Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - BT201: Barking Mad-BAT and Other Techniques for Frustration

Course Details

Barking Mad - BAT and Other Techniques for Frustration

"I WANT IT! NOW!" If our dogs could speak in a human language, some of them would be screaming these words in frustration. We can help our dogs learn to slow down and take information in, rather than rushing into greetings or demanding something from you. Rushed greetings can lead to fighting with other dogs and even just pulling toward other dogs or people can be hard for the handler to manage.

From Amalie H., a student in Barking Mad:

I was actually out this afternoon with my other dog, (fearful human-shy dog Robin), and when we saw that there were other people nearby, I sort of went into BAT-mode. :) The indications that she was giving that she'd noticed them were very subtle, and I totally let her make the decisions for where we were going, and she pretty much always made a good choice-- she turned away, arced around them.

It was such a lightbulb moment to see how much these dogs will make the right decisions given the opportunity and the safe structure to do so without us being pushy and making them go where we say. I'm excited to keep using all the things I've learned with all of my dogs. It's really been a fantastic course for us.

frustration-hair Grisha Stewart and her teaching assistant, Kristin Burke, will cover a variety of techniques for impulse control, relaxation, and appropriate greetings, including clicker training, applied behavior analysis, and Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT). She will look at the root of why we are getting the barking, pulling, or other frustration behavior and go over practical solutions.

Gold level participants in the course should have either their own dog or frequent access to a dog with whom they can practice (whose owners will also practice). Shelter or foster dogs are an option, but you would need to work with the same dog throughout the course, switching only in the case of adoption. The dog should exhibit frustration toward people, dogs, or some other specific thing that you can have access to during the course. You can also be working on prevention of frustration with a younger dog.

NOTE: BAT 101 through Fenzi or a thorough understanding of BAT 2.0 from elsewhere is required as a prerequisite for this course.

If you haven't taken BAT 101 yet and want to take Barking Mad, please prepare by watching the Intro to BAT and BAT Leash Skills webinar recordings from the Empowered Animals site. Then practice!

This course will be taught by Grisha Stewart, MA, CPDT-KA, KPACTP with assistance from a Teaching Assistant who helps Grisha give feedback on videos and answer questions in the forums. Kristin Burke, CBATI, CPDT-KA is a trainer in California who has been a Team Leader at many of Grisha's 5-day BAT Instructor Courses. Click here for a short bio.

Syllabus

View Full Syllabus

We explore the following topics during this course (subject to change):

Week 1: What is Frustration?

Dictionary Definition
Human examples
What Does Frustration Look Like in Dogs
How Do I Know Whether It’s Frustration or Fear? Does it Matter?
Why is My Dog Doing This?
Course Overview
Training: Practice BAT Leash Skills
Training: On/Off Switch

Week 2: Reducing Arousal

Exercise (What do to and what to avoid)
Brain Games
Diet
Other Tips to Reduce Arousal
Training: Conditioning Relaxation
Training: Sudden Environmental Change as an On Switch

Week 3: Control is a Basic Need

Science on Control
More Please Signal
Premack's Principle -- Overview
Training: Hand Targeting
Training: Mark and Move and other Survival Skills (brief review)

Week 4: Meeting Needs

Using Premack's Principle Wisely
What are YOUR Dog’s Unmet Needs?
Training: On/Off Switch with Premack's Principle
Training: Speed Training for Loose Leash Walking

Week 5: BAT

BAT Set-Up for Frustration
History on BAT & Frustration
Training: Silky Leash Technique for Loose Leash Walking

Week 6: Predictability and Consistency

Why Predictability and Consistency are Important
“What do you want me to do?”
“What works here?”
How to Add Predictability to Your Dog’s Life
BAT Set-Up for Frustration

Prerequisites and Equipment

NOTE: BAT 101 or a thorough understanding of BAT 2.0 is required as a prerequisite for this course. One or more of these must be done before Barking Mad:

BAT 101 Course in the Fenzi Academy (preferred - next offered Feb 1, 2015, but here's some good news: When Fenzi registration opens up in September, you can also purchase the lecture-only portion of BT101 from our Prerequisites Purchase Page.)
2-day BAT seminar after January 2014
Intro to BAT webinar after January 2014 (click here for recordings)
Empowered Animals series on Tawzer (should be coming out Autumn 2014)

Gold Level Participants will need:

Long leash, 12-15 feet (or two 6-foot leashes clipped together). Grisha recommends the Mendota or Clix leashes.
Dog harness with rear attachment. We recommend the Perfect Fit, XtraDog, Balance, Mekuti, or Freedom Harnesses, which have leash rings on both back and front.
You might want a person to help you with some of the exercises, although we will give alternative options.
A dog with mild to severe reactivity due to frustration. This course is not appropriate for dogs with generalized anxiety (i.e., anxious and worried about everything, all the time).This 'student dog' can be your own dog or a client's dog, but you must be able to practice with the same dog during the whole course and have permission to film those sessions.
Access to a training area in which the student dog is only mildly interested in some pre-arranged stimulus (another dog, person, treat pouch) without handler distraction. This may be indoors, but is usually outdoors.
Access to a helper dog, person, sheep, etc (object of frustration). In the course, you will film training set-ups with the helper starting at an appropriate distance.
Video camera, a way to film yourself training, and a way to upload your videos to YouTube.
(optional) 'before' footage of your dog would be helpful, if you have any. Don't set your dog up to freak out, but if you have some footage, it would be good to post it to your homework thread in the course.