Training Chops
“Chops” in any area are generally considered to be the skill(s) achieved after much practice and often leads to mastery in that field. Yes, the word “chops” is also a construct- not a concrete thing you can define like a table or a chair. So what are training chops? How can you tell if someone has it with dogs and does it even matter? Those of us in the sport of dogs do what we are comfortable doing and with practice often comes great skill and mastery. There is a range of skill depending on depth and breadth of education as there is in any sport. There is a reason most golfers watch the pros and are not out there with them!
In the dog fancy it is titles, those sometimes elusive letters before or after the dog’s AKC name that most of your peers in the sport of dogs talk about and revere. Most dog fanciers notice titles and that can be enough to prove who you are in dogs. Currently there’s a new variety of dog fancier out there that is no longer in the ring at all. They have no titles on their dogs but they do have mastery. It may be in teaching or in a service dog field, such as search and rescue or guide dog work or with the disabled and their dogs. Sometimes these folks are canine “generalists” – Vet techs and/or hobby trainers, the occasional breeder and some pet folks. Some of these dog folks even have advanced degrees, we have several PhD’s and authors that have never stepped in the ring that I consider master trainers. (Dr. Ian Dunbar is one- he has never shown his dogs in any AKC event to the best of my knowledge). Even a pet person with one or two favored dogs can have mastery (yes- “chops”) that only work their dogs once a week at a local class! Titles or no titles dog training is a considered a mechanical skill and “chops” imply a high level of mastery in the field.
Times have changed! In the 70’s we had Jack Godsil, Bob Self, Bernie Brown, and in my area – Rosalie Simpson, Pluis Davern and Suze Bluford (and her Golden “Streaker”!), obedience was a fierce competition sport with many top trainers also teaching others and bringing new folks into training all the time. I took my very first seminar at age seventeen with Jack Godsil and Bob Self- in Illinois, at their summer camp with 40 other campers. (I still have about 8 cassette tapes of that event- Jack and Bob were masters!) They had also just started publishing Front and Finish, the obedience magazine still in publication today.
Obedience has now taken a back seat to agility and it is the rare fancier that breeds dogs, trains dogs for competition and competes in the field, agility or rally ring. Some folks are quick to judge that person with out titles, that “occasional” show person- after all where are all the titles? How could they know anything? The case can definitely be made for the dog generalist having mastery-I see it all the time- that person that dabbles over the years in all different venues and those years of dedication and study lead to mastery. It is true some folks have single years of experience in each area- and can talk to you all day about training but really don’t know how to generalize to any other but their own situation. Others do achieve mastery and have many skills that add up to years worth of experience.
So who do YOU go to for information say on baby puppy rearing or training? Who is the expert on that and if they are an expert who says so? Is it the breeder, a trainer, a friend that does rescue? We often give others authority according to what we think people know, so you believe someone knows something so your own behavior changes as you also give them authority to lead you- to teach you. Why wouldn’t you?
Our dog breeder friend Bob, has raised 14 litters of pups and not one dog he bred has had a bad temperament and he is now considered by some to be an authority on starting out pups. But then you find out that Bob also uses some questionable practices- ugh- so IS he the expert? Be really careful who you listen to in dogs- what is their domain of experience? Who says they are experts? What evidence do you have and can you ground the opposite of what they are advising? If they did not see the dog (or your dog) in action it is generally accepted that no one should be giving advice about any problem or situation-you can’t train with out seeing the dog. Not all assessments can be grounded (proven to be true). If you make assessments such as “Bob is an authority on puppy raising” into assertions (truth) you could be setting yourself up for disaster with regards to dog training. Your assessment becomes true for you and may lead you to accepting everything that Bob has to say including some not so great advice!
Another example, the breeder who tells you “Stan, who has been raising dogs for ten years says there is no problem putting a bark collar on any six month old Lab.” What if on YOUR Lab it scares the beans out of them and they form an association between the shock and being in the back yard? And we wonder why dogs get separation anxiety?! Should you listen to this breeder?
It DOES matter if the person you are granting authority to has training chops. Trainers with chops look at everything. Trainers with training chops are often generalist that question common knowledge about many topics and they are always striving for mastery.
I had a conversation recently at my local shelter (some shelters such as San Francisco SPCA get “A” grades, our local Ojai shelter- about a D? – anyway on with the story- I chatted with this trainer who was walking a small red mixed breed dog-he was jerking her around with the choke chain, she was a bit bewildered and he read that correctly. He sat down and petted her- and I asked him- “Who taught you to train?”- his reply “I have been around dogs all my life”- Ohh- I said, “so have I” and added “so I see you don’t use motivators- food or toys at all?”. “No”, he replied- “they don’t need food treats, they need to do it for me because I say so.” I replied “I don’t know any trainers that don’t use some food in training-even Guide Dogs now uses food and clickers on young dogs- why would you want to teach with out food?” He shrugged and said “I don’t know, that is how I always train.”
Okay then, here was this spooky, young spaniel mix being jerked around- gad. Most dog owners know that there IS a better, faster, quicker and much more fun and exciting way to train. There is a whole field of dog training based on techniques and science that the marine mammal trainers use. If you are not using positive training methods with your dogs and studying how to do this as best you can then you truly need some training “chops”. Trainers with chops are always looking to improve on what they know, not defend what they have always done. Anyone can make a case for training with force (or punishment and negative reinforcement) it works- it all works but it is not how most current top trainers choose to train and it is so hard on the dogs and on the people teaching.
Breeders have known for some time that the same could be said about “old fashioned” breeders who raise pups with out early stimulation or socialization and assume it does not make a difference. When you see what you can turn out with just a few new tips and tricks you will never go back to the “old” ways. It is the exactly the same with training dogs and at any age, pup or older dog. It is immensely satisfying to communicate at a higher level with dogs- if you have not learned to do this you just have to trust me (and my domain of action her is now 12 years of this type of training and teaching over a thousand students and their dogs as well as eight years of being a leader for Guide Dogs For the Blind- we raised over 200 puppies in those years) but do your own research too. Google clicker training and see what is out there- hundreds of great trainers with articles and many books and videos to learn from.
There is no reason to scare a dog into learning anything or force a puppy to submit or teach with out food since so many good trainers have discovered all the ways to use motivation including food- correctly. You can produce behavior to reinforce even in a six week old baby, gently lure puppies into any position and teach with food and then wean dogs off food if you wish- there is no problem using food with dogs, at ANY age. Many, many people understand this now and it is completely foreign to me to see the opposite!
There are arguments- it is accurate, you can’t take food in the obedience ring- well, you can’t use a shock collar in a hunt test either and that doesn’t keep field folks from using that tool for the life of the dog! I have seen 9 year old dogs with electronic collars on because they needed a “tune-up”. Tools are just that- any good trainer knows how to wean a dog off of a tool or reinforcer. Trainers with chops are going for as Dr. Deming put it so well- “profound knowledge”. They also know when not to use food, it may be better to use a different motivator as food-= reinforcement that’s all. Find a motivator other then fear to help you teach. It can be a toy, it can be a retrieve, it can be “get in the car” whatever floats the canine boat.
Just because dogs don’t go around treating each other does not mean we can’t use treats. All dogs do know and learn the difference between other dogs teaching them, litter mates or their canine buddies and people teaching them. I do think they often learn faster with us because we DO use food. Some dogs are horrible at teaching younger dogs- they let them get away with way too much and then jump on them. The argument that dogs don’t use food with each other does not matter in the least – dogs also don’t have leashes and we do; or cars or crates. You would never see a dog putting another dog into a crate but we use them effectively and humanely all the time. Dogs adapt to all different styles of teaching. They have been a successful species likely because of this fact, dogs can live and do thrive with sheep, elephants, cheetahs, horses, it is an amazing trait of dogs that they have evolved and can adapt to living and learning from other species- they are very unique in the animal kingdom!
Mainly, food helps us bridge that huge gap that being a primate and human, working with dogs creates. Just how do we communicate with an animal that is on all fours when we are two legged? We don’t even greet the same way, we are a frontal species, shaking hands, face to face. It is almost impossible to teach a young child for instance not to greet a dog by running right up to it’s head, dogs greet by going around the back- it’s much safer to start any greeting with the end that has no big giant teeth! We don’t always read dogs correctly- if you use food you will not cause as much harm, in case you mess up or do something the dog was not expecting. Food gives you a safety net while you are earning your chops like no other. I love to have new folks in training over use food- if their timing is bad as least they won’t teach the dog to avoid them. We have all seen a dog lagging behind the owner in the ring- guaranteed it is an amateur that was too harsh in the beginning stages. It is easy to fix a food addiction not so easy to fix mistrust.
Training chops are a necessary element now in any type of dog endeavor- breeders need training chops as well as hobby trainers, and competition trainers. Chops will allow you to achieve a much higher level of mastery and understand more about learning in all species. Dogs are resilient and so forgiving of our mistakes but why take a chance? It does matter. Dog friendly techniques and training are here to stay. Please, please get your “positive” chops if you are working dogs, the sport demands it now more then ever and your dogs deserve it!