The Control Unleashed dog training books are really good, and I’ve been meaning to do a thread collecting some notes about them for a while.

Thread. https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1182826326421467136
I think the degree to which difficulty focusing is caused by anxiety is an underreported story, even though it’s not at all a new idea.

Here, we have an experienced and very skilled dog trainer saying wandering off and sniffing is usually more stress than considered preference.
“teaching relaxation is the foundation for all behavior modification programs”
The books refers to Karen Overall’s Protocol for Relaxation:

http://championofmyheart.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/new-rp-2014.pdf

It has a list of slightly more and more potentially stressful things to work through.

I’ve done this stuff some, but I think I should do it more with my pets.
I also love this graph. Practice where the animal is totally relaxed really is ideal though I think this point is hard for people to internalize.

And it’s best to write entirely write off making progress when the animal is overwhelmed.

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1218643057597276160?s=21
Rewarding the dog for doing the exact thing the owner usually starts out not wanting the dog to do, looking at the environment, is the cornerstone of the Control Unleashed approach.
Rewarding the dog for doing the exact thing the owner usually starts out not wanting the dog to do, looking at the environment, is the cornerstone of the Control Unleashed approach.
Rewarding the dog for doing the exact thing the owner usually starts out not wanting the dog to do, looking at the environment, is the cornerstone of the Control Unleashed approach.
I’m going to keep repeating this point bc it seems so critical:

Working through triggers correctly can be slow! The woman in the story works with her dog diligently for months.

But it generalizes. She reports a positive change in his “overall behavior”.

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1277669396626862080?s=21
Anyone recognize themself in the description of Snap, the dog that inspired the author to write this book?

His two modes are overly excited in a stressed way and disengaged and can’t focus.
Training stories can be tricky to metabolize bc of cherry picking, but I think the basic principle here is sound, even if the results won’t always be this fast.

Rewarding engagement is powerful, but releasing the dog right after can be more powerful.

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1277868381287231488?s=21
The above result isn’t one that I’ve replicated, fwiw.

I’m also more confident that the author knows how to get this result than that she’s fully describing how to do it.

She even says “a real connection with animals is a spiritual thing, not quantifiable by science”.
(I personally see no reason spiritually can’t be quantified too, but I do think it’s much harder to quantify!)

Anyway...

The Reactive German Shepard Mix story also speaks to me on a pretty deep level, especially “he looked as if he had just awakened from a deep sleep”.
(I personally see no reason spiritually can’t be quantified too, but I do think it’s much harder to quantify!)Anyway...The Reactive German Shepard Mix story also speaks to me on a pretty deep level, especially “he looked as if he had just awakened from a deep sleep”.
(I personally see no reason spiritually can’t be quantified too, but I do think it’s much harder to quantify!)Anyway...The Reactive German Shepard Mix story also speaks to me on a pretty deep level, especially “he looked as if he had just awakened from a deep sleep”.
Food for thought:

“Lying down was particularly difficult for Easy because when cued to do so, in the process of lying down he crouched—and then he got stuck in his crouch and was unable to make it all the way to the ground.”

The mat fixes this bc it’s a very strong cue.
I partly Iike the story above, bc I think intermediate states deserve more attention than they usually get when debugging behavior.

She also points out then when you call a dog to you, it’s helpful to think of that as three behavior chunks.
A thing to keep in mind about behavior is that, all else equal, there’s a tendency for the animal to do a cheaper version or whatever behavior you are rewarding over time.
Remember Snap?

When the author first got him, he couldn’t focus on training for even a minute, so she trained in shorter sessions than that, and told him to go play before he got frustrated or lost focus.

Over time he could focus longer and longer!

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1278537225148362752?s=21 https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1278537225148362752
I think “the off-switch game”, and teaching the dog to “think through arousal” are both pretty good framings.

And that learning to calm down quickly after doing something exciting is a very useful skill for anyone!
One theme of the book is that if your dog is upset about something, that means it’s your job to:
-observe your dog
-pay more attention to the thing upsetting your dog
-make it your job to make the sure your dog will be okay

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1236712797460807681?s=21
There’s also a whole bunch of stuff about using desensitization and counterconditioning, plus synergistic operant conditioning games to let the dog’s nervous system internalize that things are okay and safe.

But the first part matters! The dog actually needs to be safe!
Now onto Control Unleashed: The Puppy Program, the second book in the series.

“‘Paying attention’ is its own skill set, and teaching it should be separate from teaching more complex behaviors.”

https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1149365496472432640?s=21 https://twitter.com/visakanv/status/1149365496472432640
The author also breaks “paying attention” down into three chunks:
-discrimination skills
-“leave-it” skills
-arousal regulation skills

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1202043085745639424?s=21 https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1202043085745639424
I love this:

Attention as “both a function of a good working relationship and [...] a set of orienting behaviors that can be trained and reinforced regardless of the dog’s breed or personality”.
I will pause to note that, according to me, the CU books have a lot to do with what I understand of Prigogine’s theory of “chaos and reorganization”.

1. run off to sniff
2. get upset and bark
3. train under threshold with high rate of reinforcement

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1246157378497548289?s=21 https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1246157378497548289
Another story about her dog getting stuck bc he had to pass through a crouching body posture.

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1279620296371089408?s=21 https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1279620296371089408
“If you keep trying to war with the environment, either you or your puppy is going to lose.”

The situation is complicated and nuanced etc etc etc, but I think this sentence applies to kids too.

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1148399563771797505?s=21
One thing I believe I grokked pretty throughly from the CU books was that certain activities are particularly good for latent learning and relaxing, and it’s good to do them after training.

She lists:
-chewing
-sniffing
-foraging
-low pressure play

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1277868381287231488?s=21
One thing I believe I grokked pretty throughly from the CU books was that certain activities are particularly good for latent learning and relaxing, and it’s good to do them after training. She lists:-chewing-sniffing-foraging-low pressure play https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1277868381287231488?s=21
One thing I believe I grokked pretty throughly from the CU books was that certain activities are particularly good for latent learning and relaxing, and it’s good to do them after training. She lists:-chewing-sniffing-foraging-low pressure play https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1277868381287231488?s=21
One thing I believe I grokked pretty throughly from the CU books was that certain activities are particularly good for latent learning and relaxing, and it’s good to do them after training. She lists:-chewing-sniffing-foraging-low pressure play https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1277868381287231488?s=21
“Often the most valuable reinforcement you can give to your puppy is release from pressure.”

“Any time you ask a dog to do anything, you are putting pressure on the dog [...] any social interaction puts some measure of pressure on the social beings involved.”
“Often the most valuable reinforcement you can give to your puppy is release from pressure.”“Any time you ask a dog to do anything, you are putting pressure on the dog [...] any social interaction puts some measure of pressure on the social beings involved.”
“Often the most valuable reinforcement you can give to your puppy is release from pressure.”“Any time you ask a dog to do anything, you are putting pressure on the dog [...] any social interaction puts some measure of pressure on the social beings involved.”
This business about pressure and social beings is extremely important, IMO. I would say that circling (the authentic relating practice) is to a significant degree an exploration of pressure in social interaction.
One reason I am super picky about letting people, including kids, interact with my dogs is that I have almost zero tolerance for anyone using “I’m going to make you do this” energy on anyone I consider it my job to protect.

And with the dogs, talking about it isn’t an option.
More on the dog training as teaching the dog to meditate thesis.

I find the framing of concentration meditation as a targeting behavior interesting.

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1197026069255032832?s=21
I also very much enjoy these descriptions of how to productively deal with dogs that like nipping or attacking human clothes.

Same principles:
-practice below threshold
-make sure the dog has a pretrained toolbox for regulating arousal and interrupting reactive behavior
I also very much enjoy these descriptions of how to productively deal with dogs that like nipping or attacking human clothes. Same principles:-practice below threshold-make sure the dog has a pretrained toolbox for regulating arousal and interrupting reactive behavior
I also very much enjoy these descriptions of how to productively deal with dogs that like nipping or attacking human clothes. Same principles:-practice below threshold-make sure the dog has a pretrained toolbox for regulating arousal and interrupting reactive behavior
My dogs know that I sometimes give them treats for breathing, and they’ll do it on purpose, but I haven’t yet put it reliably on cue.

Probably I should do that.
The author of the CU books, who runs in-person classes, tells her students to do exercises in the parking lot until the dog is in a good place to enter and focus.

I like this because it really underscores how important she sees it to keep the dogs under threshold.
Some more great descriptions of the “off switch” game.

I have seen dogs learn this stuff quite fast, like in the story, and i love watching it when it happens.
Some more great descriptions of the “off switch” game. I have seen dogs learn this stuff quite fast, like in the story, and i love watching it when it happens.
Some more great descriptions of the “off switch” game. I have seen dogs learn this stuff quite fast, like in the story, and i love watching it when it happens.
Some more great descriptions of the “off switch” game. I have seen dogs learn this stuff quite fast, like in the story, and i love watching it when it happens.
Some more great descriptions of the “off switch” game. I have seen dogs learn this stuff quite fast, like in the story, and i love watching it when it happens.
The author talks a lot about the “Premack principle”, and getting strong behaviors by rewarding the dog with what he wants.

I think getting the decision-theoretic frame to parse is also important here.

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1148399561825607680?s=21
I am charmed by this story of one-sided dog rivalry.

“Easy bore a grudge because of a tiff that had occurred in my backyard [...] Merlin forgot about the incident about 30s after it happened, but Easy was absolutely outraged every time he saw Merlin [...] for several years.”
I am charmed by this story of one-sided dog rivalry.“Easy bore a grudge because of a tiff that had occurred in my backyard [...] Merlin forgot about the incident about 30s after it happened, but Easy was absolutely outraged every time he saw Merlin [...] for several years.”
I am charmed by this story of one-sided dog rivalry.“Easy bore a grudge because of a tiff that had occurred in my backyard [...] Merlin forgot about the incident about 30s after it happened, but Easy was absolutely outraged every time he saw Merlin [...] for several years.”
Teaching an animal to say no, and then respecting their no, is a great way to build a trusting relationship.

The author backs off when her horse puts his head down.
Different book (Reaching the Animal Mind), but another story I love about giving animals choices.

https://twitter.com/meditationstuff/status/1281059666030723073?s=21
I like that the dog training community is starting to have more nuanced views on “socialization”.

There’s really no guarantee that throwing dogs in situations they don’t like will have good effects, no matter what age the dogs are.
Dogs, like people, can have impractical boundaries, like that dogs on the street aren’t allowed to look at them or do anything unexpected.

http://becomingeden.com/boundaries/ 
The “look at that” game, like verbally empathizing, is an honest signal that the person doing it is processing the larger situation and tracking the trigger.

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1246157378497548289?s=21
I like this story about how the author trained a solid behavior, looking away from the door when she opened it, and then “instinctively drift” kicked in and she had to go back and redo it.
More on this point:

“If he can listen to me when he’s near water, he can listen to be anywhere, so matter what’s going on. It was also the hardest thing I had to teach him, and took the longest.”

https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1278523832748265473?s=21 https://twitter.com/diviacaroline/status/1278523832748265473
Onto the 3rd and final (so far!) book in the series.

“Our goal is not to merely change behavior; it is to change how the dog is feeling. When your dog is feeling functional, he will behave functionally.”
Onto the 3rd and final (so far!) book in the series.“Our goal is not to merely change behavior; it is to change how the dog is feeling. When your dog is feeling functional, he will behave functionally.”
Onto the 3rd and final (so far!) book in the series.“Our goal is not to merely change behavior; it is to change how the dog is feeling. When your dog is feeling functional, he will behave functionally.”
This describes Argos.

He’s never aggressive, and I wouldn’t say he’s fearful either, but he’s anxious. And that means he does seem nonfunctional attention-seeking stuff in a pretty compulsive way when he’s over threshold.
The third book in the series focuses even more on empowering the dog to be in charge of the training process, which I think is really neat!
First anecdote in three books about how the author teachers her cats to sit and wait patiently for things they want too :-).
I love this pic of the cat sitting to get her owner to play with her :-) c
The author says that her dog, when confronted with cats eating turkey on the couch, tried to lie down on the kids’ drawing board bc it seemed like a possible mat, lol.

Behold, my own cat that I have been doing some mat training with lately on the cutting board 😆.
The author says that her dog, when confronted with cats eating turkey on the couch, tried to lie down on the kids’ drawing board bc it seemed like a possible mat, lol. Behold, my own cat that I have been doing some mat training with lately on the cutting board .
The author says that her dog, when confronted with cats eating turkey on the couch, tried to lie down on the kids’ drawing board bc it seemed like a possible mat, lol. Behold, my own cat that I have been doing some mat training with lately on the cutting board .
“You should always have buy-in from your dog to do behavior modification. Conversational training makes it clear when you have that buy-in.”

@paulkreinerhere relevant to our conversation about this
Her dog who used to be very possessive with objects now responds to the other dog having a bone by looking pointedly at his owner.

And so she got him one!

The dog trusts the owner, so he doesn’t need to be reactive. I’ve seen the same thing with kids a lot.
@meditationstuff another way to give an animal the chance to stay “no” is by picking a behavior that means “yes”, and then when they stop doing it, that means they want to stop.
You can follow @diviacaroline.
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