I recently had the unfortunate, albeit educational experience of being on a radio show with three other dog trainers. When asked if we'd ever been bitten I recounted the story of being bitten when I was a kid, another trainer spoke of his experience with sharp puppy teeth and his nose, but it was the last trainer whose response was most disturbing. This self-proclaimed dog ...
When I was in my 20’s I worked as a guide on the Wanganui River in NZ. One day during a hike, one of the participants on the trip, a woman in her 60’s commented to me that she thought I “weighed too much for a girl my age” and went on to give me dietary advice which consisted primarily of switching from butter to ...
During our daily woods walk I spied a piece of birch bark rolled up and lying on the snow. Nibbles also saw it and tentatively stretched his nose toward it for a sniff. I felt myself experience a small hit of adrenalin that often accompanies events that scare or startle me. Other than it being the same size and dimensions of a belly-up grey squirrel, and ...
It would seem that it is too much to expect that people who decide to make a living from "working" with dogs, actually spent some time learning about them. There are plenty of jobs out there that don't require any education for someone to excel at them. If you want your lawn mowed and raked hiring a neighborhood kid with the tools is probably not ...
Motivation. Everyone talks about it. Did you make a New Year's resolution to go to the gym? There are blogs devoted to helping you stay motivated enough to actually do it. Sometimes getting out of bed in the morning requires a level of motivation we may question whether we have or not. Some motivators are very powerful, while others lag behind, yet even if that ...
Anyone who has spent time with prepubescent or adolescent humans has had or heard a conversation that goes something like this after an adult makes a statement or request- Kid: "So?" Adult: "It's important." Kid: "So?" Adult: "I feel insulted when you talk to me that way." Kid: "So?" Adult: "That's a rude thing to say." Kid: "So?" Adult: "I'm losing my patience when you say ...
"Not sure why you want me to do this, but ok, whatever." On my book shelf is a CD by Wayne Dwyer on the power of intention. It’s an inspirational presentation. But as powerful as intentions are, given the right set of circumstances, habits will win out. Recently I moved the app icons on my iPod around. I deleted a few and moved ...
When I was a kid I had piano lessons. It was obvious I was no prodigy, and my enthusiasm at the keyboard was in seeing how fast I could play Love Story, but I don't think the lessons were a complete waste of time and money, even though I convinced my parents that they were. Before I succeeded in ending the lessons I had a ...
There are some things I take for granted, things that have become part of the fabric of my life with dogs, that I forget that at one time they were new ideas to me. Creating conditioned reinforcers to use in a variety of ways with my dogs is one of them. Here's a quick primer on what conditioned reinforcers are, how you create them and ...
One of the most cited reasons for the use of a shock collar is to get reliable recalls from a dog. It can be very challenging to come up with an alternative for a dog which is as, or more reinforcing, than doing whatever it is the dog is choosing to do rather than return when called. So people quickly choose to use other options ...
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