[Dog training]; Pattern games with Jack & Jill ? – By Jill Hassevoort

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Last spring, someone threw lit firecrackers at me and my dog.

It was a lovely afternoon. The weather had just started to get warm, and I needed to do some training with Jack in a different environment. We usually practice in the backyard, so I put his leash on and headed out the front door to do a little training in the front yard for a change. We were both so focused on our training that I barely noticed the sound of a car driving up then slowing to a stop. My back was turned to the car as I worked to keep Jack engaged through this new distraction. I remember hearing a hissing noise before the car sped off and firecrackers started exploding just inches from where Jack and I were standing.

The Limitations of Counterconditioning

Needless to say, both Jack and I were scarred from the experience. There was a period of time where Jack wouldn’t even walk toward the front door. I was already working full time as a training assistant, so I knew about counterconditioning – the process through which we change a negative association with something by pairing that thing with something positive. By providing Jack with tasty food for each step he took toward the door, I was able to eventually convince Jack that the front door was safe, and then that going out the front door and getting in the car was safe. But for the next year and then some, I was never able to convince him that the sidewalk on our block was safe. Even with anti-anxiety medications, input from my training mentor, and the most high value reinforcers known to Jack, I could not step out my front door and take my dog for a walk. Occasionally I could coax him to take a few steps, but he would immediately pull desperately back toward the house.

For a long while, I gave up. We both preferred to go to the woods and walk on hiking trails, so that’s what we did exclusively. But as I progressed in my career and education as a trainer, I started to learn about different ways to apply the principles of counterconditioning: start buttons and pattern games.

For those who aren’t familiar, a start button is a behavior that an animal performs to communicate consent or opting in to a procedure or experience. It’s a way for the animal to say, “okay, I’m ready!” Traditionally, we look for body language clues (tail carriage, ear position, body posture, etc) to make educated guesses about whether an animal is feeling okay about an experience. Start buttons take away the guesswork and put the learner in control. Along with a clear way to opt in – offer the behavior – there is a clear way to opt out – don’t offer the behavior. I don’t like needles, but I cope with getting a shot much better when I’m able to tell the nurse that I’m ready. This element of choice and control, I have found, speeds up traditional counterconditioning processes.

Pattern games, popularized by the wonderful Leslie McDevitt, author of Control Unleashed, are “a repetitive, predictable framework of cues and behaviors that helps the learner process the environment by weaving the unexpected into the safety net of the expected.” They provide a familiar and comfortable context from which to experience uncomfortable things. As a person with anxiety, I can wholly relate to how predictability eases that distress. I cope better with going to a new place if I have clear directions on how to get there and what to do when I arrive. The same is true for our dogs.

Want to learn more about pattern games and their creator Leslie McDevitt? You can do so in a previous ATA podcast episode with her here >>> https://www.animaltrainingacademy.com/podcast/training-tidbits/leslie-mcdevitt/

So after learning about these amazing developments in the world of dog training and seeing success using them with my clients’ dogs, what kind of trainer would I be if I didn’t apply them to improve the life of my own dog? Jack and I used two of Leslie McDevitt’s pattern games, start buttons included, to get him back to walking in our neighborhood.

Superbowls – Well, SuperCones

Superbowls is a pattern game in which the dog controls movement down a line of bowls. He eats a treat from one bowl, then offers a start button behavior that causes the handler to move to the next bowl, eats a treat from there, and so on and so forth. At the end of the line, the handler goes directly back to the starting point. I first taught Jack the concept of this game in our driveway behind the house, so that he could focus on learning the pattern and not on being in a scary environment. I used cones instead of bowls, and Jack’s start button was making eye contact with me.

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Once Jack had learned the game, we used it for walking out the front door and onto the sidewalk, up to and just past the spot where the firecracker incident happened.

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I began to decrease the number of cones when I saw low latency (lag time) between eating the treat and looking back up at me. This told me that Jack needed less time to prepare for moving forward, and I read that to mean he was feeling more comfortable.

1-2-3 Treat Walking

Fantastic! Now I just need to set cones all around my neighborhood and Jack and I can go for a nice walk. Hah! I successfully decreased the number of cones to just one at the furthest point – Jack would happily walk out the front door and all the way to that cone!

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But when I tried to continue walking much beyond the cone, Jack reverted to his old behavior – panicking and pulling back toward the house. That’s totally fair, I pulled the rug out from under him and left him floating in the abyss with no pattern to hold on to. Time for 1-2-3 Treat!

1-2-3 treat walking is another pattern game created by Leslie McDevitt. It’s a mobile game that doesn’t require any equipment. Count out loud – “one, two, three” – and give the dog a treat on three. Then add movement – take three steps while counting out loud, treat on three. Again, I taught this to Jack out of the scary environment and incorporated a start button. On three, I placed the treat on the ground and stopped. Before starting the pattern again, I waited for Jack to offer eye contact. Just like in SuperCones, his voluntary offering of eye contact dictated if/when we moved forward.

It’s difficult to hear me in the video, but this is an example of what 1-2-3 Treat looks like with relatively low latency.

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I also want to include this as an example of how Jack’s behavior changes when he becomes uncomfortable. Much longer latency, scanning and looking around at the environment. I believe this change was because we were getting further away from the house and closer to a busy road. I do not prompt Jack to look at me – it’s important to me that he remains in control of when we move and when we don’t.

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Fading Out the Pattern

Within just a couple of walks with the 1-2-3 Treat game, Jack stopped needing me as much. We still started our walks with the pattern, but after a few repetitions he wouldn’t look back up at me after eating the treat. Instead, he would continue walking all on his own! He no longer relied on me as a constant source of reinforcement, but began discovering that there is reinforcement available in the environment in the form of forward motion, smells to sniff, and sometimes even squirrels and cats to look at! Basically, he’s re-learned that walks in the neighborhood can actually be enjoyable, and most importantly, safe.

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In this video you see a great mix of Jack choosing to move forward on his own, as well as periodically initiating the 1-2-3 pattern by looking up at me.

Looking Ahead

Jack can now walk in the neighborhood again. He can also choose not to. It’s started snowing in Michigan, and I had the idea that a neighborhood walk in the first snow of the season would be lovely. Jack disagreed, and he told me that by not engaging in his pattern when we left the house. In order for all my efforts to work, I have to be okay with that. If we are going to give our dogs a way to say yes, it is essential that we respect their option to say no.

We will still primarily walk on trails in the woods because it’s something that we both love. But we also have the option to walk in our neighborhood, and above all, we have a deeper relationship and understanding, a whole new way to communicate with one another.

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Want access to the whole kit & caboodle of Animal Training Academy resources… CLICK HERE to see what’s on offer via your very own Animal Training Academy membership.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR – ATA member Jill Hassevoort

Jill Hassevoort is  a graduate and Certified Training Partner of Karen Pryor Academy (KPA CTP) and a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA). Pretty much any time she’s not training dogs, she’s out hiking with Jack.  Jack and Jill also enjoy cooperative care training and snuggling on the couch. Before starting her career in dog training, Jill graduated from the University of Michigan and then spent four years teaching Spanish in Detroit high schools. That experience prepared her to teach her clients how to live and work harmoniously with their dogs. She loves helping her clients understand the “why” behind their dogs’ behavior and come up with the best solutions for their unique situation. Jill is the owner and trainer at Jack and Jill Professional Dog Training. She offers in-home and day training to Detroit and the Metro area, and provides virtual training anywhere with an internet connection.

• CLICK HERE for Jill’s website
• CLICK HERE to find Jill on FaceBook
• CLICK HERE to find Jill on Instagram

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