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| Bonus picture of Maus, just in case you forgot what he looks like. |
Veterinary Transformation: Fear Free Initiative with Debbie Morgan
Fear free veterinary practice is a newer idea, and it's one I'm really excited about. Many pets don't get routine or even emergency vet care due to fear and/or anxiety. Reducing pet fear and anxiety not only improves medical care for pets and makes for a better experience for owners, it also helps to prevent professional stress and burnout in our veterinary staff. Debbie's presentation on the fear free initiative was one of the lectures I have been really looking forward to, and I wasn't disappointed. Debbie outlined the key concepts of the fear free program to improve physical and emotional well being during medical care. The concepts involved are an approach that considers the how the animal sees the environment, a touch gradient designed with the individual patient in mind, a Fear, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (FAS scale) that allows for concrete assessment of an animal's emotional state, gentle control that is safe and comfortable, and cooperative care training. Like Debbie, I could go on about this topic forever, but time is finite, so I'd encourage anyone who is interested in the fear free movement to explore the Fear Free Pets and Fear Free, Happy Homes websites.
Please Sir, May I Have Some Food, Water . . . and Control? with Susan Friedman
Control is a big buzzword in dog training right now. Susan makes the argument for control as a positive reinforce just like food or water (or orgasms, just in case you thought behavioral science was boring). Behavior exists as a way to exert control; just like eyes are for seeing and ears are for hearing, behavior is for creating desirable outcomes. In fact, many of the reactivity and aggression issues I work with can be traced back to the dog's inability to control her environment resulting in the creative of maladaptive behaviors - and a lot of behavioral rehabilitation is teaching the owner how to give the dog back her control. The way we give animals control is to give them choices. For example, letting them chose whether or not to engage in a training session or work on a specific husbandry behavior. Of course, sometimes animals don't have a choice in whether or not to do something, like having a broken leg examined or being vaccinated (one of the reason vet care can be difficult). Susan suggests that knowing this, creating a "lifestyle of control" where dogs are frequently allowed and encouraged to exert control over their environment will create an animal that is more resilient to the loss of control. This is true for what we know about humans as well: autonomy, or the belief that you have control over your life, makes you more resilient to difficult situations.
Arousal: Science, Not Sex with Lindsay Wood Brown
Arousal is another buzz word in dog training, and it's one that doesn't have a good definition (oh, Ken). The majority of Lindsay's talk revolved around trying to define what exactly we mean when we talk about arousal. Behavior trainers like myself will describe reactive dogs as having arousal issues, but in sports dogs, high arousal is often a desired trait. What are we talking about? Lindsay makes the argument that arousal is an internal state, like joy or attention, and so we cannot directly change it. While it might seem like it sometimes, there is no "arousal dial" for us to turn one way or another to directly adjust our dog's arousal. Instead, we need to look to environment/antecedents and behaviors to influence arousal. Lindsay proposes that arousal itself is never the issue - arousal does not create or break behavior. Instead, it is genetics, reinforcement history, and environment/antecedents that directly impact behavior.
I'm going to have to roll that one around in my head for a bit because I'm not sure I agree with Lindsay. I mean, not that last bit about genetics, reinforcement, and antecedents, that's solid - I mean the bit about our internal state having no influence on behavior. That doesn't "feel" quite right . . .
Free Cookies? Non-Contingent Reinforcement for Frustration with Sarah Owings
I liked this presentation, probably because it was a concrete tool for my toolbox instead of "just" theory (I love theory, but I've had a lot of it today). Non-contingent reinforcement is an antecedent arrangement strategy. There are several bits and pieces to it, ideas from on person and theory from another. Basically, it's providing free access to a reinforcer without asking or waiting for a behavior. Often, we're told to "wait for quiet" or "wait for calm," and there are many instances where this is not possible for a given dog. Sarah suggests using this tool when the problem behavior is fluent and has low latency (occurs quickly and predictably under certain circumstances), the animal has a narrow repertoire of alternate behaviors it can offer, the reinforcer is safe to deliver (so this is not a tool to use with, say, car chasing), and ignoring the problem behavior actually sets up a system of variable or intermittent reinforcement.
Sarah used several case studies to illustrate use of non-contingent reinforcement, but the one that stuck out for me was the over greeter. Often we're told to ignore our dogs when we get home, and for many dogs, this is fine. They learn that people returning home is not that exciting. However, some dogs escalate their behavior when they don't receive their reinforcement; ignoring results in bruises and torn clothes. In this case, instead of ignoring the dog, Sarah required the owners to give the dog five minutes of calm, undivided attention the instant they got home, no matter what the dog was doing. Because the reinforcer was immediately available, the dog had no need to escalate behavior. Within the space of ten or so sessions, the dog was able to calmly greet it's owners and then disengage on its own. It was striking to watch the change in the dog's behavior, and I'm pleased to have this new tool in my kit.
Animals in Control with Emelie Johnson Vegh, Eva Bertilsson, and Peggy Hogan
Continuing on the theme of control in animal care, Emelie, Eva, and Peggy talked about how to create a "lifestyle of control" (to borrow Susan's term) for our animals. I really, really enjoyed this presentation as it helped me to formalize my thoughts on a lot of the training I've been doing with Kaylee; I've tried to make control and choice a part of her daily life, and I think it's paid off in spades for us. Emelie, Eva, and Peggy divided this topic up into three sections. First, they talked about requests, an animal tells us what reinforcer they want in order to meet their needs. For example, when Kaylee scratches at the door to ask to be let into the yard. Second, there are choice behaviors, where an animal communicates to us what reward they want between several options. Third, and most interesting to me, are start button behaviors. These are behaviors in which the animal indicates it is ready for an activity before it's started. There are a few types, but the example I think of is Kaylee's grooming table. Three or four times a week, Kaylee and I practice grooming. I always start by inviting her up on the grooming table. It is her choice to join me or not, and it is her choice to continue working with me. If at any point she wants to stop or take a break, all she needs to do is jump off the grooming table. I believe that offering her the choice actually makes her more likely to stay working and engage. Kaylee has never refused to start the grooming game, and she rarely declines to jump back on the table after a break. And I could go on and on about start button behaviors and how good they are, but if I don't stop now, I never will. I'll ear mark this as a topic to revisit in another blog, though. It deserves more discussion.
AND THEN I touched Hannah Branigan. It was good. For me, anyway. I mean, awkward. But ohso good . . .
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