canine
Using Video Wisely Suzanne Clothier highlights the benefits of video as a study tool to train the eye in order to become a more accurate observer of canine behavior
© Can Stock Photo / sergfear
Watching video in slow motion, sped up, with the sound muted, or played backwards allows the viewer to observe behavior in precise detail, rather than interpret it or label it inaccurately
H
ow lucky are we to have incredible video capabilities right in our pockets? Today’s smart phones provide a wealth of options for trainers who recognize the value of video in their studies of the dog, and to help coach others. Nowadays, it seems that we're never more than a few feet from someone with a smartphone and built in video recording capability. Video capture of all kinds of behavior is rela tively effortless edited, uploaded, emailed, and shared in a flash. The wealth of video available for the serious student of the dog is astonishing, at least to this “old” trainer. At the risk of sounding like an old biddy, I'll say that most of what I know about observing dogs and other animals came from the real time attempts to make sense of what I was seeing. No rewind, no replays, no slow motion or closeups. Just real animals observed in real time. Which led to real mistakes, and real surprises, and real hardwon lessons.
We may accept as accurate someone’s labeling of what they saw: “He was shy.” That is not an observation; it is an interpretation. Video allows us to be far more precise in our observations, e.g.: “At 00:01:12, the dog moves his head to the right, away from the person’s hands...”
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BARKS from the Guild/January 2021
Video Cautions No question, video can be a powerful learning tool. But I'd like to offer some cautions regarding the use of video as your main source of obser vations. Unlike the observation in real time of real animals, video: • Lacks a complete context, leading the viewer to misunder stand some behavior they see. This can be due to what is oc curring offcamera. I’ve had some crazy things happen offscreen which – if not explained to the viewer – can create some puzzling onscreen behaviors. Such as people falling out of their chairs. Such as a helicopter landing about 100 feet away. Such as an unseen, frustrated bulldog puppy screaming in the next room. This sounds a great deal like an alien being eviscerated, and leads to openmouthed, shocked orientation from everyone on camera, behavior that had no relationship with what had been happening onscreen prescream. • Has a tendency to compress distances, leading the viewer to perceive things as closer or farther away than they actually may be. To work around this, use easily seen markers at known distances. For example, in some of my Relationship As sessment Tool (RAT) videos, you’ll see a duct taped square area on the floor. I know it is measured out at 5 feet in each direction from the chair placed in the center. This allows me
