Animal cognition is a fascinating subject. I have so much respect for scientists in the field who use positive means to observe and communicate with other species. Taking the time to teach, interact with them, learn from them, and treating them humanely in the process.
Marc Bekoff is one of my favourite resources on this subject. I love his books and keeping tabs on his blog. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions
I enjoyed this video of a National Geographic photographer talking about his experience with some of the famous species that have made research news.
National Geographic-Photographer Vince Musi introduces a host of animals whose behavior is studied to better understand how they learn
Clicker Training is an invaluable tool when developing a peaceful, cooperative means of communication. I LOVE using a clicker to capture behaviour and fine tune cues. Any living organism with a brain stem is capable of learning using clicker training methods. That includes us! Best of all it's a benevolent way to communicate with our furry pals.
Here's one of my favourite books by Karen Pryor which goes into further detail on the process.
Reaching The Animal Mind
Being a good observer is one of the keys to developing a relationship with another species. Finding out what's important to them; how they express different emotions so you can read their body language and ensure they're in a comfortable, content state of being so learning can take place, is key to beginning a nurturing relationship.
They don't use words to communicate, so in return I make it a priority to learn what they're trying to tell me by observing and in that way creating a reciprocal relationship. It's not all about me and my wishes!
I love this definition of communication thanks to Wikipedia!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication
Having "training tools" for the sender (me) of a message, which in my case are using lure, reward and clicker training methods, helps to clarify my thoughts and intentions.
These 'training tools" enable the receiver (dog) to understand what the heck I'm trying to communicate. It allows me to be specific.
Using a clicker to capture a split second in time, makes it easy for dogs to figure out specifically which behaviour needs to be repeated when they're learning something new.
Once the dog understands and repeats the behaviour with confidence, it's time to put it under "stimulus control" by assigning a verbal cue otherwise known as a "discriminative stimulus".
Verbal cues clarify what needs to happen, when you'd like to see it happen. Once a verbal cue is practiced and deemed generalized in different environments with varying levels of distractions you're set!
The cues I teach are to develop benevolent social skills, for safety reasons and in our case learning agility, scent work, frisbee freestyle, loads of fun tricks and how to play with us delicate humans.
I'm not talking about using these methods as a means to intimidate, 'correct", punish or suppress behaviour. I don't feel that is appropriate in any interactions, be it with other species or our own.
Limiting dogs to a few words and leaving it up to them to "figure things out" is in my mind short changing your relationship with them.
I'm a BIG fan of proofing cues, so much so, I can have my dogs disengage from a stimulating (or over stimulating) situation and TRUST when they hear me say something, that it's important information.
I LOVE having a multi-dog household! It's great that they have pals to hang around with and also provides me with the opportunity to practice our cues during play.
Here are a few of my favourite cues that I teach.
WATCH
SNIFF
Whether it's play between dogs or interest with other species...if you can...embrace the opportunity and spend time working on simple recalls, or if you can tell your puppy or dog is having a tough time figuring out what TO DO and in the case of other species...having a variety of interactive cues in your repertoire helps them figure out what is an acceptable, and safe way to interact.
Putting SNIFF on cue is one of of my favourite things to do. Dogs LOVE to use their nose to investigate. Letting my dog know what I feel is an appropriate way to interact with another species allows him to collect information without getting too close.
NAME recall
Keegan's first agility trial. Note when you hear me say his name to recall off of who he was hoping to visit. He had a tough time in the ring first time out. It's rarely a pretty sight. Most people just cross their fingers, toes and eyeballs the dogs don't run out into the crowd or pee on an obstacle :)
Kee was pumped at the start line, and broke his stay so I knew I would need a good sense of humour and some quick thinking to do some damage control to ensure he didn't end up in the crowd kissing everyone and sniffing every dog's butt! He was over stimulated, so I slowed things down and just concentrated on one moment at a time. That's what we do...we help eachother out.
The fact that we got to practice recalls and were successful was HUGE! Keegan is a FREE SPIRIT and LOVES nothing more than to say hello to any living thing; human, other species, or anything that he catches a scent of. He's not picky :) If it's smelly, he needs to investigate!
I just picked a simple reliable cue to make things easy for him to concentrate. I LOVED that Keegan whipped his head around disengaged from his interests when I called his name. THAT to me is worth MORE than looking pretty on a course or any ribbon!
I'd like to point out that in each of these videos...my tone of voice was crisp, happy, the choice of cue that I used was instructive.
I'm NOT a fan of using my voice to startle or intimidate my furry pals.
It's just not helpful in the end, for you emotionally, for the dog emotionally or your relationship.
I always remember teachers who somehow through their patience, creative thinking, gentle natures and humour were able to change my feelings about subjects that were tough for me.
I remember starting the year wondering how I was going to make it through, only to find out that because of a benevolent soul, I not only passed my exams but I actually enjoyed myself. That's the type of guardian I've chosen to be to my furry pals. One they can trust to make learning a positive experience.
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