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Author Archive for Professional Dog Trainer – Page 8

Habituation

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Saturday, July 14th, 2012

Here's a short explanation of habituation done by  a student of Raising Canine's Professional Dog Trainer course – good job, Kathy!

Habituation is achieved by repeatedly evoking a given reflex response, resulting in the reduction in intensity/probability of that response.   It is a form of desensitization but the subject is no longer aware of the stimulus, whereas with desensitization, a response is still elicited but the emotion associated with the stimulus is different. Habituation gives us the ability to filter out irrelevant stimuli. 

Short term habituation happens after a few repetitions of the stimulus that occur close together.  We are no longer aware of the stimulus even though the stimulus is present.  For example, a student studying with music on.  In the beginning the student sings along with the music.   After a while, the student only sings along occasionally.  Eventually the student will no longer notice the music – it will become “white noise” in the background.  But if the student should leave the room, then return, the student will again notice the music.

Long term habituation happens after many repetitions of a stimulus over a longer period of time, with those repetitions being spaced farther apart in time.  We are no longer aware of stimulus even when the stimulus is present, is not longer present, and then returns (or, alternatively, the animal leaves and then returns to the location of the stimulus).  An example would be a dog that grew up in a kennel situation.  When the dog is brought to a “home” environment in a busy, urban area, it may jump up and run to the window or bark every time it hears cars drive by.  After a while, it may pick up its head or twitch an ear toward the sound when cars drive by.  Eventually, it will no longer react to cars driving by.

Habituation is important to survival because if the organism were to constantly react to every stimulus, it would not be able to do anything productive and might, in fact, be rendered helpless in the face of danger.  Organisms need to be able to automatically (without conscious thought) filter out what is “imminent danger” vs. “need to be aware of” vs. “not dangerous, can ignore.”

Kathy Limm
Denver, Colorado

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Categories : Learning Theory
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Do You Feel Like You’re Just Treading Water in Your Business?

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

Too often small business owners have a great idea, and are great at what they do, but don’t know how to take their business to the next level. This article can’t possibly tell you everything that you need to do to get to that next level, but we can tell you where to start!

You start with your vision. In ten years, how do you envision yourself spending your time? If you’re currently in your twenties, you may see yourself running a full-service dog facility with a staff, a spouse and 2 kids. If you’re currently in your late forties, you may see yourself phasing out of the dog training field – no classes, and privates for your specialty, only; and charging a great deal of money because you are recognized as an expert in this specialty. Or, you may want to stay small, doing one or two classes a week and a few privates, taking vacations when you want. As some anonymous wise man once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” It really doesn’t matter what you want, as long as you KNOW what you want.

This vision is your primary aim; it’s why you’re in business at all – so you can achieve the lifestyle you want. To determine your primary aim, you have to do some soul searching. You have to articulate and then put in writing the things you don’t want in life, and the things you do want. You have to identify the barriers that are preventing you from having those things you do want. These barriers may be external, physical barriers (like limited income); they may be internal, emotional barriers (such as low self-esteem); or, they may simply be counter-productive habits you’ve developed (like poor time management).

Take the time to actually write down the vision you have for your future and how you want to be perceived by others; what do you want people to say about you when you’re not around. Once you’ve articulated your vision, boil it down to its essence and write it out in two-to-three sentences. This vision should go in your business plan – it should be something you refer to often (monthly). Keep it in mind and always be working toward that vision. If you find yourself being sidetracked (which you will!), having that written vision will help bring you back on track; or, it may be that you need to revise your vision, and that’s ok – as long as you have a vision that is at the core of what you want.

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Categories : Running a Dog Consulting Business
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Professionalism

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

PROFESSIONALISM

This has been a tough couple of weeks for me. I’ve been extremely frustrated with my contractors – specifically, my graphics guy and my computer guy.

My graphics guy has been having a hard time making it as a small business person so has taken a part-time job. Consequently, I can never get hold of him, and it’s like pulling teeth to get him to return a phone call. Of course, that was a problem before he got a part-time job – it’s just worse, now. I’ve had similar problems with graphics people in the past – I put it down to their artsy temperament!

However, I have a business to run and this model isn’t serving me well. A couple of weekends ago, I spent 8 hours trying to create a graphic my graphics guy could do in 15 minutes. I’ve pretty much decided I have to take a course and learn how to run my graphics program so I have the basics – time and money out the door because I can’t find a good contractor!

My computer guy is a whole ‘nother story! He answers his phone and makes appointments with me. Here’s a little history for the last couple of weeks:

We set an appointment for the 18th – I had a list of small-to-medium issues I needed taken care of – most important of which was setting up a network.

He had several issues he needed to research so took the laptop so he could work on it at his shop and was supposed to have it back to me on the 24th, at the latest.

Meanwhile, he only fixed a couple of very minor issues on my list, and left my computer in worse shape than when he came! (For instance, I wanted the laptop to be able to print, but now my desktop computer defaults to the laptop printer, and I can’t get it to default to where it should be! Eeeek!)

I called to confirm on the 23rd and was assured I’d have it on the 24th.

On the 26th, I still didn’t have the laptop, so I called again.

He immediately goes on the offense saying he called but I wasn’t home and he thought I might have gone out of town! Well, that’s ridiculous – I was probably on the phone, and he didn’t leave a message or call the next day.

His response to me was “I did due diligence.”

That evening (the 26th), his assistant called and wanted me to meet him ½ mile from my house to pick up the computer, because he didn’t want to bother to take down directions to my house.

Yesterday (the 30th), I called to set up a remote session to finish setting up the network and we set an appointment for between 2:00-2:30. I never heard from him.

So, today I’m on the phone calling new computer guys – I have to have one, but I need one I can count on.

“What’s the moral of this story?” you ask. “Why should we care about your personnel problems?” Well, dog trainers are contractors. We should be very aware of the service (and impression) we’re giving to our clients. We shouldn’t get complacent and think that because we’ve been working with them long enough to have a friendly relationship, we can slack on our service. The “due diligence” comment from my computer guy was really the straw that broke this camel’s back. I don’t want due diligence from my contractors – I want great service.

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Categories : Running a Dog Consulting Business

The Humane Hierarchy

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

When CCPDT came out with their humane hierarchy, I was thrilled. I had been exposed to this hierarchy for several years, found it to be a very useful tool, and have been teaching it to my students, so I was very happy to see CCPDT adopt it. The hierarchy comes from the human applied behavior field, and a lot of very informed, serious thought by extremely qualified individuals went into it.

I don’t know that this is the reasoning behind the hierarchy, but it seems to me that the higher the level, the less stressful on the animal. In other words, antecedent control (another term for management) is less stressful than the next level down, which is R+. All learning is somewhat stressful, so, simply removing the stimulus that sets the occasion for these behaviors is less stressful than training the dog to do something different.

In our weekly phone calls for my Professional Dog Trainer Course students, I’m finding myself referring to the hierarchy more and more. Our phone calls are student-driven – i.e., they come to the call with questions, training scenarios they’re having problems with, etc., and we discuss these issues with a goal of clarifying how theory can inform us in real life application.

As we discuss these situations, I find myself saying things like

  • “Where does this fall in the humane hierarchy?”
  • “Why would you choose this protocol before trying DRI? Have you referred to the humane hierarchy?”
  • “Who can tell me the levels of the humane hierarchy?”
  • “You are expected to know the humane hierarchy and be able to recite it from memory.”

Knowing the humane hierarchy does not necessarily mean you must actually implement each level of the hierarchy before moving to the next level. It means you should understand the levels and be able to make an informed decision (from experience) as to what is going to work best in this situation.

I would expect the newer the trainer, the more they have to think about this; however, experienced trainers will know immediately that they are going to, for example, combine management, DRA (differential reinforcement of an alternative behavior) and P- (negative punishment) for a dog that persistently and obnoxiously jumps up on people; whereas, a softer dog who is jumping up and very lightly putting his paws on you may only need management and DRA.

The humane hierarchy can also help experienced trainers. We often automatically go to a technique that we know works without thinking about why. For instance, when working with reactive dogs there are three techniques that are all effective and actually very similar with minor variations: D/CC* (desensitization and counter-conditioning), DRA, and R- (negative reinforcement – CAT or BAT, for instance). Every trainer should have these three tools in their toolbox, but they can use the humane hierarchy to inform them about which is preferable and in what order.

The humane hierarchy also makes us better critical thinkers. It makes us think about what other trainers are saying, and analyze whether or not it makes sense to us. So, I think the humane hierarchy is a great tool and one we should all know by heart!

*Note: D/CC is not included in the humane hierarchy, but I believe it should be included on the same level as R+.

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Categories : Dog Training Industry

Niche Marketing

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Marketing StrategyThere is a saying in the marketing business: “Market narrowly, deliver broadly.”

This means to narrowly define your market niche. There are many niches in dog consulting:

  • Children
  • Aggression
  • Agility
  • Separation Anxiety
  • Etc.

Think about your market, think about what you seem to be doing a lot of, and think about what you enjoy. Considering these three things, you can develop a market niche.

Once you’ve developed a niche, you have a very defined market to target. You can think about the magazines they read, the media they watch and listen to, where they shop, and so on. This can really help with your advertising dollar, as well as basic marketing. You can put your energies and dollars into very specific venues which will give you a better return on investment.

But, going back to the saying, “market narrowly, deliver broadly,” the beauty of having a market niche is that you don’t have to delivery solely to that market! If you do a good job for someone within your target market, chances are they have a friend outside your market – and they’ll refer you!

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Categories : Running a Dog Consulting Business
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Predatory Drift

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

We’ve been having a great discussion on one of the lists I belong to, so I thought I’d write an article on it, as there is a great deal of misunderstanding about this particular behavior.  There’s a behavior the dog training industry (Dr. Ian Dunbar, originally) has labeled “predatory drift.” First, be aware that, to my knowledge, there has been no formal study done on this behavior; however, it is something that is fairly common. If you intend to become a dog trainer, or if you are a certified professional dog trainer, this is a phenomenon you should be aware of!

First, a little science and terminology. Every behavior an animal exhibits is genetic – i.e., they have the genetics that allow that behavior to happen. Pigs are genetically designed to root; dogs are genetically designed to leave urine markers; fish are genetically designed to separate air from water so they can live in water; etc.

Genetic traits are loosely divided into three categories: reflexes, action patterns and behavior traits. Reflexes are more uniform in nature and the least subject to modification; action patterns are more variable in nature and more subject to modification than reflexes, but less than behavior traits; behavior traits are extremely variable from individual-to-individual, and the most easily modified. Always remember that ALL behavior can be modified – it’s just easier to modify some than others!

Predatory drift is an action pattern. It is a food gathering behavior, which in certain animals is called predation. Let’s be very clear here that predatory drift is NOT aggression! It is predation. Most play behavior revolves around normal hunting behaviors – stalking, chasing, etc. Predatory drift often begins as normal play, and something triggers the larger dog and he drifts over into predation.

The reason predatory drift is so dangerous is because it often happens between dogs that have a great size difference. Even though many dogs have lost the “kill” piece of the predatory sequence, that size difference can result in death almost instantly.

Some trainers believe you can pinpoint dogs that are prone to predatory drift, but I’m not sure I agree with this. Certainly there are dogs that are more predatory than others, but this is really a different situation; predatory dogs can be screened based on prior behavior. Predatory drift can happen with any dog – dogs that have never shown any predatory inclinations or aggression to other dogs and even dogs that have been good buddies for a long time. And, it happens in an instant and is generally not preventable.

Things that typically trigger predatory drift are running dogs, injured or struggling dogs, squealing dogs, dogs being ganged up on, and any situation where there’s a big size differential. Because of the risk to small dogs, dog parks and day cares are increasingly setting up play areas specifically for small dogs. If you are an owner of a small dog, it’s important to be aware of this behavior and take steps to protect your dog from potential injury or death; if you have a career in dog training, make a point to educate your owners and take precautions in your business.

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Categories : Dog Behavior
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What Does Schooling to Become a Dog Trainer Entail?

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

This is a great question! If you want to become a professional dog trainer, your logical starting point is a school for dog trainers. But what does that mean? Currently, there is no standard curriculum for dog trainers, so you really have to do your research and find out what the school you are interested in is really teaching.

There is a whole body of knowledge about how animals learn – it’s called learning theory. We’ve been studying these principles for years (remember Pavlov and Skinner?). These are well established principles of learning and every dog training school should devote a significant portion of their curriculum to these learning principles.

It’s also important that a good school address business issues. Most people who become professional dog trainers will be in business for themselves. Now, the school doesn’t have to give you the equivalent of a business degree, but they should cover basics of how to set up and run a small business, professionalism and marketing.

Dog behavior is also a very important part of a good curriculum. There’s a lot of misinformation about dog behavior floating around – some of it is just plain wrong, some of it is not relevant to training. New trainers need to be able to critically assess behavior and make good decisions about how to go about changing that behavior. In order to do that, you need to understand both dog behavior and the principles of learning.

And, of course, how to train a dog is essential. But – I would hope EVERY school that trains dog trainers would have this component!

If you’d like to learn more about how to become a dog trainer, please visit https://becomeaprofessionaldogtrainer.com.

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Categories : Dog Training Industry
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Professional Dog Trainers Making an Impact on Their Community

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about a book I read a couple of years ago. I’ve been thinking about how this book can help professionals advance their career in dog training. This book is called “Small Giants” and was written by Bo Burlingham who is an Editor at Large of Inc. Magazine.

Burlingham highlights eight businesses that have opted to stay small (even though they have the potential to go very big) and become exceptional employers and members of their community. These businesses are very diverse (from a rock musician to a storage company to a New York City restaurateur!); however, they have certain things in common:

  • They want to be the best at what they do;
  • They’ve been recognized by independent bodies for their work and/or community contributions;
  • They’ve had the opportunity to raise a lot of capital and become large companies, but chose another route;
  • They have company goals that include issues outside the main goal of making money – i.e., community, work environment, and lifestyle goals;
  • In order to achieve their non-monetary goals, they’ve opted to remained privately owned.

Now, I know that most dog trainers are not going to meet some of these criteria. Still, I think there are some wonderful lessons we can learn from these businesses about how to get involved in our community in important ways and how to treat our employees so they are loyal to the company. And, from the money point of view, in many ways, this book meshes very nicely with the Law of Attraction. Because these businesses have loftier goals than simply making money they attract good employees, goodwill from the community, good relationships with vendors and clients and money!

This was a fun book to read. It isn’t technical – it’s more like someone’s personal story – but it’s very inspiring and uplifting. I’ll leave the details for you to read about, and I highly recommend that you do.

Professional Dog Trainers Making an Impact in Their Community

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Categories : Dog Training Industry, Running a Dog Consulting Business
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Professional Dog Trainers Suffer From the Low Down Marketing Blues!

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Friday, May 6th, 2011

Marketing seems to be the boogeyman in the closet for many behavior consultants. I spend a lot of time wondering why my “sexy” courses are so popular and my business courses get short shrift. I’ll get a ton of enrollments when the topic is aggression, but almost nothing for a marketing course. Most of us have had a ton of exposure to theory, behavior mod, and aggression, and what we need is help in growing our business; yet we still sign up for the sexy courses and ignore the practical ones!

Of course, we LOVE behavior – after all, that’s what we do and for most of us it’s a passion. So that’s one reason we sign up for those courses – we enjoy them. I think that marketing is a mystery to most consultants. We know we should do it, but we don’t really know how. When we do market, we often see lackadaisical results and that discourages us from future marketing endeavors.

Unlike advertising, marketing can be very inexpensive; but, it’s a process and often takes time to come to fruition. You shouldn’t expect immediate results with most of your marketing efforts. Your results will be an accumulation of consistent marketing – sometimes over years!

Think of your goals and how marketing can help attain them. What are your short-term goals? What are your long-term goals? Will simply dropping business cards at the vet’s office help with those goals, or do you need something a bit more involved? Marketing should be a win-win – don’t think of it as selling yourself, but as mutually beneficial. If you look at it as providing a service for someone else, perhaps you’ll be more comfortable than if you are simply trying to get the local veterinarian to refer to you. Finally, there’s always something you can do that’s within your comfort zone!

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Categories : Dog Training Industry, Running a Dog Consulting Business
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Mistakes Even Certified Professional Dog Trainers Make! Criteria Increase Answer #2

By Professional Dog Trainer · Comments (0) · Thursday, March 17th, 2011

If you haven’t already, check out my post on 3/11/11, “If You Want a Career in Dog Training There Are Important Concepts to be Learned.” See if you can find the first answer before reading the rest of this post! Then, check out my 3/14/11 post which gives the answer to the first post and asks if you can find the second error.

Ok – here’s a recap of what’s happened and an explanation of the second error. At about 1:15, Jane raises two criteria. Then, at around 2:00 Jane realizes she’s made a mistake and takes action to correct it – I don’t think she knows exactly what she did wrong, but she knows, because of her low rate of reinforcement, that she’s done something wrong. She pats her leg, changes her position, picks up the object, etc., but still asks the dog to pick the object up from the floor and deliver to hand.

During all of this the dog is still in the game – she hasn’t lost him, but he’s confused and frustrated. Finally, at 3:00, she goes back to picking up the object and having the dog take it and drop it. BUT, she has the dog take it 4 times with no reinforcement and doesn’t reinforce him; on the 5th trial, he goes quite a while without taking the object. That time, at 3 minutes and 20 seconds she reinforces the take and drop.

Ideally, Jane would have reinforced the dog when he first targeted the object after she picked it up instead of waiting for something more – get him back in the game and quickly bring him back to the level he was before she raised 2 criteria at once.

Jane went 2 minutes and 5 seconds without reinforcing anything, which is a very long time when training a new behavior. She’s lucky she didn’t lose the dog altogether – he’s a willing participant, but simply doesn’t know what to do. She continues with a low rate of reinforcement because she’s waiting for a specific criteria (I’m not sure what it is), and you can see the dog’s behavior become less and less enthusiastic. Finally, at about 4:20, she forgets about her old criteria and backs up to the old criteria – Hurray! She’s realized she needs to get the dog back into the game before she can raise the criteria.

A lot of people would blame this on the dog, saying he’s bored, or he’s deliberately blowing her off; the reality is that the trainer made a fundamental error which she eventually realized and corrected. As Jane continues in her quest to become a professional dog trainer, she will learn, understand and recognize these errors when she, and others, make them. Then she will truly be a professional dog trainer!

If you’d like to learn more about how to become a dog trainer, please visit https://becomeaprofessionaldogtrainer.com.

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