Session 1: Intro- Animals as Tool Users, Choice & Imitation (Copy That); Animal cognition has long been associated with tool use, and even tool making, most famously in Jane Goodall’s study of chimpanzees. In the intro, Pat shows numerous videos of animal tool use: a badger shifting the end a of large branch from the floor to above a wall to facilitate escaping an enclosure; a dog doing a little furniture moving to access a countertop; a bird stealing bread to successfully use as bait, to catch a fish for dinner, and incredible crows: one fashioning a straight thin metal rod into a hook to lift a wire handled glass out of a bucket. (Other crows are famed for placing nuts on roads to have passing cars crack the shells.) The dog world has followed suit: Over the past decade-plus there has been a revolution in the world of dog behavior, as canine cognition scientists such as Adam Miklosi, Alexandra Horowitz, Claudia Fugazza, Brian Hare and others have explored abilities of the dog’s brain once thought to be far beyond the reach of our canine companions. Choice: The notable Dr. Susan Friedman says, “The power to control one’s own outcomes is essential to behavioral health.” (Dr. Susan Friedman, PhD – www.behaviorworks.org). Our very simple Choice protocol introduces dog and human to the concept of allowing canines to have more choice in their lives, and thus helps them to be behaviorally healthier. (The Chin Rest and Chirag Patel’s Bucket Game are other good examples of giving our dogs more power to control their own outcomes). In Pat’s protocols, the dogs learn to choose and express the choice of what foods and other items they prefer. Imitation: With her “Do As I Do” protocol, Claudia Fugazza opened the eyes of the dog world to the potential for our dogs being able to learn through imitation of human behavior. We will present the three phases of this fascinating protocol, “Copy that!”: Phase 1 - Introducing and teaching the imitation concept with 3 very well-known (on verbal cue) behaviors of your dog (or your student’s dogs). Phase 1 is critical in getting the dog to understand the “Copy (Imitation) Concept”. In this phase your dog starts the process of social learning by observing what you do (your version of 1 of the dog’s 3 well known behaviors) and copying that behavior, simply with the cue “copy” rather than the traditional cue word for that behavior. Eventually the dog should be able to reliably execute that behavior after watching you and then hearing “copy”. Extending that to two other behaviors becomes the basis of the Copy Concept. Phase 2 is generalizing the imitation concept to 3 more lesser-known behaviors, and Phase3 (the hard part) is Generalizing the imitation concept to 3 novel (not previously trained) behaviors.

Sponsor:Puppyworks
Speaker(s):Pat Miller

Contact: arie kopelman
 Email: events@petworkshops.com
 Phone: 917-699-6440
 Web: http://www.puppyworks.com/