It's been awhile since I've given any updates on Nibbles, so here's a quickie. Nibs is doing great! He's still not 100% comfortable with people, and he likes to bark at them too much, but we continue to work on it, and he continues to improve. This week the dogs made a new friend, a neighbor boy had started barking at the dogs, causing them ...
Looking for fish is rewarding to Annie. The fish reinforce this behavior. Dog trainers hear it all the time- pet owners who have 'tried everything' or declare that positive reinforcement training doesn't work because they've tried giving their dog treats and still have not been able to get the behavior they're after. I can say with 100% certainty that if you are among ...
Back in the early 1980's I was intent on finding ways to get university credits without actually sitting in a classroom. I discovered study programs which were taught 'in the field' and awarded credits toward graduation. I spent months hiking in the Sierra Nevada in California, weeks canoeing rivers in Montana and sweating in Death Valley. My biggest regret to date is that I didn't ...
As smart as we humans consider ourselves to be, we can be remarkably short-sighted or inconsiderate of the effects of our beliefs or actions. Antibiotics have saved countless lives and I consider myself among the lucky in history to have lived in an age during which we have access to them. But we have also learned that unless we use them judiciously, the fall out ...
Strolling a beach who can help but be pleased to find a piece of sanded smooth seaglass? Â With the sharp edges worn down to safety they are tiny treasures used to make jewelry. Bathrooms around the world contain baskets of the stuff gathered during vacations and holidays. Even with their shiny surface blurred by abrasion we rarely resist the urge to put a piece in ...
Give me a break. Cut me some slack. We learn from our mistakes. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Four dogs practicing doing something that probably makes no sense to them. Despite the fact that our language is littered with phrases that attempt to make us feel ok about making mistakes, or to request that others ...
This is a post about how to stop a dog’s barking. It’s not about how to eliminate barking in dogs. Let’s be real. Dogs bark and somewhere along the way toward domestication we must have liked that and selected for it. It’s not a dog’s fault that they live in an apartment building or neighborhood where people don’t want to hear a dog bark. Expecting ...
I learned to drive in Boston. I'm proud of this fact because it means I can drive almost anywhere in the world and be unfazed by the culture of the roadways. In Boston the use of directional lights is often an afterthought and don't even think someone will slow down enough for you to change lanes and get to your exit in time. One must ...
In the contest of who dislikes the thought of putting a muzzle on my dog, I'd come in a close second to the dog who has to wear it. That is unless I think about the alternatives to not wearing one. A muzzle is not an excuse to put a dog into situations in which they're inclined to bite a person or another dog, but ...
When I was a young child and our family visited a body of water to swim in my parents instituted the the belly button rule. The older, more proficient swimmers could swim out to rafts in the middle of the lake or play in the waves, but the little kids could go no deeper than their belly buttons. If we lost our footing ...
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