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Stamp: a training experiment

March 2001
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Baby Stamp's second day in New York City

             When Stamp came to live with us I had already used Bridge and Target training techniques in tandem with other methods to work with a number of animals, but I was fascinated with finding out what kind of results I’d get using Bridge and Target as the primary means of training a puppy from day one.  The method stresses the idea of explaining to the animal what one wants rather than either shaping the behavior incrementally or physically molding the animal into the behavior.  The Bridge part are the verbal cues that the animal learns mean either ‘you’re doing the right thing, keep doing it’ or ‘That was what I wanted!  You’re terrific and might even get a treat’.  Although this shares similarities with clicker training, we use our voice to create the bridge sound, freeing up hands for targeting.  The Target part refers to both what the animal touches (the trainer’s fingers, a stick, a square piece of cardboard etc.) and which part of the body the animal uses to touch the target.  For example, if I ask Stamp to put his chin on my knee, the action might be referred to as a chin target to my knee, and my knee can also be referred to as a target.  It sounds more complicated than it actually is.

 

            At any rate, Stamp was taught the names of a wide variety of body parts including chin, nose, cheek, shoulder, tail, hip, and foot.  He also learned some concepts like slow, fast, look, stop, and keep going.  Now that he knows all these different things, I can ‘talk’ him through new behaviors quite easily.  A simple example would be teaching him to appear to be sad.  This is often conveyed in imagery by the dog resting chin and foot wearily on his owner’s lap.  By combining a chin target and a foot target, and asking Stamp to target to someone’s leg, I can create the look without actually having a miserable dog.

touch chin
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touch left foot

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looking sad
















This method of training has enabled me to explain new actions to Stamp very quickly which is a real boon when he’s acting.  Stamp is able to put together new actions, or add variations to already trained actions, very quickly which really helps get the job done.  If the director suddenly gets a new idea, such as having him run across the room and jump up and down against someone to get their attention instead of a previously rehearsed run to the person and bark behavior, I can show him the new behavior a couple of times, pointing out exactly where he should target, and he’s able to perform the new action.

 

            The links below offer more information about Bridge and Target training and also about dog training in general.

Bridge and Target article for American Animal Trainer Magazine

Article about training terriers for Just Terriers Magazine

A list people involved in performance events with terriers

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July 05 | Clean Run

Editorializing…

Are the Newest Training Methods the Only Right Way?

By Sassie Joiris

Browsing through my collection of old dog training books, I picked up The Amateur Trainer, published in 1929, and sub-titled, "Force System Without the Whip." Haberlien, it seems, developed a modern system of dog training far superior to old-fashioned trainers. In another book, The Spaniel and Its Training, F.H.F. Mercer had developed a system of dog training that far surpassed the inferior methods of his predecessors; he wrote his book in 1890. I grabbed book after book, on a mission. Sure enough, virtually every dog trainer’s methods surpass those who came before—books from 1938, 1940, 1965, 1980, up to this century—all contained the secrets that less competent predecessors were not privy to.

The most important training knowledge is that there is no such thing as the "right way" to train dogs. Historically trainers using new methods have accused trainers who came before them of being harsh, cruel, or ignorant. There are even trainers who will go so far as to imply that the training methods of old were unsuccessful across the board, and that the new methods are the ones that work. This sentiment expressed by dog trainers over 100 years ago about their predecessors, returns repeatedly.

The progression from a traditional to a new method generally follows the same course. The person in question starts looking for new methods when the old methods do not yield the desired results. The new method does yield the desired results: the trainer concludes that the old method is faulty and the new method is not. To further compound belief, most people who are using this new method share similar experiences: they enjoy training more, their dogs are happier, their accomplishments soar. Clearly this method is the secret to success. The missing information is that people who are having success with another, perhaps more traditional method don’t usually see any reason to switch. Why switch when they’re getting the results that they want. As such, these trainers don’t participate in the discussions about the old versus new methods because they haven’t had any need to learn the new methods.

Although it is tempting to believe that one has the answer, especially when all the pieces suddenly fall into place with spectacular results after years of frustration and less than stellar performances—there isn’t one answer. Over the last 30 years my training skills and methods have constantly evolved. Each dog has been trained differently from the one before him, although the changes have mostly been gradual tweaks from year to year as I’ve studied, learned, and re.ned my techniques. The observable differences between the methods I use with my current dog and the methods I used with my .rst dog in 1974 are immense, but the intangibles aren’t all that different. My .rst dog came to each lesson with a sparkle in her eye and joy in her demeanor: we were going to do something together, something fun, and she couldn’t wait. Not privy to the moralizing or arguing about "laws of training" that we people obsess with, she didn’t know that a leash correction would kill her enthusiasm, that without treats she had no motivation to work. Gee, she didn’t even know that terriers aren’t supposed to like training! Poor dog, she really didn’t know much, did she?

We train, we experiment, sometimes we fail, and sometimes we succeed. In time we .nd our own way. For every disciple of a method there is a detractor, for every theory an opposite. To keep myself balanced, I try to study trainers who are successful using techniques that seem "wrong" to me. Sure, it’s great to go to a seminar by someone who trains fundamentally the same way I do, but I learn so much more by watching an expert at a technique I’m uncomfortable with. At the least I can con.rm my suspicion that the method isn’t right, at best I see dogs performing happily, willingly, and accurately and I’ve got much food for thought.

It’s time we cut ourselves and each other a break. I love the way I train now, but the gospel I preach might well be a far cry from how I train in another decade or two. The methods I use might not seem comfortable at all to someone else. Since there are huge differences in temperament and style among trainers, not to mention among dogs, a wide variety of different methods will be useful and successful. To train a dog successfully, find a method that you and your dog are comfortable with, and go for it.

Sassie Joiris

Sassie Joiris trains animal actors (birds, farm animal, cats, and dogs) for television and .lm. Having taught competitive obedience classes for 24 years, she started learning agility three years ago. Her Norfolk Terrier, Ch. Stamp MX, MXJ, OAC, NJC, TN-N, JE, is her .rst agility dog. He’s half way to his MACH.