Master Keys

Most apartment dwellers have probably seen the building superintendent going into many apartments when something needs to be fixed. There must be a hundred apartments, but they only carry one key. This is a master key. Despite the great number of locks in the building that normally need individualized keys, the master key can unlock all of them. Although locks come in all shapes and sizes, with many innovative design variations, most locks are based on fairly similar concepts. Likewise, although dogs come in all shapes and sizes, with individual experiences and needs, certain master keys will expedite the training process for many of them. These are quasi-universal truths, and understanding them is a powerful kind of knowledge.


cyberpunk key graphic for the Voice key

THE VOICE

Your voice is your #1 most important training tool.

This concept lies at the core of Simpawtico’s training system, and we continually emphasize this point!

Talking to your dog is important because it helps establish a bond between you and your pet. This bond can improve your relationship and provide opportunities for affection and trust. The communication will also help your canines learn commands more effectively, as they can better understand what you expect. Additionally, talking to your dog can emotionally benefit you and your furry friend. It can help reduce stress, build confidence, and create a positive environment.

According to world-renowned veterinarian, behaviorist, and trainer Dr. Ian Dunbar, effective verbal feedback must be these three things. We teach (as do many great trainers) that your voice is your #1 training tool. As such, these three crucial qualities are the driving characteristics of good communication.

  • Ongoing: it must be a running commentary on your dog’s behavior
  • Binary: it must communicate whether responses are correct or incorrect. Our marker system does the bulk of this work
  • Analog: it must accurately represent how the dog is doing in that moment.

Marker Training

Marker training is also a powerful component of an effective communication system with your dog. Once a dog is fluent in markers, your training moves much faster.

We use three markers in our training system:

  • “YES!” is our terminal marker. This communicates success. It means, “That’s the right answer!” Your dog has completed a request or offered something we like; they’ve earned reinforcement and may move to access it.
  • “Good” is our support marker. It means “Keep going.” We want the dog to remain in behavior and keep working towards the terminal goal. You can also communicate the analog nature of the work by using your tone and volume with your support marker. Some things might be “gooder” than others, and you can give effective differential reinforcement this way.
  • “Nope” is the no-reward marker we use. It means “Try again.” This should be approached like you’re running a game show—mistakes aren’t things you reprimand them for. This is supportive with no confrontational tone to it. A marker like this helps avoid confusion. If we were to say nothing when they make a mistake, we would miss a moment to help show them the way. We’re always guiding them toward the “right” answers, and the markers are like playing the “Hot and Cold” game.

We have a video post about markers if you’re interested in learning more.

VOICE TIMING: contiguity

Contiguity, an additional factor that impacts reinforcement, is the time gap between a behavior and its reinforcer. If this period of separation is shorter, then learning occurs faster as it limits the possibility that another undesired response can be reinforced inadvertently. Typically, you only have one to one-and-a-half seconds from when your dog does something to when you provide feedback for those things to correlate in your dog’s brain.

Thus, feedback must be FAST. Micro speed on the order of seconds (even better to think in terms of milliseconds) is essential to communicating what you want and don’t like.

VOICE TIMING: speak before you move

Although talking to your dog is important, you must remember that dogs don’t process language as we do; they really only memorize the noises we make. So, being consistent about those noises—specifically markers and the words we use to name behaviors—is crucial.

That said, you also have to consider overshadowing, which means that if you present two inputs to a dog, they’ll ignore the least relevant one. In most cases, physical prompts are more relevant than verbal prompts to a dog because body language makes more sense to them than noises humans make. For example, if you say “Sit” at the same instant that you give a hand signal, your dog will ignore the spoken word and respond to the hand signal. You short-circuit this problem by speaking a split-second before moving your body.

This timing creates a classically conditioned relationship; the unconditioned stimulus (the verbal prompt) reliably predicts the conditioned stimulus (the physical prompt).

This is how your dog learns that words are important instructions. We may begin the process of removing the training aid (the hand signal) and getting them on voice control.

For reinforcement markers (e.g., “Yes” and “Good”), we condition the markers to be secondary reinforcers, meaning that the sound of the marker has a rewarding effect unto itself. Thus it always precedes the reward-event (and not at the same time or after).


cyberpunk key graphic for the Movement key

MOVEMENT

Movement is motivating to dogs.

We move a lot in our training and want the dogs we work with to move, too. One of the ways we specifically do this is to have dogs move into reward. In contrast, many training systems passively push food at dogs. We want the dogs to move to take their rewards, whether that’s food, a toy, or just praise and petting.

This movement is motivating for a dog. Persistent, energetic behavior is a survival trait, so it makes sense to a dog to move to acquire things they want rather than having them continually brought to them.

Movement Regulates the Nervous System

Movement helps to regulate the body’s response to stress. Movement can help activate the “social engagement system,” which triggers the body’s calming responses. This response can then manage feelings of fear and threat, allowing your dog to relax and feel safe. Movement also helps to create neural pathways that increase resilience and reduce symptoms of depression or anxiety.

By engaging in regular movement (especially when associated with positive experiences), your dog can learn how to control their responses to stress better and react more healthily and productively.

Movement Implies Choice

Movement also creates a perception of choice. Freedom of choice is a primary reinforcer for animals (including humans). By creating these instances where the dog can choose to move into reinforcement (contingent on other choices they make), we are empowering them to take an active role in their training.

And choice is a primary reinforcer!

Ultimately, movement is a powerful tool when delivering feedback to your dog and can make a huge difference in the success of your training. It allows for quicker learning, a better understanding of cues, and greater emotional regulation.


cyberpunk key graphic for the Reward-Events key

MODULAR REWARD-EVENTS

Traditionally, rewards have been thought of as things we give to dogs. We think that’s short-sighted. We prefer to think in terms of modular reward-events.

Rewards are interactive events that vary in duration and intensity.

Skillfully deploying reward-events will considerably ramp up the positive reinforcement process’s power. As we design good reward-events, there are some components to think about:

  • Presents: think about the things we give to the dog. This could be food, toys, or even opportunities to do things. Also, sequential rewards feel like more to a dog than if it’s all at once. So, for example, “treat-treat-treat” is more valuable than a handful of treats.
  • Compliments: enthusiastic praise is very important, and this is connected to the Voice Key (above)
  • Massages: strategic petting and rubbing in certain places can also light up the pleasure centers in your dog’s brain via proprioceptive input.

We’ve discussed this in our video post about modular reward-events if you want to learn more. Most owners, in our experience, are very weak in this area, so developing your use of reward-events will greatly increase your dog’s buy-in and motivation. BOTTOM LINE: experiences are better than things.


cyberpunk key graphic for the Tension Control key

TENSION CONTROL

Important concept: the leash is a seatbelt, not a steering wheel. It’s crucial to understand that the leash is not a tool for steering your dog but rather for keeping them close by. Just like a seatbelt prevents you from going too far forward in a car, the leash should only stop your dog from getting too far away. If they try to pull ahead anyway, don’t be tempted to yank them back towards you—use the tension on the leash to block it and WAIT until they relax.

The moment you feel your dog relax, give them a little slack on the leash. They shouldn’t feel restrained. They’ll probably take it and go again, and that’s OK—we expect this. Keep blocking and releasing the leash until they can stand in balance. Once they can just stand there observing, we’ve successfully re-engaged their brain’s capacity for thinking and learning. They must choose this and not be forced into it. This leash strategy is called “Tension Control.”

This is a core strategy of Simpawtico’s Leashmaster system. Any time your dog is attached to a leash and a human is holding that leash, tension control needs to be part of that dynamic!


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