Question: 

My service dog will be coming with me to Disney World in October. One thing I am worried about is how he will react to the characters. Do you have any tips on how to get him used to them so he doesn't panic or get scared? I am planning to take him to Chuck E Cheese a few times so he can get used to Chuck but I was wondering if you know of any other way I can get him used to them? 

Answer:

This is a great training task for systematic desensitization.

Get several masks (from sunglasses to the drama masks to a full face mask, and a larger whole head mask. Also get different materials (both textures and makes different sounds). Try a costume store and explain to them what you are doing or check out second -hand stores for what they may have or ask friends what they have, especially if they have kids.

If at any time, your dog shows discomfort, go back to a where he is comfortable, build a reward history again then make smaller changes the second time through. For bigger challenges, increase the value of the food. This process will probably go quite quickly if your dog is generally confident and resiliant and has no prior history of fear with similar situations.

Have many medium value treats ready. Sit down at your dog's level. Let him sniff one mask on the ground. Lift it up and reward him for looking or sniffing at it at nose level. Move it around and reward for looking at it and staying calm.

For most dogs, it is the covering of the face or eyes that freaks them out. Take it slow. Move the mask near your face (not covering your eyes), reward and move it away. When he is showing no stress signs, move it closer and then briefly pass it between your eyes and him. Reward for staying calm. Repeat several times. Now add a bit of duration with the mask blocking your eyes for a second, two seconds, three seconds etc. After about 10 seconds, put the mask on and take it off. (This may take 10 seconds) and add duration from there. When the dog is good with that, add some motion moving your head first a little side to side, them bumping up and down, then both. Next put it on and sit in a chair. Reward dog for staying calm. Move around in the chair. Stand up and repeat the process.

Repeat the whole process above with each new mask. Each one will probably go faster and faster as you will need fewer repetitions for him to become comfortable.

Next play some music loudly and dance around in the mask.

Next, desensitize to different clothing sounds. Again sit on the ground, have him sniff the clothing. Hold it in your hands and move it around, rub it against itself, other material etc. Sit in chair and repeat. Stand and repeat. Drape the material over you.

Now put the mask and the costume together.

Next play some music loudly and dance around in the mask.

Repeat with a friend holding and then wearing the masks. Then wearing the costume. Then both. Add music.

Repeat with someone the dog is not very familiar with.

Now arrange to meet a costumed friend somewhere away from home and see the dog's reaction.

Practice having the dog pose for photos with you and the costumed character as this is a common event for most people. The more you can prepare for these types of situations that you may do while there, the more unflappable your dog will be.  Do remember that every dog has his or her limits so do give the dog several quiet and relaxing breaks throughout the day as well as an opportunity to do fun exercise (like ball chasing) or other game to get rid of stress.

I would do all this before going to Chuck E Cheese. Don't forget to take a photo.

There is one more key element when the dog is at Chuck E Cheese or even Disney World. Try to avoid the element of surprise where the dog feels cornered by the costumed people. Always be aware of where they are (not paranoid, just generally aware) to be able to place you the dog to see the costume as it approaches. This is especially important the first day or two while the dog is acclimating to the environment.

We would love to see some photos of you and your dog at Disney World!

Good luck!

Question: "I have been considering using umbilical training to teach my dog to stay near me and also help with house training."

Answer:

What is "Umbilical Training?"
Typically, a leash is tied to your waist or shoulder for long periods of time to keep the dog near you and there is no 'give' at the end. Unlike when the dog is on a hand-held leash which can also be dropped instantly to relieve leash pressure.

Length of leash varies. Some people use a 4 foot, others use a 6-8 foot. In addition, it is a long term activity (all day and weeks) not just short periods of 5-10 min during training. Every time either of you move, you and your dog will be aware of it. It gets caught on table legs etc.

Most people who try this method find it stressful on themselves and the dog unless they cannot or choose not to read their dog's body language. They they don't see the stress signs.

The idea behind it typically is that the dog must pay attention to what the handler is doing at all times and the handler can ignore what the dog is doing. In my mind, that is not teamwork. We are trying to build a team of dog and handler. Yes, the pup needs to learn to pay attention to the handler and where they are in space but this is not the way to do it.

The concept of "connectively" is something we can teach our dog, but it takes time as it doesn't come naturally. We can force it but not a choice I would make for a lifelong member of my team.

For dogs that have personal space issues, this would be a nightmare for both of you. This can trigger people with PTSD and worsen the dog's fear of confinement. It could be considered a form of flooding as the dog eventually gives up.

It also involves "forced compliance". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_compliance_theory
It is an ethical choice to use it or not.

It's one of the hold over behaviors used in old style correction-based training where dogs are made to do what they are told. Until people analyze it, they don't often see how it could be a negative experience for the dog! The results can be want they want but it also carries the baggage of the attitude and discomfort the dog feels while it's being done.

In my opinion, it is using force as the dog doesn't have choice and can't get away and the dog isn't getting any systematic desensitization or classical counter conditioning (pairing it with food) for tolerating it especially at first when it's most uncomfortable for the dog.

I have seen too many dogs worked with wheelchairs using the umbilicus. The dog typically stays at the absolute end of the leash as much of the time as they can, especially when the leash is too short. You can see the dog shows a level of fear of the chair since they are pinned against the chair at doorways or their toes get run over. 

We want to build a bond built on choice. We want the dog to choose to be near us during training. If they choose not to be near us during training, we have a relationship problem. A big one!

Even being in too small of room can trigger a dog to not want to be with you (see my video of teaching backing into small spaces). The smaller the steps of training is done, the more choice a dog is given, the more they come to trust us. It also helps when we make being near us rewarding rather than something they "must" do.

There are so many other choices we can make can build the relationship rather than use force!

A baby gate or Xpen to confine the pup or dog to a smallish area when we can't directly supervise them, then carefully introduce a crate and give him choice to move around in a smaller space without social pressure.

In positive reinforcement training, if we have good mechanics of training, we can quickly build a positive relationship with our dogs. 

Combine that with regular meals and putting him on a potty schedule and you will have a house-trained pup that wants to be with you in no time!

Please Note 
These are provided for general interest only. You will need to verify each is current and that the details are correct with a laywer if using them to fight a legal case. SDTI accepts no liability or responsibility for posting them here.

"I am starting to take my dog into stores and other public places. How do I handle him having a bowel movement on the floor? He is house trained. He is small breed and 1 year old." 

Good for you for asking before you start! It can prevent headaches for you, your dog and the places you visit! 

The key thing is to remember that dogs don't generalize well. That means that even if he's housetrained at your house, he may not understand that he's not supposed to go in other buildings. He may also go due to stress (excitement or worry). Urine production increases when a dog is stressed.  It's the same as us humans. Ever needed to "go" more often when you are excited, stressed or cold?  

The key is to put potty on cue and teach him to go just before you take him in. Find a spot in the parking lot just outside the door. That way you are pretty sure he isn't likely to go inside.
Keep training sessions short inside businesses until you know he is comfortable and he learns to potty only outdoors. Take frequent breaks outdoors. 

Then, if he does go, it will most likely be due to stress (excitement or worry). That's good information to slow down on your public training and give him more acclimation time and keep sessions shorter. Other reasons are he might have eaten something that didn't agree with him. That's a good reason to keep working on leave it and make sure other people at home aren't feeding him junk treats. 

Be prepared for it by carrying plastic bags, paper towels and wet wipes so you can clean it up. Just be matter of fact and try not to be embarrassed. It happens to everyone at some point! It also helps to alert a staff member so they can disinfect the floor afterward.

Keep an eye on boys to make sure they don't lift their leg on merchandise. Simply interrupt the behaviour with a Kissy sound and keep him moving to the outdoors. Cue the potty cue once you get to an appropriate spot. 

Here are some common errors we see with owner-trainers and how to solve them. How many of these do you do?

Spending more time focussing on training behaviours and tasks than doing gradual exposure and acclimation to new stimuli, environments, people and animals especially with puppies up to 16 weeks and dogs in a fear period. In this early period, it is more important to spent time creating positive social experiences and environmental exposures for your pup to build from. 

Asking a dog to figure out too many steps in training.
This is called "lumping". Breaking down behaviours into smaller parts actually speeds the dogs understanding and how fast he learns the behaviour. This is called splitting. Often the dog needs us to split the behaviors into much smaller pieces than we ever dreamed. Also it helps if our dog has been taught the foundation behaviors needed for harder behaviors (that are often a combination of several skills).

Expecting the dog to perform a behaviour in distraction level that is much too high for what he has been trained to do (jumping from elementary school to university level distractions). Break down the distractions and take time to specifically to controlled set ups to desensitize your dog to the ones that are the hardest for him (often people, other dogs, animals etc).

Expecting a dog to do a newly learned behaviour in a new location without taking the time to reteach him from the start that he can do it.  This is a concept called  "generalizing". A dog needs to be taught how to generalize as they don't do it naturally. It's a step by step process of training each behavior in each new location until your dog really understands what you are asking and can do it on the first try in each new location.

Training their dog do tasks at too young of an age and expecting them to carry them out as needed. This puts too much pressure on the pup and may lead to early burnout. You can teach the foundations and have some fun with it, but let your pup be a pup until he's mature enough to handle the responsibility and cognitively figure out what help is needed under what circumstances. For many tasks (mobility, psychiatric, diabetic and seizure response) that is 18 months or more. 12 months of age is reasonable for other tasks as long as the dog isn't required to do them on a regular basis.

Focusing training mostly movement behaviours when away from home.
Settle/relax is a key behaviour pup need to learn to do everywhere. Spend about half your time away from home practicing settle/relax.  It allows your dog time to acclimate as well. 

Teaching the dog a cued "watch me" behaviour and insisting the dog look at them in the presence of scary things and distractions.
It's actually better to have a default attention (the environment becomes the cue for the dog to look at you) as it gives the dog a chance to check out his environment and let you know he is ready and able to focus on you. If he's not, he's not ready for that level of distraction or situation.

Taking dog out to public places and events to train but not paying attention to him.
They expect him to behave with little or no training. Pay 100% attention to your dog when out with him at first. Outings are training sessions, not socializing sessions for the handler.

Attending to only unwanted "bad" behaviour and ignoring good behaviour.
Reinforce desired behaviours like loose leash walking, settle/relax and ignoring distractions! You get more of what what you reinforce!

Using training collars before having properly taught the dog to do a behavior. Also using those training collars as a crutch for the life of the dog. Dogs need to be taught what to do in many different situations. A training collar just masks the issue and may cause new ones (if the wrong tool is chosen or its used incorrectly).

Using only one type of reinforcer.
There are so many things that can be used to reinforce a dog and variety within each type. Food, low key toys, gentle massage, greeting people and other dogs on cue, sniffing, watching etc. 

Training sessions are too long, especially at first.
Start with short sessions and increase as your dog is able to handle it. 

Training the dog where they think the dog should be able to do, rather than what he's actually able to do in that moment. Go back to the step your dog can do. That might be as basic as capturing behaviors. Nothing wrong with that as you are rebuilding a positive association.

Handlers doing too much coaxing rather than training to get behaviours.
They often use too many words, loud voices, or move their bodies too much. This can cause sensitive dogs to shut down (move slowly) and boisterous dogs to amp up (bark, bite, jump up). Try using calmer language and quieter voices. Your dog will notice and will become more attuned to your subtle communication.

Handlers not being able to read their dog's body language and stress levels. Dogs communicate all the time. If they move slowly or refuse to do a behavior, the dog is usually trying to communicate that he either doesn't understand what you are asking or is feeling pressured. A jumping, mouthy dog might be frustrated with your lack of ability to communicate effectively with him. 

If you are interested in learning more detail about any of these, book a web cam session. They are only CA$65 or ~ US$50.

Our website is moving. Please find this blog post at this new link and bookmark it for future reference.

Our website is moving. Please find this blog post at this new link and bookmark it for future reference.

Our website is moving. Please find this blog post at this new link and bookmark it for future reference.

A vest for cue working mode is added the same way all other cues are added.

When you can reliably predict your dog will be in working mode in a public place (and are willing to be $100 that he will go into work mode), then you add the cue of the vest or bandana or special harness. Put the vest or harness on just before going into a public place where the team will be working. 

Then, your dog will start to associate putting on the vest or special harness as the cue to work. It's based on classical conditioning or pairing of the new cue with the behavior the dog already does. The fact that the equipment feels different than what the dog usually wears will help her understand this job is different. 

You can certainly help him to be comfortable in the vest at home but if you want it to mean something, then wait to add it to 'work' situations.

Read this post on vests

Many parents struggle whether to get dog for their child who is on the autism spectrum. Should that dog be a family pet (acting as a personal therapy dog) or an actual service dog that can go into public places? Here are some points on both sides of the decision from research, parents and our trainers' experience. Parents/guardians must consider both the child and the dog's needs as the parent is legally responsible for the welfare of any pet cared for by children 16 years and under.

"Benefits (of autism service dogs) were found in 88% of families, and were overwhelmingly social and cognitive, with additional physical and medical benefits for the paediatric client. However, risks, including behavioral, financial, and time/cost issues were significant, becoming a burden in 53% of families." source

In all cases, consult a professional trainer who uses positive methods to help you evaluate a potential dog and help guide you in the training process if you think this might be what you want to do. Better yet, sign up for a web cam session to talk to a service dog trainer who has worked with families with autism and dogs before you start the process! It's the best investment you can make and will save you time, money, effort and heart ache in long run no matter which option you choose!