It has come to my attention that less chatter during training sessions can be beneficial. When our coach suggested I try not saying quite as much to Jackie “Oh what a goood girl! WHAT a very good doggy! Oh yes she’s a very CLEVER girl” during a training session, I was able to intentionally be more quiet and less chatty.
Which leads me to examine, where is the good spot between plain “noise” that has to be filtered by the dog, and “enthusiasm” and cheerfulness that dogs love and respond to well. It seems to me that enthusiasm should be shown after the primary reinforcement is given, in a celebratory manner.
My mom, god rest her, successfully trained several cocker spaniels, a black lab, a boxer, and a Great Dane, (and even had a pet fox when she was a child in the 1940s) during the 60s, 70s and 80s. In her defense, Mom, like most dog trainers of that era, did not know about R+ training, and so she used the best that she knew.
The best that Mom knew was a choke chain and giving corrections, I’m sorry to say. The thing that Mom did get right at the time, and much to her own intuition, was the Barbara Woodhouse style of training that used lots of praise in a high pitched sing-songy voice to encourage the dog. “WHAT a gooooood dog!” was used by Mom with much enthusiasm to praise all good efforts and “WAAALKIES” to encourage energetic heeling.
It’s kind of astonishing, when I think about it now, that Mom was so very successful in teaching dogs using almost zero treats or toys, but with her voice (and yikes a choke chain) alone. Mom taught our dogs many clever “circus dog” tricks. Mom even taught our Cocker spaniel Buffy to open and close the back door of our house using a specialized doggy-level door handle my mom designed and my dad, an engineer, built for her. One time our Cocker spaniel jumped through the screened window, breaking the screen and frustrating my mom. So she went about solving the problem by teaching the dog to open the door by itself.
Mom even taught the neighbor’s dog to “go lie down on your porch” from our own yard, in response to the neighbor’s Great Dane barking loudly and running up and down the fence line. Instead, Mom taught the dog (completely unbeknownst to it’s owner) that on the cue of hearing the back door of our porch slam shut, the neighbor’s Dane trotted from wherever he was in his own yard and lay down on his own porch as long as Mom was out there. She did it using aversive methods, but in the 70s and 80s that was still how almost all dog training was taught, unfortunately.
Mom used what she knew with great results. I’m convinced if she had had R+ in her repertoire, Mom would have been an even better dog trainer, and she was pretty darn good even with just the enthusiastic sound of her voice and lots of verbal praise.
Flash forward to my basic obedience class this week, where gratefully I have positive reinforcement as my ally, and no longer have to rely exclusively on the excitement level of my enthusiastic tone of voice. Rather, I am being intentional about celebrating enthusiastically but keeping my cues calm and clear.
A pastel pencil drawing of Mom while she was studying English literature at Colorado State University, where she graduated from in 1958:
- When educating a dog, reserve high pitched “chatter” for praise and celebration after the cue has been carried out and after the primary reinforcer has been given
- Having positive reinforcement as an ally has been life changing for so many, and I’m grateful that when we know better, we can do better
- I am being intentionally more quiet while working with Jackie, while still maintaining energy and enthusiasm
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