Training Toby

Toby is HAWS official shelter cat.  We decided to keep him last spring when it became apparent that he had a chronic upper respiratory condition and felt that he would be difficult to place because of it.  Besides, we kind of liked having Toby around.  He's very friendly, entertaining and our staff and volunteers feel a great deal of affection for him.

From Toby's point of view being HAWS shelter cat is a good deal.  He gets to watch the adoptable rodents, get attention from dozens of people each day, has fun running around the building, and finds all sorts of ways to get himself into trouble.  Trouble usually means finding things to eat, which now that he's a whopping 17 pounds means that he's officially on a strict diet.  On the plus side all the staff has been instructed to play with him more frequently so that he gets more exercise.  The number of Toby designated laser pointers and fishing pole toys scattered around the building is amazing!

When HAWS officially decided to keep him I had it at the back of my mind that he would also make an excellent education cat.  With his outgoing personality he will be great at visiting schools and other facilities.  I knew, however, that there would be some skills that Toby would need in order for this to be as stress free as possible.

The skills I had in mind were to go in a crate on cue, come when called, and walk on a harness. And that meant I'd need to train him to do these things.  I'm a dog trainer, and haven't ever trained a cat, but I was up for the challenge.

Our training program started last month, and I ended up deciding against the harness training because I'm not sure it will be necessary.  He has such a great recall and his visits will all be inside.  

A few things I've learned about training cats.

1) Keep the sessions short.   Initially I had Toby's attention for about 30 seconds.  Now we can do sessions as long as 3 minutes, but past that and he'd just plain done.

2) Find what they love, and use that as a reinforcer.  Toby loves food and that's what I was originally going to use for all his behaviors.  But I discovered that while tuna worked great for teaching him to go into his crate on cue, he wasn't interested in coming for tuna when I called him to come.  For that he would much rather have play time.  So I carry around a laser pointer so that I can reinforce him when he comes when I call him.  (Other staff have started doing the same that he'll come no matter who calls him.)

3) They will surprise you.  I had really thought it would be hard to get Toby to go into a crate on cue, but I had him willingly going in after just 2 training sessions.  The hard part was getting him to come out of it once he's made himself comfortable.

Here's a video of today's training session.

 
First Section:  I called Toby to come to me, and his reward is getting the chase the laser light for a few seconds.

Second section:  Not only am I asking him to go in the crate, but I've conditioned him to not be concerned when the door closes, and we're just starting to work on my picking the crate up.  This will be important if he's going to enjoy going to schools because I'll be carrying him to and from the car.

Third Section:  I'm working on teaching him to weave through my legs.  I figure people will be amazed if Toby knows a few tricks, and it will be a great way to demonstrate that any animal can be trained!

Motivation Impacts Learning

One of the interesting things about the fact that I'm both a dog trainer and a humane educator is how many times things that apply to dogs is also relevant when trying to teach people.

My Lad Lake program this semester has been more challenging than the previous 2 semesters. For one thing the students are younger. Last school year the kids ranged in age from 13 to 18 years of age, while this semester I'm working with kids between the ages of 11 and 14. Also -- with the exception of one, this particular group of students really don't have a background with dogs. They don't have dogs, don't have a passion for dogs, and most have cats at home and are very much cat lovers.

I've struggled with getting the current group of boys motivated to work with HAWS dogs, and show the enthusiasm for training and canine behavior that the other two groups had. And I've had to apply a principle that dog trainers use all the time -- if the dog isn't learning and doesn't appear to be motivated try something else.

My original format consisted of a 20 minute PowerPoint with the remainder of the hour having the boys split up into two groups -- each working with their own designated adoptable dog. A few weeks I knew I was in trouble when I heard a couple of the boys complain that they were bored and didn't want to work with dogs. Part of it was frustration, and part of it was just that the program as it was set up was not working.

So I've changed a few things. I had them doing a competition to see who could get the most sits out of Mystic in a minutes time. I won at 25 sits - while each of the boys was able to do only 9 or 10 sits. And I used that as an opportunity to show the boys how to keep the dog engaged in training by holding his attention. Then they worked with their dogs and did the sit competition again, and really seemed enthusiastic about interacting with the dogs.

Another thing I did was to put together a case history for a dog named Jenna. Jenna is at HAWS, but currently isn't adoptable because she needs some training before she'll be ready for adoption. She is a very young dog who gets mouthy when she's frustrated or overly excited. HAWS Mod Squad -- a group of dedicated volunteers who have been trained to do behavior modification with HAWS shelter dogs, has been working with Jenna, but I also wanted to get the boys involved in her training.

I video taped her behavior and did a case history presentation. Then I asked the boys to brainstorm with me and talk about what her behavior problems were. I was amazed that all the boys were raising their hands and participating -- normally only one of the boys is eager to participate. And even better they made very valid contributions as to what her inappropriate behaviors were.

Then I asked them what we could do with training to improve her behavior. And again I was floored at the wonderful suggestions each of them came up with. They suggested that we train her to sit when people approach, work with her to be calm when petted, and teach her to be calm when her harness is being put on or taken off -- among other things.

The last few weeks we've still had a PowerPoint presentation, but then as a group we work with Jenna on those items for 10 or 15 minutes, and then they work in the two groups with their own dogs. And this seems to have made a huge difference in their attitudes towards the program. Not only are they seeing a tremendous difference in Jenna's behavior, but they are much more interested in working with the other dogs as well. And I even caught them working as a team and complimenting one another.

New Semester, New Start

With the new school year I start my semester-long project with a group of boys from Lad Lake -- a non-profit organization that provides services to at-risk youth. Twice a week five boys from their Day Education Program come to HAWS to learn about dog behavior, training and other topics and actually do some hands on work with our adoptable dogs.

The goal is that they will develop empathy for others, learn patience, and get motivated for academics back at school.

The boys had their first two visits to HAWS this week. The Monday their visit consisted of an orientation to HAWS. They also got to meet Niya -- one of HAWS adoptables.

On Wednesday they watched a PowerPoint presentation on clicker training, had an opportunity to practice their clicker timing with an exercise, and were able to clicker train Mystic to put his toys away.

This is a trick I've worked with Mystic on a few times, but never seem to find the time to actually take it to the next level. The completed trick consists of dog toys scattered around the room -- the dog picks up each toy one at a time and deposits it into a box. By Wednesday's session with Lad Lake I had Mystic to the point where he could pick up a toy a few feet from the box and drop it in most of the time.

At Wednesday's session I warmed Mystic up by familiarizing him with a new box and getting him somewhat consistent with picking up a toy I'd dropped on the floor and putting it into a cardboard box. Then each boy took his turn with the clicker while I gave suggestions as far as when they should click.

The boys did great, however Mystic had a very difficult time when I placed two toys on the floor. He loves carrying around multiple soft toys in his mouth at the same time (his record is 5 at once!) and he just didn't have it in him to drop one toy and leave it behind before he picked up the second. With a little brainstorming the boys and I decided that once he had deposited one toy I would throw a second toy away from the box. This seemed to work better for him.

The Lad Lake boys may be very new at this, but they have excellent timing, and seemed to understand at one point that Mystic wasn't misbehaving, but was a little stressed out. I think this is going to be a wonderful semester.

Camp Gone to the Dogs!

It was an idea I toyed with for our summer camps several years ago, but at that time it just wasn't feasible. Back then our camps consisted of up to 24 kids at a time confined for the most part to just one room. Restricting the number to a smaller group would have meant a loss of income for HAWS. And there wasn't any way for us to pull it off with 24 kids.

The idea was that a small group of kids would have the same dog to work with for an entire week. With the building addition the idea became much more realistic since we now have two fairly large rooms in which to hold camp. This year's camp consists of two sessions running at the same time. So while one room can hold 24 kids attending a "regular" session of camp, the smaller room can allow a group of 15 kids to attend a different camp during the same week.

Tomorrow will be the last day of our first session ever of "Camp Gone to the Dogs", and it couldn't have gone better. Kids between the ages of 9 and 13 years were placed into groups of 3, and each group assigned a dog for the week. During the camp day the kids are responsible for walking, grooming and training "their" dog. If the dog poops on a walk the kids have to pick up and dispose of it. When the dogs are taken out of or returned to their kennels the kids have to ensure that the kennel is clean -- if it isn't they have to clean it.

About half of the 7 hour camp day is spent with the dogs. The rest of the time the campers are involved in other activities such as watching short PowerPoint presentations on dog safety, training, and canine body language. They meet other HAWS animals such as cats, rabbits, turtles and HAWS education snake. They baked Salmon Training treats, and then had the opportunity to use them in training.

Not only do the kids love this camp, but the dogs are gaining huge benefits from it as well. With a minimum of 2 walks and 2 training sessions a day, as well as opportunities to just "hang" with their kids to get petting, massages and brushing - they get more attention and exercise than any other dog in the shelter. And I'm amazed at what a wonderful job they are doing with the dogs. The training is fantastic -- I never thought they'd be able to lure Jersey into a down -- but she's doing it with just a verbal cue already! And our little Bichon Sherlock looks so handsome now that the girls gave him a bath and spent a lot of time brushing him.

I want to thank the kennel and adoption staff for putting up with this camp program this week. Shelter Manager Kelly made sure we had enough kid-suitable dogs by going to Milwaukee Domestic Animal Control Commission and transferring a large number of dogs to HAWS a few weeks before camp started. Our kennel staff has had to endure kids wandering through the kennels to take out and return dogs to their kennels. And our adoption staff had to let potential adopters know that they couldn't take the camp dogs home for a week. This really was a shelter collaborative effort!

We have two more sessions of Camp Gone to the Dogs left and I'm excited at the impact this will have on both the kids and dogs involved. I'll let you know how it goes.

Circus School For Dogs

What makes animals behave the way they do? How does our own behavior influence how an animal behaves? How can we get them to behave the way we want them to?

Last weekend 74 animal professionals congregated at Think Pawsitive Dog Training in Oconomowoc to learn the answers to these questions and more at a seminar hosted by HAWS with speaker Sophia Yin, DVM.

Police officers, humane officers, vets, vet techs, and dog trainers who wanted to learn more about how best to interact with the furry members of our community and gain new skills in their profession were in attendance. Dedicated animal rescuers and shelter volunteers also came to learn, as well as people with a strong interest in animal behavior and training.

After a day and a half of sitting and learning attendees had an opportunity to put some of what they learned in a Sunday afternoon program entitled "Circus School For Dogs".

101 Things to Do with a Box is a great training game for both dogs and people. It allows the human to learn how to train by letting the dog "offer" behaviors. It allows the dog to "figure it out" and use their brain.

Some of the other things attendees learned are profiled in the video below.

Two Points of View

I was at the dog park the other day and observed another owner calling his dog. "Fred Come!" He called several times -- with the dog ignoring him until the 3rd or 4th recall when the dog decided he would respond and starting running to his owner.

I was apalled when, as the dog got about half-way there, the owner yelled in a very gruff, growling voice "Get over here!" And was even more upset when the dog finally arrived only to have his owner roughly grab him by the scruff, lean down, stare right into his eyes and start yelling at him again.

The dog trainer in me hurt for the dog. From the dog's point of view this is what happened. Fred decided to respond to the owner's cue, he got yelled at it as he was responding, and then when he finally arrived he got physically punished and yelled at some more. Not only is this really, really bad training (why would the dog want to come when called if this is the consequence?), but in my mind it's horribly abusive.

Quite frankly it ruined my visit to the dog park. I didn't feel that I could approach the owner about it -- my experience is that when you give unasked for advice it's generally met with anger and hostility. And so I abandoned the dog to his fate and left angry at the owner.

These past few days I've tried to think of it from the perspective of the owner. I can't believe that he doesn't love that dog. Really, would a person who didn't care about their dog bother to take him to a dog park and spend a part of their weekend day giving their dog an opportunity to run off leash? This is the act of someone who really does care.

Not to use this as an example of appropriate parenting, but if Fred were a child it would make more sense. A child is asked to come over to the parent, the child dawdles and has to be asked several times, and as the child finally heads towards the parent is chastised for not responding the first time. Children are capable of understanding that the yelling is for not responding the first time they are asked.

What pet owners need to understand is that our pets aren't capable of this type of understanding. The consequence they receive will apply to whatever they are doing at the exact moment it's delivered. So yelling at the dog as he is coming is punishing him for coming. The owner should have been heaping praise on his dog for coming when called, and then made a mental note to work more on recalls so that the dog would respond faster in the future.

But sometimes those of us who love animals are very judgemental about the way others treat their pets. And what we have to understand and continually remind ourselves is that not everyone has the same level of education when it comes to the care and treatment of animals.

My job as Humane Educator is to attempt to give people the tools they need to be better pet owners. Being an advocate for the pet means not only seeing it from the animal's point of view, but trying also to see it from the owner's point of view. Only through understanding how others see things will I be able to find a way to reach them and help change the way our pets are treated. Hopefully this is a lesson I'll remember.

Rascal Went Home!

Something I hear on a regular basis from people who don't work at HAWS is "I could never work in a shelter". While it can be sad and heartbreaking to deal with the issues we see daily in an animal shelter, seeing animals go to new homes with good families makes it all worth our while. Earlier this week our entire staff was overjoyed when Rascal finally went home after living here for 5 months.

Rascal was brought to HAWS on August 5, 2009 because his owners couldn't have him at their new place. As a Pit Bull his breed automatically made him a difficult placement. Not only are people leery about adopting them due to their bad reputations, HAWS also has additional restrictions on them. Many insurance companies will not provide home owners or renters insurance to families with pits as pets, and so one of our requirements is proof of insurance. We also do a little more scrutiny on potential adopters since we want to make sure our adopted dogs actually end up as beloved members of the family -- rather then fighting other dogs.

Unfortunately Pit Bulls get a bad rap. Yes -- they are large powerful dogs, but then so are Labrador Retrievers and Malamutes. Yes, they can cause damage when they bite, but then so can Border Collies and Dalmatians. Pit Bulls are one of the breeds that lead the lists for bite statistics, but those statistics are misleading.

Are Pit Bulls more dangerous because they make the list, or do they make the list because there are many more of them in the USA than there are, as an example, Old English Sheepdogs? It's difficult to know. The AKC lists the top 10 breeds in the USA each year, but Pit Bulls are not an AKC breed and so wouldn't be listed since they can't be registered. As a matter of fact, Pit Bulls aren't really a breed, but more of a type and include the American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers and their mixes.

One of HAWS functions is as a bite case facility -- we quarantine animals who have bitten a human breaking skin to ensure that the animal does not have rabies. Many times we have at least one or more dogs in our kennels with "bite case" signs on their cages. Very rarely are those bite case dogs Pit Bulls (we see many other breeds such as German Shepherds, Cocker Spaniels, Jack Russel Terriers, Border Collies, Poodles, etc). On the other hand it's not uncommon for anywhere from 25%-50% of our adoptable dogs to be Pit Bulls or mixes thereof.

Pit Bulls were bred to be tough dogs who could physically with stand the damage incurred by fighting other dogs. But they were also bred to be extremely tolerant of human interaction -- with aggression towards humans being bred out of them. Historically Pit Bulls have been highlighted in a positive manner. Sergeant Stubby is the most decorated dog in US military history for his work in WWI. Petey in the Little Rascals movie was a Pit Bull, as was Tige from the Buster Brown advertisements. Helen Keller had a Pit Bull as a pet, and Laura Ingalls Wilder's dog, Jack the brindle Bulldog is believed to have been a Pit Bull.

Pit Bulls are not a breed for everyone. They do have strong powerful jaws and they physically are strong animals. They should be well socialized as puppies, and go through training so that they have good manners. HAWS only places dogs we feel will be safe members of the community -- and that includes Pit Bulls who go through the same behavior evaluation that our other adoptable dogs go through.

Luckily Rascal passed our behavior evaluation. Boys from our Lad Lake program worked with him twice a week to instill some training and help him with his mental exercise. And our wonderful dog walkers made sure that he got out every day, sometimes three times a day, for exercise and attention. We would have preferred that Rascal find a home in less time than five months. However he is a great dog and we're happy we could give him a chance. We wish Rascal and his new family many years of love and happiness.

Lad Lake and Rascal

The boys from Lad Lake are doing wonderfully in our program. All the boys have started to really become good dog handlers and are developing training skills. But even more important -- and a key part to this program, I've seen a lot of growth from all the boys. Kevin is learning how to pay attention, Keanu is gaining confidence, Michael is getting over his disgust over putting treats in the dogs mouth and is better at following directions, Andrew is learning to be a team player, and Mike is developing some skills in coaching the other boys.

We've seen some of the dogs get adopted, however Mike and Michael have had an opportunity to work with one of the dogs for two months now. While that's a good thing for the boys since they've developed a bond for Rascal and have been able to teach him some amazing things, it's not so great for poor Rascal who's left homeless. While he's very handsome, his size and breed (pit bull possibly mixed with American Bulldog) make him a difficult placement

I credit this program for helping to provide Rascal with the mental enrichment he so desperately needs to make his days here good ones. And hopefully the video of Mike working with him that I just posted on his PetFinder posting helps to get him a home. And just how cute is that bow at the end -- the boys are so pleased with it!

Click a Chick

I'm been back from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers Conference in San Francisco since Monday, and am still reeling from all the great information I gleaned from the various speakers. It was a wonderful conference, and as always I learned a lot about different ways that I can be a better dog trainer.

The highlight of my trip was the opportunity to "Click a Chick". For years animal trainers have attended Terry Ryan's Chicken Camps in which they learned to clicker train chickens. Why chickens? Because they are an animal which most people haven't ever trained before, and so therefore won't come with bad training habits. Because people are less likely to bond with a chicken and give in to their emotions. Chickens are also very fast moving animals -- which requires the trainer to be spot on with their timing. And because the trainers aren't going to be taking the chickens home with them -- so therefore don't have to worry about how their training impacts the chicken as a pet.

While official chicken camps run for 4 days, the APDT version was only for a few hours -- however I really did learn a lot from the experience. I learned to remain still and only move when I was delivering the reinforcement (chicken pellets in a cup) so that the chicken was learning without being prompted and so that I didn't unintentionally create a visual cue. I also started to learn to move a little faster with my timing, and to reinforce more frequently.

I got video -- posted below. My friend Trish McMillan -- a behaviorist from the ASPCA, was my partner.

How to Raise a Puppy

Although the majority of my blog posts are about the programs I do with children, I actually do work quite a bit with adults. While I truly enjoy spending time with kids and being able to pass along my knowledge and passion for animals, I also love that I get an opportunity to make a difference with grown-ups. And lets face it -- when you spend a lot of time with kids it's sometimes refreshing to be able to relate to someone in your own age range (although it goes the opposite way sometimes as well!)

Working at an animal shelter we see many cases where an owner gives up on a pet because they cannot understand why the animal won't conform to their expectations. In some cases their expectations may be unreasonable. In other cases it may just be a matter of showing the owner how to train their pet so that they fit into the household better.

Some of the programs I present involve education for dog owners. While I love animals in general and know quite a bit about many pet species, my background is in dog training and behavior. As a Certified Pet Dog Trainer it gives me a great deal of pleasure to be able to help dog owners understand the canine members of their family and find ways to make it easier to live with them. Let's face it -- we are two different species and what each species finds "normal" can be two very different things.

Today it was my pleasure to be able to run my "How to Raise a Puppy And Keep Your Sanity" workshop. 9 puppies, 3 kids, and 10 adults all came together for an hour and a half to try and learn a little bit about each other. We talked about socialization, housetraining, nipping, chewing, and toys.

The most fun was allowing the puppies to play off leash. It was actually more than fun -- it was an opportunity for the pups to play with each other in a safe environment, and learn how to interact appropriately with members of their own species.

The hour and a half went way too quickly -- there was so much more information I would have liked to have shared with the new owners if I would have had the time. But hopefully I gave them enough information to get a good start, and many of them intend to sign up for the puppy socialization classes HAWS offers -- which will give them an even better opportunity to create well mannered, well adjusted dogs living in their homes.

HAWS and Lad Lake

I mentioned in a previous post that I was doing a program with Lad Lake -- a non-profit organization that provides services for at-risk kids.

Other shelters have worked with at-risk kids having them do dog training at their facility. Positive reinforcement training animals can teach the trainers patience, good communication skills and instill empathy. That makes dog training the perfect activity to do with kids who may need help in these areas.

This semester I'm working with 5 boys who range in age from 12 to 18 years. So far I have enjoyed working with them immensely. They are polite, follow directions well, and really seem to be enjoying the experience.

In addition to the dog training, I am also doing a 15 to 20 minute presentation each time they visit on a dog related topic. While I know much of this information already, it's been fun researching the material and putting together the slide presentations. My hope is that the boys will understand that learning can be fun and that it can be applied to something they're doing in the real world.

The top photo is of Michael with one of our adoptable 8 week-old Lab mix puppies. And to the right is Mike training 1-year old easily excited Mia to sit and calm down.

Pet Myths: Older Dogs Can't be Trained

Running the dog training program we hold here at HAWS, I have a lot of opportunities to talk to dog owners interested in having their dogs learn better manners. One question I get asked on occasion is, "He's already (5 year, 7 years, 9 years, etc), is it too late to train him". I always assure the owner that indeed their dog is not.

I've written quite a bit about Mystic who accompanies me on many of my HAWS education outings. My other dog is 13 year old Belle, a border collie mix -- possibly with Papillion, that I've had since she was about 8 months old. I don't use her for education programs because she gets over-whelmed with large numbers of kids trying to interact with her.

Despite the fact that she's lost some of her hearing, at 13 years of age Belle is still very agile, and her mind is still as sharp as ever.

Yesterday I held a program here at HAWS with a group of teenage boys. We were talking about dog training, and I announced that I would be bringing Mystic out to do a training demonstration. The boys asked for Belle instead, because they felt sorry for the poor dog that was whining to come out.

So I brought Belle out and did some clicker training with her. She was EXTREMELY pleased to be working, and was so focused on me I don't think she even noticed there were 6 adolescent kids in the room.

Clicker training involves no direction from the trainer, other than a click and a treat when the dog does something the trainer likes. It uses a process called shaping, in that the trainer clicks each small step that leads the dog towards the final desired behavior.

In Belle's case my intention was to train her to lie down with her head on the floor and a paw over her nose - it's something I see her do on occasion. First I was clicking her any time she lay down. Intially she was trying all the previous tricks she had been taught -- sit up, roll-over, crawl, and wave. After she was clicked several times for down it became her most offered behavior.

I then had to get her to rest her head on the floor. She was staring at me so that her head was directed upwards. I clicked anytime she lowered her head a bit, and made sure that the treat was delivered close to the floor.

It took 10 minutes, but finally she was laying down and resting her head on the floor. The next step would be to get that paw to cover her nose, but we ended it there. A good trainer trains a new behavior only a few minutes at a time because dogs actually learn faster that way. And you always end on a good note. I'm not always good at following those rules, but I wanted to make a good impression on the boys.

It was wonderful to see my senior dog have so much enthusiasm for learning after all these years. Both of us had a wonderful time, and I hope the boys learned something about older animals (people included) having value, and being capable of learning.

Campers Training Shelter Dogs

One of the camp activities that the older kids enjoy doing is dog training. We put the kids into groups of three, and each group is given a dog to train. Many of the dogs haven't ever learned anything from their previous owners, and many are a challange to work with.

The kids enjoy being able to spend time with a shelter dog, but they also learn that training a dog can be much more difficult than it looks. Some of the dogs truly want to figure out what the kids want, but just can't figure it out. It's a typical case of inter-species failure to communicate.

We don't tell the kids what they have to teach the dogs -- this is camp after all and it's meant to be fun. But we do show them how to teach whatever interests them, and sometimes make suggestions.

This summer HAWS adoptable dogs learned how to sit and lay down (and some learned to calm down in the presence of kids -- an invaluable lesson!), spin, shake, rollover, go through a hula hoop, crawl beneath chairs, and just look so cute that the kids had to give them free treats.

Clicker Training is Anti-Violence

HAWS dog trainer Ginny Marchel and I just completed a 3 week long program working with women and their children who have been exposed to violence. Many times these families have a difficult time communicating with each other in a positive manner. The children have often grown up knowing mostly criticism, and very rarely encouragement.

Adapting a program called SHIP (Strategic Humane Intervention Program) developed by Lynn Loar, Ph.D., we taught the families how to play the clicker training game with each other.

A clicker is a small handheld device used by trainers to teach animals new behaviors. The sound of the click is paired with something reinforcing to the animal. So every time the animal hears the click he gets a treat, an opportunity to play a fun game, a special toy, or anything else he loves. The trainer uses the sound of the click to "mark" desirable behavior the animal elicits. So if you have a dog who tends to jump on people you would wait until all four feet are on the floor, click the clicker and and give the dog a tasty treat.

Clicker training is also used to "shape" behaviors. When teaching a more complex behavior the click happens when the animals makes progress towards the end result. So if I wanted to teach a dog to wave I could shape it by waiting until the dog lifted his paw up off the ground just a half an inch and then click and treat. Over a period of time my expectations for that paw lift would gradually increase -- I might click the half an inch several times and then wait until the dog lifted his paw an inch, and then several inches, etc, until finally the paw was up in the air and moving back and forth several times.

The wonderful thing about clicker training is that the focus is on capturing the behavior you want, and ignoring the behavior you don't want. This is a wonderful way to build confidence and creativity in an animal, and eliminating negativity from your relationship.

The clicker training game is one that people can play with each other. One person is the "trainer" and one the "trainee". The trainer chooses a behavior that she wants to trainee to perform. The trainer can only communicate with the trainee through the sound of the clicker. The trainer is not allowed to tell the trainee that she is doing the wrong thing or give hints.

While clicker training was originally developed for the use with animals, the SHIP program uses it to teach families how to develop relationships using positive feedback. When playing the game mothers and children are not allowed to tell each other they are doing something wrong, and instead have to focus on what the other is doing correctly. The hope is that playing the game will help them in their relationship even after the program has ended.

The second part of the program is allowing the families to use what they've learned by training dogs. Last night Ginny and I brought HAWS adoptables Wayne and Winnie -- 10 week old pit bull puppies.

Wayne and Winnie are very rambunctious and tend to be a bit mouthy and jumpy. The families helped them by clicker training them to keep all 4 feet on the floor, sit and down. It was also great for Wayne and Winnie to get very important socialization to children and new adults.

It was a wonderful 3 weeks. The children and adults told us how much fun they had, and how much they would miss working with the dogs. Ginny and I would like to think they'll miss us too!