PDTE 2013 Winter Newsletter

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A strong partnership: Empowerment to an intimidating environment UNDINE NICKERL, GERMANY TOMTE My canine friend Tomte knows cues or signals, not commands. We don’t do obedience training like “Sit“ or “Heel“. Instead, he knows “Wait“ and does this reliably. He likes to run off-leash and to immerse himself in his own world. He doesn’t always have time for me. Sometimes, other things are more important to him. But that’s all right. When I call him, he comes to me happily and quickly. This reliable recall means freedom and safety for him. Tomte has already learned a lot. He knows how to behave well in our human world. If he gets into an exciting or upsetting situation, he is now able to cope with it, of his own accord. It’s important to me to give him as much latitude as he needs to be content. He is allowed to make his own decisions and gain his experiences. At the same time, I am always there whenever he needs support. This has made Tomte confident and self-reliant. Our relationship is characterized by mutual respect and trust. I like him a lot, and I think he likes me, too. We are friends. It has not always been like this. He came to me unexpectedly, out of the blue, on Christmas Eve of 2007. Friends of mine – veterinarians volunteering for a spay-and-neuter project in Southern Europe – had found him lying injured at the side of a highway. The first time I saw him he was extremely malnourished and suffering from an old, untreated luxation of the hip. He underwent surgery for his hip and recovered quickly. In the following weeks I got to know a dog who showed timid, insecure or fearful reactions in almost any given situation. It was only in interaction with our dogs that we saw him exuberant and happy, acting freely. In such situations he seemed like a perfectly normal, healthy dog. He became familiar with us quite soon, too, and his behaviour towards us was careful, but increasingly open. Severe problems developed on our walks. After a phase of absolute passivity he began to bark and snap at passers-by, lorries, motorbikes and other dogs. Outdoors, anything that moved was too much for him. Our dog-walking area is much frequented by dogs, strollers, children, joggers, cyclists and mountain bikers. In order to get there, we have to cross a street with a very high volume of traffic. Over the following weeks my walks with him became extremely stressful and dangerous. More than once he almost pulled me into traffic because I had not noticed a truck in time. I had to see all potential fear triggers before he did, in order to make the situa- 32
tion bearable for him by creating the biggest possible distance. The consequence of Tomte’s behaviour was that he could not be let off-leash. He had no opportunity to make contact with other dogs, and I was tense, insecure and fearful as well. This was not a good foundation for having fun and adventures together. This was not the life I want a dog to live. EMPOWERMENT I am an occupational therapist. One significant element of my work is empowerment. That means encouraging people to discover their own strengths and to make use of their capabilities for problem solving. This ability affords any individual, whether human or animal, personal power and a certain control over their environment, which is crucial for emotional well-being. The individual does not feel helpless or at the mercy of a frightening situation. For our dogs, James O’Heare simplifies the definition of “Empowerment as the process by which individuals acquire behaviour patterns that effectively and efficiently contact reinforcers and avoid or escape aversers. To be empowered is to be adaptable and capable of operating on one’s own environment.” Tomte’s strategy of handling arousing situations by barking and snapping had been successful for him so far, because no one ever came too close. I wanted him to become familiar with other possibly useful behaviours. These behaviours were to be better adapted to our human world, make him feel safe and increase his sense of wellbeing. Today, he enjoys the freedom and self-composure to truly cope with such situations, and he is confident and content. can become an unconscious marker signal, often given most untimely. And last, but not least, Tomte has learned that he can control his environment through his behaviour. By behaving in a way that I like, he influences my behaviour – I do something that is pleasant for him. He steers and controls his environment, which is self-reinforcing. As marker signals for Tomte I use a clicker and a verbal marker. His marker word is “click“, and like the clicker, it has been classically conditioned. Both markers tell him that his behaviour is correct and a reward is forthcoming. In highly arousing situations I use the clicker because it is easier to perceive for Tomte, and he reacts to it faster than to a spoken word. In everyday life, I use our verbal marker. I don’t train specific exercises like “Sit“, “Heel“, “Down“ or “Look at me“. I use the marker to mark a desired behaviour. In contrast to “classical clicker training“ the aim is not to teach tricks through frequent repetition. I support Tomte in changing his own behaviour. He learns to better adapt to our human environment. Thus, today I mark being able to remain calm when looking at an unfamiliar dog, orienting to me or moving aside when a jogger approaches. I reward him whenever he shows “good“ behaviour. In this process I consider it important to create an environment in which he makes as few mistakes as possible. Outdoors, my influence in this respect is limited, of course. If he cannot show the desired behaviour, I help him get out of the situation. His behaviour is never corrected. Instead, I wait for the next opportunity. Then he can do better and learn something. REINFORCER In order to accomplish a change in Tomte´s behaviour, a reward must become a so-called reinforcer, something that makes a real good benefit to him in this particular situation. I would define a reward as something that I expect my dog will like and want to have. A reinforcer, by contrast, is defined in psychology as a consequence of a behaviour that increases the probability of occurrence of this behaviour. REWARD Thus, whether a reward is also a reinforcer can only be assessed over time. It has proven to be a reinforcer if it increases the latency, rate, duration or magnitude of a behaviour. In order to achieve this, rewards have to meet the dog’s needs and desires. If Tomte had just been scared by a lorry or a stranger, food would certainly not have been a good reward. He could not take a treat because his body was primed to fight or flee, not to feed. If, however, I gave him the opportunity to increase his distance to the stimulus, the behaviour “increasing distance“ definitely became a strong reward. If he wants to chase a cat, I cannot reach him with food, either. In this case, “watching the cat together“ can become a good reinforcer. If this opportunity has passed, I can make food more valuable by showing him a MARKER SIGNALS In order to communicate with Tomte, I use marker signals. His reactions are very, very fast. I am not. The advantage of a marker is that it allows me to mark and reinforce desired behaviours most precisely at any given time. By aptly choosing the reward, using varied and functional reinforcers, I make my reward more attractive and raise anticipation. Also, working with markers reduces the danger of giving Tomte confusing feedback through unconscious, adverse body language. Reaching into the treat bag, for example, Talks in AGM 2012 33
Page 1 and 2: pdte news Winter 2013 Issue 20 www.
Page 3 and 4: Board’s corner Message from the P
Page 5 and 6: Welcome new our members ITALY Valen
Page 7 and 8: BELGIUM Ria Caeyers My interest in
Page 9 and 10: POLAND It’s never easy to write a
Page 11 and 12: Other events,courses,seminars, work
Page 13 and 14: Greetings from member countries BEL
Page 15 and 16: AGM Presentations 2012 15
Page 17 and 18: ences with dogs, and they may be a
Page 19 and 20: Some owners think that their garden
Page 21 and 22: SOME EXCUSES Reasons people give fo
Page 23 and 24: shown. Even the flies don’t touch
Page 25 and 26: Malek & Korah - A personal experien
Page 27 and 28: Don’t Shout at the Dog MAXWELL MU
Page 29 and 30: Yellow Dog: A year in the life of a
Page 31: even suggest that they go back. Han
Page 35 and 36: looking calmly at the trigger with
Page 37 and 38: Dog pulse in daily situations AGNES
Page 39 and 40: a pulse that is very high, especial
Page 41 and 42: DIFFICULTIES IN TRAINING These can
Page 43 and 44: half-sister Nut from the same mothe
Page 45 and 46: in the car, I suggest that the owne
Page 47 and 48: CONVENTIONAL PHYSIOTHERAPY The phys
Page 49 and 50: little bit about its development. W
Page 51 and 52: MINUTES OF THE AGM 2012 In accordan
Page 53 and 54: The response from and interaction b
Page 55 and 56: Dear PDTE members. Our new web

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