Dog training part iii - communicating with the dog

2. Dog Training part III
Communicating with the dog

3. Fundamentally,dogtrainingisaboutcommunication.Fromthehuman
perspectivethehandleriscommunicatingtothedogwhatbehaviorsare
correct,desired,orpreferredin what circumstances. From the canine
perspective the handler must communicatewhat behaviors will give the
dog the most satisfaction to his natural instincts andemotions.Without
thatinnersatisfactionadogwillnotworkwell.

4. Asuccessfulhandlermustalsounderstandthecommunicationthatthedog
sendstothehandler.Thedogcansignalthatheisunsure,confused,nervous,
happy,excited,andsoon.Theemotionalstateofthedogisanimportant
considerationindirectingthetraining,asadogthatisstressedordistractedwill
notlearnefficiently.

5. AccordingtoLearningTheorythereareafourimportantmessagesthatthe
handlercansendthedog:

6. Rewardorreleasemarker
Correctbehavior.Youhaveearnedareward.Forexample,"Free"followedbya
reward.

7. Bridge
Correctbehavior.Continueandyouwillearnareward.Forexample,"Good".

8. Norewardmarker
Incorrectbehavior.Trysomethingelse.Forexample,"Uh-uh"or"Tryagain".

9. Punishmentmarker
Incorrectbehavior.Youhaveearnedpunishment.Forexample,"No".

10. Usingconsistentsignalsorwordsforthesemessagesenablesthe dogto
understandthem more quickly. If the handler sometimes says "good" as a
reward marker andsometimesasabridge,itisdifficultforthedogtoknow
whenhehasearnedareward.Rewardscanbetreats,play,praise,oranything
thatthedogfindsrewarding.Failuretorewardaftertherewardmarker
diminishesthevalueoftherewardmarkerandmakestrainingmoredifficult.

11. These four messages do not have to be communicated with words, and
nonverbalsignalsareoftenused.Inparticular,mechanical clickersare
frequentlyusedfortherewardmarker.Handsignalsandbodylanguagealso
playanimportantpartinlearningfordogs.

12. Dogs usually do not generalize commands easily; that is, a dog who has
learned acommand in a particular location and situation may not
immediately recognize thecommandtoothersituations.Adogwhoknows
howto"down"inthelivingroommaysuffergenuineconfusionifaskedto
"down"attheparkorinthecar.Thecommandwillneed to be retaught in
each new situation. This is sometimes called "crosscontextualization,"
meaningthedoghastoapplywhat'sbeenlearnedtomanydifferentcontexts.

13. Next:DogTrainingpartIV-Rewardandpunishment

14. To LearnMoreAboutDogTraining,go to
http://howtohousetraindog.com/go/dog-training
http://howtohousetraindog.com/go/theonlinedogtrainer