Some Border collies love water. And I was under the impression that most mammals instinctively know how to swim. However swimming lessons are going slowly with Gunner. Well before adopting Jackie I started working with Gunner in the pool in gradually increasing depths of water from a few inches to just deep enough to dog paddle. Rosco is an accomplished swimmer and will happily dive in to retrieve tennis balls. I discovered with Gunner that he dangles his hind legs and only half-heartedly dog paddles with his front legs— certainly not enough to keep himself afloat. So we’ve been working on that.
Since we’ve made a recent move, we’ve transferred our swimming lessons to a safe beachy area of the Trinity River. In this Texas heat it is a welcome reprieve while out for a stroll. My pre-conceived notion was that herding dogs will hop into water— like ponds or stock tanks— in order to cool off. My previous herding dogs all did this, and loved to swim as well.
Gunner looks suspiciously at any body of water. We know that Gunner was picked up by the city dog pound in Galveston as a stray before being boosted from a high kill shelter by All Border Collie Rescue. Does Gunner have fear related to water since Galveston is on the gulf? I’ll never know but I’ve been very deliberate in introducing Gunner to water and swimming in a fear-free, positive manner.
I’d like to get both Border collies comfortable with swimming, for many reasons including it’s just plain fun, and it’s a great way to cool off and get some exercise. I love this low-impact activity especially for Rosco in his golden years.
The first few times we approached the beach area on the river, I reinforced Jackie for just walking near the water. When she was comfortable with that over a couple days I reinforced her for walking along the water’s edge in the sand. Today for the first time she stepped her front paws into the water so I reinforced that. It is always her decision and if she wants to retreat she is allowed. Gunner is at the point where he will get in up to his belly, and if I’m in with him he will dog paddle with his front legs and let his hind legs dangle, but only enough to turn around to go back to the shore.
It’s going much slower than I expected, and that’s okay because we’re having fun, and getting in some confidence-building education while it is still so hot during the day.
Pearls:
Some herding dogs are born loving water, some need to be taught to love it
Give a dog confidence by going slowly and allowing the dog freedom to make their own decisions, and reinforce volunteer behavior incrementally building confidence for the new activity
A Spaniel out-performing a Border collie? I’m here to tell ya it happens
Living on a river has proven to be interesting and fun
The Border collies are trying to do a bait and switch. Tonight as I was going to bed Gunner got into Jackie’s crate and Jackie got in Gunner’s, while I was showering and doing my nighttime ritual. Rosco’s bed is directly in the middle of the two Border collies’ beds.
Not a problem exactly, except that at 4 AM every morning Gunner has to be given a strong heart medication that I prepare in a pill pocket and place in a special container out of reach above his crate (for ease of access in the early next morning) each day at 4 PM when he has to take the same medication on a schedule every twelve hours, on an empty stomach.
I’m not always at my peak performance at 4 AM. And Border collies can start looking alike in the dark, and I don’t want to run the risk of administering a medication to the wrong dog.
Some musical-chair style shuffling of dogs into various crates and things were easily put to right.
Ay dios mio y’all all look alike in the dark at four in the morning!
Pearls:
Of course a good mom would never confuse one baby for the other
All bets are off in the dark so you better double check, and check again before administering meds
Also eat a bag of dicks heart disease
These sleep aid red motion sensor night lights with dusk to dawn motion activated sensors sure come in handy in the middle of the night, and the red light promotes sleep and doesn’t interfere with sleep hormone melatonin production
In the ongoing saga to find a high value reinforcer for Jackie, I’ve experimented with cutting mild cheddar cheese into small cubes just a bit smaller than a pencil eraser. So far this has proven successful and seems very motivating to Jackie.
Gunner, and especially Rosco, are very food motivated and will work for store-bought treats, or any ol’ food, even cut up carrots for Rosco! Jackie is definitely food motivated, but seems to have a more discriminating palate.
Having a variety of treats of differing value has proven successful, so that the reinforcement stays interesting and variable, and any single reinforcer doesn’t lose its value. In order to more conveniently store and separate out the different treats, I use differing training bags. Currently two of my favorites are this well-used green treat pouch I’ve had for seemingly ever (apologies to small businesses everywhere but I got it at a big-box chain pet store years ago). It has a waistband/belt clip that I find easy to hang at my side and a drawstring closure with an inner lining that washes easily:
And I just got this blue (it comes in seven additional colors too which I love) Audwud silicone treat pouch; it’s good for using with perishable treats like chicken or cheese because I can put it in the dishwasher and it has a magnetic clasp so I can store the treats sealed in the fridge. Like my older green pouch it has a plastic waistband clip. I like how it works in action so I got one in bright pink as well:
I read about folks drying cheese treats on the kitchen counter in places other than Texas. With our humidity it would mean turning on the oven so I’m just using it squishy— it’s been fine using at room temperature without any additional drying on my part:
Pearls:
A variety of training treats keeps food reinforcement variable and interesting, and prevents any one favorite treat from losing its value
Using a treat pouch that hangs on the side at my waist works well for me, and I like the silicone one I just discovered
Cheddar cheese is a new reinforcer for me, but Jackie seems to like it
The Homo sapiens I live with has recently been talking about processes (a set of steps that leads a team towards its goals).
Gunner (and Rosco) knows some pretty awesome life skills, and several very entertaining tricks, and those teaching processes I remember and understand how to teach, probably well enough to explain to at least a fellow earthling, and more importantly, repeat with another dog. The juxtaposition of a new dog into the family against the established dogs has highlighted that Gunner seemingly speaks English, offering behaviors that I want when I want them, apparently without conscience cue on my part. Which is pretty cool, but, how did I get there?
Of course the answer is patience, and time. Repeating and practicing a skill without mistake strengthens and improves the skill, and we know mental practice can create a blueprint in your head that becomes a guide to performing a skill. Take care though, if you’re visualizing a skill incorrectly, your performance will be diminished.
When I drill down into the processes of animal training however, I have to ask what is the process that generates the kind of relationship with an animal that produces flawless communication between animal and handler? In agility jargon, these processes are know as foundation skills. Teaching a dog to touch a target with its nose or paw for example, or teaching a dog to wrap tightly around a jump standard before teaching the dog to jump.
Jackie already knows several helpful behaviors including “wait” before going through a door, “kennel up” to go in her crate, and the “shwshh” noise to send her running. The past day or two I’ve been working with Jackie to establish “sit,” "down," and "wait."
In dressage, with each new horse the training seems to get easier and faster, when in actuality the trainer (by trainer I mean me, the rider) has become more efficient, and thereby more effective. So with Jackie’s clean slate I am experimenting with capturing (waiting for the behavior to happen, then rewarding when it does) basic behaviors more often than luring (putting a cookie on her nose and using it to guide her into the desired position such as sitting).
The thing about training horses is that when I or my coach are with my horses for a couple-few hours daily, I am focused on their training and it is easy for nothing to get by as slack. Then I go away from them. With dogs on the other hand, I am almost constantly with them, and I know training is taking place at all times. But dogs live in my house so any moment I am not on top of the training game can have the potential to be slack.
I’ve captured enough sit behavior to begin putting it on a combined verbal and hand signal. After previously having two completely deaf dogs, I’ve developed the habit of teaching a hand signal as well as a verbal signal, and teach using the signals either together or independently, as the situation requires. This has proven to be a good practice with Rosco since he is now going toward age-related deafness; he already knows our sign language of all his basic obedience and house manners.
(I started teaching my own version of sign language to Prissy after she went deaf, and I even put a hand signal that means “release oxytocin” or, if you were speaking to a person it would mean “I love you.” If Pavlov can put secreting saliva on a cue, I can put secreting oxytocin on a cue.)
Now that “sit” is reliable, prompt, and repeatable, I started today capturing for what will become “down.” I stand next to Jackie, and wait until she lies down then give her marker word “yes!” and then a cookie. As soon as Jackie came into the household I began capturing good potty habits, making eye contact with me while walking, and coming to me.
A solid, reliable-in-the-face-of-distractions recall is a must-have behavior. Gunner’s recall has been tested in the face of some very reinforcing distractions and he still comes. For me one of the biggest distractions can be the independent mind of a Border collie. He’ll recall promptly when the stakes are high and there’s another animal or something I know to be potentially dangerous, but Gunner can be a bit sluggish in his recall if he is just casual-around-the-house.
Can dogs distinguish when “the stakes are high” versus “it’s just a casual day at home?” I would say no, they cannot, yet I admit to allowing this training style because Gunner is such a velcro dog it allows me to cheat. I make every reasonable effort to always reinforce the behaviors I want, and to be intentional at all times with my dogs’ training. I may come to regret the occasional slack in training later at an agility trial, for example. I don’t want a dog robot, so I don’t train that way, but I do value good training and realize the training is always ongoing.
Time will tell what happens when I want to cross over to show-ring agility. Primary reinforcers should be used judiciously, there is a definitive difference between using food in their meal for enrichment and reinforcing desired behavior, versus you only get food and what you need to stay alive if-and-while you work for it. There is a difference between using play or running as a reinforcer, versus your life is a sterile kennel unless you are working for the privilege of doing something enriching like running agility. That style of training may be efficacious, but it’s wrong.
(The reason I know robot-dog is a training style is what my friend refers to as “the Border collie dark web.” There are many good trainers, but there have been the odd dreadful “trainers” unfortunately.)
Video clip of Gunner displaying the classic play bow behavior, and Jackie not exactly sure if she wants to engage. At the end of the clip I use the “shwsh” sound to get Jackie to jump up and run.
Pearls:
One is always learning, even when it is a skill previously learned, it’s either getting better or not
Capturing (waiting for a behavior to happen, then rewarding when it does) seems to be producing desired results more rapidly than luring (holding a treat to the dog’s nose then moving it around to get them to move the way you want) has in the past
A side benefit to capturing vs luring is that I get to spend a lot of time staring into Jackie’s eyes and vice versa, which seems like a good thing to me (benefits of teaching eye contact include giving Jackie a break from looking at something stressful in her environment [she can look at me instead of the stressor], and letting my dog know everything is safe by looking in my face and seeing I am calm)
Luring is used when it is reasonable and beneficial to do so, and for certain situations like getting a dog onto a new substrate or platform for example; this time around I’m experimenting by beginning with capturing instead of beginning with luring
Prompt, repeatable, strong behaviors on cue are desirable, but Robot-dog is not; my priority remains having a great relationship with a companion dog
Of course I want to order a custom collar and identification tag for Jackie. Rosco’s and Gunner’s collars made by Salena Herring from Dogs By the Bay (headquartered in New Braunfels, Texas) are both beautiful and practical since they are safety breakaway collars:
and I’m deciding on which purple-motif one to order for Jackie. Rosco has this “kill count” identification tag from Dog Tag Art in his favorite color Robin’s egg blue:
But don’t worry, Rosco’s never actually caught a squirrel, rabbit, bird or cat, though he takes his job at critter patrol seriously. Gunner’s id tag pictured above is silicone from Qalo.
In assembling the necessities before adopting Jackie, I rummaged out of the closet Prissy’s purple collar and purple martingale slip lead. These leads from Mendoza Pet are my go-to for training and walking, and all my dogs own at least two each—Rosco has three of them— you tend to collect great gear the older you get around here:
Prissy has bequeathed both her color purple and her gear to Jackie. Following the purple theme, and wanting Jackie to have her own special collar and tag, I am drawn to this Asian cherry blossom ID tag from Dog Tag Art that follows the purple motif:
I think it will look attractive with this collar from Dogs by the Bay that has purple wisteria and honeysuckle on it:
Prior to adopting Jackie, and while still working with the awesome volunteers at Border Collie Save on the decisions about which dogs to consider, I preemptively ordered this simple id tag with the word “REWARD” engraved with our address and phone number, since I didn’t yet know the dog’s name we would eventually adopt. I attached the tag to Prissy’s (now Jackie’s) purple collar:
Now that we’ve adopted Jackie, I’ll order her own proper id tag with her name. Since she is microchipped I’ve previously entered our updated information into Jackie’s appropriate microchip database.
Gunner has an agility slip lead custom made by Brie Frances of Snuffles and Tugs in his Gunner orange color:
And once we are further along in Jackie’s education, an agility slip lead of purple fleece with purple webbing and pink embroidery detail will be on point, with the fleece strands braided into the leash in purple, pink, and one lime green strand braided in for a pop.
Pearls:
Prissy’s body may be gone, but all the love is still very much alive
Jackie has taken over the purple mantle from Prissy, and wears it well
Today marks an entire week that Jackie has been with us! It has gone amazingly well, which is a credit to both Jackie’s good natural temperament and the great job her foster family did with her. We still have a road to travel in front of us, but I am very optimistic about Jackie’s future!
She met and has continued to interact with both Rosco our elder statesman with patience and gentility, and with our velcro dog Gunner with equal patience and willingness to play. Her already solid house training has transferred to her new environment; she has been 100% mistake free in the house.
Jackie was already good on leash and she is still just beginning to understand being reinforced to look up at me while out for a walk and for coming to me. We haven’t yet begun formal education for a recall (other than reinforcing every time she comes to me on her own) and neither have we started to learn heeling. Positive reinforcement for walking on a loose leash is going well.
We’ve purposefully avoided interacting yet with any other dogs or people outside our immediate family. Each day we try to go a bit longer on our walks, slowly building confidence in the new and wider environment. Yesterday we were unexpectedly joined by a friendly and calm doodle while out for a walk on the river trails. I didn’t have time to “manage” the meeting as the other dog was off leash and approached us before we even realized, but both the doodle, Brady, and his retiree mom and dad were gentle and friendly, so it was a fortuitous introduction to some fellow citizens in the neighborhood. I’m grateful because I don’t want to risk Jackie getting scared or overwhelmed by anything in her greater environment, so it was a good interaction with a calm, friendly dog that added to her confidence while exploring the great outdoors.
For me the biggest challenge has been keeping her interest in her daily meals of kibble, which she has been slow to eat. She certainly isn’t the voracious eater that Rosco is, and isn’t even as interested in kibble as is Gunner. She’s eating well, albeit slowly, which is healthier than bolting her food anyway. We will gradually work to build her physical condition and fitness over time.
Each night we gather in the living room and Jackie is on the big lounger dog bed in front of the sofa where she loves to get pets and belly rubs. Just last night for the first time she climbed up to me while sitting on the sofa and lay with me on the chaise lounge with Gunner and Rosco for a good cuddle puppy pile. And she joined us for the first time upstairs and curled up in Chris’ lap for our entire movie. Jackie is a love and we’re happy she’s feeling more at home each day and night.
Jackie in the glow of our Saturday night movie, sharing a lap with Gunner on the sofa with Rosco in the nest bed at our feet:
Gunner vigilant while Jackie rests:
Pearls:
A successful first week! Milestones include mistake-free potty habits, beginning the early stages of bonding with her new family, learning the schedule and dynamics of her new home
Walking on a loose leash is going well
Finicky eater? Certainly not the chow hound her brothers are
Novel environments on the river trails are continuing to be positive and confidence-building
Jackie is slowly getting used to having more access around the house, including our first time upstairs in the home theatre to join us for movie night
There is always something new to discover. In bringing Jackie into our home with Gunner, who is already fairly well advanced in his general obedience, it is interesting to observe the dynamic that having the presence of another Border collie in the same household has had for Gunner.
Gunner’s recall is very good. His attention to me has always been on point as well. Maybe I am just noticing it in contrast to Jackie, who has not yet had enough time for us to have a deeply bonded relationship, nor even begin her “formal” education, but Gunner’s attention to me has sharpened even more. His focus on me and promptness was already very good, and I didn’t realize it could be even sharper. But sharpened it has, just from the (competitive?) presence of Jackie.
I am being very deliberate about making sure Rosco and especially the more sensitive Gunner have above and beyond adequate Mom time, and that they feel valued— because they are valued. Even with this idea in place, Gunner has displayed a sharpened recall, longer duration for behaviors that require patience and control on the dog’s part, and his heel is phenomenal — even though we haven’t practiced “show ring” heeling in years due to our focus on trick training, urban citizen training, and agility. It has been interesting and informative for me to watch Gunner’s obedience skills deepen and sharpen in these last several days since we adopted Jackie into our home.
(A word about Rosco: Cocker spaniels have rich inner lives, I’m not arguing that at all. We adopted little buddy Rosco 12 years ago from a breed rescue [thank you Cocker Spaniel Rescue of East Texas!] as an adult dog, so he is at least 13 years old. He is well educated using R+ and has an excellent foundation in obedience. His daily needs have always been different than those of the Border collies in my life, and certainly now in his geriatric years his enrichment needs are a different intensity than those of Gunner’s and Jackie’s. Rest assured reader that even though Rosco may not be the current focus of this blog, he has much enrichment, learning opportunities, and love in his life.)
What are the training lessons here? I’m actually not sure yet, and I wanted to document what I’m observing in real time, in order to reflect later as well as ponder just now. Is training in a multi-dog household superior to training a “singleton?” If so what are the dynamics? And even though I currently view it as a positive outcome of interest, what is Gunner’s perception of the current situation? Is his “increase” in sharpness due to jealousy? competition? something else? Is it good for Gunner or stressful for him? A little of both? I want to learn more…
Dogs dogs dogs
Pearls:
Dynamics change in a multi-dog household, the more I observe the more I learn; Gunner seems to have found a whole new gear in the presence of Jackie
Rosco is a baller
As I observe what is happening with my own multi-dog household, I am curious to learn more about other experiences when training multiple sport dogs in the same household
Yesterday I wrote about reinforcers, their value, and letting the learner choose what is higher in value to the learner. Today while on our stroll, and occasionally other times, Jackie would literally spit out the food reinforcer I popped into her mouth and it hits the ground with a failing thud to my ears. I’ve experimented with boiled chicken and even beef, hot dogs and lamb (lamb loaf is my favorite for ease of use, ease of storage, ease of prep. I can cut the loaf into individual large medallions the size of a human chocolate chip cookie to store in the fridge, then take out a couple large medallions to put in my bait pouch to easily pinch off a teeny tiny to a bigger bite-ful, and it is simple to jackpot several small bites in a row). However— value of a reinforcer is assigned by the learner, not the teacher, though I am working to build value into “boring” treats.
Jackie isn’t getting the memo on the treats. Anyhow that was my knee jerk thought. In reality the point is that I need to slow my expectations, and follow the good advice to be patient. Jackie is still very much in the honey moon stage of the relationship, everything is still new: sights, smells, and sounds are all different and coming fast and furious at her. The preexisting dogs take for granted things like the sound of the river dam roaring loudly on the day after a heavy rain when the day before it was a calm gurgle, or to ignore the third yard down past the first turn after the trail gait when the two doodles pop up out of their bushes and bark and lunge furiously up and down their wrought iron fenceline as we stroll by, or that the men building a neighbor’s pool house are not menacing and can be safely ignored as they shout to one another over the noise of their construction equipment. Jackie is still learning all this and more.
It can be difficult to pay attention to a piece of chicken or steak when novel (and is it threatening? Jackie does not have a frame of reference yet) stimuli happen in her environment. She is doing a superb job at taking her cues from her family members, since I maintain a calm demeanor and do not push her to any threshold where she is scared or feels in danger. Gunner and Rosco are also teaching her by example what is to be ignored and what is worth paying attention— it’s Mom, she’s worth paying attention— which years of experience (and positive reinforcement of all kinds) have taught Rosco and Gunner.
So I’m giving myself a break on my exuberance to get out in front of Jackie’s education, but also a reminder of the mantra patience, patience, patience. We will get there. Jackie is doing a great job. I want to as well— and it can be done with patience as my guide.
“You don’t really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!”
Jackie, discovering that it’s a wide world after all, adventures can be fun, and there are more folks in this world who love her.
Pearls:
Patience
Patience
Patience
You don’t have to be a wizard to educate a dog, you just have to be patient
I’m still experimenting with finding Jackie’s “100 dollar bill.” Finding a high value reinforcer is important for rewarding high drive for performance and for building prompt and repeatable responses to cues. We know it is helpful to use a variety of treats, from high value, medium, and lower value, to keep things interesting and also to have a high value reinforcer to teach new skills, or reward when extra effort is offered or desired.
For Jackie’s first couple of days I had my beloved lamb loaf and Hebrew national hot dogs cut up into medallions, as well as some store-bought soft mini treats on hand. However with all the distractions, new environment, and just general melancholy a sensitive Border collie goes through the first several days of adoption I quickly realized I’m going to have to up my reinforcer game. Mostly Jackie likes everything I’ve been offering her but it is clear none of it is her equivalent of a 100 dollar bill. So today I prepared some boiled chicken and flank steak cut up into mini one-bite pieces. The chicken seems to be the highest-valued reinforcer as we are continuing to reinforce mistake-free potty habits, capture looking at me while going for a walk, and coming to me on her own or when I call her name. Of course I am continuing to reinforce good potty behavior, taking nothing for granted and wanting to put relieving herself on a cue for those times I truly need her to “hurry up and go potty!”
Time will tell but probably, like many Border collies, the highest value reinforcer will become the work—agility or herding for example— itself. But I will need to stack value to a reinforcer I can minutely control, in order to teach new habits or increase promptness or duration of a behavior in the education process. At this point in our relationship, during run-and-play, anytime Jackie spontaneously comes over to me and makes eye contact I give her a treat and verbal praise and petting, then release her with “Okay!” and make a “ssshwsh” sound that Jackie’s foster mom used with her. I feel there’s a way to harness the power of that “ssshwsh” noise since Jackie is already super reactive to it— bolting off away from me in an extremely drivey display of speed. Will keep you posted if I come up with any ideas, but for now I’m using it as a fun game to reinforce desired behavior during playtime.
Play, play, and more play:
Pearls:
The individual learner decides what is valued as a reinforcer, and how much value each reinforcer has
Experimenting with a range of reinforcer treats can be interesting, and it’s good to have lower value and higher value treats available
Primary, high value reinforces (like herding for a Border collie) can be stacked with education into a small, easy-to-deliver controlled treat
Question to ponder: what is a good way to use the “ssshwsh” noise for future training since Jackie already seems to be stimulated by this particular verbal cue?
In addition to knowing I am contributing in some small way to the decrease in suffering and overpopulation by supporting a rescue, there are additional tangible benefits. Jackie came onto my radar from a foster where she lived in a family home and was acclimated to being around dogs of all sizes, energy levels, and stages of life. Much had already been discovered about her temperament, and this was communicated clearly to me by her foster mom. Knowing a fair bit about a dog’s temperament, drive, and energy level helped guide my decision-making process in choosing the best fit for my next dog.
While considering my ideal candidate, I wanted an adult dog that was still young enough to have lots of time on the clock to learn sports and obedience, but I knew I did not want a puppy. I wanted a dog with high drive— but I knew to be careful what I wished for as I first and foremost wanted a dog with the (relatively lower for a Border collie) energy level to be a family pet and get along well with my two older dogs. My preference was a female, for a number of reasons including I felt the getting-to-know-you period would be smoother since I already have two males. I preferred, if possible, to find a dog that if she had already been de-sexed, that she was spayed after becoming an adult or even well into her adult life. I wanted a smallish-sized Border collie in the 30-something pound range. Having a dog that was crate trained, potty trained, leash trained, reliable around horses, and already educated in basic commands was a consideration. While temperament, drive, and energy ALWAYS eclipse looks, I admit I prefer the classic black and white coat of the quintessential Border collie.
So that’s a demanding list! Of course I was open minded and ready to be flexible in my wishlist. The thing is, with a great breed rescue like Border Collie Save and Rescue, they worked with me to find the perfect match, and were deliberate in sharing all of each potential dog’s history: the good, the bad, or the ugly.
Jackie ticked every item on that exacting wishlist, and then some! Jackie’s foster family did an outstanding job rehabilitating her from a rural, shy stray into a happy-go-lucky family pet with the boldness yet patience to coexist with other pets and animals, large and small, young and old. With her foster family Jackie learned all the solid foundations to life as a well adjusted house pet. This put Jackie, and indeed me, in a position of strength to begin our relationship together.
Jackie, well prepared to take on her next adventures thanks to the excellence of her wonderful foster family
Pearls:
Adopting a dog from a breed rescue is an excellent way to get a head start with a new dog
Breed rescues allow you to be as specific as needed, and provide all the background they know about each individual dog
Being in a foster family can give a dog a better chance to find the right home, thereby decreasing the likelihood it will end up back in a shelter
Fosters, and all rescue volunteers, are special people and are owed a debt of gratitude!
