ESCAPE TRAINING

Many people have heard of Escape Training and think that it's something to be avoided. The fact of its name doesn't help. But it's nothing horrible! it just describes the fact that a dog (or any animal for that matter) wants to avoid that which is uncomfortable and move to that which is comfortable. Dogs, like just about every other animal on the planet (including single-celled-ones) are hedonists. They seek pleasure and avoid pain (including discomfort).

ESCAPE TRAINING is any form of training where the dog performs to stop some kind of discomfort. It can be done with virtually any kind of aversive, including the Ecollar.

When using the Ecollar it means that the dog learns to escape the discomfort of the stim by performing the movement. It makes no difference whether one is teaching with the tool or using is after the dog knows the behavior and the Ecollar is being used to proof the behavior in the face of distractions or to work at a distance from the handler.

There's nothing inherently unfair about this form of training and most people use it in some form. Many won't realize that they're doing it but they are. When someone holds up a treat the dog wants it; and so he performs to get it. The condition he's "escaping" is NOT getting the treat. Withholding the treat from a dog that has not performed the command is punishment. The dog wants to "escape" that condition so he performs the behavior that's been commanded.

"Avoidance" as used with Ecollars has a different meaning than it does when used to describe a dog's behavior. There it means that the dog displays some behavior to avoid a fearful situation or fearful object. This behavior is often completely disconnected from the fearful object. An example would be a dog that avoids a fearful situation by moving away from it. Sometimes avoidance behaviors don't look like avoidance at all. For example a fearful dog may ignore the threat and may look for a bush to urinate on. It's a little like the child who covers his eyes when facing something fearful. "If I can't see you, you can't hurt me."

AVOIDANCE TRAINING as used in Ecollar training means something quite different from this. In Ecollar work it's the end point of the work! The dog has learned to escape the stim so well that the trainer doesn't give stims any more. The dog has been trained to the point where instead of merely "escaping" the stim, he's completely avoiding it!

GUIDANCE TRAINING is where the Ecollar is used to incrementally reward the dog for small increments as he approaches the "perfect behavior." It requires the dog to be "collar literate," meaning that he knows that it's his behavior that makes the Ecollar stim start and it's his compliance with the command that makes it stop.

Let's use the example of wanting to train a dog to stop biting a decoy and to return to the handler on the same command. The dog is sent for the bite. The Ecollar stim level is set at the level where he first feels it (during the bite). The command is given and the stim is delivered. As soon as the dog releases the bite his level of distraction is lowered because the distraction of the bite is gone. If the stim was to be kept on at the same level as it was before he stopped biting it would be too high for him. And so the handler turns the stim level down. The next step in the behavior is for the dog to turn towards the handler. As the dog makes this turn, the stim level is lowered, rewarding him for every part of the turn. When he's running back towards the handler the stim is stopped.

Some trainers don't get this and mistakenly think they're doing something else when in reality they're doing escape training.

 

Close this page to return to the article index

 

© 2007 Lou Castle