The Wildrose Training Methodology
Stewart with Ducks Unlimited mascot Deke
As we launch our blog further introduction is in order. This is a getting-to-know-you session on the Wildrose training methodology. Read up, post your questions as comments, and we’ll do our best to answer them.
If you’re new to OutsideK9.com, you’re probably wondering what The Wildrose Way is, and how it’s different from all of the other training methodologies out there. First, you’ve got to understand what my trainers and I aim for in finished dogs, here at our kennels outside of Oxford, Mississippi. When potential clients inquire, the first thing I ask is, What do you want from your dog? Over the years, the answers to that question have gradually focused into two main categories—both companions for a sporting lifestyle.
The first, we’ve taken to calling the Gentleman’s Gundog. Once finished, these dogs are capable of hunting and retrieving multiple types of game plus serving as a fantastic companion for the family.
The second, we call The Adventure Dog. These are dogs that will retrieve game but have additional training specific to other activities like boating, biking, skiing, camping, fishing, etc. These are loyal and obedient dogs that complement a family’s sporting lifestyle.
The Wildrose Way, then, is how we get to these two outcomes, which, as it turns out, share a lot in common: Heeling beside a bike is very similar to heeling beside a mounted rider on a quail hunt. Sporting lifestyles place dogs in some of the most demanding and distracting situations for even the best-trained canines. These include working off lead, sometimes at great distances from the handler, and often in the face of enormous enticements like wildlife, hikers, other dogs, and gregarious humans. We’ve tailored our methods specifically to these situations.There’s a lot of animal psychology out there that relates to dog training, but theories alone don’t add up to an incremental training method that produces finished dogs. The Wildrose Way applies a blend of operant conditioning and pack leadership (the theories) to a series of training drills (the mechanics) and an overarching philosophy for interacting with our dogs to get us to those end points. Our ultimate goal is to help people form strong bonds and greater understanding of the dog for the smart, social animal it is and not the baby in a dog suit it’s so tempting to imagine.
The Wildrose Way avoids the use of force—heavy-handed techniques like toe and ear pinches, heeling sticks, e-collars, and check cords—in favor of positive reinforcement that rewards dogs for correct responses. Positive reinforcement isn’t just less mean from a human point of view, it brings out the natural ability of the dog by encouraging him to offer behaviors without the threat of pain. There’s a time and a place for force, namely as a last resort to stop unsafe behaviors like bolting after wildlife or other dogs, but we believe behaviors are best shaped by consistent reinforcement to the point of habit formation. We structure our relationships with dogs as a pack hierarchy and train owners to do the same.
Our unique drills, exercises, techniques and conditioning are primarily reward-based, all designed to entrench the desirable behaviors and skill sets necessary for control, performance, and civil conduct. We build a strong foundation of obedience—critical for every dog, whether a hunter, service animal, or house pet—and then slowly layer on specialized skills for a wide variety of situations. Follow along, ask any question, and check in often.
Our training e-newsletter and archives are available at uklabs.com.
—Mike Stewart
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April 15, 2009
One to Watch for Obedience
The How of Bow Wow!
Even though it came out in 2004, The How of Bow Wow! is still the DVD to beat for careful explanation of early obedience training. Sherri Lippman and Virginia Broitman spend the full 84 minutes on the little stuff—like eye contact and resisting temptations—that you’re likely to rush by in order to get to the fun stuff, like retrieving. They use clickers and treats shape early behaviors that will become habits is you instill them early. Whether you’re training a hunting dog, a service dog, or a stay-at-home pal, these skills apply. Take them seriously, or regret it later. $35
--Grayson Schaffer
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April 13, 2009
Katie's Bumpers
Bottle Trackers
Here's a cool Boulder, Colorado-based company that's started producing fun, colorful dog training equipment based on the more drab, standard hunting and obedience tools. These Bottle Trackers are hollow sections of firehose that can be filled with a single-serving water bottle for water retrieves or stuffed with scented rags for laying down scent trails. $14
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April 10, 2009
Yoga With Your Dog?
The Times ran a story today on people doing yoga with their dogs. The dog in the opening photo appears just as uneasy as I am about this new enterprise.
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Extreme Measures for Determined Trash Raiders
It's come to this
Q. I can’t get my dog to stop knocking over the trash like it’s a ghetto liquor store. You got anything fuzzy and “positive” for that? —Randy
A. Randy, first thing’s first. Danger’s a trash eater, too, but when
he does get in there, it only means that two other things have gone
wrong, first:
1. He’s roaming and not lying on his dog bed. No good can come from a dog that roams the house. He’ll never clean up after me, and more likely will just make messes himself. Your dog should be conditioned through repetitive training to either stay on his dog bed or lie at your feet. If he’s there, he’s not in the trash. If he does get up and wander over to the trash, start with a calm leave it.
2. If you’ve got a trash dog, he shouldn’t be left in the house unattended. That’s asking for trouble. I’ve got a friend who stacks kitchen chairs up on her couches and rubberbands the cabinets shut when she leaves, just so the dogs won’t get into trouble. Instead of trying to dog-proof your house, just leave the dog in a fenced area when you’re gone.
If all else fails, here’s a hillbilly technique* . . .
(Note: Attempt this one at your own risk, and definitely don’t try it with young, small, or sensitive dogs—only large, thick-skinned, repeat offenders. This means you, 80-pound Labs.)
There’s a branch of dog training called respondent conditioning. That’s a fancy way of saying that you’re using the dog’s natural reflexes to your advantage. Think of a dog that’s gun shy or scared of thunder, snakes, vacuum cleaners, or hair driers. It only takes one gunshot or snake bite for a dog to know he doesn’t want any part of guns or snakes.
To fix my problem, then, I taped an unbaited Victor mousetrap to the trash can with the bar down so it would snap up under Danger’s chin, rather than down onto his nose. The next day: Snap! Yelp! No more trash. Now, if there’s some place I don’t want danger to be, like under the coffee table, I just leave an unset trap there and can be reasonably sure he’ll give it a six-foot berth.
More notes of warning: Definitely don’t use a rat trap. (You do know the difference, right?) Those could do real damage. And if you’re desperate enough to think this is a good idea, pad the bar of the mouse trap with something soft like a few wraps of duct tape.
*Disclaimer: Triggering a shock reflex in a dog is a risky proposition. If the dog associates the pain with you, say if you’re standing right next to him when the trap goes off, he may never trust you again. It could also lead to fight rather than flight reflex and get you seriously hurt. You’ve been warned.
—Grayson
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April 07, 2009
Night Fetch
Glow Ball
Here's a new one from Chuckit!, maker of that simple-yet-genius tennis ball launcher. The Glow Ball is a glow-in-the-dark rubber ball that’s compatible with the ball launchers.
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April 06, 2009
Recall Part III: Finger on the Button
OK, so we have an independent-minded, self-employed dog that just will not come when there are tempting distractions. What then?
If Part I and II of our recall training did not work, we have the final option of force. An effective tool is the electric collar. I recommend E-collars only as a last resort for stopping a determined dog from engaging in dangerous or uncontrollable behaviors like chasing cars, bolting, or chasing animals. Using a modern e-collar with variable levels of intensity, we can apply just enough discomfort to get results. The training begins at the lowest setting of intensity that will get a response from your dog. First, teach the dog the appropriate command as we did in parts I and II. You can’t teach anything with an E-collar—only reinforce what the dog already knows. To assure a response in the field when those interesting distractions appear, we will want to begin training with our dog close to us backed up with a 50-foot check cord.
1. Place the E-collar on the dog as instructed by the manufacturer.
2. Work the dog for several weeks through obedience skills just wearing the collar so they become accustomed to it.
3. Test the level of responsiveness on the lowest level possible. Walk the dog forward, then abruptly back away in a reverse heel while calling the dog to you. As the dog turns, activate the collar as you give the recall command. Hold the button down until the dog takes his first step toward you. If he doesn’t respond, use the check cord to encourage them forward.
Our student quickly learns that coming toward you relieves the discomfort. Now, gradually lengthen the distance and distraction of your recall in small increments. Each time, be consistent: 1) Call the dog, 2) activate the collar, 3) release the button as the dog comes forward.
Cautions, warnings, and downsides
1. Never use an E-collar to punish a dog, and never lose your temper. E-collars are incredibly powerful tools but can deliver incredible pain (like a wall socket or stun gun) at the touch of a button. Treat the button with respect.
2. E-collars are a good training tool when they’re necessary, but they make a terrible training methodology. As with a choker chain and other training equipment, an E-collar shouldn’t be used as a crutch to make up for a trainer’s lack of ability or experience. Before you convince yourself that your dog is too stubborn to learn, have a professional evaluate your training style. Often times it’s the handler and not the dog that needs correcting.
3. If you’re using an E-collar, you’re using it to correct undesirable behaviors. You’ll know you’ve succeeded when you no longer have to use the collar. Always keep this in mind. Once you start using the collar, it’s hard to stop.
4. If you use the collar for any length of time, you’re certain to end up with a dog that has two personalities: One with the collar on that obeys; one without the collar that does what it wants.
An electric collar is often euphemistically described as “stimulation” or “pressure.” That’s not quite right. An E-collar produces an electric shock that all dogs (and humans and just about everything else with a nervous system) know to avoid after very brief contact. The dog avoids the shock or relieves the shock by responding to the command. Never use the collar until the command is totally understood, then keep the collar on for extended periods of time so your dog does not become collar wise.
This is the training method of last resort, never to be considered a shortcut, only used for the most difficult subjects that continue to behave in a dangerous or uncontrollable behavior. —Mike Stewart
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April 03, 2009
Make it Stop!
But Danger, I feed you.
At times, it seems like Danger is trying to willfully unhinge me. Frantic outbursts, lunging for my arm and then dangling from it by his teeth, swiping sticks of butter off the counters and then swallowing them whole like horse pills–these are all par for the course. Getting a dog to not do something can often be harder than teaching complicated behaviors. Most guys I know resort to some combination of shouting, “Cut that $@&# out!!!” and the dog’s name over and over. I’m guilty of this, too, though less now than I used to be. Here’s a primer on what works and what doesn’t.
What to Do
First, figure out what’s setting the dog off. In my case, the big problem has been his going crazy and lunging at me during field training. Yeah, that seems like the big problem, but, really, what he’s doing is trying to avoid structured training. Sometimes it’s easy to figure out what’s setting him off, like when he barks bloody murder whenever someone knocks a the door. Other times, it’s harder. In any case, try to figure it out and know that it could be something as subtle as the way you lean over him before signaling a retrieve.
Decide on an alternate behavior to replace the unwanted behavior with. For the door knocking problem, Sue is having me train Danger to go to his dog bed and sit rather than race toward the door. For other annoying episodes like barking, greeting strangers or strange dogs on walks, and sniffing when he should be heeling, eye contact is generally the best swap.
We’ll start with the eye contact swap and save the door rushing (harder by a long shot) for another time. The command that most people use to mean, “Stop whatever it is you’re doing, raiding, looting, humping . . . and look at me,” is leave it. Sue had me start by holding a treat out to my side in my right hand and a clicker and another treat in my left. Danger sniffed my closed right hand, tried to mouth it, and, finally, when he gave up and made eye contact with me, I clicked and gave him the treat from the left hand. It only took one or two tries for him to realize that trying to gnaw the treat out of my fist wouldn’t work, but that making eye contact would be immediately rewarded. The clicker speeds this process up drastically by marking that exact moment when he makes eye contact as the thing that earned the treat. Now it’s just a matter of slowly upping the level of distraction: First with a treat under my foot that I could step on if he dove for it, then dropping treats in front of him. When Danger was successful about 80 percent of the time in making eye contact when I dropped a treat in front of him, we added the cue, leave it. NOTE: Leave it is not a punishment. You don’t shout it or growl it; just say it like matter-of-fact like. (This is actually really difficult when he’s dragging you toward another dog on a walk.)
Now, with your new leave it command, you’ll need to train him with the specific problems you’re having. If you want him to ignore other dogs on walks, you’ll have to train with another dog. For this, I give Danger a preemptive leave it as the other dog approaches. He’s got to turn away from the other dog and make eye contact to get a reward. By this point, he knows exactly what is required to get a treat, it’s just a question of whether pulling toward the other dog is worth more than a treat in his doggy brain. If it isn’t, I’ll lower my expectations and increase the distance to the other dog until he’s getting it right every time. The goal with this, as with all training, is for the dog to be successful at least 80 percent of the time.
You may still encounter situations that are too enticing for your dog to ignore. Yes, physically remove your dog if you need to, but, no, don’t get mad at him. You just need more training for higher levels of distraction. The worst thing you can do is repeatedly shout leave it. Doing this will only weaken the meaning of the command.
Now the harder part: unwanted behaviors that aren’t caused by obvious things like approaching people and dogs. My specific problem is a playful lunging that quickly escalates to growling and biting. First, I’ve got to remove whatever stimulus is setting him off. It turns out that trying to overpower him, which is both doable and tempting with an otherwise sweet 60-pound Lab, is a big-time stimulus. When I do this, he only accelerates until I’m bleeding and we look like one of those cartoon dust balls with paws and arms occasionally flying out of it. Instead, I force myself to stay dead still and say leave it one time. He’ll usually keep it up for a few seconds, aiming for an arm or flap of clothing, and then quit, sit, and make eye contact. Then I mark the behavior and give him a treat or praise. (Note: My hunting buddies think that allowing the dog to disrespect me this way is crazy. Maybe, but it’s going to keep us both out of the emergency room.)
What Not to Do
- In general, trying to force the dog to anything is going to set that arrangement as a precident. See another dog coming and you yank one way on the leash and he yanks the other? That’s how it’s always going to be.
The old rub his nose in . . . [pick one] turd, steak, trash and shout No! OK, on second thought, it’ll probably still make you feel a lot better, even if it doesn’t teach him a damn thing. Go ahead and shout No, just once, and then throw his ass outside. No rubbing his nose in it, though. You’ll feel bad once your need for revenge has passed.
Drive your knee into a dog that’s jumping up. This one’s still surprisingly common among a lot of trainers for one simple reason: when a dog is jumping at you, fending him off with your knee is often the first instinct. It was with me, even before I heard about it as an actual technique. It was also one of the factors that led to my current problems with Danger lunging at me. From my limited experience, it’s best to save your sharp knees for the Octagon than explain yourself to horrified onlookers and risk hurting your best friend.
This applies to everything in dog training (and life): Don’t lose your cool. It’s really easy to do when Danger is tearing off down the street, but I force myself not to chase after him or repeatedly shout his name. Whatever the problem is break it down into small pieces and train it out methodically. Then avoid it for next time.
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April 02, 2009
The Dog Shouter: Weird Title, Classic Book
This one's a must-read for anyone interested in training dogs. Pamela J. Reid's 1996 Excel-erated Learning
($16; James & Kenneth Publishers) explains what’s going on inside
that dog’s head, whether you use a clicker, e-collar, or rolled up
newspaper as your primary training tool. Reid brings you up to date on
some of the behavior research that’s been done over the years and then
applies it (for the most part) in plain English to practical training
methodologies. No, it’s not a training manual, but it will help you
read other training manuals and quickly discern the good ones—all based
on operant conditioning, whether they advise positive or negative
reinforcement—from the outright junk. —Grayson
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March 27, 2009
Our Man Mike
The April issue of Forbes drops today and what a delight to see our own dog guru Mike Stewart on the cover. The story is about how Stewart breeds and trains calm dogs that integrate with their owners' entire lifestyle, rather than the 1% of it that occurs at 5 A.M. in a duck blind. Well, that and how he's done such a good job that orders for puppies and trained dogs haven't slacked in the economic meltdown. Nice work, Mike. They were eating from your hand. —Grayson
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