Grisha developed Behavior Adjustment Training (BAT) for dogs with reactivity issues. We use it in several dog classes at Ahimsa in Seattle, From Growly Dog classes to private lessons to puppy kindergarten.

Some of what Victoria said about BAT in the interview: “This is a positive dog training technique… And it’s not all happy clappy and it’s not just about stuffing food in your dog’s face. It’s about giving your dog what it needs to be successful in this crazy domestic world with us….You’re working along with the dog. I think that’s crucial. So people, if you are out there and you have a question….about how to deal with reactive dogs… you’re going to get better results from doing techniques like the BAT technique. I’ve seen it done, I’ve done it myself, I’ve seen it on videos and Grisha’s DVDs, I’ve heard about it from trainers all over the world who use it. This is a great technique and this is something else that you can do with your reactive dog to help it cope with the world around it.” (our emphasis)

Here’s how.

1. Buy the MOBI file using the BAT book link.
2. Download the file.
3. Make sure you have the free Kindle app on your phone (App Store).
4. Plug your phone into your computer using the USB cable.
5. Open up iTunes.
6. Click on your phone under Devices.
7. Click on the Apps tab.
8. Use the scroll bar on the right-hand side to scroll down to File Sharing (go all the way down).
9. Click on Kindle.
10. Click on “Add” at the bottom of the “Kindle Documents” box.
11. Find your file.
12. Sync your phone.
13. Tada! The BAT book should now be in the books listed in the Kindle App on your phone.

1. I should have the first book on Behavior Adjustment Training, or BAT, published in mid-2011. BAT is a technique for rehabilitating and preventing dog reactivity issues, including frustration, fear, and aggression. The picture you see here is a little teaser of some of the illustrations. The book will be available at http://ahimsadogtraining.com/bat – see that page for my upcoming BAT seminars around the world.

2. We have two seminars coming up – one on Creative Dog Training by Emily Larlham (from YouTube’s KikoPup channel) and another by Lori Stevens on TTouch. Visit our Special Events page for information or to sign up. There are only a few spots left for Emily’s seminar in mid-May.

3. We have lots of great classes going on in Seattle this summer, from nose work to backyard sports to basic manners to crate training for puppies. Most of our classes are ongoing, so you can start right away. Check out the Ahimsa Dog Training home page for more info.

Watch for body language while he’s being petted, like glancing away, turning his head, sniffing the ground, walking away, shaking off, or quickly licking his lips. If you see any of those, just happily say, “let’s go!” and walk a few steps away with the puppy. You can even hand out a treat at that point (for putting up with the stranger and for coming with you), and then possibly see if he wants to go back for more.

Do this with everything: other dogs, strangers, kids, garbage cans, etc. Let him check out scary stuff from what he thinks is a safe distance. The more he can trust you on the leash, the more brave he will be. And since most aggression is really just fear, now is your chance to do some aggression prevention.

Video is from the YouTube user 99Taro99Taro

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Just a short note – 1st impression. I just received my Organic Socialization: BAT for Aggression & Fear in Dogs. I am reviewing the Power Point CD before viewing the DVDs. I generally pre-study over material before getting into a course.

I just wanted to say that what I have seen so far exceeded my expectation. Having decent documentation along with a seminar is of great value to me and you hit the mark. Already has helped me significantly.

Thank you,

Always, in all ways, all the best,
Larry
Larry Stevenson, CPDT-KA, PDT, ABCDT
“Gentle Approach Dog Training LLC”
Roxborough, Philadelphia, PA

Click here to watch a video clip of the latest BAT DVD in the online store. This DVD is intended for regular dog lovers whose dogs need help and professional dog trainers and behaviorists that want to learn more about BAT.

I’m excited about this video, because it shows how to do BAT in a different way than I’ve been able to show before. It focuses on fear and aggression in dogs, directed at dogs or people. The DVD has live demos and video clips that I have made with clients, plus a case study and info on how to use BAT with puppies to prevent problems. My only regret is not shooting the intro a second time, because I was clearly nervous! Funny how speaking *without* an audience made me nervous. Go figure.

It’s called “Organic Socialization” because with BAT, dogs gain social skills in a natural, organic sort of way, similar to how they acquired the problem behaviors in the first place.

Special thanks to all of the humans that helped out! I know I’m missing a few, but here’s the partial list:

Alta
Angel
Ann
Carly
Carol
Christina
Danette
Denise
Dennis
Donna
DJ
George
Joey
Jill
Judy
Lori S
Lori M
Mary
Melanie
Melissa
Rachel
Scott
Tami
Valli
Yelena

If your dog may bite someone and you’re not sure what training to do, learn more about BAT. Behavior Adjustment Training can make your muzzle obsolete.

Definitely follow his sage advice to put the muzzle on at times that are pleasant to the dog, or you will end up undoing all of your work to get the dog to like the muzzle. Dogs are great at making assocations.

Click here the full information on this Friday’s seminar.

Click here to see our whole list of upcoming seminars in Seattle (BAT in June and Sept, Kathy Sdao in July, Patricia McConnell in September).

Click here to see our list of upcoming BAT seminars around the country.

I just heard back from a trainer who started BAT with a really over-the-top freaked out foster dog on April 11th. The dog is so much better and just went home with her new family!! and I think there may be footage to use in my seminar.

And my dog, Sagan, played with a client dog. Yes, played! Both were doing BAT at the session. Play started about half an hour in. This was Sagan’s 11th BAT set-up. We left Sagan’s muzzle on, just in case. We’ll be doing another session next weekend.

That one was filmed and will definitely be in my upcoming seminars.

Any Seattle folks have a dog or child that could help me socialize Sagan and Peanut? (dogs for S, kids for P). The trade-off is that you would learn how to do BAT. I’m also fine buying a meal for families who will eat outside a restaurant so Peanut can join you!

Not necessarily. Here are some other reasons:

1. Not walking away after the marker signal + “let’s go” may just may mean that the magnet is too strong. You can sort of think of a magnetic pull between your dog and the trigger. If they get too close, they need to charge in and make the scary thing go away. If they are just a little too close, they may be stuck, wanting to go, but afraid that if they turn their back, the other dog will bite them in the rear. So you either just wait until the magnet weakens, or you abort the trial (call your dog away) and then do the next trial at a better distance, maybe 5 or 10 feet further away from the trigger.
2. Your dog may not be “done” yet. By that, I mean that they are still gathering information, and walking away is not what they want at that exact moment. We need to teach them to gather info quickly and make good decisions, so it’s critical that we let them sniff and look when they do it. Not being able to go without getting info is really common with dogs who are not fearful, but rather protective or in some other way wanting the other dog or person to go away, rather than just fearing for their own lives. So they need more information before they can safely go away. Signs to look for: body relaxes, head turns away (toward handler, away, toward the ground, whatever).

Here’s a video clip of what “done” looks like. You’ll see this trial twice. So first, the German Shepherd (Panzer) will turn his head a little, and also give a lip-lick. This is great to reward, but he is NOT necessarily done at this point. If you are just getting your dog started on BAT, then you can and should reward small head turns – but only if they will come away with you. If they won’t then just praise and wait for the dog to be done (and possibly work farther away to decrease the power of the magnet). Panzer’s second head turn is when he’s really Done with the interaction. You can see a decision has been made. The first run-through of the clip is at regular speed, the second is slow motion.

When I first did BAT with my dog, Sagan, getting her to go away when I said “Yes! Let’s go” was really hard. We were more successful with doing her retreats at an angle, so she could keep an eye on the dog as she retreated, but then my timing got better on the walk-aways and now we can easily do a direct retreat. I began to just praise her for the little stuff and reward only when she was done. After all, it’s not a Functional Reward if the dog doesn’t want it! If they aren’t ready to go yet, they aren’t ready to go. I also threw in the occasional bonus reward (treat) for walking away, to help increase the value of going away with me.

Now, even when the dogs aren’t “done,” they do actually seem to have a decrease in stress if we call them away. But it’s just not as rewarding as a full functional reward. So at times when I want to reward her for something and I know that if I just wait her out, it could go badly (like a close-up greeting) then I will call her away using my recall cue (Come) and give her a treat as a bonus reward.

Comments? Questions? Click here for more info on BAT.

• Kathy Sdao is a behaviorist and a scientist with decades of experience, but you wouldn’t know it by the energy she puts into all of her talks.  She has a great way of explaining difficult concepts so that we all understand.  Kathy is doing a relatively new kind of workshop in Seattle this summer, which we’re calling “Kathy Sdao Unplugged” – it’s a place for trainers and advanced folks to bring their dogs, get practice, and solve those tricky challenges with your own dogs. We have working and auditing spots.  You can get more info or register now for the July 15-16 workshop.
• In September, we have a whole weekend devoted to fear, aggression, and play in dogs. I’ll be starting out the weekend with a 1-day presentation on Behavior Adjustment Training, or BAT.  It’s a technique I developed that has had some really fabulous results with client dogs and my own dogs, too.  People around the world are trying it and giving great feedback on their dog’s new-found ability to function like a regular dog!  On the second day, Patricia McConnell will fly into Seattle and rock our world with her great info on dog play and aggression. I’m absolutely thrilled to have Dr. McConnell, author of countless dog books, come to Seattle. She’s one of my all-time favorite dog behavior heroes. Can you tell?  You can get more info or register now for the September 11-12 workshop.

Tawzer Dog Videos filmed my 90-minute Behavior Adjustment Training seminar in Novato last month, and it’s now available for sale in our online store (click here). We ship orders out on Fridays only, so if you’re looking to get it as soon as possible, then get it from the Tawzer website, when it becomes available.

Here are some clips from the intro of that seminar:

(if that doesn’t work for you, you can view it on YouTube).

We should get copies on Thursday, February 11th, so orders placed this week will *probably* go out on Friday.

I could use a lot of volunteers in Seattle. Are you interested? Here’s what I need:

1. Dog-human teams that can be decoys in a set-up for BAT with a dog-aggressive dog. The goal is to have the student dog remain calm and happy around the decoy, so it shouldn’t be very stressful on your dog. Decoy dogs should not be aggressive or fearful, and should be over 2 years old. I can usually keep the sessions aggression-free, but there is a risk that your dog will be barked at. When we work up close, there is always a fence between the dogs or the dog is muzzled (when I’m feeling very confident), so there is no risk of a bite. We start very far away and move closer as time goes on. Volunteers can opt out at any time.

2. Child-adult teams that can be decoys in a set-up for a dog that is afraid of children. The dog barks but has no history of biting or snapping at any humans. Again, all attempts will be made to keep the session happy and bark-free and we will set up barriers so that there is no risk of a bite. Sessions can take place wherever you’d like. One good location is an outdoor cafe in Ravenna where you and your child just have lunch as we walk back and forth. I’ll treat you for the meal! (This is my dog, Peanut. He’s actually a therapy dog for an assisted living facility, but we haven’t done enough training with children.) Kids 0-13 would be best, since he’s fine with people over about 4’6″.

One benefit of doing this is that your child can learn more about dog safety.

3. A puppy that is afraid of people.

4. People to serve as decoys for the puppy. I’d love to have a vet’s office willing to help me with this, so if you work at a vet office and could do the set-up there, please let me know!

5. Someone interested in running the camera would also be great!

A description of the technique and some videos of what it looks like are on the Ahimsa website: http://doggiezen.com/blog/bat-posts

Benefits to participants: Information on how to use BAT plus a week of free drop-ins to our Dream Dog program. Info on the Dream Dog program is at http://ahimsadogtraining.com/dreamdog

Session times vary, but usually they are something like 15 minutes (if that’s all the child can do) to an hour.

Let me know if you’re interested in any of these volunteer spots. Thank you in advance!!!

At some point, I will be doing a research study on BAT, and I will ask for participants with human-aggressive dogs. That will probably be Fall, 2010.

I figured it would help to give students a chance to see progress, so I have created an overview sheet for set-ups. Clients will make progress if they do set-ups correctly and consistently.  It’s not enough just to do one set-up, for any method. With BAT, expect the sessions to decrease in length and increase in quality of interaction.  I did about 20 set-ups for Peanut with adults, and he went from not being touchable by strangers to enjoying working as a therapy dog in an assisted living facility.  The initial sessions were long and the sessions at the end were short, only a few minutes. 20 may seem like a lot of set-ups, but it only took a month of Saturdays.

Click here for the BAT session Overview sheet. There is a blank form and the second page is a filled-out sample. You might not use the same decoy 4 times, but it allows for that. I usually use decoys 2-3 times max, because the dog starts to remember them. Print a new sheet for each decoy. When you print out multiple copies, you’ll need to set your computer to just print page 1. Fill out whichever rows you think are most important, and do this for each session.

Dog trainers and behaviorists: you can print this out to use with your clients, but please leave the contact info on there. If you are posting it on a website, please use a link instead of putting the file on your domain.

Let me know if you use this, either by email or using the comments section below!

Through Sunday, I’ll be discussing BAT for fear and aggression and there have been a lot of great questions! You can read the forum without being a member, but you’ll need to join (quick and free) if you want to post a question or comment. Check it out!

I just made a handout that you can use with your own dog or that dog trainers can print out for clients. The one requirement is that you leave my contact information on there and do not post it electronically to websites, etc., but you can link to it. Just right-click the link below to copy the URL for your own website.

You can download the Behavior Adjustment Training Handout here.

These clips are from the last 10 minutes of the session. But even during that time, you can see how his body relaxes and his confidence grows.

It was a blast to work with these three and I hope I get another chance, soon! In many ways, it was easier than training a dog. You can see all kinds of motions in a horse body from a distance!

In many of the clips, you’ll see Laura stop, Levi stop, and Levi back up. This isn’t a fear behavior, but rather, a behavior Laura has trained Levi to do. If you’re a horse person, you’re probably familiar with that, but it was news to me! I just thought maybe we were working too close.