Category: The Puzzle Week

The Puzzle Week – Part 18: Puppy Leash Skills (Crystal Clear Leash Laws)

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You’ve already learned that for the automatic leash pressure method to work, you and your puppy will only walk forward on a loose leash. You’re still missing something crucial though: a way of measuring leash pressure. In order to be successful with the automatic leash pressure method:

  1. You need a way of measuring the amount of pressure your puppy is putting on the leash.
  2. You need to define the amount of pressure that will trigger a stop.
  3. And you need to consistently apply this metric anytime you are walking your puppy on their LLW equipment (e.g. collar).

Can’t you just play it by ear? No, sorry – you can’t. People are notoriously inconsistent when doing this kind of training based on their gut feeling. This is confusing to puppies. They may learn to keep their leash loose anyway … Or they may not. In any case, it will likely take longer. So instead of fumbling our way through, let’s keep our criteria crystal clear from the start!

Measuring leash pressure

Here’s the elements will be looking at:

1. How to hold the leash in order to effectively measure pressure.

2. How to do the actual measuring and define a point of tightness that will trigger stopping.

3. How to define that the leash has loosened again, triggering movement.

How to hold the leash to effectively measure pressure

Find your default finger loop

Make a loop with the thumb and index finger of your dominant hand (left image below). Look at your hand. Feel your hand. What does it feel like for your thumb and index finger to touch?

Get up from your chair and let your arms hang down by your side, standing relaxedly (right image above). Do your fingers still touch each other or is there a gap between them? How large or small is the gap? Do this exercise in front of a mirror! Remember that I want you to consciously relax your arm and your hand. If there is a gap between your thumb and index finger, think about the kind of object that would snuggly fit between them. For me (right image above), this is a piece of kibble: I could put a single piece of kibble between thumb and index finger of my relaxed hand and it wouldn’t drop to the ground. For you, there may be no gap at all, or there may be a slightly wider gap. Maybe your object is a walnut, a pea or a bottle cap! Maybe all that fits is a piece of paper! If you’re not sure, experiment with the objects you find around your kitchen or living room!

Next, start walking, swinging your arms loosely and naturally by your side. Pay attention to the distance between your thumb and index finger. Is it the same distance you had when standing still or does it change with movement? In my case, it’s the same: a single piece of kibble would snuggly fit into the gap between my thumb and index finger. Spend 30 seconds consciously describing the feeling and the default size of your gap: what is the relaxed distance between thumb and index finger when you are standing still or walking? How would you describe it to someone on a voice call who can’t see the gap?

The reason I’m having you pay close attention to your finger loop is that we aren’t usually aware of it and how it feels. We need to change this for the measuring method I’m about to teach you to work.

Now that you have raised your awareness of what it feels like to have your arms swinging loosely by your side, grab a leash. Hook the handle on your index finger while keeping your arm, hands and fingers just as relaxed as before. If your default position is a slightly open loop – no need to close it.

Note that there’s no dog attached to my leash! This part is just about you and the leash.

Now, start walking around the room again. What does the weight of the leash feel like on your index finger? Think about it as if you were describing the sensation to someone over the phone: they can’t see you and they don’t have a leash to try it themselves! Keep your arms and hands relaxed as you walk around the room and focus on the sensation of the fabric wrapped around your finger. The weight. The way it affects your finger loop. Let the leash drag on the floor behind you as you walk.

For the next step, add a collar to the leash and attach the collar to a piece of sturdy furniture about the same height as your puppy’s neck. The handle of your leash goes on your index finger again.

The effect of leash pressure on your finger loop

You’re now going to explore what it feels like when there is pressure on the leash: what will your finger loop do? Start out with your loop in its relaxed default position. Take a few slow steps backwards, watching and sensing what is happening to your index finger. Can you feel how the loop being pulled open when you step back and the leash goes tight? What does it look like now? The opening will be bigger – maybe instead of a piece of kibble, you could snuggly fit a clicker-sized object in the gap when it’s fully opened by the pressure of the leash. What does it feel like when it’s just opening a little because you’ve taken a smaller step back? Maybe the size of two pieces of kibble instead of just one? How does this feel different from the default position of the leash on your finger loop? Try it with both hands. Watch your finger loop expand and pay attention to the changing sensation in the muscles and skin of your fingers. Repeat a few times with the leash on the index finger of both hands!

Going forwards, when you work with your puppy on LLW, this is how you’ll hold the leash: with the handle hooked into your finger loop; your hand and fingers relaxed.

How to do the actual measuring and define a point of tightness that will trigger stopping

You are going to measure the tightness of the leash by means of whether your finger loop is open or closed. Let’s define “closed” as the relaxed position of your loop. For some people, the thumb and index finger will actually be touching each other when the arm is hanging down by your side in a relaxed way. For others – such as me – there will be a small gap.

Now that you know what “closed” means, let’s look at an open(ing) finger loop: anything more than your relaxed default position means that the leash counts as tight. In the case of someone whose relaxed finger loop means touching thumb to index finger, the moment a piece of kibble fits into that loop already constitutes a tight leash. On the other hand, for me, that same amount of opening (kibble-sized) is relaxed. But the moment the imaginary piece of kibble drops to the floor (due to the dog pulling my loop further open), my leash will count as tight.

Once you have defined what tightness means to you, the next step is straightforward: anytime the leash tightens (your finger loop opens past its relaxed position), you will stop. You won’t reel your dog in. You won’t jerk on the leash. You’ll just stop. Every single time, no exceptions.

How to define that the leash has loosened again, triggering movement

As long as you keep the muscles in your arm, hand and fingers relaxed, your finger loop will go back to its relaxed position as soon as the leash loosens. The moment your finger loop returns to its default shape, the leash counts as loose again. You can measure this both visually by looking at your hand, and tactilely by feeling your loop close and, in case your relaxed default is completely closed, by the sensation of the tips of your thumb and index finger touching each other. As soon as this happens, you’ll start walking again.

How operant and classical conditioning work hand in hand

A classical association

Over time, your puppy will learn that there’s a clear stimulus-stimulus relationship:

Leash pressure on neck —> everything stops.

No pressure on neck —> freedom to move.

Operant learning

Once your puppy has realized the classical association, they will learn to manipulate it. Now, we’re firmly in operant territory! Through trial and error, the puppy is going to figure out that they control the pressure on their neck. They will learn what turns the pressure on: charging ahead or moving a certain distance (depending on the length of the leash you are using) away from you. They will realize that these behaviors are like pushing the “everything stops” button.

Everything stops button

They will also learn how to turn off the pressure on their neck. They will realize that there are several “freedom to move” buttons they can push when they feel pressure on their neck.

Freedom to move buttons

Let’s ask Puzzle to show us the most common ones:

+ Sitting down
+ Weight shift backwards
+ Turning towards you
+ Moving towards you

The videos below center on the finger loop and on the four green-button behaviors Puzzle can use to get me moving again after the leash tightened. Note how her movement affects my finger loop! Also note how brief the stops are. The automatic leash pressure method isn’t annoying to teach – you can go on a normal walk and actually cover ground while you practice … as long as you have a puppy who hasn’t learned to pull on a leash yet!

Alright – that was quite a lot of theory and practice sans dogs! Now head outside and give it a try with your puppy! Have fun!

The Puzzle Week – Part 17: Puppy Leash Skills (ancillary skills for your puppy)

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In the first puppy leash skills post, you saw two unedited clips of what the automatic leash pressure method looks like in practice. This post is all about drilling deeper.

One of the laws of automatic leash pressure is that you never get to pull on the leash or reel your puppy in. However, sometimes, you’ll find yourself in a situation where you need a puppy straining at the end of their leash to get out of the way. Maybe there’s a kid with an ice cream cone about to stumble over your puppy, or maybe they got off the sidewalk and are trying to cross a busy road. This brings us to our ancillary skills. These skills have a single purpose: they will allow you to move your puppy without jeopardizing the golden rule of never pulling on the leash and never reeling puppies in.

Ancillary skill #1: follow a treat magnet

Teach your puppy – independent of leash training – to follow a treat you hold in front of their nose for at least a few steps. Take the treat between thumb and index finger, present it in front of the puppy’s nose and steer them in whichever direction you want them to go by having them follow the treat. Here’s an example of applications in real-world LLW contexts.

In the video below, Puzzle wants to eat something on the ground that I don’t want her to eat (looks like eggs someone broke). I use a treat magnet to get her to keep going – and the leash stays loose.

Here, I don’t have a video helper, so I just walk up and down with the camera set up at a distance. Puzzle thinks it’s weird that we are turning around to walk back to the camera. She sits down. I wait a few seconds, but she doesn’t look like she’s planning on getting up anytime soon. Treat magnet (in combination with a little treat toss) for the win! I reactivate her with food and we keep going. (Sorry about the blurry video!)

Ancillary skill #2: be comfortable being picked up!

If things are scary and your puppy wants to take off running rather than continuing their loose leash stroll or you realize you are late for a Zoom meeting and have to get back home ASAP, there’s a simple solution: pick them up and carry them. Puppies who learn that they are always safe when you carry them will even learn to seek you out (rather than bolt) when they get scared. Practice picking up your puppy at home and in other low-stress environments to build positive associations!

Not exactly a LLW context, but I’m using the puppy pick-up skill here at a small convenience store (left picture) and at a pharmacy (right picture): I want to take Puzzle places to get her used to the world, but I don’t want her to walk inside these businesses since she isn’t yet housebroken. Picking her up is the best of both worlds!

As a rule of thumb, I tend to use ancillary skills 1 and 3 if the puppy is merely distracted, and ancillary skill 2 if they are scared or if I am in a hurry. That’s because walking voluntarily gives a dog more agency than being carried – and agency is a good thing!

The best way to carry your puppy is either in a comfy bag or supporting their butt and back legs with your arm/hand.

Ancillary skill #3: call them over!

Sometimes, you don’t have treats, feel like the distraction is too low to warrant the use of treats or your Saint Bernard puppy is getting too heavy to be picked up. Being able to call or otherwise entice them to come to you is perfect for these moments: again, it will allow you to move your puppy without tightening the leash or reeling them in. Just like picking up your puppy, this is something you’ll want to practice in a low-distraction environment, outside of the context of leash walking. For me, it tends to just happen naturally as I interact with a puppy throughout the day: I end up building both an informal recall (In my case, “Pupupup!” as well as a kissy noise), and teach them that me squatting down or doing playful piano fingers on the ground is a cue to approach me. When I need it in the real world of LLW, the behavior will be ready!

Here’s a brief example of using a kissy noise, squatting down and the beginning of piano fingers to get Puzzle out of the way of the stranger and their kid:

I won’t necessarily treat when using ancillary skill #3. Just get the puppy where you need them to be and then keep going!

Now that you’ve got a good idea of ancillary skills, there’s one more crucial element missing: you need a way to measure the pressure your puppy is putting on the leash in order to guarantee consistency. How much pressure will cue you to stop? It should always be the same amount, independent of your state of mind, where you are walking or how lazy or high-energy your puppy is feeling. We’ll look at how to develop a simple measuring system in my next post!

The Puzzle Week – Part 16: Puppy Leash Skills (overview)

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Apart from some fun CU work, I was excited about getting Puzzle’s assistance in videoing the steps for one other skill: loose leash walking!

Those of you who have taken my Out & About class know that I’m an opportunistic LLW teacher: depending on the dog, owner, goals and circumstances, I’ll apply one of several different LLW approaches. The method I’m going to share with you today is one I don’t generally talk about in my classes. Let’s call it the automatic leash pressure method.

I’ve only used this approach in some of my own puppies (and never in an adult dog). I just don’t have enough data to feel like it is something I want to teach to people who are paying me. If you give this a try with your puppy after reading my post, be sure to let me know how it’s working for you!

The force of habit

Our strongest behaviors are habitual ones: they are the ones we do unthinkingly, without involving the decision-making prefrontal cortex at all. Our body is so used to performing them that they are on autopilot. For example, when I’m driving and there’s a red light, my foot will automatically step on the break and slow down. I don’t have to consider my options and think about whether or not I want to stop. I don’t have to turn off the podcast I’m listening to in order to not be too distracted to make said decision. The behavior is on autopilot, no matter whether it’s rushour or I’m the only car on the road, and no matter whether I’m singing along with the radio, talking to the person in the passenger seat, or keeping an eye on my GPS. I’ll even step on the break if I’m driving in Thailand (i.e. on the left side of the road) rather than in one of the right-side-of-the-road countries I’m used to. Habits are habits because we’ve engaged in them lots of times in all kinds of contexts, and we have never not engaged in the habit: running red lights is not on an intermittent reinforcement schedule. I’ve stopped at red lights ever since I learned to drive, every single time.

A classical conditioning approach

This kind of habit is what I want to build in the automatic leash pressure approach. Unlike any of my other LLW methods, which rely on operant conditioning, this one is mainly about classical conditioning.

What do I mean by this? Well, in this context, stimulus A is always and without exception followed by stimulus B, independent of the puppy’s behavior. Stimulus A is the leash tightening. Stimulus B is stopping.

A ——-> B
Leash tightens ——-> Movement stops

When A happens, then B happens. No exceptions. Ever. Like gravity. You may not be able to rely on many things in this Covid-ridden, white supermacist world of looming climate catastrophy, but there is one thing that always holds true: when leahes tighten, all movement stops.

A puppy who grows up in a world of tight leashes stopping movement doesn’t question this fact of life: it has always been that way, and always will. The puppy will adjust to this world without question.

The theory

If you consistently stop any time the leash tightens even just a little bit, from the first time the puppy wears a leash onwards, you will end up with a puppy who unthinkingly gives in to leash pressure anytime they feel pressure on their collar for the rest of their life.

Ancillary skills

There are a few ancillary skills that are helpful for you, the human, to train (treat magnet; getting the puppy comfortable being picked up; calling the puppy over).

There’s also a specific way of measuring how much pressure is too much pressure (i.e. when you need to stop) that will help you be consistent.

I’ll share this in a subsequent post!

The videos below are just to give you a brief overview: yes, I stop a lot – but I it doesn’t slow me down significantly; it’s not an annoying way of walking a puppy. Also note that this is a really busy and difficult environment: if Puzzle didn’t constantly forget about leash pressure among all these people, there would be something wrong with her.

You’ll see me stop if she needs time to sniff behind me, move the leash to the other side if she wants to walk there, and use a treat magnet once to redirect her from eating something I don’t want her to eat. In the second video, I squat down and call her over to get her out of the way off some passers-by. This is really important: I will never pull on the leash to get her to move! It is Puzzle who needs to loosen the leash. I’ll help her if she needs help – but never by means of reeling her in.

Also pay attention to the different strategies Puzzle can use to loosen a tight leash. I don’t care what strategy she picks – weight shift back, turning towards me, sitting down … The moment the leash loosens, we’ll start walking again.

Btw, and the place she wants to go into in the second video? It’s a butcher shop. Lots of good smells!

The Puzzle Week – Part 15: Superbowls Wrap-Up

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In part 14 of Puzzle’s Superbowls series, we reached our goal: Puzzle is now fluently taking me to bowl #5 and back, and doesn’t worry about the vacuum we’ve plugged into the pattern. This video is a 6-minute review of the training process (explaining the pattern to Puzzle) to the first scary stimulus she conquered with its help (the vacuum).

If you are familiar with CU, but new to the Superbowls game, this video should give you a pretty good idea of how it works:

Will it always take 25 sessions to reach the goal?

We worked on the Superbowls game for 25 sessions. Will it always take this long?

Not necessarily. Remember that the first few sessions were an explanation of the pattern itself – they were not about the vacuum, but about teaching Puzzle how she could make the next treat appear (eye contact), and where that treat would show up (in the next bowl of the line). The first nine sessions were all about the pattern rather than about a specific trigger.

Now that Puzzle knows the Superbowls pattern, we can plug different triggers into it. Say, for example, Puzzle was scared of the coffee maker. I could start my work with the coffee maker right away, and plug the coffee maker in the same spot where the vacuum sits in the video above. Or if Puzzle was scared of grandma, I could ask grandma to calmly sit in a chair in the spot where the vacuum was in this session. I won’t have to start over with a trigger-free line up.

Unless I plug something excessively scary into the pattern, it is also likely that Puzzle will reach the goal faster with each new trigger: in the vacuum series, she wasn’t just learning about the vacuum – she was also learning about the fact that within the structure of the Superbowls game, she will never, ever directly have to interact with the trigger. Every approach will be followed by a retreat, and there will be no touching of or being touche by triggers. This is HUGE. With every new trigger we work with, Puzzle’s trust in the pattern itself will grow, empowering her be braver faster.

Want to learn more?

To learn more about the Superbowls game and other pattern games, make sure to get Leslie McDevitt’s book Control Unleashed: Reactive to Relaxed. You may also want to follow the Friends of Control Unleashed group on Facebook to kearn about upcoming CU-related events. And make sure to keep an eye out for Julie Daniels’ CU classes over at FDSA!

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For more dog training tips and videos, join Chrissi’s February class at FDSA: Calling All Dogs!

The Puzzle Week – Part 14: Reaching Our Superbowls Goal!

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Puzzle makes it all the way to bowl #5/5! I release her when she doesn’t offer eye contact quickly after the fifth bowl. The amount of time I waited her is out right for this puppy – this is what we’re aiming for.

I’m curious whether she can approach again, and give it another go after the treat toss release. She doesn’t make it back to the last bowl. This is good information: my gut feeling was right. With Puzzle, I should end sessions after a treat toss release, and try again after a break. (This may differ depending on the dog you are working with! Some will do better in later approaches within the same session. Others struggle more and more as the sessipn continues. Always train the dog in front of you (as Denise Fenzi would say)!

Puzzle goes all the way to bowl #5 in the first round of the session. We approach again after the release, and only make it to bowl #4. I don’t want to push too hard – at this point, Puzzle is a one-approach-at-a-time kind of puppy. However, eventually, I want to get to a point where we can cheerfully approach and retreat several times in a row. That’s when I’ll know that Puzzle truly understands that she will never have to directly interact with a trigger in the context of the Superbowls game!

Puzzle makes it all the way to bowl #5/5 AND BACK! YES! You go, puppy!

Puzzle leads me all the way to bowl #5! She hesitates at the fifth bowl, and I opt for a treat toss release rather than waiting for her to give me eye contact. Since she was so brave, we do another approach. At 00:36, right after eating her release treat, she offers eye contact again: “Let’s keep playing!” So we start over with the first bowl. She’s being a superstar, and makes it all the way to bowl #5, and then back to bowl #4. On her way back, she starts feeling uneasy about the vacuum. That’s okay – treat toss release, and end the session! A well-deserved break!

The most amazing puppy makes it all the way to the vacuum – not just once, but twice, and if I didn’t run out of treats, she’d have kept going! You go, Puzzle!

This ends our Superbowls adventures with the vacuum! Tomorrow, I will show you the Leslie-approved video I submitted for my CU instructor certification, and share some wrap-up thoughts. No worries though: the fact that we’re almost through the Superbowls videos doesn’t mean there will be no more Puzzle posts. Stay tuned!


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For more dog training tips and videos, join Chrissi’s February class at FDSA: Calling All Dogs!

The Puzzle Week – Part 13: All the Way to Bowl #5!

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The first time Puzzle makes it all the way to bowl #5/5! I should have released her rather than waiting for her to look back up at me at bowl #5. It took her a while; this was difficult for her!

Puzzle is getting more comfortable with the vacuum: she waits for me at bowl #2 rather than #1 even though the vacuum is already on when I return to her! She hesitates briefly at bowl #3. I could have kept going (watching the video, there was no reason to stop: she offered eye contact again after just a split second). In the moment in real time, I released her, remembering that I went too long in the previous session. In case of doubt, just end the session! Slow and steady wins the race.

Wheee! Puzzle makes it all the way up to bowl 5/5! Again, she then gets stuck there for a second. This time, I respond well: I take off the pressure and release her, end the session, and give her a break. She’s almost there!

In this session, Puzzle says we’re close enough when we get to bowl #3. That’s okay. Process is rarely linear. What matters most is listening to our learner. In the long run, this is how we build trust – both in our relationship and, as CU trainers, in the pattern games we play.

Puzzle hesitates at bowl #3. I wait, and she offers eye contact again. We make our way to bowl #4. This is where Puzzle lets me know we’re close enough for now, and I take off the pressure with a treat toss release. Good girl!

That’s it for today – check back for the next round of braving the vacuum tomorrow! Tomorrow, we’ll reach our goal, and then some!

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For more dog training tips and videos, join Chrissi’s February class at FDSA: Calling All Dogs!

The Puzzle Week – Part 12: Braving the Live Vacuum

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We stay at the very first bowl, and then end the session. Puzzle lets me know she wasn’t ready to approach the live vacuum any further, and I listen. CU is all about communication!

In her second session with the live vacuum, Puzzle is being very brave, and takes me all the way to bowl #4. At that point, she does not make eye contact again. I listen to her, increase the distance, and end the session.

Followed by another short session:

We make it up to bowl #4/5 again:

… and again:

In the next session, you’ll see Puzzle reach the fifth and last bowl for the first time! Stay tuned!

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For more dog training tips and videos, join Chrissi’s February class at FDSA: Calling All Dogs!

The Puzzle Week – Part 11: Plugging the Dead (i.e. Silent) Vacuum into the Superbowls Pattern

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Now that Puzzle has shown me that she can predict where the next treat will show up in the Superbowls game, it’s time to add the trigger into the pattern. In Puzzle’s case, that trigger is the vacuum. She thinks it’s quite creepy!

When working with fear or anxiety, raising criteria slowly (rather than starting with the trigger at full intensity) is always a good idea. In the case of the vacuum, I’ll start with a dead – i.e. silent – one before asking Puzzle if she wants to approach a roaring, growling live vacuum.

Doing SO well! Puzzle is ready to face the live vacuum in her next session! (And if she isn’t, that’s okay, too: she’ll be able to ask me to stop approaching at any time.)

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For more dog training tips and videos, join Chrissi’s February class at FDSA: Calling All Dogs!

The Puzzle Week – Part 10: Adding Movement to the Superbowls Game

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We’re starting to move between bowls! My first click in this video is late.

Puzzle still has to figure out where the respective next treat is going to show up! The wheels are turning …!

An excerpt from Puzzle’s second session involving movement between the bowls:

The subsequent session resulted in a blurry video – that’s what you get for not cleaning the lens of your phone before hitting record! I’ll spare you that video. Below is the session after that one:

Now things are starting to get interesting! You can see Puzzle look ahead to the respective next bowl in some of the reps below: she is starting to predict the location of the next treat! Smart puppy!

Towards the end of the session below, we are getting some lovely looking ahead/prediction. That’s it, Puzzle! You’re a superstar!

In our next session, we’ll be plugging the silent vacuum into the Superbowls pattern! Stay tuned …!

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For more dog training tips and videos, join Chrissi’s February class at FDSA: Calling All Dogs!

The Puzzle Week – Part 9: An Introduction to the Superbowls Game

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Superbowls is a pattern game that allows your dog to direct you towards a novel/potentially suspicious stimulus. It consists of a row of bowls. The dog learns that by giving you eye contact, they can cue you to put a treat down in the respective next bowl in the line. In the very end of the line, there’s your stimulus/trigger. Your dog will not directly interact with it within the structure of this game – that’s why it feels safe for your dog. They get to decide how close they want to go. If they stop offering eye contact, you will stop at the bowl you are at, or further increase the distance.

If they lead you all the way to the stimulus you plugged into the end of the line (it could be an object, or a person on a chair – anything goes as long as you can guarantee that the stimulus won’t approach your dog), the next eye contact rep cues you to turn around and move back along the line of bowls in the other direction: approach – retreat. Approach – retreat. Approach – retreat. In CU, when we approach, we will also retreat. Dogs NEVER get stuck near the stimulus you are working with in the context of Control Unleashed.

The first step of the Superbowls game is teaching Puzzle that eye contact makes things happen. In this case, eye contact will cause me to click, and put down a treat in the first bowl. We’ll stay at this stage until she offers eye contact without latency after swallowing the previous treat, and predicts where the next treat will show up: right there, in the bowl. For the first step, you’ll only use the first bowl in your line.

Puzzle doesn’t yet know that eye contact is a payable behavior. You’ll see her figure it out over the course of the three sessions below. Which brings me to yet another reason I love CU games for puppies or dogs who are new to training: they organically pick up different skills along the way! In this game, the meaning of the clicker gets reinforced, and Puzzle learns that eye contact is a behavior she can use to earn treats.

First session:

Second session:

Third session:

Next time, we’ll start moving between bowls!

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For more dog training tips and videos, join Chrissi’s February class at FDSA: Calling All Dogs!