn’t learning anything.

Well, today, I decided I’d had enough. It was time to try something different.

This time, when we headed outside at lunchtime, I chose a spot in the alley to serve as the starting spot. We’d walk down the street from that spot toward the grass by the river. Of course, Dop really wanted to get to the grass. We walked a few steps. Click, treat. Dop ate the treat and pulled ahead.

This time, instead of walking backwards until Doppler was next to me, I turned around and we headed back to the starting point. Once we reached the starting point, we turned around and started again. He got clicked and treated for staying right next to me. The second time, we made it about ten meters before he pulled and we had to go back to the start line. Same thing the third time.

The fourth time, we made it halfway down the street.

The tenth time, we almost made it to the end. Dop could see the grass. Yank! on the leash. Back we went to the start line.

Interestingly, Doppler walked perfectly every single time we were walking back to the starting line. It was only when we were walking toward the grass that he had a problem.

Fifteen minutes and half a treat pouch later, Doppler finally walked the entire length of the street on a loose leash.

Needless to say, he got tons of praise and the best reinforcement he could have wished for—lots of free sniffing time.

You know what’s really awesome? After his super sniffing treat, he spent the rest of our walk with his head right at my knee. Perfect loose leash walking.

I have no doubt that we’ll have to go through this again, but now I know what method works for Dop Dop. Eventually, this giant puppy will be a top notch loose leash walker.

Next time you leave me in the car by myself, I'm just going to drive away.

First Day, First Outing

Zonked after a long day

Well, it’s official. I signed all the paperwork today. I’m officially Doppler’s puppy raiser! It still boggles my mind that I’m raising a puppy.

Doppler started working right after I picked him up at the kennel. By “work” I mean “take a really long nap,” of course. We went back to the office and he sprawled out in Fire’s crate for a two and a half hour nap. He sang himself to sleep. It’s so hard to ignore him when he’s whining so pathetically. I’ll try to get a video of it, because he really does sound pathetic. In fact, he kept whining even as he played with his new squeaky alligator. Weird little beast. 

The little stinker is cute even when he just wakes up.

But overall, I’d say he did very well at the office. He walks very nicely on a loose leash, although he tends to list to the right and bump into my leg. When we’re walking up stairs, I have to be very careful not to step on him, especially since he somehow manages to flop up the stairs.

Once I left work, I thought why not take Doppler on his first outing? First day, first outing. Get a few of the firsts out of the way right off the bat. We stopped at Giant on the way home. My whole goal was to get some puppy-sized chew toys for his sharp little puppy teeth. I’m also hoping that by putting a fun chew toy in his crate in the car, he won’t whine and howl the whole car ride.

Our Giant outing was going great. He walked on a loose leash through the parking lot and just sat there while an employee pushed a noisy train of carts toward the store. We took a quick potty break before going inside and then he walked nicely through the door—and immediately started sniffing around like he was going to pee again. So after being in the store for a grand total of 15 seconds, I scooped him up and carried him outside. He face-planted in the snow when I plopped him down, and sure enough, he did need to potty.

Take two: We walked back into Giant, and this time we were able to spend more than 15 seconds there. We stayed right inside the door for a few minutes just to get our bearings. Doppler thought that it was time to play and he tried to romp around me. Eventually, he settled down and focused on me again, and we headed for the dog aisle, “oooo, puppy!” in our wake.

Doppler sat nicely while I picked out some chew toys, and then we walked to the self-checkout, where we waited in line. When the woman in front realized that there was a puppy behind her, I decided Doppler could work on greetings. I shoved treats in his mouth to keep him focused on me while the woman petted his back. She stayed calm and listened to my instructions about petting him, and he stayed focused on me. It was everything I could have hoped for in a first greeting. Until Doppler and I have been working together for a few weeks, I think I will just be smiling politely and telling all of the “Oooooo, puppy, come ‘ere pup! Let me pet you, puppy!” people that Doppler is working and can’t be petted.

Overall, our first outing was a success. Even better, Doppler now has lots of chew toys to chomp instead of my pants and shoes. Of course, Fire stole the bacon-flavored one immediately and wouldn’t let Doppler have it until it was thoroughly chewed up. I can’t blame Fire for stealing it, though. After all, it’s bacon-flavored.

Here's Doppler with one of the non-bacon-flavored toys. He still thinks it's pretty awesome, despite it's lack of bacon.

Doppler finally got to chew the bacon-flavored toy.