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Haha! Your other dog is like, “what about me?!”
Great job! Practice this step of the game EVERYWHERE: in your yard, on a walk when on a leash, at a park, in class while waiting for your turn. Don’t yet do it in the ring, just out in the world to help Wager generalize and see value in this game regardless of context.
Hooray for the Cato board! The balance boards won’t work for what I am envisioning because they move to help build core strength and balance, correct?
Yes, move to step 2 of the Pattern Game.
Hooray for settling while doing Relaxation Conditioning! Keep doing it daily!! 🙂 Place the treats on the mat. That will encourage Danny K to lay down sooner.
Sounds good!
Do you bring Ella out into situations that are stimulating the way a trial can be? Such as a farmer’s market or into town? If so, what is she like? If not, can you please take her and take video to post in this thread.
When you train her, could you have your students hang around to provide more stimulation?
This is perfect Kerry!!! This is exactly what I want to see; Robbie is comfortable, enthusiastic, and anticipatory! I would like for you to keep practicing this daily for one min, and take video and post it so that I can observe the behavior building.
What I would like to see you do next is hold open the collar part of the leash, lure Robbie through the loop with a treat, then jackpot him when he puts his head through. Then take the collar off and jackpot again. Then repeat.
Yes, it will take many sessions of practicing Relaxation Conditioning before you see a change in Veloz’s internal state. And that’s okay. It takes time, which is why this is one of the first exercises I introduce in my courses.
I am loving the quality of his behavior while Veloz is sniffing for treats in the towel. Once you have spent 3 days in a row giving Veloz the Snuffle Mat in the house as per the exercise, I would like for you to incorporate it in agility training; 2 min of training, 2 min of Snuffle Mat, then 2 min of training, then 2 min of Snuffle Mat. This will help him start learning how to self-modulate his arousal and will help minimize frustration.
The Superbowls Game looks good! Try practicing it with just two plates and please take video of that. And practice in your training space, but no agility equipment around.
The intention of the exercise is to practice it as designed because you want to help your dog learn how to self-modulate his emotions. If he is already relaxed, he won’t have the opportunity to practice this.
Would you consider working with a Veterinary Behaviorist?
For the Treat N Train, as we extend the tunnel, put the TNT at one end so the reward comes from there.
Does your granddaughter live with you?
Does Mali know how to sit-stay? Do you have a Cato board or a Klimb? Some kind of platform.
Hi Beth!
Yes, the trainer was building value for the plate. You have to do this the first time, and then don’t have to do it that way for future training sessions.
How many times have you practiced the Relaxation Conditioning exercise as designed?
If Ella needs to look around the environment after eating the treat, let her. That’s part of the exercise–teaching her how to self-modulate her arousal by practicing a pattern movement. When she looks back at you, then move to the next plate and put the food down. Take video of you practicing so that I can give you feedback. 🙂
Welcome Janelle! You can try this:
Do you have a Snuffle Mat? After two minutes of training any stimulating activity, I would like for you to pause and do some Snuffle Mat work. I am going to post it as an assignment in a couple of days, but I would like you to start now. Here is the exercise along with a video demonstration:
Snuffle Mat – to Help Reduce Arousal & Anxiety
Bobbie Bhambree
The scent is such an important component of how dogs experience the world. Allowing them to interact with their environment through their noses taps into an often-overlooked processing tool. Research suggests that sniffing promotes positive emotional affect, or in layman’s terms, sniffing makes dogs calm and happy. For dogs, olfaction is intrinsically linked to emotion in a very special way.
Snuffle Mats are not just great for enrichment, but can also be used as a tool to reduce anxiety as part of a behavior modification program.
Teaching the Game
• Sprinkle treats within the folds and crevices of the Snuffle Mat. Make sure to use treats that are stinky and high-value for your dog and can hold their attention.
• Place the Snuffle Mat on the floor and let your dog go to town.
• Before your dog is finished, or if your dog is standing and staring at the snuffle mat or trying to sniff out non-existent crumbs, sprinkle a generous number of treats into the Snuffle Mat again.
• Repeat this 4-5 times in a row.
• Practice this daily for a week so that you build value for the Snuffle Mat for your dog. What we want to see is that when you pull out the Snuffle Mat, your dog gets excited because they know what fun they’re about to have.
How to Use the Snuffle Mat
• Enrichment: Use of the Snuffle Mat can be one of the ways you provide mental stimulation for your dog.
• You can leave the Snuffle Mat for your pup to use when alone (if your dog won’t eat the Snuffle Mat).
• You can use it as a way to help reduce arousal when in stimulating situations.
• You can use it as a way to help your dog get comfortable with a guest visiting the home.In this course, the intention is to use the Snuffle Mat during a class, at a seminar, at a trial, or anywhere else your dog has trouble focusing. You will be using it before you step into the ring.
Once your dog has value for the Snuffle Mat, start taking the show on the road. Offer the Snuffle Mat at a park, in the Home Depot parking lot, outside of a pet store, or when you have people over who your dog loves. Does your dog focus on the Snuffle Mat the entire time he is in that environment? Does your dog look relaxed? Is he eating at a frantic pace or at his normal pace? Does he keep his head down the entire time while eating?
These questions will help you gauge how your dog is feeling and where his mental state might be. If your dog is eating at a frantic pace or cannot focus on eating out of the Snuffle Mat, then report back and we will tweak your dog’s program.
If your dog is relaxed and seems to be enjoying eating out of the Snuffle Mat, then you are ready to start using it in class. Again, ask yourself the same questions as those noted above. We will build from there. 😊Neuroscience – What’s Happening in the Brain
Dr. Kathy Murphy, Barking Brains
Olfactory neurons are specialized nerve cells that create a pathway from the nasal cavity, through an area at the front of the skull with holes in it (the cribriform plate) to the olfactory bulb. The olfactory bulb is an area of the brain right at the front tip of the brain, which processes the information and passes it on to other brain areas involved in emotion and decision-making, determining how the dog feels about the scent and what action will now be taken. Each olfactory neuron is densely populated with scent receptors and the olfactory bulb of dogs is proportionally bigger than that of species where the scent is not a primary sense (humans, for example).Interestingly though, variations in these important components are not thought to be primarily responsible for breed differences in scent workability, but rather differences in those brain areas responsible for determining how the dog feels about a scent and what action will now be taken.
So, what does this have to do with snuffle mats? Well, by creating an association between the snuffle mat activity and calm, focused attention we can train the dog’s brain to practice a state of emotional stability and attentional focus. These same effects (emotional stability and attentional focus) are known to be associated with mindfulness training in humans, the benefits of which are becoming more widely known. Once you see signs that these effects may be occurring (by asking the questions given above), move to practice in other slightly more challenging environments (with more distractions) to lateralize this brain training to other situations. If you notice signs that the dog is increasing in arousal (increased speed of movement, more frantic movement, a lack of calm focus on the mat, etc.), go back to practicing with fewer distractions. As with many confidence-building activities the main aim is for your dog to demonstrate the calm focus, rather than be good at the snuffle mat activity per se.
Once you have spent 3 days in a row giving Kai the Snuffle Mat in the house per the exercise, I would like for you to incorporate it in agility training; 2 min of training, 2 min of Snuffle Mat, then 2 min of training, then 2 min of Snuffle Mat. This will help him start learning how to self-modulate his arousal and will help minimize frustration.
Hi Mary!
You are correct! That’s how we are measuring resilience to establish baseline.
And yes, relaxation is one of the exercises we will use to build resilience.
Well done with your first session of Relaxation Conditioning! Keep practicing it daily for ten min. 🙂
