Mr. and Mrs. Dog: Our Travels, Trials, Adventures, and Epiphanies

Positive Trainer Pat Miller

81 PositiveTrainerPatMiller The question, then, is this: Would you rather hurt your dog to train him—or feed him treats? Seems obvious, doesn’t it? —Pat Miller A certificate from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers states that Pat Miller is a certified pet dog trainer, and another from the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior says she is a certified dog behavioral consultant. Beside the certificates in Miller’s training room is a photograph taken when Miller was a uniformed animal control officer for the Marin County, California, SPCA. The young woman in the photo is sternly beautiful, and some years later Miller is an unusually handsome woman. The animal welfare connection continues. Pat’s husband, Paul, heads the county SPCA, and my first visit was abbreviated because the Millers had just rescued seventy starving horses from an animal hoarder and were caring for them at a nearby farm and on Peaceable Paws, their eighty­acre Maryland spread. Their farm is a pretty place; the entry lane is bordered by woods and a meadow where dog agility equipment is scattered about. Pat Miller has authored (among other books) The Power of Positive Dog Training (2001), Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog (2004), and Positive Perspectives 2: Know Your Dog, Train Your Dog (2008), as well as pamphlets, articles, and reviews in Whole Dog Journal and Bark magazine. She is past president of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. Once she was a traditional trainer, whose terrier mix, Josie, had earned her Companion Dog and Companion Dog Excellent titles from the AKC. But Josie couldn’t complete the retrieving requirement for the next rung in competitive obedience, Utility Dog. Miller’s fellow trainers urged her to use the ear pinch (a Koehler technique) to improve Josie’s retrieving, and 82 mr. and mrs. dog Pat pinched faithfully “until one afternoon when I got out the training equipment and Josie, who had always been a willing and happy worker, hid under the deck and refused to come out.” Distressed at Josie’s reaction, Miller quit training for months, until one day she heard about “Positive Training,” which used treats and a clicker/ marker instead of corrections. Josie never got her UD but she had a long and happy life. These days, Miller doesn’t compete her dogs. She owns seven, all rescues. As she and I talked, Luke and June sat blissfully at Pat’s feet. She never stopped stroking them. I visited the second week of Pat’s adult dog class. (No dogs are present the first week when behaviorist methods and philosophy are explained.) Since it’s hard to persuade owners to stick with a lengthy training program, Miller finesses the problem by training for “levels” that the dog and owner can attain without reference to how many weeks it takes. Level 1 skills are: 1. Name response Dog responds promptly to her name at least 8 of 10 times. Owner dem­ onstrates understanding of not repeating name if dog doesn’t respond, but uses (kissy noise) or some other sound to get response. 2. Stationary attention Owner can keep dog’s attention for 5 seconds with mild distractions. 3. Sits Dog sits on verbal cue at least 8 of 10 times (prompting allowed). 4. Greetings Dog sits for greetings at least 8 of 10 times and does not jump up. 5. Handling Owner and instructors can handle dog’s ears and paws. 6. Owner skill Can recognize and fix tight leash. 7. Owner skill Understands concept of reward marking and has reasonably good mechanical skills (timing/click then treat). Positive Trainer Pat Miller 83 Level 4 dogs have achieved the following: 1. Recalls Comes promptly across room 3 of 3 times, high distractions. 2. Polite walking Dog walks by owner’s side 3 full laps of training area with low rate of reinforcement, moderate distractions. 3. Leave it Owner can give “Leave it” cue and drop forbidden object without having to body block, 3 of 3 times. 4. Give Dog will drop moderately high value object on cue without prompt­ ing, 4 of 5 times. 5. Target to hand Dog will move to target hand and touch 4 of 5 times. 6. Hand signal down Dog will lie down in response to hand signal only, 4 of 5 times. 7. Distance down Dog will lie down on cue at a distance of 15 feet...