Pavlov, Skinner, Dolphins, and Nelson

We started "Click and Treat" training today.  It is operant conditioning based on the works of Pavlov and Skinner.  Kary Pryor simplified it for us who aren't scientist.  If you haven't read anything about Karen Pryor you should.  She revolutionized the world of training based on "markers and rewards."  Her first experience was with training dolphins.  What she learned there she shared with those of us who love dogs. 

Simply put, when something does something you want it to repeat you identify the behavior - the marker - and then reward the behavior - the treat.

I've been working with Nelson to accept treats.  He hasn't been very food motivated.  I talked to a good friend, Renee Toth, who taught me how to get him cued in to the treats.  It worked!

So today we started working on "sit."  When his butt hit the ground first I "clicked" and he received a treat. I  tossed the treats so he had to get up to get them.  He figured it out pretty quickly.   We had three training sessions today with each lasting about 15 minutes.  It's amazing to watch him "think" and "problem solve."  He would wag his tail and then sit. Very soon I will anticipate him sitting and put the word "sit" with it.  Thus he will connect the word with the action with the reward.  Pretty simple!

25 June 11

Nelson and I went shopping again today.  It was very interesting.  I have so much to learn about this guy!  First we went to Home Depot to buy paint.  We've been there before but I've never used a shopping cart when he was with me.  I expected him to be timid around the cart.  Wrong.  He was very brave and the cart didn't bother him at all.  He met several new people while there and he didn't spook at any of them.  Next up was a new stop at Honda and Yamaha of Greenville to introduce Nelson to one of my friends.  (Thanks for being a Pet Friendly business!)  Nelson did great!  He was relaxed and showed no sign of stress at all.  Our final stop was PetSense.  He has been there many times and has been making friends on each visit.  Today...he was timid...not a full out panic, but definitely not happy to be there.  One of my biggest challenges with Nelson is that he refuses to accept food rewards when we are "out and about" or even in the car.  I'm struggling to learn how to reach him with rewards in the strange situations.

This evening we went on our usual walk.  Ann and Lizzie, the Dachshund / Chihuahua mix, went with us.  It was a fun walk.  We were glad to have them with us.

Nelson in his natural habitat!

I love this face!

23 June 11

I arrived home from England at 11:00 PM last night.  I SWEAR Nelson smiled at me!  While I was gone someone chewed a hole in the comforter on our bed.  Ann thinks it was Nelson....I think he was set up by the other dogs.

Nelson walks on a completely slack leash.  I drape it over my shoulder and he stays right by my side.  He does this on our nightly walks and even in PetSense, Tractor Supply, and tonight we added Home Depot to our stops.  YAY for dog friendly stores!  We are currently working on "sit on stop"....aka, we stop walking and he should sit.  He's learning quickly.  Next will be a completely reliable "come on recall"  aka, I call you and you come to me.  He does that perfectly in the house.  Outside...not perfectly.  Oh well, room for improvement.  Ann and I will use treats and clickers to reinforce that...aka, "doggie ping pong!"  We will be in different spots and take turns calling him to us.  When he comes he gets treats!  Amazing what a dog will do for a bite of turkey wienies.

I'm reading Karen Pryor's book, "Reaching the Animal Mind."  She is AMAZING!  She is a pioneer in the world of reward based training.  I've read a couple of her previous books.  She is one of the leaders that taught us we don't have to use punishment based training and that reward based training works MUCH better.  God Bless Her!

17 June 11

On our walk this evening we found some kids playing basketball and a kid riding an electric car.  SO VERY good for Nelson.  He spooked but then settled down.  All of this will help prepare him for the scary world of hospitals and nursing homes.  And...I'm not forcing this on him.  After he gets over his initial fear he is very friendly to the people. 

I leave tomorrow for a business trip to the UK.  Sadly, no dogs allowed.  Sigh.

16 June 11

The last two days have been the best of times and the worst of times for Nelson. 

The bad news first....we visited with Dr. Rocky again about Nelson's heart worm treatments.  It is SO scary.  However, I totally trust Dr. Rocky @ Turtle Creek Veterinary Medical Center.  I just HATE to put Nelson through such a horrible treatment.  He has his first treatment on 6 July.  Thirty days later he will have his second treatment.  During that time he will have to remain very quiet.  Nothing to elevate his heart rate and possibly cause a large amount of dead worms to break loose and cause severe damage to his lungs or cause a blockage somewhere.  Scary!  If we would have known that he had heart worms before we met him we would have never taken him...and he probably would have been put down.  I'm glad we didn't know!  I'm glad we were able to save him!

Now...the good news....

We visited the pet store yesterday and he did great.  Then we went to Tractor Supply...which is the ONLY other business in Hick-ville that is pet friendly...and we explored for about 45 minutes.  There was A LOT going on there.  A lot of noises...people dropping things....shopping carts....a lot of strange things for Nelson to encounter.  He did amazingly well.  He was a little timid at times but never really scared.  Several people petted him and was friendly to everyone.  After that we came home and went for our evening walk.  On the little oil road we had a chance encounter with a friend who stopped and got out of the car and petted him.  I'm so impressed with the way he meets people!

This afternoon we went for a walk down our usual road.  Our neighbor was out in his yard with his grandkids.  I decided to take Nelson for an introduction.  One of the grandkids is little boy about 4 years old.  He came running and screaming to pet the puppy.  Nelson spooked a little bit but soon settled down and accepted the little boy's rough petting.

This was PERFECT conditioning for Nelson's preparation for therapy work.  He is going to be so good at it!  I am so looking forward to Nelson sharing his love with the sick and elderly people in our community.

June 13th

My main focus with Nelson at this time is to get him completely socialized and desensitized to the things that make him nervous.  He is doing really well but occasionally he still gets a little nervous.

He has been with us now for about 10 days.  He already knows his new name....or maybe that was the name he has always had and we just learned it?  :)

Living in Hick-ville makes it a little more difficult to socialize him.  Not counting the vet clinics there are only TWO businesses in our little town that allow pets to come in.  So we visit there several times a week.  He’s doing really well with those trips.  Yesterday he encountered a really scary shopping cart and wasn’t afraid of it. 

The sad news is that Nelson tested positive for adult heartworms.  We were told when we adopted him that he had a negative heartworm test.  Apparently the rescue organization only checked for the microfilaria and not for the adult heart worms.  Sigh.  Oh well, our vet is very encouraging that Nelson will be able to make a full recovery.  I just hate to put him through the treatments.  They will painful and will make him feel really bad for awhile.  I’m not looking forward to these treatments.  He is currently on an Rx as pre-treatment.  He will start the heartworm treatment in July.  Thirty days later he will have his second heartworm treatment.  I am hoping that he will only need two treatments.  It’s going to be a tough few months.

I SO love this dog.  Such a SWEET soul.  I'm so happy we found him!

Meet Nelson

This is Nelson.  He's an Australian Shepherd mix that we adopted on June 3, 2011.  Our vet thinks that he is about a year and a half to two years old.  I think he might be a little bit younger...but I trust Dr. Rocky.

He's a very sweet boy...a little bit timid...but overall...just a sweetheart.

I would love to do therapy work with him.  I think he will be great visiting sick or elderly people.  However, we have a LONG way to go before he's ready for therapy work.  Loud noises scare him so I am currently working on getting him fully socialized and desensitized.  I am also looking for an obedience class for us to take.  The biggest challenge with him so far is that he is NOT at all motivated by treats.  He eats his meals ok but he doen'st appear to be motivated by getting treats at this point.  I am a big believer in reward based training, especially "Click and Treat" training techniques.  I'm going to have to figure out how to reward him without treats.

He's OBVIOUSLY had some training before.  He's housebroken and walks on a leash better than most dogs I've ever seen. 

I would love to know his story.  Where did he come from?  HOW did a sweetheart like this end up in a kill pound in Altus, Oklahoma?

Oh well, whatever his story was until we found him...I hope you follow our story from this point forward.