Robert Forto

learning theory

The Future Home of Iditarod Dreams: Gone to the Dogs

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This past weekend was all about dogs. Literally and figuratively. I spent hours meeting with new friends and getting advice on every front. I ran dogs with my neighbor and met with the owners of probably the most famous Siberian Husky sled dog kennel in the world. They only live about a mile from me and I am glad to have made their acquaintance.

On Saturday night I met with Iditarod and Quest musher Hugh Neff and his girlfriend/handler/partner Tamra and had a great meal at the Roadside Inn in Meadow Lakes. We talked about the Iditarod, my goals, dreams and aspirations and the prospect of running dogs in the future. I think this may be the year for Hugh in the Yukon Quest and maybe even the Iditarod. It is rumored that a lot of the big names are getting out of the sport and I think he has a chance! Hugh is such a nice, down to earth guy and what better person to learn about the Last Great Race.

After dinner we headed over to the Redington place to pick up a dog house for my new dog, Shifter and spent a few minutes visiting. If you know anything about the sport of mushing and the Iditarod you know who the Redington’s are. What a dynasty and such much history in that family.

On Sunday night I had the pleasure of spending time with friends in the neighborhood and had a great dinner and shared stories about mushing, Alaska and living a life with dogs. Can it be any better? I don’t think so.

On Labor Day it was gorgeous! I was able to work outside for the first time in days and managed to fill up the dumpster yet again. I think that is the sixth load now and many more to go. I got the bill the other day (over $400.00) but it is a necessary expense. I managed to whip up a new recipe from a Facebook friend, a pot roast  made with a Lipton Onion Soup packet and some veggies and enjoyed the late meal watching an absolutely beautiful sunset over Denali from my living room window.

Now with the official end to summer, the leaves are quickly changing here in the North and will all fall soon. Within a month or so I hope to see snow and pray that most of my outside work on the property is wrapped up before it gets too cold.

I sure hope so because I am not very fond of working in 10 or 20 below zero. Unless its working with dogs, of course!

I welcome your comments and suggestions. Please comment below.

Robert Forto | Team Ineka | Alaska Dog Works | Mushing Radio

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Robert Forto is the host of The Dog Works Radio Show and is the training director of Alaska Dog Works. Robert Forto can be reached through his website at www.alaskadogworks.com

Influential Dog Trainers and Their Contributions-Part 4

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Influential Dog Trainers and their Contributions-Part 4

Over the past several weeks I have posted articles on those individuals that contributed to the dog training world in one way or another and shaped this industry into what it is today. While there are many different “styles” of dog training, much of the principles and techniques can be traced back to these individuals. I would love to hear who you think are influential in the world of dog training. You can contact me by leaving an comment below or sending an email to live@dogdoctorradio.com

Dunbar and Pryor

In the mid to late 1980’s dog trainers began to move away from training procedures that were based primarily on negative reinforcement and punishment methods.  Positive reinforcement became the centerpiece of many training philosophies.  Dr. Ian Dunbar, a veterinarian, and animal behaviorist, was vividly aware that many people were uncomfortable, and even dead set against, the use of aversive corrections.  In response, Dunbar developed a positive motivational training procedure that revolved around the use of food rewards; “Treat Training” had arrived.  Dunbar was also instrumental in the formation of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (A.D.PT.) in 1997.

Karen Pryor’s contributions to the dog-training world could very well fill an entire book, and a large one at that!  Pryor is a scientist, animal trainer, seminar leader, and writer that bridged the chasm between scientific conditioning principles and mainstream application with real world situations that the average person could identify with.

In her 1984 best-selling book, Don’t Shoot the Dog, she explained the principles of operant conditioning that she had learned while working with marine animals in a language that the average pet owner could understand, and more importantly, apply.  Her seminars showed how these same principles could provide a training method that was more friendly and positive. Pryor’s “Clicker Game” was a stroke of genius in conveying the concept of a secondary, or conditioned reinforcer to trainers and pet owners alike.

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Dr. Robert Forto is the training director for Denver Dog Works and the host of the popular radio program, The Dog Dog Doctor Radio Show

Influential Dog Trainers and Their Contributions- Part 3

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Pfaffenberger, Scott, Fuller, Reynolds

Trainers for decades have understood that there is more to training canines than a set of procedures, or simple applications of principles, no matter how sound.  A trainer must be patient, and an astute observer of the canine’s body language.  The best trainers all have one thing in common, they know how to read the dog.

Effective trainers understand the entire dog.  It cannot be denied that learning theory is important or that behaviors can be increased or decreased with reinforcement or punishment.  However, breed or species differences and genetics are an often overlooked part of the equation that determines how well a canine is trained.  A Labrador or Golden Retriever would be a much better choice than an English Bulldog for work where picking up items is important. Understanding the breed goes a long way in determining the training procedure.

Clarence Pfaffenberger was responsible for screening and evaluating canines for the Guide Dogs for the Blind and Dogs for Defense organizations.  In 1963, he published The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior, a work that underscored the importance of genetic knowledge when breeding canines for specific uses. Pfaffenberger developed some of the earliest behavior and temperament tests.

Dr. John Paul Scott and his colleague Dr. John Fuller have spent in excess of twenty-years doing research on canines.  Their work focuses on the role that heredity assumes in the development of canine behavior.

Scott and Fuller published Genetics and the Social Behaviors of the Dog, which is considered by many to be the Rosetta Stone of canine behavior.  They are also credited with the discovery, and identification of the critical socialization periods of puppies.  Their research showed what many trainers have always suspected; there are significant differences between breeds when it comes to motivational characteristics and a lot of those are related to breeding practices.

In relation to breeding in dog sledding, Dr. Arleigh Reynolds is a balancing act of action, access and admiration. Many people want access to Reynolds. Dr. Reynolds is a canine exercise physiologist and nutritionist and he is lucky enough to mix his love of sled dogs, research, and teaching into a job that he adores. Reynolds is one of the most renowned mushing researchers in the field. He holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and a Ph.D. from Cornell University. He is also a breeder of some of the best sled dogs in the sport. Reynolds is a line-breeder. Line-breeding procreates pups using the same or closely related ancestors on both sides of the pedigree. The purpose is to foster dogs that are increasingly similar in size, temperament and uniformity, which is important because a higher percent make the team.

Clarence Pfaffenberger worked closely with Scott and Fuller, and was given credit for his “real-world” testing of Scott and Fuller’s laboratory generated theories. Dogs breeding for the sport of mushing is very similar to the work of these researchers.

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Dr. Robert Forto is the training director for Dog Works Training Center, a musher training for his first Iditarod under the Team Ineka banner, and the host of the popular Dog Doctor Radio Show

Influential Dog Trainers and their Contributions Part 2

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Influential Dog Trainers and their Contributions Part 2

This is continuing series on the most influential people in dog training and how they effect how we train dogs today.

Most and Koehler

Colonel Conrad Most wrote Training Dogs in 1910.  This work is thought by many to be one of, if not the first, dog training “how to” manual.  Colonel Most began training police dogs in 1906 in Germany.  Soon thereafter he began to explain canine learning tendencies from a handler’s perspective.  In his manual Training Dogs the Colonel exhibited an extraordinary understanding of the principles of operant conditioning, this was nearly thirty-years prior to the publication of B. F. Skinner’s The Behavior of Organisms.  In the 1940’s Colonel Most was sharing his knowledge with the trainers at the German Dog Farm, a center that trained dogs for the blind.  Many of his methods would be considered “heavy-handed” by today’s standards; nevertheless, it would be remiss not to acknowledge the Colonel’s contribution to the training procedures used by previous guide dog trainers, many of which are still used today.

William Koehler (1934-1998) began his career by training dogs for the military.  After World War II, Koehler became the lead trainer of the Orange Empire Dog Club, which was well known, and envied for the large number of obedience titles that it’s members earned.

William Koehler, along with his son Dick, purportedly had trained in excess of forty thousand canines at their own training facility.  Just as with Colonel Conrad Most, Koehler’s training method would be considered “heavy-handed” by many and downright inhumane by some.  He based his procedure largely on a combination of negative reinforcement and punishment.   Negative reinforcement is built upon the premise of the canine complying in order to remove or avoid an unpleasant stimulus.  Punishment, on the other hand, is described as a consequence that will make a behavior less likely to reoccur in the future.  Just as with positive reinforcement procedures, the principles are built on the foundation laid by Thorndike’s Law of Effect.

Mary R. Burch, Ph.D., and Jon S. Bailey, Ph.D. met and observed Bill Koehler in the course of their research.  They stated that Koehler “…appeared then to be a kind and gentle man, and he clearly loved dogs.”

Many have described Koehler’s methods as “heavy-handed”, but in all fairness, he was one of the few trainers in the country in the 1980’s that was known for his ability to rehabilitate tough dogs, and was often the canine’s last hope.  Again, whether one agrees with his methods or not, Koehler’s impact on dog training procedures can not be understated. Nor can his contribution to the effectiveness of negative reinforcement be understated.  While dog training has indeed moved toward a friendlier, more positive approach, perhaps several of Most’s and Koehler’s methods are used today in a majority of police, military, and advanced assistance dog training facilities.

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Robert Forto is the host of The Dog Works Radio Show and is the training director of Alaska Dog Works. Robert Forto can be reached through his website at www.alaskadogworks.com

Influential Dog Trainers and their Contributions Part 1

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By Robert Forto

Walker and Saunders

Lead Dog RevengeHelene Whitehouse Walker was a respected breeder of Standard Poodles.  Poodles were suffering from the stereotype that they were “sissies”, so in 1933 Walker decided to show dog fanciers that poodles were much more than just a pretty face.

Walker was by all accounts a persuasive woman.  She began approaching dog clubs and breeders alike with the idea of something that had never been done before, holding competitive obedience trails at conformation dog shows.  In 1933, at Mount Kisco, New York, eight dogs competed in America’s first obedience trial.  North Westchester and Somerset Hills Kennel Clubs followed suit with obedience trials at their dog shows the following year.  By 1936 the American Kennel Club (A.K.C.) developed the Regulations and Standards for Obedience Test Trials, and was using those regulations at licensed obedience events.

In 1937, Helene Walker and Blanche Saunders went on a cross country trip giving obedience demonstrations in order to sell the idea that training one’s dog was beneficial to the owner and the public.  Four years later the New England Dog Training Club became the first obedience club to become a member of the A.K.C.  Sixty-five years later there are over five hundred obedience clubs that are members of the A.K.C.

Blanche Saunders continued the campaign that she and Walker started on their incredible 1937 trek with amazing tenacity.  She promoted the emerging sport of dog obedience at some of the nation’s largest venues and the most prestigious events.  Saunders demonstrated dog obedience techniques in front of a crowd of seventy-thousand at Yankee Stadium.  Her and her dogs also appeared at the premier event of National Dog Week, The Westminster Dog Show at Rockefeller Center.

The Complete Book of Dog Obedience by Saunders was published in 1954 and is purportedly the first book written “specifically for obedience instructors.”  Treat Training and other positive reinforcement methods of training canines were virtually unknown in Saunders’ era.  Training methods of the time revolved around the solicitation of escape and avoidance behaviors.  In How Dogs Learn (1999), Burch and Bailey write:

“Saunders advocated praise, kindness, and fairness.  She listed ‘too little praise’ as one of the most common mistakes of dog owners.  Saunders was perhaps the first author to repeatedly stress the importance of reinforcement in training, thus starting the trend toward the positive training methods used today.”

Saunders did however specifically state that food should never be used to train canines, but that it was acceptable to use “a tidbit now and then to overcome a problem.”  Saunders showed remarkable foresight in the understanding of what really motivates a dog.

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Robert Forto is the host of The Dog Works Radio Show and is the training director of Alaska Dog Works. Robert Forto can be reached through his website at www.alaskadogworks.com