Kay LaurenceKay Laurence (Learning About Dogs) · 글
anchor-person(안전기지 역할을 하는 보호자)이 주의를 기울이지 않거나 낯선 사람과 단둘이 남겨둘 경우, 빠르게 '유기(abandonment)'에 대한 감각을 느낌Proximity(친밀감/근접성): 보호자나 친숙한 사람/개와의 거리. 시야에서 벗어나더라도 보호자의 위치를 듣거나 냄새 맡을 수 있는 거리여야 함foundation(기초)이 됨Library of Familiar(친숙함의 도서관)를 구축해야 함library(기억 저장소)는 평가(assessment)와 검토(evaluate)를 위해 충분한 시간이 필요함.hard drive(뇌의 기억 장치)에 저장하기 위해서는 중간중간 충분한 수면(sleeping)이 필수적임.pup(강아지)은 고정된 places of safety를 가져야 함:bed(잠자리), home(집), sofa(소파).travelling places of safety가 필요함:car(차), 주인 by your side(주인 곁), family(가족), 다른 dogs(개들).abandonment histories(유기 이력)가 있는 개들의 경우:events(사건), people(사람), noises(소리)는 pup이 안전한 환경에 둘러싸여 있을 때 도입해야 함.pup에게는 consistency(일관성)와 함께 travelling safety adult(이동 중 안전을 책임질 성인)가 필요함.Familiar is differentpup이 이전에 방문했던 장소라고 생각하지만, 개에게는 다르게 보일 수 있음:picture(전체적인 모습)는 이전과 같지 않음.skill(기술)이며, 반려견이 배우도록 장려해야 할 영역임.perform(공연)하거나 work(작업)하는 것을 요구할 수도 있음.recognition(인식) 기술과 자신감을 발달시키는 데 중요함.pup 또는 성견 본인임.library 구축 및 평가 가이드evaluation process(평가 과정)와 병행하여 단계적으로(graduated) 진행해야 함.level of comfort(안정감 수준)를 측정해야 함.Stillness and connection(정적인 상태와 연결성)jump out of the car) 발생함.off lead(리드줄을 풀거나)하여 탐색하게 하거나, 주인과의 connection(연결성)을 잃게 해서는 안 됨.get out of here(여기서 나가기), find home(집 찾기), protect from novel(낯선 것으로부터 보호하기), defend personal space(개인 공간 방어하기).- "Better to have been to six new places that are now returned to with enthusiasm and desire to play, rather than 36 new types of flooring, 18 new people, 7 trains, 83 streets walked that are rushed and pass by in a blur of uncertainty and leave a desire to avoid." — (36가지 새로운 바닥재, 18명의 새로운 사람, 7번의 기차 탑승, 83번의 산책로를 다니며 불확실성 속에서 허둥지둥 지나쳐 회피하고 싶은 마음을 남기는 것보다, 다시 방문했을 때 열정적으로 놀고 싶어 하는 6개의 새로운 장소를 경험하는 것이 훨씬 낫다.)- "Maybe it feels like a doddle because my life with her wasn’t one of competing against who she is, trying to mould her into something else, or even just worrying about the potential fallout of every decision I made." — (어쩌면 이것이 식은 죽 먹기처럼 느껴지는 이유는, 반려견과 함께하는 내 삶이 그녀의 본질과 경쟁하거나, 다른 무언가로 억지로 바꾸려 하거나, 내가 내린 모든 결정의 잠재적 결과에 대해 전전긍긍하는 삶이 아니었기 때문일 것이다.)A Road to Nowhere by Kay Laurence | Puppies First Year , Seeing with New Eyes Late Winter afternoon in losing light and the backdrop of dismal rain. Blast it! Just missed that turning. Never mind I’ll take the next likely looking option. Ten minutes later that option deteriorates to a fading hope. No space to turn around and the road is becoming a track. A feeling of unease and annoyance is building: I do not want to reverse the last 2 miles or have to turn around in a private drive. This is not even my car, finding the lights was bad enough now I can’t control the heating. Blast, blast and blast. This sounds like the opening of a murder story: a stranger suddenly appeared from behind the hedge carrying an axe. No story, just our version of a day out for a young dog. When familiarity is stripped away we seek recognisable will take us back to comfort and security. This is survival instinct. It is worth listening to as it keeps us alive. Familiar is represented by: A place we feel safe A place where we know how to return to safety even when we are on adventures. Help and support when we ask for it. I have been driving to strange places around the country for 50 years, a field here, and warehouse there. Of course I have; I was a sport dog enthusiast who needed to attend as often as possible to be able to “have that chance”, and I liked the company. I know from experience you don’t “just try” the next likely looking option, you turn around and GO BACK. A naïve driver may have adventurous confidence when all other elements are familiar: good weather, own reliable car, phone and a companion. But when those layers are stripped away and the road becomes unfamiliar our need to concentrate increases, we go slower. We need our companion to STOP TALKING. As the rain gets heavier and the road harder to see our anxiety will increase. Driving when becoming more frightened is going to reduce our skills, competence and confidence. Home seems eminently desirable. This is not something we would wish on any driver; we can learn from these situations and be more prepared, look for alternate safe options and know we can opt to return home at any time we feel uncomfortable. Driving while anxious is not to be recommended, either a lone country lanes or aggressive rush hour traffic. A new car needs best conditions to be learned until it becomes familiar and we can find the switch for the lights without conscious thinking. Familiarity is a foundation of comfort and security from which we have the confidence to try new things, explore the unknown because we know that we can find o
ur comfort and security with ease. For a pup this is their home environment where they learn to recognise their safe places to sleep, be warm, the door to the garden, where the toys are kept, the routines of the people around them. They have company when needed, hunger is anticipated and they can play and learn in safety because the adults are taking care. But what happens for the pup that is carried to a new place and dunked onto the floor? Where is home, where to run to when they become frightened? Whose legs to climb to find familiar scent and sounds? The long term effect is a loss of confidence of new places, or anywhere unfamiliar. If their anchor-person is inattentive or leaves them with strangers the sense of abandonment hits fast. Not a thing is familiar, no signposts, no route home. Carrying pups to new places should never result in unfamiliar. What does familiarity look like? We know what it feels like to us but when we are taking our new youngster out on unknown adventures we must be able to recognise their evaporating confidence. It may begin with moving slower, more hesitantly, along an unknown path and even coming to a stop. Moving closer to you, avoiding strangers either canine or human. Constantly scanning the environment seeking the way home. Imagine you have landed on a strange, new planet. If you are leading the expedition party you will make sure NOT lose sight of the spaceship: the only safe place and way home. Exploring will involve as many return journeys to the ship as outbound journeys. A route home to safety needs to become familiar, practised and achievable with speed. We seek recognisable landmarks, and for the pup, scents. There will be the gung-ho adventurer who wants to see around the next corner but we all know they are the first to be taken out by the aliens. Survival is an instinct that we should never ignore or dismiss. Your dog is developing their skills of survival and needs to learn when they smell “alien” it is time to seek safety and with haste. This takes practice and lots of familiarity. Where are the adults? Nurture Survival Instincts and Build Confidence Consider all the elements that your youngster will be using to feel safe: Proximity to you or familiar people or dogs. This may be within distance to hear or scent where you are even if out of sight. Knowledge of their environment: where to go, where to eat, where to sleep. A series of recognisable routes, a mental map of safe locations. Rehearsing these routes is important so that safety can be found even when bolting from dangers. Routines and patterns of the
ir surrounding group: including family and dogs, delivery drivers and visitors. What happens when and in which order. Learning what is their normal and recognising states of alert, resting, play, preparation of food. Conversations with adults , you. When they feel a need for comfort it is recognised and supplied, a need for the garden it is offered, hunger is anticipated and alleviated. Each of these will be associated with positive experiences and make the foundation for introducing new elements on a gradual basis. Some of these elements may not be positive: the loud barking of the group when delivery driver arrives, thunder, intrusive treatment or handling. But with a good foundation of security these events can be learned, avoided or recovery achieved with ease. Adventures and more positive experiences can be added to build a Library of Familiar. This library needs sufficient time for assessment and evaluate and plenty of sleeping in between to add the new memories to the hard drive. Too much in one go can easily overwhelm and be forgotten. Multiple places of safety The pup will have fixed places of safety: such as their bed, the home, the sofa and they will also need travelling places of safety: the car, by your side and their family or other dogs. For dogs with abandonment histories the more associations of safety the more likely an absence of one source is less likely to have an impact. When they feel safe at home, with the rest of the family, either people or dogs, then your leaving is not going to have the extreme impact. They may feel safe left in the car provided they can see you at all times. Introduction of new events or people or noises can be introduced when the pup is surrounded in an environment of safety. But if the environment is most unknown with just a small element of safety present, you, then these introductions can easily be more overwhelming. The pup will need consistency alongside a travelling safety adult. Familiar is different Even though we think we are taking the pup to a place they have previously visited it may appear quite different and unfamiliar at a different time of day, in different weather conditions or seasons. You may be wearing a different unfamiliar outfit and there may be a whole cascade of new scents in the environment. The picture will not look the same. Remembering a place, events or situation is a skill that develops over time and one that we are encouraging the dog to learn. As they get better their confidence in a revisit will return sooner. We are often seeking to develop a youngster who as an adult will
be able to travel with comfort, sleep over in new places and be around unknown dogs and people. We may even ask this dog to perform or work in new, unfamiliar conditions. Returning to places already visited is important to develop the skills of recognition and develop confidence. We can also use those repeat visit to evaluate this developing skill through monitoring their levels of confidence. The pup decides familiar It does not matter that we have become familiar with a weird situation only the pup or even adult can make that decision. If they feel uncomfortable then that is entirely valid. Building the library of new experiences should be graduated alongside your evaluation process; For any new event, situation or activity we want to gauge the dog’s level of comfort:
ving the dog the comfort and security that is not offered from the environment or stuffing food at them. It is also going to make us feel a lot better: this is a partnership. At any time a new event may take away their comfort and security and fatigue will also have an impact. From going to early competitions, classes or attending regular events we build a confident dog able to find familiarity in the way we behave, what we do and routines that tell them all is well. But asking a green dog to learn too many new places too soon can destroy this confidence and survival responses will be their first options: get out of here, find home, protect from novel, defend personal space. It is never about counting experiences, but building experiences that are without stress, comfortable, interesting and having time to learn what makes them familiar. Better to have been to six new places that are now returned to with enthusiasm and desire to play, rather than 36 new types of flooring, 18 new people, 7 trains, 83 streets walked that are rushed and pass by in a blur of uncertainty and leave a desire to avoid. Overwhelming without familiarity leads to overcharged survival responses. Our aim is to build pleasant learning experiences in new environments. Unhurried, learning together. A Road to Nowhere When familiarity is stripped away we seek recognisable signposts that will take us back to comfort and security. This is survival instinct. It is worth listening to as it keeps us alive. Read More Building A Generous Future Maybe it feels like a doddle because my life with her wasn’t one of competing against who she is, trying to mould her into something else, or even just worrying about the potential fallout of every decision I made. Read More A New Puppy. Oh Joy. Impulse buying the wrong sofa can be rectified if you swallow the expense. Impulse buying a puppy can result in personal grief for you and your family and quite possibly result in a very unhappy future or end the life of that puppy. Read More Surprising Puppy Surprising Puppy. With obnoxious moments. After introducing the obnoxious puppy as a youngster I am knocked over by the Delightful Young Man he is turning into…… Read More Be-toothed Learning Machines The thing they don’t tell you is that raising a puppy is DANGED HARD WORK. Biting everything, peeing everywhere, eating anything; not for the faint hearted. Read More Don’t Let Them Learn Becoming aware that we share our lives with premier learners, dogs, is about saving you frustration, despair, anxiety and endless hours further down the road. Read More One dog
watching The other dog working or ….how to train the spectators to quietly rest and watch whilst you work, play, teach a single member of the group Read More Going Shopping This is a joint travelling adventure. It completely resets the learning and can easily extend the reinforcement process. Read More Herding Games For All Dogs? The wrong herding game is like trying to make a tennis player succeed at football Read More What We Get Right About Dogs We can learn from remarkable people who have worked with remarkable dogs: training and learning are not the same thing at all. Read More Shaping by rewards When I see a dog showing a behaviour that is heading towards potential conflict, my first question is “what rewards are available?” Read More The Fade-in Protocol Even though today we are surrounded by many available protocols for teaching with positive reinforcement, there is still a persistence that a dog should be set-up to make an error. An error is simply the difference between my expectation and the dog’s response. No more “distractions”, but faded-in environments. Read More 0 Comments Submit a Comment Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Comment * Name * Email * Website Submit Comment Δ