"Like the Dog Whisperer, Only Nicer"

That's what one of the handlers in my class told me I was. The sentiment was okay but every time someone brings up Cesar Milan, I make sure to distance myself from him and his choke collar methods.

I'm sure you are all wondering exactly how I managed to fill up 8 weeks of classes, considering that I've never taught classes like this before. Here's the outline I ended up with.

Week 1
I sent all of the students a list of some class rules and a questionnaire before the first class. I also required them to bring a copy of their current vaccinations (I don't want any issues with that sort of thing--and requiring that prevents unregistered dogs from attending). I started with a tiny rant on what dogs are, and what they are not. I moved on to the goals of the class: help their dogs become better companions in our human world. Then I passed out a cheap clicker to everyone (I gave them the clickers but I sold them 6 foot nylon leashes if they needed one for SR 40; the entire class was done on lead and I told them flexis were not allowed). I talked about reinforcement, timing, and reward. Then I selected a demo dog and showed them how to play the "look at me" game with the clicker. As they each started to work on that with their own dog, I moved around the room, visiting each dog and handler to make sure they were successful and understood what we were doing.

In fact, that was a pattern I established in every one of my classes. I would demonstrate a new skill with a selected dog, then turn them loose to work with their dogs. I would make circuits around the room, visiting every dog and handler at least once, usually multiple times, to correct timing, rate of reward, placement of reward, position of the hands, tone of voice, how to manage clicker/leash/treats, etc.

After they all had some vague grasp of look and I thought that most of the dogs were getting the idea of the clicker, I showed them how to play the "nose touch to hand" game and all of its variations (hand moves, handler moves, etc.).

Week 2
I had everyone demonstrate "look" and "touch" one by one to make sure they were getting the hang of the clicker. This usually took at least 20 minutes, a good part of the hour. I talked more about how to use the clicker (timing, placement of reward, etc.). Then I demonstrated how to get the dog to sit (I use the luring method: hold a treat over their heads, tip their heads back, butt goes down). I emphasized how novice handlers give commands a name far too soon and told them they had to teach their dog how to sit with ONLY hand commands. I showed them how to get the dog into a down position from a sit (I find this easier than a down from a stand but it does depend on the dog). I told them to keep practicing look, down, and sit. I gave them some parameters for training sessions (count out 10 treats, plan what you want to do in advance, try to train 3 times a day) and talked about how to vary what the dog does in each session to keep it interesting. We usually talked about treats too and why they needed to be special (not kibble) and how to make treats from our resources in the commissary (hot dogs were hands down the best treats to use for nearly all of the dogs).

Week 3
More work on sit and down. I showed them how to combine sit with "stay" and how to step away from their dogs, then step back and reward. I talked about duration and distance and how they needed to train them separately. I showed them the "leave it" game. Most dogs learn the basic idea of "leave it" the first time you do it with them. I would deliberately choose the biggest food hound in the class--the owner would say, no way, this will never work, and in about 5-6 clicks, that dog would be sitting looking at me instead of the hot dogs bits scattered on the floor at its feet. Pure magic!

Week 4
I began this week by telling them, no more treating from the front. They had to learn how to get the dog into a sit by their side (roughly the classic heel position). This is my own "get ready" command and I would use Mimi as a demo dog so they could get an idea of the finished product. Mimi FLINGS herself into a sit by my side. She's nothing if not enthusiastic and is always a crowd pleaser. She is also amazing--doesn't even have an eye flick for all of those strange dogs and people in class. She's all business. I talked about the importance of working the dog on both sides. I introduced the idea of sending the dog to a sit-stay or down-stay on a mat. I explained how this could be used to sort out all sorts of behavior problems (greeting guests at the door, begging at the table, etc.). I told them that for next week, they needed to get their dogs onto the mat, then build up so they could step away for a count of 10. That's an eternity in doggy brains. Depending on time, I also showed them how to teach the dog to spin to the left and right.

Week 5
I introduced loose lead walking around cones. I went to a lot of trouble to find orange cones in Khobar but managed to score 6 very nice ones. I set up two courses, one of two cones and one of four. I showed them how to use all of the skills they now had in hand (nose touch, look, heel/get ready) to move the dog around those courses with inside turns, outside turns, and changing speeds. Of course most of the dogs were squirrels on strings at this point so I spent a lot of time just showing the handlers how to get their dogs' attention. It was usually this week that I saw a dramatic improvement in focus in most of the dogs.

Week 6
More loose lead walking around the cones. I broke up the class in the middle and showed them how to use targets to teach the dog to interact with things with its nose and its paws. People that weren't working their dogs outside class usually gave up at this point because they were not seeing any progress.

Week 7
Once again I set up a course using all 6 cones and had the handlers practice loose lead walking--with a twist. This time, I used Mimi as a distraction. She was on lead and I kept her close by my side but I would zoom in and out, cutting in front of and behind the working dog as they moved through the cones. How close I would actually get depended on the individual dog, because after all I didn't want them to fail completely. But I did want them to be distracted by Mimi, and with just a couple of exceptions, they all were. It was a test to make sure the handlers could get their dogs to focus back on them without yanking on the leash or yelling at their dog. At the beginning of class, nearly all of them said they had problems walking their dogs and encountering other dogs and people. So I used this exercise as a test and a demonstration that they now had the skills to deal with those situations calmly and positively--and successfully!

I also had an ulterior motive and that was to proof Mimi too. She was great--total focus on me, stuck to my side like glue no matter how erratic our path was.

Once I had checked out all the dogs on the loose-lead course, I talked about freeshaping and used Mimi to demonstrate the basic rules: if you want the dog to interact with something, you usually put it between you and the dog; keep moving; reward incremental successes; etc. Mimi is a great freeshaper so that was very fun for both of us. Then I played the "human clicker training" game. First I reviewed how operant conditioning uses markers and rewards. I talked about timing and placement of reward. Then I told them that I was going to use the clicker to free shape one of them to do a desired behavior. I got a volunteer, sent them out of the room, then discussed with the rest what we would have our "dog" do. The first class chose to have him put both hands on the back of a chair. The second class chose to have their "dog" spin the chair. I didn't practice this at all of course--but I had both "dogs" doing the desired behavior in less than 15 clicks. And no luring (I wasn't even using treats). Not bad. But both "dogs" were pretty smart too!

To the great surprise of everyone, I would then announce that their homework for the final class, the final exam, was to use the clicker to teach their dog a skill that I had not taught in class and demonstrate it to everyone.

What the handlers probably haven't realized yet is that I was using operant methods on them from the very first day of class. I would use my voice as a marker and reward them with eye contact, perhaps a touch to the arm or shoulder, and lots of verbal praise. I spent a lot of time interacting with their dogs (I would greet every dog one by one at the start of every class) but I think that masked how I was actually interacting with their people!

I closed the lesson by talking about how they could use all of their new skills to work on problem behaviors (barking, jumping on people, nipping, etc.).

Week 8
Everyone demonstrates their new behaviors. Plenty of comic relief there! I was quite surprised and pleased at how successful they all were. I closed with a short discussion about the rules of tug and using toys instead of food (Harry will be my demo dog for the last class of the second session on Thursday--he's going to love it!). I made homemade dog treats and passed those out as everyone was leaving.

Whew!

I've got a couple of months now with no French classes and no dog classes (I aced the final exam of the second French module. Madame Hela was so pleased!).

Starting in September, I'm going to offer another round of DOG-101. But of greater interest to me is a second course I plan to teach called DOG-201, Introduction to Rally Obedience. I should be able to train a group of people up to Rally Novice level in about 8 weeks. Prerequisites for DOG-201 is successful completion of my DOG-101 course or a similar course taken elsewhere, or previous competition experience in AKC Rally. So I won't be dealing with rank beginners. They'll be new to the idea of competitive dog sports but they should have some decently behaved dogs to start with.

To cap all of that effort, I'm planning to hold a Rally tournament in December! I've even got two people who have volunteered to work with me separately to learn how to judge! This will allow me to compete with Harry and Mimi too. I'm quite excited. Sure, sure, I know, rally is a far cry from agility. Baby steps, grasshopper, baby steps.