Protection Dog Sport: Schutzhund/IPO

Contributed by Vivien Chin
Kafka the German Shepherd is a little different from the other furry members of The Furry Tales. While the other dogs are full-time pets. Kafka is a working line German Shepherd Dog. It means that dogs from his line are all breed for their working aptitude. They are used in service like the military, police force, as guide dogs, herding dogs and sport dogs. Kafka is a part-time pet dog and part-time working dog. His pet dog duties include being a mama’s boy; his “work” is a protection sport called Schutzhund or IPO.

Kafka barking at a “bad guy” during his protection training.

What is Schutzhund/IPO?

Schutzhund, also known as Internationale Prüfungsordnung (IPO), is a three-part dog protection dog sport. It originated from a breed suitability test for German Shepherd Dogs (GSD) developed in the early 1900s in Germany. A GSD has to pass the test in order for it to be allowed to breed. A good GSD needs to be able to do nosework, show intelligence and desire to work with the handler, and have some protection instinct. The exercises in the test were developed to assess these three qualities of the dog and this breed survey has now become a dog sport with many participants around the world. It is also open now to other breeds like the Rottweiler, Doberman, and Giant Schnauzer.

To pass the nosework test, the dog is required to follow a track closely and search for lost articles in an open field. To demonstrate its intelligence and ability to work with the handler, the dog is required to perform an obedience routine that includes heelwork and retrieving. Lastly, a dog with courage and protection instinct is required to search for the “bad guy” amongst a set of six “blinds” – pyramidal tents opened on one side – bark to alert the handler and intimidate the decoy, and attack the decoy when he tries to escape.

Kafka taking a bite out of Frank Rottleb

IPO is a very challenging sport and it takes at least two years to bring a dog to a level sufficient to participate in a trial. There are three trials levels of increasing difficulty: IPO1, IPO2, and IPO3. The dog obtains a title of the same name after passing each level. Louise Jollyman, a talented trainer who represented the UK in the IPO world championships for German Shepherds in 2007, wrote a very informative website (http://www.schutzhund-training.com/) on the sport and gives an excellent description of the sport.

Kafka is currently in training for a title in IPO at the German Shepherd Dog Club of Singapore (GSDC). Once he achieves his title, he will be, in principle, allowed to have some fun in making little Kafkas. However, his mama is not so keen on taking care of his kids for him so she is probably not going to breed him.

Tracking
The first part of the IPO trial is the tracking phase. I hand it over to Louise to explain what tracking is about. When Kafka was a puppy, he showed great talent at tracking and used to get up at 7am in the morning to go tracking. We use food in the training. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find good land that is free of ants to do this training and so his mama did not cultivate that ability to the fullest.

Shaun, the handler, and his GSD Hagrid are working on tracking. Behind them are Frank and Michael, trainers from Germany.

Obedience
The next phase in IPO is obedience. In this phase, there is a fixed heelwork pattern that the handler and dog must follow. After the heelwork, the dog completes a series of dumbbell retrieves on flat surface, over a vertical hurdle and an A-frame. It is then followed by a send away exercise where the dog has to run away from the handler in a straight line and lay down when the handler gives the command to do so. Separate from these parts is the “long down” when the dog has to stay in down position for approximately six mins while the another dog does the aforementioned exercises. Kafka has gone further in his obedience training than in tracking. Though he has not participated in an IPO trial, he has won prizes in local obedience competitions.

Kafka on his way back from retrieving the dumbbell.

This is what a complete IPO obedience routine looks like. In this video, Mia Skogster, a world renowned trainer and competitor, is competing with her Belgian Malinois, Räty.

Protection
Protection work is every protection dogs’ favourite activity. Kafka is no exception. He loves chasing bad guys and biting them. Dogs that perform well in the protection phase of the trial are often selected for breeding. A good dog is confident, has courage, bites well and is controllable. Protection training is a very complex subject and requires much knowledge and experience. Randall Hoadley, training director of the DFW Working Dogs club, explains the work very nicely here. The “bad guy” whom the dog bites is called a “helper” or a “decoy”.

Axel the GSD is attacking Shaun the helper and preventing him from escaping.

Shaun from the GSDC is giving a demonstration on protection work.

Kafka running towards a blind during training.

Kafka is running towards a mini blind. It is a smaller blind that is more portable for training.

Michael’s Belgian Malinois Lassie is guarding the helper in the blind.

This what a real competition dog looks like. In the photo above, the Malaysian competitor Michael Lee’s dog, Lassie, is guarding and barking at the helper cornered in the blind. He is not allowed to bite unless the helper tries to escape or when Michael gives him the command to attack.

This is what the protection phase looks like in a trial.

Recently, Team Malaysia clinched the 4th spot in the FCI IPO world championships, only one point away from the champion. It is an incredible achievement for this region because of the lack of IPO enthusiasts and the difficult training conditions here. It is my aspiration to represent Singapore, like Michael Lee did for Malaysia, and hopefully do the country proud one day.

Team Malaysia at the FCI IPO competition in 2013.

I had the privilege of being part of Team Malaysia in 2013 and watching Michael compete with Lassie.

At 4th place, Michael Lee and his Belgiam Malinois, Lassie at the FCI 2014.

This year, I was not able to watch the competition in Finland. There, Michael finally had his hard work pay off with a spot on the podium.

How to get started?
Schutzhund is a demanding and challenging sport and people who are serious about it know the importance of a good dog and a good team.

1. Find a club that can support your interest and your goals.

IPO is a team sport. My friend from Germany, Jogi Zank, an excellent trainer and international competitor, underscores the importance of working in a team. During my month-long training in Germany, I saw firsthand how having friends to help and nudge you along, to discuss details about training and back you up when things are not going so well can raise one’s standard tremendously. I had a very motivated and wonderful club in Dallas, the DFW Working Dogs club, where everyone was committed to excelling in the sport. In Singapore, my team is the German Shepherd Dog Club of Singapore. We meet regularly and we support one another in our training here.

2. Get a good dog.

Often, neophytes of IPO first buy a dog and then become interested in training. They then find out that their dog is not well-suited for the sport. If they are keen on the sport, they will get another dog and then start training. This was how I started. Kafka is my second GSD dog. I suggest you find a club and talk to the people there and do some research before getting a dog.

I bought Kafka from a breeder in Belgium. Kafka is a very good dog, especially for a novice like me. He has enough drive, works readily for me, is not too stubborn, is confident, has a hard and full bite, and has a very high “pack drive”. He is also exceedingly intelligent. I first noticed this when I was running around the kitchen island trying to get him to catch me. Lulu could never catch me when I did that. She did not know how to change direction and intercept me, but Kafka did that at four months old. A bonus point for me is that Kafka is very sociable with people and most dogs. That is nice to have, given that we live in densely populated country like Singapore.

3. Start training.

When I first started out, I was asking around for a “training plan,” but to no avail. I think most people feel their way around or they have a plan but are not sure how to articulate it. Knowing something doesn’t mean that you know how to explain it. It was only much later that I met people who could explain how and when to do what with your puppy. Even so, they were very careful to give the caveat that each puppy is different and the plan is just a guideline. Attending seminars by Michael Ellis and Mia Skogster and reading Louise’s website helped me tremendously in structuring my training.

4. Be a sponge.

Be open-minded and learn as much as you can from as many people as possible. Some methods work better than others, but you won’t know until you’ve opened your eyes to all of them.

5. Don’t give up.

When you are first starting out, you will learn about many different methods and hear many different opinions. You will experiment with different methods and find that your training is like an incomplete patchwork blanket with pieces here and there. You’ll learn along the way how to collect the information and piece together your own training style. You will be confused. You will be frustrated. You will encounter problems and make mistakes along the way. That is only normal. This is where I find support from team members very helpful. Persevere and you’ll see light at the end of the tunnel.

6. Have fun!

IPO is like scaling a mountain. It’s challenging yet highly satisfying and addictive. A large part of the joy in training is seeing how much fun Kafka is having every time we train. Whenever I put his collar on for training he starts wagging his tail and gets excited. It’s also fun to see how other people in your team are progressing.

Where to go?
If you are interested in Schutzhund/IPO training, come down to the GSDC training ground at The Animal Resort. We train there every Sunday from 5pm. Obedience classes are also available for pet dogs of all breeds. Check out the GSDC website for more details.

 

Happenstance

Happenstance is a great dog cafe. It is our favorite dog cafe because the food is good and the interior is clean, spacious and well-designed. The impression we got when we made our first visit there was that it was warm and inviting. You don’t walk in and immediately feel you’re in a DOG cafe. Lighting makes such a big difference and the owners were smart to use warm, orange lighting. Their set up is tastefully done too – high-quality parquet flooring and wooden benches stretching from one end of the cafe to the other. This not only makes for easy cleaning (for them), but in the long term, there will be less wear and tear. In some of the other cafes that we have been to so far, there were scratched up and stained faux leather chairs which made us feel somewhat uneasy.

I’d like to book the whole restaurant please. For my party.

You can tell that Gigi and Isaac want to do everything right here. They hired a cook so whatever you order is good. The cafe serves pretty decent finger food. Each time we’ve visited, we’ve never been able to resist their Chicken Nuggets, Cheese Fries and Onion Rings. Their Fish & Chips is fantastic. It is Vivien’s default item whenever she goes to Happenstance. It comes with homemade tartar sauce and you can opt for salad instead of fries (to make you feel better). Their Cottage Pie is also very good.

Do you want fries with that?

Fish and Chips and Aglio Olio.

Cottage Pie with side salad.

There are a few things that we would like – WiFi please! Also, we threw a surprise party for our friend there once. We only found out when we got there that you’re not allowed to put any decor or tie any balloons to the chairs unless you’ve purchased a party package with them. But Gigi felt sorry for us after seeing we had come laden with balloons, photo place mats and other decor so we compromised – we were allowed to tie balloons on the birthday girl’s chair and have  our photo placemats on the table.

Introducing some of our gang: (L-R) Lady the Singapore Special, Twinkle the GR, Lucy the Cocker Spaniel, Lulu the Great Pyrenees mix, Olive the Singapore Special, Hyper the Border Collie, Leto the Shiba Inu.

Other times we’ve visited, we’ve also tried their “do-it-yourself” pastas. One was a cream-based spaghetti and the other was linguine Aglio Olio  with chicken sausage and tomatoes. It was not bad. Spicy and salty enough although we’d have preferred there to be less oil pooling at the bottom of the bowl, and the linguine was a taadd overcooked.

Linguine bacon, sausage and mushroom with cream sauce

Aglio Olio with tomatoes and sausages

The desserts are not made in house but they are very well-selected. The apple crumble with is awesome with a very generous serving of ice cream.

Apple crumble with ice cream

Happenstance has a doggy menu too. Sisi ordered beef pasta for Lucy and it came in the cutest Hello Kitty bowl.

Macaroni with beef

Our dogs like Happenstance too. They have plenty of space to run about and behave themselves so we can eat our food in peace. On some quieter weekday afternoons, we’ve popped in for lunch and enjoyed having space to train our dogs. Here’s Olive doing her WEAVE.

They also have this tiny cordoned off area where you can put your dogs for a timeout. We also use the fence as hurdles for Olive and Lucy! One quiet afternoon, it was Beau’s timeout spot.

Leto and Lucy visiting Beau in jail.

Another time, it was useful for holding some rowdy hooligans.

We’re in here so that the mamas can get some peace and quiet.

Happenstance is located at 35 Opal Crescent, with public parking along the road. Tel: 6341 7871, open Mon-Fri 12pm – 10am (closed on Wed), Sat-Sun 11am-10pm.

We leave you with more pictures of The Furry Tales at Happenstance Cafe.

Olive waiting patiently for her Prince Charming.

Dressed for Halloween

Free beef pie for participating in a Halloween photo contest

Dogs in 2D and 3D

DIY Games for Indoor Days

When you have a dog, especially one that is high energy, you will need to exercise him/her to avoid an uncontrollable, yapping/jumping/hyper atmosphere at home. Unfortunately, most people work full time and may not have time during the weekdays to bring them for long walks. Also, it is now the year-end rainy season (and the recurrent haze pollution) in Singapore, which ruins many of our outdoor activity plans with the dogs. On days like these, there are many inexpensive ways to expend your dog’s energy with mental stimulation and exercises (and keep us sane). Instead of spending money on dog puzzles, which become redundant once your dog has figured it out, there are games you can make yourself. These are fun for your dog, safe, and tire them out when you can’t bring them anywhere. Here are a few we’ve tried. Always make sure you are there to supervise your dog and that the materials used are safe and sturdy. We’ve rated each of these based on difficulty (for the dog) and fun factor, out of 5, based on our dogs’ responses.

1. Muffin Tin Puzzle

Put a treat in each of the muffin tin holes. Then place a tennis ball into each tin. The dog has to try to get the ball out before getting to the treat. It isn’t as simple as it sounds because if the dog simply paws at it, the ball merely spins. Your dog has to realize that it needs to lift the ball out of the tin to get to the treat. Lucy was rather clever and realized that the quickest way to get the treat was to topple the whole tray over so all the balls flipped over to reveal the treats. Olive got to try this game out for the first time this week – it wasn’t too challenging for her, but she had fun solving this in under a minute. Difficulty: ♦ Fun factor: ♥♥♥

2. Kitchen Towel Roll

When you’ve finished using your roll of kitchen towels, keep the cardboard tube. Add a handful of treats inside and fold both ends. Your dog will spend quite a few minutes trying to get the treats out. It can get messy and you may find wet pieces of cardboard scattered all over the floor after they are done. While they figure out how to get the treats out, the tube will probably spend some time rolling around the house. Once they realize they have to use their paws to hold it down and peel open the cardboard with their teeth, it won’t be long before they find their treat. Since it is quite safe, Sisi usually leaves one for Lucy when she’s going out and it keeps her occupied for awhile (Lucy doesn’t eat the cardboard).

Folded ends of the kitchen paper tissue roll

Lucy managed to get it open

Difficulty: ♦♦ Fun factor: ♥♥♥♥

3. Stacking bowls

You can buy little plastic bowls or cups (the ones we use are the childrens bowls from IKEA). Let your dog watch as you fill each bowl with yummy treats. (If your dog isn’t that food motivated or gives up easily, you will have to use a treat of higher value.) Then stack them up like you would when you store them, and then turn them upside down on the floor and let them figure out how to unstack it. Lucy took a while with this one. If your dog is smart, they’ll realize that pushing it against a wall will be the quickest way. Lucy pushed the bowls around with her nose for a long time, and then when it finally reached the wall, she realized she could push and flip the top bowl upwards using her nose. Once she figured that out, the second bowl was easier to conquer. When it gets easy for your dog, you can add more bowls.

Mama, if I do a downward dog, will I get the treat?

HEY! A treat!

Olive tried this with the plastic children’s cups from IKEA. Maybe the cups need to be jammed together tighter to increase the difficulty for her! Difficulty: ♦♦♦ Fun factor: ♥♥♥

4. Guess Which Bowl?

With the same bowls or cups as above, you can line them in a row upside down and hide a treat in one of them and watch as your pooch figures out which one it is in and how to get the treat out. They’ll most likely use their nose to push it around for a while. Then they’ll realize it is easiest to use their paw to push it down on one end so that the bowl or cup flips over.

Is it the pink one mama?

I just don’t know, mama…

It’s the blue one!

Difficulty: ♦♦♦-♦♦♦♦ Fun factor: ♥♥♥

5. Stacking Ring

Sisi bought a stacking ring toy for Lucy from Daiso for $2. It even comes with a little yellow duckie on the top. The aim is for your dog to eventually be able to stack the rings by himself/herself. The toy is propped onto a box so that it’s practically right under Lucy’s chin. If your dog does not know the “take it”, “hold” , and “drop it” cue (where it takes and holds something in it’s mouth,and then drops it on command), then you might want to teach that first. If your dog already knows it, then you can get your dog to take and hold the smallest ring in it’s mouth, then ask him/her to drop it. Because you’d have placed the toy right under its chin, it should drop into place. Mark that behavior and reward with treats. When your dog understands what you want, you can start to introduce a cue like “Ring” so your dog knows that cue means drop the ring onto the cone.

It not be a donut you mean?

Waiting for the “drop it” cue

Difficulty: ♦♦♦♦♦ Fun factor: ♥♥

6. DIY Rope Toys

If your dog is a chewer, you can make your own rope toy from old t-shirts. Get three t-shirts, cut them into strips, knot the top and then start braiding them as you would your hair. When you are nearly to the end, knot it again. If your dog destroys stuff easily, you might have to use stronger fabric like fleece or denim. Difficulty: ♦ Fun factor: ♥♥♥

7. Treats and Cloth in Hol-ee Toys

Stuff a Hol-ee Roller (or similar) ball with strips of cloth and kibble/treats. It can take them quite a while to pull out all the cloth and get all the treats, and is especially fun for dogs that like to pull the stuffing out of soft toys! To up the difficulty level, wrap up the treats inside each strip of cloth and roll it up – they take much longer to get it out.

Ready to find her treats inside!

Difficulty: ♦♦ Fun factor: ♥♥♥♥

8. Find Your Food!

Vicky likes to hide treats or even kibble around the house and command Olive to “Find your food!” At first, she started with simple hiding places – along the wall corners, on top of her cushion, under the table – but as Olive got the hang of it, she was able to hide in more challenging spots, like those which are elevated (bookshelf, on top of crate), behind curtains and under floor rugs.

Easy (clockwise from top left): window sill, on top of cushion, behind cupboard leg, wall corner.

Harder spots (clockwise from top left): on top of crate, under towel, behind curtains on window sill, bookshelf.

Command the dog to stay in the kitchen or another area as you hide treats around, and then let them loose to feast. If your dog doesn’t have a great sense of smell, like Lucy, you may have to look into all the hiding spots at the end of 30 minutes to make sure everything is found. One time, Olive went over to Sisi’s house and straight away discovered hidden treats under the carpet that Lucy had missed! Difficulty: ♦♦-♦♦♦♦ Fun factor: ♥♥♥♥

If you have any other DIY games you have tried, we would love to hear from you!

Bumming at Tanjong Beach

Sentosa, and specifically Tanjong Beach, is a great place to bring your dog. The Furry Tales make it a point to go there at least once a month. We’re all lucky to have the luxury of flexible working hours so we usually go early on a weekday morning when it is not crowded and not too hot.

Just chilling at Tanjong Beach…

Our dogs love the beach. Even Olive, who hates to swim and abhors baths, likes going to the beach. She will follow the other dogs into shallow water and watch them swim away to fetch some ball or other, then pounce on them again once they reach the shore.

It took numerous trips to the beach before Olive got brave enough to go this deep!

Olive waiting to ambush the rest back on the shore!

On the few not-so-hot days of Singapore, the dogs don’t mind just lying on the deck chairs provided at Tanjong Beach Club, sipping cocktails and getting a tan. They don’t mind it at all. The restaurant and bar is extremely dog-friendly, and their food is good with yummy truffle fries and a relaxed ambience.

Waiting for their mocktails.

On hotter days, the dogs just can’t wait to jump into the cool water. Of course not without first putting on sunscreen and goggles.

Floats: check. Goggles: check. Sunscreen: check.

The humans usually pack a simple picnic breakfast to tide them over until Tanjong Beach Club opens at 11am. The dogs mostly entertain themselves and make new friends. They lead an active social life.

Everyone, get Kafka’s ball!

Looks like Lulu might win.

Muddy has his life vest to make sure he won’t sink on as he’s coaxed into the water.

 

When our dogs get tired of swimming, there’s still plenty for them to do. They like to look for buried treasure (sometimes they get lucky and dig up a chicken bone or two, especially at the outdoor seating portion, so be careful when they start digging near the tables).

Digging is definitely a favored activity at the beach!

And sometimes they get lucky!

Mama, I found roots!

They be yummy!

They also like to interact with the humans.

Kafka loves to play tug. He will bug everyone until he gets to play!

We take every opportunity to practice their recall. Especially at the beach where there are plenty of distractions. Be armed with high value treats!

Masha is the treat dispenser here.

And when all the excitement has passed, we sit with our dogs and contemplate the deeper things in life.

Olive ponders her lost stick.

There’s plenty of parking available at Tanjong Beach. The other beaches on Sentosa (Siloso, Palawan) are not as dog-friendly as Tanjong Beach and we have never been told to leash them up here. It does get crowded on the weekends with families and young children so we prefer going on the weekdays.

Beach days get us away from the hustle and bustle of Singapore city life, and Lulu just about sums up how we feel when we are done.

Lulu LOVES the beach!

Our Secret Hideout

Contributed by Vicky Ti

One of The Furry Tales gang’s favorite hangout places is Fort Canning Park. This park is a gem in the middle of the city and I almost hesitate to share our special place. There are so many great reasons to visit (ample space, charming landmarks, relatively quiet), but one of the best reasons for me is the fact that it is perpetually shaded, no matter what time you come. So it’s great for those days when the sun is high in the sky by the time you roll out of bed and you still want to bring your dog out for some exercise.

Big area where Muddy and Olive drain their energy.

There is a massive field in front of the Fort where the dogs can unoficially play offleash – recommended only if they have good recall. I love to play with Olive here and do sprints up the slope together. This is a great way to work out with your dogs! We have also done numerous “bootcamp” sessions here ourselves – walking lunges, planks, sit ups/push ups, sprints. The dogs are strict coaches.

Lulu is not easy to please.

Yoga has also been another activity we’ve enjoyed at the FC Park picnic area.

Tanya explaining how to do the triangle pose. Lulu is bored.

There’s a swing at the picnic area for those tender bonding moments between Olive and me.

We also enjoy walking the shaded paths around FC Park. Since it is relatively quiet on weekdays, some of us let our dogs offleash and train them on walking next to us, as well as on their recall. It is a nice meander up to the Fort Gate and Battlebox area, which also has a small field for a romp.

Sightseeing at the Fort Gate (L-R: Lucy, Lulu, Olive, Hyper).

The smaller field next to the Fort Gate. Lucy has special flying ears.

Remember to bring plenty of water and a dog bowl for your dogs (you can fill up water at the toilets located around the park or at the two watercoolers that rarely seem to work) and mosquito repellent for yourself! As you can see, we make the dogs carry everything!

The Outward Hound backpack gang take on FC Park. The backpacks are not just for show, but they carry liters and liters of water!

Two minor cons about FC Park are: (i) they sometimes hold concerts and festivals on the big lawn, in which case we can’t use the field (however, there is a smaller field up where the Fort Gate is); and (ii) red ants – along some of the pathways, if your dog goes onto the grass, you may have to help them get rid of angry red ants.

After the morning excursion, we like to some food or coffee at The Fabulous Baker Boy (they don’t have an outdoor area to sit with your dogs anymore, but you can still tie them outside while you enjoy the cool air-conditioning inside) or take a short stroll to Kith at Park Mall (which we love because they love our dogs).

We leave you with more pictures of our dogs enjoying their favorite FC Park! Oh, and this was also where Tanya and Muddy first met some members of The Furry Tales.

The very first meeting: love at first sight (L-R: Olive, Finley, Lulu, Beau and Muddy).

Lulu taking the time to stop and smell the flowers.

Our dogs love to pose for us (L-R: Hyper, Lucy, Lulu, Lady-Mae, Olive).

Gimme that!

Brave Muddy is taking Olive head on!

Everyone’s favorite game is tag!

 

Hilton Hotel

Contributed by Sisi Soh For my birthday last year, my boyfriend and I checked into Regent Hotel with Lucy. (WHOSE birthday was it really??) This year, we decided to try the pet-friendly Hilton Hotel.

My Rimowa and I.

Checking in with a dog at this hotel was really no different to having luggage. They didn’t pay any attention to her, nor ask to check her (for size). On one hand, it was great that it was so fuss free. I’m always paranoid they’ll stop us because I still can’t get over a hotel allowing dogs. It feels surreal walking into one with a dog. On the other, it would still have been nice if they had greeted Lucy. The King Deluxe Room was bright and cheery. But no dog bed and bowl this time (Regent gave Lucy a dog bed with two dog bowls). Also, when room service came up with some drinks, Lucy gave them a scare when the door opened. It would have been great if we had a door sign we could hang. (Regent Hotel gives you one that says “Pets in the room”)

Mama, I don’t get a dog bed?

Me and Squeaky will just use yours then

The first thing Lucy did was change into her robe and check out the bed. Only she didn’t realize it was much higher than ours at home, and fell down. It  didn’t stop her from trying again though. And again. After all, she had a massage waiting. WHOSE birthday was it again?

Javier, I be ready for my massage

The hotel requested we not walk Lucy around the hotel premises, but were okay with us walking her out to potty as long as she was leashed. We decided not to order room service this time, so we had dinner just down the road at California Pizza Kitchen (Forum Mall). Their alfresco area is dog friendly so it was nice to be able to walk to dinner. When we got back to the room after our romantic night, I got the fright of my life when I opened the bathroom door because out popped The Furry Tales mamas shouting “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!”. Their faces were lit by a candle in the dark, so I thought my room had been invaded by Sixth Sense ghosts. Lucy and I were scared out of our wits and screeched in harmony as we fell backwards onto the carpet. We calmed down when we saw the macaroons and wine.

Picture after calming down. Phew, not ghosts.

I’d brought Lucy’s toys to keep her entertained. But she’d been a little stressed out lately and much preferred to have a bubble bath and relax in her robe and slippers instead of playing fetch with her mama. That was fine with me. She’d just gotten her hair blown though so she insisted I put on a shower cap on her. It’s too bad I had forgotten her Hello Kitty one. I don’t think she was too happy I made her wear an ugly yellow one.

Lucy waiting for her rubber duckies

All nice and clean

Matching robes

Lucy and Mama

Thank you Mama for the staycation

All in all, Hilton stay was what we all needed after a busy week. After all, training to be a good dog really is a 24 hour job. Learning to jump over hurdles, dressing up for Halloween and going to parties is also very strenuous. Lucy was very glad for the short respite from all that. Hilton is located at 581 Orchard Road. Note that they charge a non-refundable S$80 deposit for pet cleaning.

Clicker Training: An Introduction

Contributed by Vivien Chin
Clicker Training has become increasingly popular. In a nutshell, clicker training is using a device that makes a ‘click’ sound to mark a behavior that you want. For example, if you want your dog to sit, clicking when your dog places his behind on the ground indicates to him that that is the behavior that will get him a reward. Some people call the same type of training “marker training.” Instead of using a device, they use their voice to mark a behavior.

There are three basic steps to marking a behavior:

1. Loading/charging the clicker
2. Marking a behavior
3. Rewarding the behavior

1. Loading/Charging the Clicker

To begin, you have to “load” or “charge” the clicker. The clicker by itself has no meaning to your dog. It’s just a piece of plastic making a sound that is irrelevant to him. To give it meaning or to “charge” it, you have to pair it with something that already means something to your dog. Typically, we pick a training reward which is already meaningful, like food or toys, and associate the clicker with it. We make that association by clicking and presenting the training reward after the clicker. In other words, you click and you give your dog a treat after clicking. Your dog will eventually learn that when the click happens, good things are coming. If you have a dog that loves food, you can use its kibble as training reward so that he will not get fat on unhealthy junk food.

Kafka sits for a treat.

2. Marking the Behavior

Once the dog understands that a click is followed by a reward, you can start using the clicker to mark the behaviors you want. The clicker is used in this way: when your dog sits, you click and give it a treat. Similarly, for the behavior to be associated with the clicker, the click must happen within a split second of the behavior. From there, you have a basic understanding of clicker or marking training.

3. Rewarding the Behavior

In the initial phase of learning, the reward must follow very shortly after the clicker. For there to be a good association, the reward must be presented within 0.5 seconds of the click. Some dogs have a better working memory and thus the reward can be presented a little later.

Olive shows off her nails. This behavior is taught through clicker training.

This is clicker training in its most fundamental idea. However, from then on, there are many “stylistic variations.” I use the word “stylistic” because it is hard to say whether a method is right or wrong. Each has its advantages and disadvantages and it is dependent on the situation. For example, to get your dog to sit, you can either use capturing, free-shaping, luring or targeting. Most trainers use a combination of various methods.

Here are examples of how clicker training is employed.

Toffee on a magic carpet ride.

I taught Toffee how to get on the mat by first tossing treats onto the mat. When he got onto the mat, I clicked and tossed another treat. To reset the exercise, I picked him up and put him down outside of the mat. He did not yet understand that getting onto the mat got him a reward. So, I tossed another treat onto the mat and repeated the exercise. When he moved onto the mat consistently, I stopped tossing treats onto the mat and gave it to him from my hand instead. When I felt that he understood that getting onto the mat got him a click and a treat, I added a verbal cue. I said “Mat” and tossed a treat onto the mat. Tossing the treat onto the mat helped him understand what to do in case he got confused by the verbal command. When he stepped on the mat, I clicked and treated him from my hand. After a few times, I stopped tossing treats onto the mat and used only the verbal cue.

Summer auditioning for the circus.

Apart from stepping onto a mat, dogs and puppies can learn to step onto a raised foot pad. Summer learned to stand on a foot pad quickly. She was first lured onto the foot pad with food and I clicked when just one of her paws stepped onto the foot pad. Next, I increased the criteria by clicking only when both paws were on the foot pad. When she understood that she had to have both paws on the foot pad to get a reward, I faded out the lure. When she was less reliant on the lure, I stood further away from the foot pad so she had to go further away from me to get to the foot pad. That way, I knew that she knew what is expected of her. At this point, I introduced the verbal command and then lured her onto the foot pad. Because the command is new and does not mean anything to her, I had to show her what I wanted her to do. Eventually, I removed the luring and used only the verbal command.

Muddy puts himself high up on a pedestal.

Muddy learned how to get on the foot pad too. He is a very wary dog and was very reluctant to step onto the foot pad. We helped him by placing the foot pad between two chairs so the only way for him to get to the treat was by stepping onto the foot pad.

Here, Olive is executing a jump. First, Vicky walked over the jump with Olive. Olive responds to both a clicker as well as a verbal marker. As she jumped over the obstacle, Vicky said “Yes” to mark her behavior. Vicky repeated this a few times. When Olive jumped over the hurdle reliably, Vicky walked on the outside of the hurdle while Olive jumped over it. Olive is a smart one. She understood very quickly that jumping over is followed by “Yes” and sometimes a treat. Vicky then added “Over” just before Olive makes the jump. The smarty pants understood quickly that “Over” means jump and is followed by a click and maybe a treat. Olive was far along enough in marker training that she did not need to be rewarded with a treat each time. Now Vicky does not need to walk with Olive as Olive jumps over the hurdle any more. She can ask Olive to jump just by saying the command.

Clicker training is both easy and complex. The basic principles are easy to grasp. However, there are also considerations like what to reward that “Sit” with (treats, toys, praise, play) and how often to reward (reinforcement schedule). There are also more complex training concepts that come after, such as, proofing, generalisation, distraction training, reward placement, value of reinforcers, motivation levels, etc. In a later post, we will explain these terms and the stylistic variations we talked about above.

We hope this provides a basic understanding of what clicker training is about. For further reading, ASPCA gives a good description of clicker training. Karen Pryor Clicker Training is a Mecca for people interested in the method.

Behind-the-Scenes Exclusive

The Furry Tales and friends have been accused of cheating zoo visitors and using fake zoo animals in our zoo exhibit on Halloween last Friday. The Furry Times published a report on the alleged outrage of our visitors. This blog post gives you the full and exclusive story from our perspective.

We almost fooled you, didn’t we? (L-R: Cotton as Panda, Lulu as Moose, Kafka as Bear, Hyper as Croc, Leto as Leopard, Muddy as Zebra, Lucy as Sheep, Olive as Horse, Lady-Mae as Camel.)

Theme: CHINESE ZOO. Inspired by the humorous incident last year where a zoo in China tried to pass off a Tibetan Mastiff dog as an African lion, we decided to open a zoo for Halloween. We had curated an excellent collection of “zoo animals”. Any resemblance of the animals to any of our dogs is purely coincidental.

What do a sheep, a horse and a zebra have in common?

Tired zookeepers find it harder than expected to train the animals.

Tourist face off!

Deco: Our zoo had been busy gearing for Halloween for weeks. The one accurate thing that news article reported is that the zoo wanted to keep costs down. We had simple hand-made bats, S$2 Daiso cobwebs and some signage for the festive decorations.

S$2 Daiso to the rescue!

For the bats, all we did was draw one side of a bat onto a folded sheet of white paper. Then cut it out to a whole bat. Once we had our bat, we traced it over several sheets of black paper and cut it out. We also added goggly eyes for effect. Financial difficulty or not, you cannot spare any expense on the goggly eyes.

Draw half a bat on a folded A4 paper.

Cut and open it up

Convincing bats with the cutest goggly eyes!

We painted some zoo signs to hang on our zoo enclosures. Translations of zoo signs were proof read by Olive and Lucy. We could not afford to hire professional translators. Errors are the sole responsibility of the duo.

Olive is sure she can paint faster than that!

Lucy checks for errors. Approved!

Perfectionist Olive.

Costumes: Our zoo animals had to be spruced up for the special occasion.

Sheepish Lucy
Sisi had originally wanted to make Lucy a panda, but because her grooming left her looking like a skinny rat, she decided to make her a plump little sheep. It was a very simple costume to make albeit a little time consuming.

Materials needed: one big white cardboard, lots of cotton balls, elastic and a bit of black felt.

First, she cut out the sheep shape (like a big giant cloud) out of the cardboard, then cut a hole in the middle where it would fit over Lucy’s head.

Cardboard cloud shape

When you are satisfied it fits, you can glue cotton balls all over it. If it becomes too heavy, you can stick more cardboard behind it for added support. To make the head piece, Sisi just cut a long strip of black felt and measured it to fit Lucy’s head. She stapled the elastic to it so it would go around her chin. Then she glued on a few cotton balls on the top.

For the ears, she cut out two ear shapes out of black felt, glued it onto white cardboard and stuck it onto each side of the headband. Easy peasy!

Cotton ball sheep body and headband ears.

Horsey Olive
The hairy material of the mane and tail were bought from Art Friend, and it was a simple matter of cutting a strip of it and elasticating it for Olive’s head. The bridle was a bit more tricky to fit on Olive, made from a recycled ribbon. She got pretty fed up with Vicky trying to measure her nose and head area, and the repeated trying it on for size! The saddle was cut from colored felt and strapped around her torso with Velcro.

I give up, do what you want!

Beary Kafka
Kafka’s genealogy is sometimes suspect. Now and then, he resembles a bear, a horse or a rat. The choice was not hard. With little effort, Kafka can be turned from a handsome German Shepherd to a handsome American Black bear.

To make Kafka’s costume, Vivien bought black fleece and brown felt from Spotlight. From the black fleece she sewed a circular head band and two bear ears. Two slits on the head band were cut where the ears are supposed to be and the ears were inserted and sewed on. Semi-circle pieces were cut from the brown felt and glued on.

Please do not feed the bear.

Moose Lulu
Lulu’s head piece was a little more complicated. It involved ten steps.

Step 1: Drive to Plaza Singapura.
Step 2: Enter Carpark.
Step 3: Park vehicle.
Step 4: Take elevator or escalator to 5th floor.
Step 5: Enter a store with the name of Daiso.
Step 6: Locate moose antlers head bands in party section.
Step 7: Queue at cashier.
Step 8: Pay $2 for antlers.
Step 9: Go to carpark.
Step 10: Drive home.

Danger: Moose X-ing.

Stripey Muddy
Muddy’s stripes were painted on with food coloring, color: Pearly White. The bigger challenge was to keep the other dogs from licking it off. An elasticated white mane topped off the tribal look.

Inverted stripes zebra. With a Mohawk.

Food: Walking round the 10 square meter zoo is sure to work up an appetite. We made sure that the zoo visitors and staff were well-fed. To feed the humans at the park, we had a pot luck, which meant that everyone shared the load of cooking.

A glimpse of our feast: Aglio Olio pasta, fried rice, Philly Cheese Steak sliders!

Because the animals had escaped from the enclosure and turned the zoo into a safari, we had to guard our food from the prowling predators. Zookeeper turned safari ranger, Sisi, had the most challenging job of keeping the animals away. Her skills and expertise in howling and flapping her arms kept dinner safe from poachers and the visitors felt safe.

Contrary to the report, our zoo visitors enjoyed their visit to the zoo and look forward to more events organized by The Furry Tales.

We leave you with more pictures of our adorable animals! No fights occurred at this zoo party…here’s a reminder of how to party like an animal!

Death stare.

This sheep does not look sheepish.

Typical American tourist at the Petting Zoo.

Taking crazy to a whole ‘nother level.

Sinking cobwebs.