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 ...
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 ...
Language is important. The words we use to convey ideas matter. Times change and language changes with it. It is helpful to know that when someone is describing something as fat, they mean it's phat. There's nothing wrong with being gay and happy, or gay and homosexual, but using the word gay as an insult, as in that's so gay, should be discouraged, even if ...
Dogs who come from puppy mills or who have lived on chains or confined with limited opportunity to interact with a varied environment, are lacking in many skills. I'm not sure if 'trying' is considered a skill or not, but it's not unusual for a dog who suffered deprivation in their early life, to 'give up' easily. When faced with a challenge, a partially closed ...
There are plenty of professionals who are routinely frustrated by the beliefs held by their clients or potential clients. Researchers studying climate change are likely among them. Humans are complicated creatures. On one hand we seem to be capable of stunning thoughts. Whether in the arts or sciences, we can come up with remarkable ideas. On the other hand, we are also bound by a ...
A year or two back I posted a blog about Cesar Millan and discovered that there is a group of Dog Whisperer Ambassadors. They are either a fan club or a social media marketing arm of somebody invested in Mr. Millan's success. They sniff out comments and articles criticizing him and go to work explaining why those who have not jumped on the whispering bandwagon ...
Pet owners are often encouraged to think like a dog when faced with behavior challenges. I can’t help but feel a twinge of discomfort when I hear it. Attempts to think like a dog are often accompanied by fables of why a dog is behaving as they are. They’re jealous or angry, we need to be their leader, or treat them as a mother dog ...
Sunny is my dog with the most fear based behavior challenges. For short I call him my 'fearful' dog. It's not an accurate description of him, because he is so much more than just fearful, in good ways and bad, but when managing him around people, it's the easiest label to slap on him. It's either that or, 'he's not right in the head', which ...
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 ...
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