Border Terriers Around the Net: Dogs Learn by Watching

It seems like Borders are popping up all over the internet lately – I found this video of two Border Terriers demonstrating that dogs can learn from observation. My main take away from this was “man, what a cool trick! I should train that!”

 

Finding the joy

Image by thebuckstens via Flickr

Doesn’t it seem as though there are a million things one is supposed to do? I’m supposed to volunteer, have interesting hobbies, work, be cultured, go to the gym, have a social life, and cook dinner all in one day (or week?). I’m supposed to watch the news and read all the latest blogs and reply to everyone on Facebook every time they post something. All these supposed to’s can be exhausting!

I’ve decided to take the zen approach, as in Zen Habits. Leo Babauta’s original post was about how to read more, but I decided to apply this to everything in my life. Just because I can, should I? And just because I should, should I? For instance, to advance your career you’re supposed to volunteer your time to a good cause, attend Toast Masters, and say yes to every “opportunity” at work.. But what if those things are just helping you get a job you don’t really want?

1. Don’t do it because you should – do it because it brings you joy.
As much as I love showing, there are times I’m relieved to have a break from it. In Sept we had three show weekends! There’s the pressure of should (I should show at all the local shows) and the balance of want (I want to finish Wally by 1 year of age but I also want to relax some weekends). I’m not a professional handler and no one is paying me to go to shows. If it doesn’t bring me joy then why am I there? (Fortunately it still brings me joy!) I feel this way about volunteering too; if I don’t love it then I’m not gaining anything from it. The supposed to of self sacrifice isn’t enough to motivate me!

2. Carve out the time to do the things you love.
I want to go to the gym 3-4 days a week, so I make the time to make that happen. I don’t want to make dinner 7 nights a week, so I make enough to and have leftovers the next day. Or we get a chicken at Costco. When I’m reading a good book I make the time to read a few chapters before bed. If that means I miss an episode of Criminal Minds or Modern Family, so be it.

3. Focus on nothing but the thing you’re doing.
If I dedicate 30min to Wally for super fun play, that’s more pure joy for both of us than 1 hour of tossing his toy as I sit on the couch surfing the web.

4. Find other people who do these things.
Going to the gym with Sandi or my mom is WAY more fun than going by myself! Going to shows with people I know is also way more fun than standing ringside by myself.

5. Don’t make it a chore.
The second I add something to my “to do” list it becomes a should rather than a want. If I really want to do it I won’t need to be reminded! Things like a “Bucket List” don’t make sense to me; if it’s truly something you want, you won’t forget it and you’ll do it ASAP!

6. Give up on it if it no longer brings you joy.
I’m not one of those people who exercises because it’s good for me or maintains a friendship I no longer value. It brings me more joy to have 5 awesome friends I love, for instance, than 20 friends that I talk to because I have to. Needless to say, I’m pretty bad about calling even the people I do love! Part of the reason I’ve been able to stick with going to the Y is that I go to the classes I love, like kickboxing and cycling. I also don’t track my progress, because then it becomes more about the goal than the journey.

 

Shaping: 101 things to do with a box

Shaping a sit without using lures

I was a dum-dum and waited to do this game until I wanted to teach sit. What I discovered is that this should be one of the first games I do with a dog because it trains them to learn! It also instilled in me a desire to use lures are seldom as possible since ultimately luring is cheating and your dog is mostly learning to follow food (sometimes luring is necessary, such as teaching ‘go around’).

There are tons of good resources out there, such as…
Jane Killion’s book When Pigs Fly! Training Success with Impossible Dogs (my primary resource)
You Tube
Karen Pryor
Shirley Chong
ClickerSolutions

The only pre-req is that your dog know what the click means, and teaching this is often called “charging the clicker.” Basically you just click and immediately treat so that your dog learns to associate food with the click. Simple Pavlovian conditioning! I combined charging the clicker with attention and clicked when Wally was looking at me. Now Wally is always looking at me and wondering if I’ll like what he’s doing enough to give him a click!

My first use of this game was to shape a sit. Because Wally is a show dog I can’t lure him to sit, which is the #1 most commonly used method. Shaping is fun because the dog will throw out all kinds of behaviors since he doesn’t know which one is the winner. Eventually Wally offered a sit, which I clicked/treated. Light bulb! He offered more and more sits, which allowed me to raise the criteria and only c/t straight sits. Then I could introduce the cue ‘sit’ and get the perfect sit.