July 28, 2010
Always a popular class, we offer our Downtown Hound experience just once a year, when we can take advantage of the long summer evenings. It always fills quickly, with some of our favorite students. This year is no exception.
Our class is:
Katie and Brooklyn – an 8 month old Rottie/Shepherd mix (below):
Kristy, Bobbie and Grace – a 1 year old Belgian Tervuren:
Mary and Milo – a 2 year old Collie mix:
Lori and Pearl – a 1 year old Cockapoo:
Ronda and Shea – a 7 year old Australian Shepherd (foreground):
Karen and Cullen – a 2 year old Shepherd mix:
Last night was Week 3 of the class, and we met at the very dog-friendly Prime Outlet Mall just 10 minutes from PPaws. Week 1 is always here on the farm so I can see how everyone does outside the safety of the training center, but without uncontrolled public encounters. Week 2 is at the nearby C&O Canal, where public encounters are usually minimal – although last week we had two off-leash dogs – a Pitbull and a small Terrier mix, some running up the bank from their fisherpeople and play nosey-greetey with all the class dogs. Fortunately everyone handled it well.
We arrived at the Mall at 6:00 pm at our previously arranged meeting spot – between the Food Court and the kid’s fenced playground area. Katie had told me the week before that she couldn’t be there. By the time the 5 dogs and 6 humans had gathered, we were attracting quite a bit of attention. In fact, when I arrived at 5:55 pm, several of my students were already taking advantage of the opportunity to practice polite greetings with curious mall shoppers.
 Attracting attention at the Oulet Mall It’s always a good idea to give your dog a few minutes to get settled in a new place, then practice some basic sits and downs to get their brains in thinking mode. Targeting and Find It-Toss are also good for this. We practiced those, then did a little dog-weaving (having one dog move through the others, who are on a sit or down and being reinforced to attention to their humans).
 Kristy and Grace doing dog-weaves Then we strolled through the mall, taking advantage of various benches, chairs and grassy spots to sit and reinforce dogs for relaxing with us, as well as reinforcing them for walking past mall shoppers, and being walked past.
 Politely passing mall shoppers seated on bench At an open area of the mall we stopped, took a seat on a stone wall, and had each team demonstrate a trick.
 Pausing for a break and a round of tricks at the stone wall  Pearl's trick: standing on her hind legs to target to Lori's hand As we strolled back to the front of the mall we found a mechanical horse to play with (no, we didn’t put quarters in) and then a mechanical dragon that was even better!
 Mary introduces a cautious Milo to the horse. Note Milo's fearful body lsanguage - hind legs out behind him, tail down, ears back...  Cullen wants to *ride* the horse!  Grace needs coaxing to sniff noses  Cullen masters the dragon  Shea needs a little convincing We ended the class relaxing in Amish-built lawn chairs outside Legacy Furniture, and did one last round of tricks. They were such nice chairs Bobbie and I went into the store to find out the price. They ranged from $270 for the simple basic ones, to $700 for the rocking swing. We didn’t buy anything.
 Relaxing in Amish-built lawn chairs outside Legacy Furniture  Cullen says, "That was fun! Can we do it again?" I am so proud of this class! The dogs are great, the humans are doing an excellent job, and at the end, sitting in the comfortable Legacy chairs, no one seemed in any hurry to leave. Good work gang – CLICK!
Next week’s class meets in beautiful downtown Sharpsburg, with a planned stop at Nutter’s Ice Cream. Yum! And it’s a Level 2 Instructors Course Academy week. We’ll be busy!
This past weekend was also a Shaping Workshop at PPaws, with 5 participants. We struggled with extreme heat, and a thunderstorm that shut down all but one of the dogs, but it was still great fun. We started with shaping “Body Parts,” did “101 Things to do with a Box” and then substituted “Prop” for “Box” and began shaping for a specific behavior with the prop. Other behaviors included turning on a “That Was Easy” button, and “Go To Your Place.” This is always one of our favorite weekends – shaping is such a blast! Our 2011 Shaping Weekend dates are June 4-5 and October 29-30. Mark your calendars!
 Mini-Goldendoodle Riley does 101 things with a box I hope you and your dog are having a lot of fun this summer too!
Warm Woofs and Happy Training,
Pat
 Artsy photo of the week: Luna moth on cypress at PPaws
July 22, 2010
Summer is certainly our very busy time here at Peaceable Paws, and the endless weeks of 90-plus degree heat seem to be making our academies and workshops more tiring than usual. So here it is Thursday already, the AC in my office is not working again (and it’s going to be over 90 again), and I’m waaaay behind on getting this blog done. I intended to get to it last Sunday, immediately after our Level 1 Academy, but Sunday was the Humane Society of Washington County’s “Bone to be Wild” motorcycle ride, and I was just too hot and tired when it was done to think about writing. So here we are… better late than never!
Academy week was terrific – hard work, and very satisfying. We had great humans and great dogs – always an excellent combination. The week is about half hands-on training – we work with dogs from the shelter – and half lecture and discussion.
Day One we talk in the morning, then go to the shelter for a tour, and to select dogs. My wonderful husband Paul does the tour. I usually arrive at the same time as the students, but a storm was threatening, so I phoned to tell him I was delayed bringing horses in, and they went ahead without me.
Good thing! As Estie (one of our paid staff) and I were bringing horses in, Sturgis the pig decided to go walkabout. He usually sticks pretty close to the barn, but when the horses were all in their stalls, he was nowhere to be found. Estee and I spent a frantic 45 minutes calling, banging the garbage can lid (which usually brings him running because it means food) and searching for him. I finally found him halfway down the ½-mile long driveway. Just as I pulled up behind him in my car, I saw him nose the horse’s electric fence, give a piggy squeal and dash toward the road. Damn!
I headed after him in the car and he finally turned off into the edge of the woods. Phew! Now – how to get him back? I didn’t have his leash and harness with me, and didn’t want to leave him to go back to the barn for it. I had been toying with the idea of teaching him to walk up a ramp into the car, but hadn’t put that into his training repertoire yet, so that was out. When we got him last October I could pick him up, but I was pretty sure he’d grown too large for that. I gave it a try anyway, and ended up sprawled on the ground, hanging on for dear life, with no chance of lifting him.
Finally I engaged my trainer brain and used a little gentle negative reinforcement, swinging a leash behind him, annoying him just enough to herd him back to the barn and safely into his stall. Then I raced to the shelter, arriving just as Paul was finishing up the tour.
The seven Interns had 10 dogs to choose from. They get to spend a little time with the dogs, then each write their 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices on a slip of paper, and I get to decide who gets whom.
This Academy, we had:
Gina Burger, working with Sparrow, an intense but very responsive Collie Shepherd mix.
Diane Curran with Brandon, a somewhat solemn Akita mix that I adore
Jana Frank with Bongo, a happy Husky mix with a great sense of humor
Joan Morse, CPDT-KA (high scoring graduate!) with Nook, an adorable, thoughtful Dachshund/Jack Russell mix
Tracey Peter, a shelter employee, started with Abby, a very attentive Border Collie/Chow, but Abby got sick on Day Two and Tracey switched to Guinness, a much more challenging Hound mix. Guinness finally agreed to lie down on Thursday.
Gayle Rojas, worked with Teddy, a remarkably wonderful Boxer. Academy assistant Steve Buckman is still trying to figure out how he could add Teddy to his pack of two Boston Terriers.
And last but certainly not least, Susan Duffy did an excellent job with Willow, a 4-month-old Lab mix pup who was almost as mouthy as Maggie, our recent foster Westie.
Tuesday through Friday we had a discussion session each morning until our dogs arrived from the shelter, and then everyone got a 45-minute hike around the farm to reduce stress and burn up shelter-kennel energy.
Then a group class, where we teach our 6-week Basic Good Manners curriculum in 5 days. There are additional discussion sessions each day where we sort out the mysteries of canine body language, operant and classical conditioning, schedules of reinforcement, laws of shaping, rules of stimulus control, business basics, ethical dilemmas, and more. We also do two additional training sessions with dogs each day, during which I work one-on-one with the Interns and their dogs. Students are invited to observe any of our evening that are going on during the week, and they get three take-home open-book quizzes.
Finally, Saturday morning arrives – time for the written final (not open book) and the practical exam, where each student demonstrates to the group what s/he has accomplished with her/his dog during the week. Finally, after tearful good-byes to the dogs, I meet individually with each Intern to talk about their academy experience, and how we can help them attain their goals for the future. Congratulations, Interns! Two Level 2 academies to go and you can add PMCT (Pat Miller Certified Trainer) after your name!
Left to right: Gina and Willow, me, Joan and Nook, Jana and Bongo, Susan and Willow, Tracey and Guinness, Gayle and Teddy, Diane and Brandon
I’m always a little sad to see everyone leave, but I know I will see many of them again – at future Peaceable Paws academies and workshops, and at seminars and conferences – Clicker Expo, APDT, and more. I am also always hugely impressed by how much humans and dogs can learn in just 6 days. I see students leave with a much better understanding of the scientific principles of behavior and learning, and with much greater confidence in their skills as trainers. The dogs go back to the shelter with a solid repertoire of basic good manners behaviors, and in some cases a new-found grasp of the value of having a relationship with humans. They also get a certificate for a free 7-week Peaceable Paws good manners class, and their new humans get a copy of the PPaws class training book so they know what their dogs have learned.
Now – onto the next events: a Shaping Workshop this weekend (one of my favorite things to do!) followed by an Instructor Academy the week of August 2nd.
Questions for the day: Will it ever cool off? Will it ever rain?
Oh, by the way, as of Tuesday, all the Academy dogs except Teddy had already gone to their new homes. That’s a record!
Warm Woofs and Happy Training.
Pat
July 7, 2010
I know I’ve about done the Maggie story to death, but I need to add that Westie Rescue did come and pick her up Saturday, and they report she’s doing well in her new foster home. They agree that her teeth are very sharp, and promise to let me know when she’s placed in her forever home.
 Thanks, Westie Rescue, for taking care of our girl! Here are some last-minute photos of her playing tug and hanging out while we waited for Rescue to arrive:
 Maggie's favorite game - tug  Lotsa different ways to play with a tug toy  You can even play all by yourself  Have a great life, little Maggie Faith! Other than that… IT’S HOT OUT! – in the upper 90’s the last several days – 98 here yesterday, and predicted again today, with more humidity as an added bonus. Who says there’s no global warming? We have a Level 1 Academy next week and I’m hoping it cools down some, or we will all be wasted. Academy weeks are pretty draining as it is, I can’t imagine…
Last week and this one have been a little slow, thank goodness. Our Reliable Recall class graduated last week, and it was heart-stopping to see how gorgeous Grace was, the Belgian Tervuren, stretching out full speed in response to Kristy’s call from the far side of the back hayfield. Grace ran, and ran, and ran – recall after recall, dragging a long line just in case – but she came beautifully, perfectly, every single time Kristy called her.
Shea, the Australian Shepherd, was also letter-perfect for Rhonda, and Estie’s Cattle Dog Annie, of course – Estie has a hard time getting far enough away from Annie to be able to call her!
Speaking of classes – new ones start next week. I get to teach the Downtown Hound class, and Shirley is teaching another of my favorites – Clicks for Tricks! Both are quite fun – the Downtown Hound class does two sessions on the streets of nearby Sharpsburg, with a planned stop at Nutter’s Ice Cream. We also go to the Outlet Mall, the C&O Canal, and City Park. Fun!
 Last year's Downtown Hound class at the C&O Canal I learned something new about pigs this week – some of them “blow their coats.” I’d always heard this term in relation to show dogs… but in just 2 days Sturgis lost almost all his hair – it was coming out in handfuls! I know pigs are quite susceptible to mange, so we were a little worried, but Internet research turned up the “blow their coats” tidbit, and his hair is already growing back in quite nicely.
We take a week off from classes for major holidays, so things are really slow this week. We even have time to find some wonderful farm creatures. The first one was alive, in the barn – Maggie thought it was a great puppy toy but I rescued it and set it free. The second Paul found on the ground, at the end of its short life span, and saved it for me. Beautiful! I love having a husband who understands that a dead moth can be a wonderful gift.
Stay Cool!
Warm Woofs and Happy Training,
Pat
 Harley knows how to stay cool!  In living color  Memorex
June 30, 2010
Okey Doke – I promised you a follow-up on the Westie pup left abandoned in our driveway, so here it is. Never let it be said I don’t keep my promises…
 Maggie Faith Maggie spent the week while we were on our biker vacation happily making friends at the Humane Society of Washington County. They assessed her at the end of her stray holding time, and found that she was friendly, outgoing, resilient (as in nothing rattles her) and very quick to use her mouth. They weren’t sure if she was using it aggressively or not, so were not willing to make her available for adoption immediately at the shelter. I also wanted to explore her alleged crate-soiling behavior, as reported by her previous owner, who said Maggie absolutely refused to eliminate on grass, and would only urinate and defecate in her crate.
 I can *walk* in grass just fine! We brought her home to PPaws, where I found her to be a perfectly normal Westie pup. She does, indeed, love to use her mouth, but she just wants to play tug. Correction, she really wants to play tug. Correction, she ferociously wants to play tug.
I’m convinced that the previous owner who dumped her here incorrectly identified Maggie’s intense play-growling (while tugging on pants legs) as aggression, and hence applied the inappropriate (inappropriate response even if it was aggression) remedy of grabbing and holding her muzzle closed. Since the previous owner had also received more bad advice (“Don’t ever play tug with your puppy”) and Maggie is dying to tug, the pup’s only outlet for this highly desirable behavior was to grab pants legs, and yes, human hands. Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
As soon as we offered her appropriate tug toys her pants and hand grabbing greatly diminished. Even now, just one week later, if she occasionally goes for clothing or skin we just have to replace the inappropriate object with an appropriate tug toy and she’s a happy camper. Easy Peasey. (See my “Rules to Tug By,” below)
We also worked on teaching her to offer sits and take treats without grabbing flesh. Ouch!
 Sit for a treat...  Oops! If you grab, the treat disappears!  Yes! If you're polite you can have it! As for the housetraining issue – no worries. She has happily pooped and peed on grass since her first day here. She makes every effort not to soil her ex-pen, has never soiled her crate (we put her food, water and toys in her crate) and pees on the grass as soon as we take her outside. Go figure.
 Guess what? I can poop and pee in grass just fine too! In fact, she’s had a wonderful week hiking around the farm, helping with barn chores with the Miller pack (Scooter hates her) and Sturgis, and soaking up attention from Shirley and all the PPaws apprentices.
 Hiking on the farm with the big dogs  Waiting her turn to roll in deer poop  Helping with barn chores  Hangin' with Bonnie and Sturgis So – she doesn’t need the Gold Paw program – there’s nothing to fix. They should all be so easy! Westie Rescue is coming to pick her up on Saturday, and she will be off to her new life, hopefully in the hands of someone who has a better understanding of normal puppy behavior and can give her the lifelong loving home she deserves.
Have a great life, Maggie Faith!
Warm Woofs and Happy Training,
Pat
RULES TO TUG BY
By Pat Miller
I’m always surprised to hear there are still trainers who think “Tug” is a bad game to play with dogs. My dogs think it’s one of the best! Granted, there may be an occasional dog for whom I wouldn’t recommend it, but as a professional dog trainer and behavior consultant, I often suggest Tug as an appropriate and effective way to help a high-energy, under-exercised dog work off steam. Most of my peers in the positive training world agree.
We also agree that it’s a good idea to have rules by which to play the Tug game, to ensure that you’re reinforcing appropriate behaviors and not rewarding inappropriate ones:
- Keep the tug toy put away. Bring it out when you want to play tug. Your relationship with your dog works best when you control the good stuff.
- Use a toy long enough to keep dog teeth far away from your hands, and comfortable for you to hold when he pulls.
- Hold up the toy. If your dog lunges for it say “Oops” and quickly hide it behind your back. It’s your toy – he can only grab it when you give him permission.
- When he’ll remain sitting as you offer the toy, tell him to “Take it!” and encourage him to grab and pull. If he’s reluctant, be gentle until he learns the game. If he’s enthusiastic, go for it!
- Randomly throughout tug-play, ask him to “Give” and trade him the toy for a yummy treat. After he gives it to you, you can play again (see steps 2 and 3). You should “win” most of the time – that is, you end up with possession of the toy, not your dog.
- While you are playing, if his teeth creep up the toy beyond a marked or imaginary line, say “Oops! Too bad” in a cheerful voice, have him give you the toy, and put it away briefly. (You can get it out and play again after 15 seconds or so.)
- If your dog’s teeth touch your clothing or skin, say “Oops!, Too bad” and put the toy away for a minute.
- Children should not play tug with your dog unless and until you are confident they can play by the rules. If you do allow children to play tug with your dog, always directly supervise the game.
- Only tug side-to-side, not up-and-down (up-and-down can cause injury to the spine), and temper the vigor of your play appropriately to the size, age and personality of your dog. You can play Tug lots harder with a 120 adult Rottweiler than you can a Rottie puppy, or a four-pound Chihuahua.
- When you are done playing, put the toy away until next time. You control the good stuff!
Happy tugging!
June 22, 2010
I hope you’ll excuse a blog that has little to do with dog training this week. We just got home from vacation – where I spent the last eight days and 1,840 miles on the back of Paul’s Harley. Yes friends, if you weren’t already aware, this dog trainer/behavior consultant is also a biker chick.
So, I fully intended to keep a daily journal so this blog would be a quick bit of editing and push-the-button done, but of course that didn’t happen. My intentions got soggy the first day and never quite dried out. Of course, I always take pictures of dogs wherever I see them, so there are a few canine bits to follow…
We left Peaceable Paws about 9:30 on a warm, sunny, Sunday morning – final destination, Laconia, New Hampshire Bike Week – me in a sleeveless shirt, a little worried about getting sunburned (but not much worried).
 Day One - heading out our driveway  No helmets required in PA! (But we always wear ours...) We hoped to make it to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, by 1:00pm, in time to go on a fund-raiser ride for the SPCA of Luzerne Co., a shelter that used to be run by a friend of Paul’s, Ed Gross, until he retired a few years ago. According to our trusty GPS we were just going to make it, until the skies got ominously dark and the clouds opened up to deliver four inches of rain in one hour. Paul dashed off the Interstate and under an overpass to try to keep us dry, and in the process hopped a divider and broke the kickstand spring. A couple of hours, one bungee cord, and a stop at the SPCA later, we finally caught up with the ride finish at Bentley’s, where we hung out with Ed, had a couple of drinks, and tried to dry out.
 Meeting up with old friend Ed Gross (Didn’t help my frame of mind any to discover, when I dragged out my rain gear, that inside of my rain jacket was a soggy wet musty mess. At some point in the past a water bottle must have leaked in my saddlebag and been absorbed by the jacket liner. Yuck.
 Stereotypic biker dog - but we also saw a lot of Pomeranians... Leaving Wilkes-Barre the next morning, it was still cloudy and damp. I had dried my jacket lining with the motel hair dryer, but the odor still clung. I put it on, holding my breath, and climbed on the back of the bike, to make our way north to the Adirondacks. We stopped at the Harley dealer in Binghamton, NY, for a couple of hours to get the kickstand fixed, the exhaust welded, and a new rear tire. Consoled ourselves over ice cream at Friendly’s next door… We weren’t planning to arrive at Laconia until Wednesday, so we had plenty of time to wander our way north and east, through small towns, including Lake Placid, former winter Olympic site.
 We find a friend in a shop in the Adirondacks. While the Dobie didn't look thrilled about customer interaction, the Lab on the right was even less so.  We have our photo taken with a fellow biker in Old Forge (I think?), NY.  Finally, some wildlife! First, a turkey...  One of many tiger swallowtails...  Sharing lunch with an adorable chipmunk (only gave him unsalted nuts and multigrain bread)...  A moment of contemplation at Fifth Lake in the Adirondacks  Then on to Vermont via ferry boat! Upon crossing into Vermont, our nostrils were immediately assailed by the overpowering odor of confinement dairy cows. Seeing those poor Holstein girls standing and lying down in six inches of their own waste made me reconsider my addiction to cheese and ice cream – vegetarian crack, as they are sometimes known. I wonder where Ben and Jerry get their milk from…?
Wednesday dawned cool and cloudy again. Would we get any serious sun this trip? I’m still wrapped in several layers to ward off the cold. It seems reasonably warm out, until you get on the back of the bike and the wind starts whipping. Haven’t put on the thermals yet, but they are in the pack, just in case. Today was endless miles on the bumpiest road I’ve ever been on, at least on the bike. Thought we would never get there, but finally pulled into the parking are outside our rental cabin-by-the-creek in Lincoln, NH, 45 minutes north of Laconia, and home for the next three nights. We unpacked quickly, and decided to head for the action. Radar showed a little rain, but not supposed to arrive until 9pm – we should have time to go find bikes and food.
No such luck. Not much going on in Laconia (we found out that night that the bike stuff is really in Weirs Beach, east of Laconia) and we got rained on again heading back to our cabin. Dang. I looked at New Hampshire online and discovered that it looks like Swiss cheese. The lacy kind. Like it was really just water and someone dropped in a few blobs of dirt here and there so they could dock their boats and build vacation homes. There’s a lot of water there. Everywhere!
We woke up to clouds and sprinkles again Thursday morning, and hung out at home base, sleeping in and waiting for things to clear a bit. Finally headed for Weirs Beach around 11am and did one side of the biker party, dropping in at the Harley dealer, scoping out vendors, buying a scarf to keep the wind from whistling down my neck, and scrounging something that passed as vegetarian food for lunch. Then back on the bike to head north to Mt. Washington, the biggest must visit attraction of the area. This is the highest peak in the Northeastern US, and it’s an 8-mile climb from 1,000 feet to 8,200 feet on a partly-paved road. The road was closed to cars today so bikes to make the trip safely.
 In the fog, top of Mt. Washington, New Hampshire  The view on the way down Blessedly, the sun came out on the two-hour ride to the mountain, and stayed out for the rest of our trip. I finally got warm! We did see a moose on the way (yay!) but I missed getting a picture (darn!). Although at 8200 feet with 30-mile-per-hour winds it wasn’t exactly toasty at the top. The ride and the view were exhilarating. The whole cold, wet, rainy trip was worth this one event. As we neared the top, clouds started whipping across the road, and then we were totally fogged in. The fog parted briefly for us up at the top, where, on a clear day, you can see 5 states, Canada, and the ocean. So they say. Apparently it’s rarely clear up there, so it’s hard to prove. The trip back down was every bit as beautiful, but the gate was closing at 6:45, so we couldn’t dawdle. Dinner, and tumble into bed, with plans to see the rest of the Bike Fest Friday.
 Bikes in Laconia  Puggle/Bulldog enjoying the biker scene in Laconia  Baby bikers at Laconia From rags to riches – Friday was sunny and in the upper 80s. Perfect for riding on the bike, hot for walking around. We toured the rest of the vendor booths, picked up out HOG member Laconia pins, and spent the day relaxing. Then back to the cabin to pack up for an early-Saturday departure. I was excited – we planned to meet my cousin Jeb Barnes, who lives in Gloucester, for breakfast in Lowell, MA. She was my favorite cousin when I was a kid, and I hadn’t seen her in 21 years, since my sister Meg’s wedding.
On the road at 7:30am, Saturday, for breakfast at the Four Sisters Owl Café in Lowell. GREAT food – best of the trip. My spinach and Swiss cheese frittata was delicious, and it was indescribably wonderful to see Jeb. We promised to get together again soon – Massachusetts isn’t really that far from Maryland!
 Me, on the right, cousin Jeb on the left Seven long, hot hours on the road Saturday. Have to get to Paul’s Dad’s in Hanover, PA for Father’s Day on Sunday, and then make it home to pick up the reins and leashes of farm and dog trainer life, in time for evening feeding.
We spent Saturday night in Port Jervis, NY – former home of our wonderful PB Pig, Sturgis, then up and out Sunday morning early to see Dad. We got there at 2pm, right on schedule, hung out two hours, and split for home and the kids.
 Happy Father's Day! Although one week felt way too short, it was, of course, marvelous to be greeted with wagging tails and smiling faces. Even Dubhy, our undemonstrative Scottie, was clearly happy to see us. And now, biker togs are safely stowed in the locker in the garage (except for the rain suit, which is waiting its turn in the washing machine), I’ve sorted through the 1000-plus photos I took from the passenger seat of the bike, and it’s back to life as a dog trainer/consultant.
It’s great to be home!
Maggie the Westie comes home with me tomorrow from the shelter, so I can evaluate her, setup her behavior program, and find her a Gold Paw foster home. More on her progress next blog…
Warm Woofs and Happy Training,
Pat
 Home Sweet Home!
June 11, 2010
You just never know what surprise is waiting around the corner.
I was wrapping up a private consult at about 5:30pm yesterday when one of our 6pm class students arrived and informed Shirley that there was a dog in a carrier halfway up our driveway. Since our drive is about a half-mile long, there’s no chance this dog crate bounced out of the back of a passing pick-up truck; someone must have left her there deliberately.
 Maggie Faith, too-cute-for-words.. abandoned in our driveway PPaws apprentice Jenn Rutter and I hopped in my van and drove down to investigate. We found the world’s most adorable 12-week-old Westie pup in the world’s flimsiest soft crate, set off the side of the driveway in the grass, in the shade. Along with the pup, the owners left a dog bed, toys, food, a plastic food/water bowl, and a six-page letter explaining in great detail how much they love Maggie Faith and how much it hurts them to give her up, but because of her “serious behavior problems” they simply couldn’t keep her.
Of course I scooped Maggie up and took her back to the training center, where I sat down to read the whole letter. As I slogged through it I wondered what horrible behavior problems could possible be hiding in this wonderful, friendly, outgoing, adorable pup.
The first clue was when she expressed her admiration for the Monks of New Skete. “Ah,” I thought. Punishment.” She mentioned a 3-year-old child, and I went to “punishment for puppy nipping.” When she castigated the breeder she got the pup from for keeping puppies in crates, I thought “housetraining.” And sure enough, she’s convinced this pup is aggressive and can’t be housetrained.
 Chewing on a cow hoof I gave her - not a *drop* of resource guarding tension when I messed with her and took it away from her (and gave it right back) Her comment: “Maggie is aggressive. She doesn’t recognize me as the dominant figure despite my following the training guide (Monk’s) to a T. (Why do I guess she probably watches Cesar, too?) Then she says, “We always stepped in and corrected her, initially with the ‘NO BITE” command. Within days we realized how serious it was and had to grab her muzzle and say the words.”
Then she says “It’s gotten progressively harder to handle.” Why am I not surprised?
The final irony is that she said, “I think that someone who can handle these issues needs to have her or else she will end up in a shelter and I can’t handle that thought.”
Of course, anyone who knows me knows that I work closely with shelters and my husband is the director of the Humane Society of Washington County here in Hagerstown. So the first thing we did was call to have an officer come pick her up and transport her to the shelter, where she is now, safe, warm and well-fed.
Of course, I can’t just let go. There’s a good chance Maggie does have some inappropriate behaviors after 5-6 weeks of muzzle grabbing, and from the owner’s description is sounds like she’s also a good candidate for reverse crate training, once we rule out a urinary tract infection. So I e-mailed Debbie McClain, shelter manager, and suggested that Maggie would be an excellent candidate for the shelter’s not-yet-officially-launched “Gold Paw Behavior Foster Care Program.”
Debbie responded: “I just went to meet this little girl….What a Doll Baby!!! She’s definitely a mouther, but like you say, that is easily corrected. (She loves a belly rub!) At the end of her stray period, staff can do an assessment and have her ready to move her into the GOLD Paw Program.”
So, in short order, Maggie will be ready to go to a Gold Paw foster home.
 Maggie Faith says, "Yay, I get to be a Gold Paw puppy!" And, of course, I’ll keep you posted here on her BMod progress.
Have a great weekend! Or as my good friend Lisa Waggoner of Cold Nose College says, suggesting that you have control over your own happiness, “Make it a great weekend.” (I love that, Lisa – thanks!)
Warm Woofs and Happy Training,
Pat
PS – If anyone happens to have any information who might have dropped Maggie off in our driveway, please feel free to let me know.
June 8, 2010
This past weekend was Nose Games time at Peaceable Paws – and what a fun time it was! We spent two days playing with dog noses, and ended Sunday afternoon with tired and happy canines and humans. This was the first time we’d offered this workshop, and I can’t wait for the next one!
Our Nose Games workshop differs from the competitive Nose Work seminar that’s touring the country, in that we explore a variety of scenting opportunities rather than just focusing on the competition, although what we do lays a solid foundation for Nose Work, if that’s where you’re headed. As the trainers in our group discovered, nose games offer endless possibilities for working and playing with clients’ dogs as well as their own. A simple “Find it!” with a treat tossed on the ground is an easy and effective way to engage a dog who knows and has a happy association with the “find it” cue, when his mind and behavior are wandering off to inappropriate zones. It;s a great way to add more exercise to your dog’s routine, as well as environmental enrichment – for dogs in homes as well as dogs in shelters.
 Karol Kennedy's three-legged Terrier mix, Nike, plays "Find it in the grass" - much harder than "Find it on rubber mats." It’s interesting to note that, while dogs have an excellent sense of smell constantly utilizing it is, in fact, fairly hard work for them, and tiring. Most dogs, on a hunt, will use their eyes and ears first, and resort to scenting out prey only when necessary, because of the biological imperative to conserve energy for survival purposes.
As I anticipated, our workshop dogs needed lots of breaks, and we built in recovery time by pairing teams up and having them watch each other work (an excellent learning experience) as well as taking discussion breaks (also useful for learning) and potty breaks.
Here’s our two-day outline for Nose Games:
Day One:
9:00am – Introductions; Discussion of scent work; Reading your dog
9:30am – Working Session #1:
Introduction to Nose Games: “Find It!”
Find it Toss
Find it in Plain View
Find it Hidden in Plain View
10:15 – Gather – discussion
10:30am – BREAK
10:45am – Working Session #2:
Review Session #1
Work with Toys/Objects
Hidden in Room
 Leslie Fisher's Bridgette waits patiently out of sight while mom hides treats.
 Then enthusiastically and eagerly looks for - and finds - several hidden treats. Take Scent
11:30 – Gather – Discussion
NOON – LUNCH
1:30pm – Push/Mark
 Lynne Young's Wyatt - who has done this before - marks to indicate he's found the scent.
 The scent is birch, dabbed on this tiny Q-tip, wedged into the tread of a tire. 1:30pm – Working Session #3:
Review
Training the Push/Mark
Hidden in Boxes
 Barb Flook's Aussie, Twister, finds the box with the treat inside.
 A little mre challenging - Catherine Schuler's Dachshund, Shade, finds the treat in a box on the chair. 2:15 – Gather – Discussion
2:30pm – BREAK
2:45pm – Check This
3:00pm – Working Session #4:
Review
Check This/Look Here
3:45 – Gather – Discussion
4:00pm – Questions/Discussion
5:00pm – Close
Day Two
9:00am – Review/Questions from Day One; discuss Day Two program
9:30am – Working Session #5:
Review Day 1 work
Scent Discrimination – salient scent
10:15 – Gather – Discussion
10:30am – BREAK
10:45am – Working Session #6:
 A pause for rest and discussion.
Review
Introduce New Scent – non-salient scent
11:30 – Gather – Discussion
NOON – LUNCH
1:30pm – Working Session #7:
Review
Scent Discrimination
2:15 – Gather – Discussion
2:30pm – BREAK
2:45pm – Nose Games
Find Hidden Treat (owner doesn’t know where)
Find Hidden Owner
Scent Discrimination Boxes
4:00pm – Q&A
4:30 – Close
The best part for me was watching the dogs progress from Day One when they had no clue what we were doing, to the end of Day Two when they were purposefully searching, on task, for the hidden treats. To see Leslie Fisher of Look What I Can Do dog training working with her very enthusiastic and on-task Labrador Retriever, Bridgette, click here.
Our next Nose Games workshop is Scheduled for September 11 and 12. Come and have fun with us!
Warm Woofs and Happy Training,
Pat Miller
May 30, 2010
A weekend of shaping fun with some of my best training friends in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina, topped off by dinners at wonderful locally-owned restaurants with numerous delicious veggie options – what more could a training junkie ask for?
 Dining out at "The Laughing Seed" (guess what *that* is!) in Asheville.  Asheville nightlife - Wolf hybrid meets Dachshunds Huge thanks go to Lisa Waggoner of Cold Nose College (Murphy, NC) for hosting this event, and to Gail Hubbard and Susan Wilson for making their facility, A Good Dog’s Life available for the weekend. We had 18 working teams and another dozen observers. In addition to Lisa, the group included longtime training friends Beth Brock, Jenny Schneider, Tracey Schowalter, Viviane Arzoumanian, and AnneMarie Easton.
 Long-time PPaws friends, l to r: Tracey Schowalter and Matsi, Beth Brock and Dice, AnneMarie Easton, Jenny Schneider and Little Bit, Viviane Arzoumanian and Pasha, me, and Shaping seminar host Lisa Waggoner with Gibson We started with some foundation discussion and then set right off with “Body Parts” shaping, where participants selected a specific body part and shaped movement of that part – a turn of the head, a lift of the paw, a flick of the ear or tongue… the possibilities are endless.
 Shaping a paw lift  Tracey discovers that shaping a head turn can be a Zen exercise with Matsi, a dog who hadn't yet learned to offer a lot of behavior! From there we moved to building behavior repertoire with free shaping, using the time-honored “101 Things to Do With a Box” and then “101 Things to Do With a Prop.” Props included a skateboard, doorbell, crate, cradle, book, a toy truck, and more. Following 101 Things, working teams selected a behavior goal to work toward using directed shaping. This often makes more sense to goal-oriented humans than the open-ended “101 Things” activity. We also started shaping “Go to Your Place.” A simple directed shaping exercise.
 Lisa waits for Gibson to make a clickable move. Her goal: have him go to the book, lie down, and put his paw on the page.
 Success!  It was a delight to see Viviane's Pasha wake up to the fun of shaping. By end of day Sunday she rang the bell! Homework assignment for the evening was to write up a shaping plan for a specific behavior the attendee wanted to teach her dog, with the emphasis on splitting (breaking the selected behavior into very tiny steps) rather than lumping (making the mistake of trying to shape for too large pieces of behavior). Review of the plans on Sunday morning helped attendees identify their lumping tendencies. Beth Brock won the grand prize of a Peaceable Paws baseball cap for splitting into the most steps – her plan numbered 54 total steps.
We returned to working sessions, starting with work on the plans the participants had written, with some teams making admirable progress toward their final behavior goals. We ended the day with a “Shaping Show-Off” – where dogs and humans demonstrated their success with their shaping plan behavior, and one other behavior they had worked on for the weekend.
 Shaping Molly to rock the cradle.  Beckie waits for a well-behaved (previously dog-reactive!) Josie to make a clickable move toward the doorbell.  Jenny shapes a somewhat hesitant (but catching on!) Little Bit to get on the stool. We applauded each others’ achievements, and dogs and humans were happily exhausted by the end of the day.
This is by far my most favorite workshop to give. Because shaping is “errorless learning,” it’s almost impossible for participants to make rapid progress as they grasp the delightful fun of shaping.
There is still room in the 2011 Peaceable Paws calendar if you’d like to host a Shaping Workshop in your town, or attend one here at PPaws in Fairplay, Maryland!
Warm Woofs and Happy Training,
Pat Miller
May 20, 2010
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”
This quote, often attributed (perhaps incorrectly) to Irish political philosopher Edmond Burke, is at the heart of the debate between many otherwise philosophically aligned positive reinforcement trainers. Do we speak our hearts about the atrocities committed by TV personality Cesar Millan in the name of “dog psychology” or do we simply commend his success in encouraging more people to seek help for their dog’s inappropriate behaviors as we work to repair the damage done to some or our canine clients whose humans have tried to emulate his methods? We are after all, some say, supposed to be positive trainers – should we not reflect that in our behavior with those we disagree with as well as those we are congruent with? Should we not work to shape the behavior of those humans with positive reinforcement rather than use positive punishment when they act in a way we consider inappropriate, just as we would with our dogs?
This difference of approach surfaced recently in regards to two events related to companies long held dear by positive trainers: Premier (www.premier.com ), and Bark (www.thebark.com).
Premier has long been considered a leader in the field of positive dog products, offering items such as the Easy-Walk Harness, the Calming Cap, Manners Minder, Gentle Leader and much more. Bark Magazine is my second-favorite publication (after Whole Dog Journal – www.whole-dog-journal.com ); it’s not as focused as Whole Dog Journal, but it’s an interesting eclectic read, and the regular columns by Patricia McConnell (www.theotherendoftheleash.com), goddess of dog behavior, are by themselves enough to make the magazine worth the price of subscription.
I was hugely dismayed when Sharon Madere, co-owner of Premier, contacted me in early 2010 to inform me that they were selling the company to Radio Systems Corp, a well-known, very successful shock collar company. I was, no pun intended, shocked. Sharon herself gave me the impression that she wasn’t thrilled with the sale, but that it was beyond her control since she wasn’t a majority holder in Premier. She was determined to make the best of it, and optimistically offered that, since she would continue on in her capacity of managing the Premier division of Radio Systems, she was hopeful she could help the parent corporation see the light and eventually, perhaps, move away from marketing of shock collars for dogs. She was contacting well-known professionals in the training and behavior field as a courtesy, and to hopefully garner their support for the move.
I very much appreciated the courtesy, but sadly advised Sharon that I would be looking for alternative sources of equivalent products, as I was unwilling to knowingly contribute my purchasing dollars, even circuitously, to a company whose primary purpose was to shock dogs.
A few weeks age, a Facebook friend recently brought my attention to the fact that the most recent issue of Bark magazine contains an advertisement for a shock collar company. Because Bark generally promotes positive, gentle relationship with dogs, it was an unpleasant surprise to see this ad in a magazine high on my list of favorites. When I contacted Bark editor Claudia Kawczynska, she said she had already received numerous e-mails from concerned readers, including some who were canceling their subscriptions as a result of the ad. She realized they had made a horrendous mistake in accepting the ad, and promised that they would never do it again. The difficulty economy, she said, had clouded their judgment.
Shortly after that, I read several blogs and e-mails that chastised positive trainers for being so hard on companies that made business choices and as a result, fell from grace. “We are,” they said, “positive trainers. We should no more use positive punishment on these people than we would use it on our dogs. Where is the positive in this blacklisting behavior toward these companies?”
In my mind, the Premier and Bark examples are entirely different scenarios. Premier, made a permanent and deliberate major business decision, knowing it would alienate some customers, that puts them in bed with a company that goes against everything I stand for and believe in relative to dog training. Premier is now an integral part of that company, regardless of who manages it. I no longer buy from Premier. While I hope Sharon succeeds on her mission and wish her the best of luck, I won’t spend my money there. (Besides, taking my purchasing dollars away from Premier isn’t positive punishment, it’s negative punishment, and most positive trainers do use negative punishment from time to time.) Bark, on the other hand, made a one-time poor business decision that they openly regret and have promised not to do it again. I will continue to support and write for Bark. And yes, I am pretty open about my disapproval of the Dog Whisperer’s training methods.
I agree with Burke, or whoever it was who really wrote that quote. Good men – and women – need to be willing to stand up and speak out against the evils that are all to present in the world of our canine companions.
And now, I’m headed off to North Carolina to spend a weekend shaping and have fun with some of my very best dog trainer friends. Guess what my next blog will be about!
Footnote from out last Academy: Beth, one of the Border Collie sisters, was adopted by one of our PPaws apprentices and is happily in her new home.
Max, the Sheltie, was adopted by a knowledgeable and experienced couple from Pennsylvania (shelter professionals) who appeared willing and ready to work with his car-reactive behavior.
Pippy and Riley are still waiting for their forever homes at the Humane Society of Washington County (MD); (hswcmd.org)
May 17, 2010
Okay, I’ll admit it, I have favorites. I teach several different trainer academies throughout the year, and my Level 2 BMod is always my favorite. I sometimes forget how much I like them until another one rolls around, but the group that just finished last week reminded me, in spades, how rewarding this work is.
I like the BMod academy for several reasons – one of which is I get to see return students. Successful completion of my Level 1 Academy is a pre-requisite for Level 2. There are some “equivalents” but most of the Level 2 trainers are Level 1 returnees. So that’s always fun. It’s a pretty good bet that the ones who come back enjoyed their first experience here, and are very committed to their ongoing education, so we get a lot of great attitudes and study/learning ethic at Level 2.
Then there’s just the fact the behavior modification is so darned interesting. I think I will go to my grave (in the far distant future, I hope!) still knowing that there is always more to learn about behavior. I am fascinated watching our BMod students work with their dogs, and listening to their oral presentations on Day 6, when they talk about what they did during the week, and what they’ve learned. Great R+ for me, as well as for the students!
Here is last week’s cast of characters, in alpha order by last name (no playing favorites):
- Keith Dorans, of The Paw Pad USA (www.thepawpadusa.com ), Cranford, NJ. Keith worked with Max, a Sheltie from the Humane Society of Washington County, MD (www.hswcmd.org) . The majority of BMod students bring their own dogs with “issues” to work on, but for some reason with this group, 4 out of 6 chose to work with shelter dogs.
Max “came” with aroused jumping up and hard nipping behaviors that the shelter worried would decrease his adoption potential. His jumping and nipping, it seems, were related to the stress of being at the shelter, and by Day 2 of the academy those were well-resolved. Keith found other things to work on, however – we discovered that he also had some significant anxiety-related behaviors, and was very reactive to moving vehicles. And horses.
- Dara Lambert of The Enlightened Dog (www.theenlighteneddog.com ), Summerduck, VA. Dara brought her own Border Collie mix, Sancho, to work on his dog reactivity, barrier aggression, and in-car aggression.
Sancho made good progress during the week, although at the age of 9 years we had no expectations that we could “fix” him in 6 days. Dara was pleased with her progress and the new information she obtained about working with reactive dogs in general, and Sancho in particular. Dara was the Academy Star as well, tying for high score on the oral final, and overall high score for the academy. Congratulations, Dara!
- Margaret Marsh, Charlottesville, VA. Margaret also brought her own dog, the lovely Ruby, a young black-and-tan Hound mix. Ruby was also dog reactive, and, we realized during the week, had some generalized anxiety issues.
Ruby tended to fluctuate in her behavior, depending on how many stressors she encountered in a given day. Margaret keeps Ruby at home a lot in Virginia, so hadn’t had the opportunity to recognize how generalized her anxiety might be. When a dog is stressed by a lot of different things, it can be hard to keep her below threshold. Ruby had some good days here, and some more difficult ones, but Margaret did a great job of learning how to read her dog and remove her from stressful situations before she went over threshold, and went home with lots of tools to work with. Ruby really didn’t like the horses!
- Sue Rissing, of Great Falls, Virginia. Sue worked with Beth, one of two undersocialized Border Collie sisters from the shelter. These 5-6 month-old pups were, fortunately, reasonably well-socialized to people, just not to environmental stimuli, so they had good potential for behavior modification.
Beth did spectacularly well during the academy as she learned to walk on a leash and get brave about all kinds of scary things, including banging chairs, hula hoops, getting in the van, the sound of the vacuum cleaner, microwave oven, nail grinder and more. She even took field trips to the nearby Outlet Mall! Best news of the week, one of our PPaws apprentices, Beth Joy, brought her fiancé Matt and their Min Pin, Roxie, to meet Beth (now renamed Annabelle) and they are adopting her this week. Yay!!!!!
- Heather Smith, of Fayetteville, PA. Heather worked with yet another shelter dog, Riley, a 10-month-old Beagle. While Riley makes good use of his Beagle nose-heritage, he is also one of the most human-affiliative Beagles I’ve ever known. When we assessed him at the shelter, we were concerned about his easily-triggered submissive urination, and dismayed by his moderate to significant display of resource guarding behavior over a high-value object (cheese-smeared pig ear).
Because a BMod Academy was coming up, we were able to send him to a foster home (thanks, Sarah James!) to await behavior modification. Riley was a star at academy – only a very occasional spot or puddle. He, too, visited the Outlet Mall and didn’t even pee when greeted effusively by a large, intimidating male human. Heather, who also tied for high score on her oral final presentation (congrats, Heather!), worked mainly on his guarding behavior, and we were able to see great progress. Although there was still, not surprisingly, some tension at the end of 6 days when I pushed him a little with the Assess-A-Hand, he was quite comfortable with Heather approaching and interacting with him as he chewed on his meatball-filled cow hoof. We even suggested to the shelter that he could go to an experienced home with older children, as long as the family was very clear about the importance of management when Riley had a high-value resource. Riley won the “too cute for words” award at this academy!
- Last in the alphabet is Alicia Williams. Unfortunately, Alicia had to leave us on Day 5 due to a family emergency, but during her 4.5 days here she made excellent progress with Beth’s sister, Border Collie Pippin. Pippin seemed a little less confident than Beth, so didn’t make quite as much progress, but also responded amazingly well to all the classical conditioning work Alicia did with her.
We didn’t want Pippin to miss out on her last day at the Academy, so Sue hiked and worked with her on Saturday as well as with Beth/Annabelle. In the right hands, these two girls have the potential to be fantastic companions!
Here’s the whole graduating class, minus a couple of dogs who declines the group shot:
So, with another academy come and gone, it’s time again to look to the days ahead. I am mega-excited about next weekend’s Shaping Workshop in Asheville, North Carolina, hosted by my friends at Cold Nose College (www.coldnosecollege.com ), Lisa and Brad Waggoner. PPaws was located in Chattanooga, Tennessee for several years, and many of my friends from that area are coming – I am sooooooo looking forward to seeing everyone there. Then it’s a Nose Games Seminar here at Peaceable Paws (still room to come have fun with us!), and (can’t wait!!!) 10 days off for a vacation/motorcycle ride to the bike rally in Laconia, New Hampshire. Yes, in my “other life” I really am a biker chick – compete with tattoo!
 Until next time…
Warm Woofs and Happy Training!
Pat
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