Reacting to your most critical comments from my series with Moira. Thank you Nom Nom for sponsoring this video! Go http://trynom.com/zak to get 50% off of a 2 week trial!
To learn more about "opposition reflex" check out this article by Eileen Anderson and the accompanying sources: https://eileenanddogs.com/blog/2016/04/16/opposition-reflex/
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Moira is so cute and has gone so far I am so bummed that the series is over
Very good explanations!
i think it would be really cool if you check in with moira and her new person after a couple months to see how far she’s come!
Oh I’m highly against that. Moira is a complicated dog and there is a good chance that her new owner won’t be making progress in a pace that is fit for youtube. I’ll bet that no matther how she does (and I’m sure she will do as much as she is capable of), the youtube comments will be very harsh on her. Lovely idea in theory, unfortunately the internet won’t cooperate too well =/
Check out her Instagram. Moira was diagnosed with heart worms and is on the last leg of treatment. As such she wasn’t allowed to do anything that would elevate her heart rate. Her new mom is dedicated to continuing her training once she is medically cleared and is happy to have Zaks videos as a guide.
I agree with that! I’d love that.
@Lydia 1 what’s her instagram?
@moonsiickness @moirarosethegsd
I loved this series it showed that progress is slow and steady, and mistakes can happen. With our rescue girl we are still working but by taking our time and being positive with her the progress is there, and I just love how realistic this is.
So right. It really takes time and repetition.
Yes, and we set out on our training program and then discover it isn’t working and we have to go back and change our approach. Sometimes it just needs a small tweak, other times we have to do a major overhaul. But that’s all part of training a dog. And you don’t always see that in You Tube videos where the trainer “never” makes a mistakes or has to go back and revisit their training strategy. As advertised, this was “real world” dog training with all it’s repetition, mistakes, and warts.
Yeah, I have had my dog for a year and it feels like there’s more setbacks than wins sometimes. Had family over and I assumed (dumbly) that she would be fine despite being very reactive and fear aggressive. She learned to like them after 2 weeks. But it was hard to realize what a mistake I made at first that set her back to bad habits. It helps to see professional own up to similar setbacks.
Love that you teach on a deeper level and use gentle methods that don’t cause anxiety or fear-based responses in the dogs. Great works, you and your wife are amazing,. Thank you very much for your channel & your books, I have learned and continue to learn so much. I look forward to each new show. I hope you continue to teach rescue dogs to set them up to find their best forever homes.
He actually causes them a lot of anxiety by flooding these dogs in the sake of “progress.” A positive trainer who actually has experience w reactivity would have gone slower to start and had much more progress than him. Check out Goxxly or Kikopup for better trainers!
I think two weeks was a perfect time period! You said at the beginning of the series, that you wanted to walk in the shoes of a person adopting an adult dog from the shelter. And I think it is a very important message for us viewers to know that we can see change within a couple of weeks, if we put in the work. For me at least it was very encouraging to see what you can do in two weeks!
I really appreciate how upfront and open about everything you are. Of course, not everyone is going to agree and I think there is sometimes more than one right way to do things.
In my Animal Behavior class in college I remember reading a study that showed that if exposure and training isn’t kept up that a reactive dog backslides surprisingly quickly. Dog reactivity really does require frequent repetition, like you showed, and many don’t know that doesn’t just stop when the dog gets comfortable.
That is one of the problems with using positive punishment. We spend all our time giving the dog “corrections” and yelling no that we can’t be bothered to teach our dog what to do instead–how we want to dog to react in a certain circumstance and what will earn that dog something “good” (a yummy treat, your attention, a got pat, a game of chase or tug-of-war). Imagine that you are learning how to do something–say knit. The only feedback you get is somebody yelling “NO!!!!!” at you and pinching you, choking your, or shocking you when you make a mistake. They never give you any instruction on how to do it correctly. They only scream at you and hurt you when you do something wrong. Imagine how frustrating that would be and how much you’d hate knitting. Same with teaching them a dog. Show them what is the RIGHT thing to do, what to do INSTEAD. Don’t just scream at them and hurt them for making a mistake. With punishment, the dog doesn’t learn what to do instead and when the punishment is decreased (or taken away), the old behavior reappears–because the dog still doesn’t know how to do it “right”.
He’s a total fraud
@Jan Hankins I believe, in the case of reactivity, even with positive reinforcement only training, consistent upkeep is absolutely necessary for desensitization training.
@panzertoo To whom are you referring?
When I see, “do X and this would go so much faster”, I think part of it is that teaching a “trick” or “rule” and actual behavior adjustment LOOK like the same process on the surface. It’s not immediately obvious how “don’t eat that treat I dropped on the floor” and “don’t lunge and bark at that dog” are PROFOUNDLY different problems to solve.
It’s like if you have a fear of public speaking. I can teach you a bunch of rules, like make eye contact, don’t fidget, don’t say “um” etc, in a lesson or two, and this is more like teaching a dog to sit.
However well you may have all of that drilled into your head, if I then push you out on front of a crowd of ten thousand people, all of those things you “know” are going to go out the window because you are going to have a panic attack. The way we can address that underlying anxiety that is starting really small, say presenting to a couple of friends, and progressing to more people as you are comfortable, which can take a loooong time. That’s more akin to addressing reactivity. It’s not just teaching rules but addressing your dog’s underlying mental state, more often than not some level of fear or anxiety (although it could be other things).
TL;DR; addressing reactivity is more therapy for your dog than simply teaching a skill, and that takes a lot of time.
I learned that all working with your dog is good and it helps them to pay attention to you. So when they see another dog those other times they spent with you helps you to distract them and eliminate their reactivity. That’s what I understand. It’s what I’ve seen with our formerly highly reactive dog.
You certainly hit the nail on the head here. You can’t really “fix” the problem if there’s any underlying issue–like fear or anxiety. All the “training” in the world won’t work if you fail to address the fear or anxiety. And the same goes for “medical differentials”. No behavior person worth their salt with see a cat that’s peeing outside the litter box without that cat FIRST being cleared for MEDICAL reasons for peeing outside the litter box (like a urinary tract infection, kidney stones, FLUTID, etc). No behavior modification in the world is going to work if the issue is medical. No training is going to be truly effective if you haven’t addressed any underlying issues (like fear or anxiety) first.
This series was so useful for those who are dealing with dogs that have reactivity issues. Too bad you only had two weeks. I can only imagine how much progress you could have made in six weeks. Your choice of harness is spot on and that is the one I recommend most often. Building a relationship with the dog is key in working with dogs like Moira. You definitely had a good one with her. I hope she continues with her progress in her new home.
Thanks Arlyn!!! 🤗
I was also taught not to use a harness on my (previously) reactive dog as she was a serious puller, to the point where she would almost choke herself. Actually, switching to a harness though has helped her immensely. My guess is that the harness is more comfortable for her and it helps her keep calm and relaxed.
I also want to add that your approach was an eye-opener for me. After two months of obedience school with my adopted dog, I felt a bit hopeless as her behavior was actually getting worse. It was not until I found your videos that I understood how I can help her overcome the challenges she faced on her walks. Thank you!
Didn’t watch the series but I came to your channel a few years ago when our rescue showed some reactivity. Between your channel (and others like you who deal in behavioural science) and a veterinary behaviourist we worked with our dog and learned so much about him and ourselves in the process. Thank you for what you do and for sharing it with us here for free! I live in a rural area with force free training not nearby and what is around is geared towards puppies not older dogs with issues, so your content has been an invaluable resource to have!
Zak, I love your series and I think you should do a series training a small (adult) dog, because there are not too much videos about training a small dog and even less about training a small adult dog
I just love how even though you get overwhelming positivity and praise on this channel, every now and then you will address certain criticisms, and i think this really shows your desire to educate and create understanding on how dogs learn and behave. I love your videos and your approach to training and i cant wait for the next series 🙂
I really appreciate that you back your beliefs about training with SCIENCE 🥰🥰🥰
Since you said you read all the comments, I wanted to add to the conversation. I love your training videos, but I have a high energy husky mix and it was so hard for me to get some of your training from previous videos to work. But this series REALLY helped me understand your style better with this type of dog. We’ve already seen a lot of progress and it also really helped me to understand how to observe my dog and communicate with him more effectively. Thank you so much for doing this series! Everyone was telling me to just get a pronged collar too and I was not about to do that.
Good for you to avoid prong collars! Now you can show all those folks what you can do with positive reinforcement.
I think that Zak really upped his content since inertia series. It’s not that his videos was worse, but the series format makes us really engaged in the dog and their relationships. Great job! Cant wait to see more videos with a new dog!
Also I recommended your videos to my teacher who has 2 rescue dogs. They’re not problematic, but definitely would do better with some training. She says it’s really helpful, and she can’t even speak English! It’s your postures, hand signals and overall all presentation that makes it easy to follow. Sometimes I help her with the translation though 😁
We’re getting a dog in a couple of months and I was feeling really apprehensive about the training process, especially thinking about disciplining or using tools like a prong collar. I’ve been watching this channel and reading books about positive reinforcement training and the methods you use and am feeling much more confident about the training process! Now, it’s something I’m really looking forward to as a bonding experience for me and my new dog!
It really is a bonding experience! I became so close with my cattle dog, training her in the first few months with what I learned from Zak, that we adopted a second cattle dog and now have a third rescue dog. Our bond is amazing. Each their own amazing personality, and growing ever closer as we continue to train them. It’s so rewarding and so much fun! Not to say it’s easy all the time…our cattle dogs are reactive to various things, but we have learned so much about how to help them (and us). All that to say, you will have incredible communication and such a loving bond with your dog!
I use a harness. It has a link for the lead at the front so if she pulls, it’s harder for her to get her weight behind it. As I am disabled I do need an extra edge!
I love that you thoughtfully and respectfully addressed questions, without telling anyone that they are “wrong”, but by providing the science and evidence based practice behind your work! My dad taught our wonderful border collie with a choke collar when I was growing up, and even then (when people thought that was how you did it), it broke my heart. I am so happy that science and practice have taught us how to be better companions to these wonderful friends we have in dogs, and I’m so grateful you are there to teach us. Everything we have done with our dogs we have learned from your books and YouTube, and not only are our cattle dogs able to show us how smart and hardworking they are, but our relationship with them is better for it. Thank you!
That’s like saying putting a saddle on a horse encourages it to let someone jump on it and ride it around… It doesn’t make any sense.
What I think this shows, and I think you made the case perfectly, is that training dogs is NOT easy. It takes knowledge, time and lots of patience. To your point about the collar versus the harness, I have recently rescued a 3 yo Aussie who is a puller. I have him on a harness now because I cannot see the virtues of a prong collar or listening to him choking himself on a regular collar. I admire your patience and dedication.