Dining Experience
I’m not a fan of feeding dogs from bowls, as it doesn’t provide any type of enrichment. A bowl filled with food, is typically devoured within a few minutes, and needless to say, there is no particular skill or challenge to that act! Dogs are highly evolved animals that need a job to do. And ...
More Than Training; Examining both Parts of the Relationship
When we’re called out to training and behavior consultations it’s so easy to get completely focused on the animal in front of us. Swept along in the human client's description of what is going on but, what about the perspective of the animal you’re there to consult about? What about the ...
The Dog Decides
“The dog decides what is reinforcing.” Positive reinforcement trainers frequently say that to their human students. What they mean is that people can easily be mistaken about whether something constitutes reinforcement. For instance, we may think praising or petting our dogs are reinforcers, ...
Look at the Whole Dog
In a class I’m teaching on dog communication, we recently discussed a study on how well people interpret dog body language. The study, Description of the behaviour of domestic dog by experienced and inexperienced people, was published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science in 2009. We looked at ...
Compulsivity and the Dog
Since humans are unable to ascertain the aspect of a disorder in an animal that deals with obsessing, animals are not generally given the diagnosis of OCD. However, it is completely possible that a pet can have a compulsive disorder.
Compulsive behaviors include behaviors that are induced ...
The “Choice” Challenge
Thanks to Debbie Jacobs and Randi Rossman for their input on this topic. Any weird conclusions are mine alone.
I have come to believe that most of us who thought we were using “choice” as a reinforcer were mistaken.
Wait! Before you come running after me with pitchforks, let me explain. I’m ...
Teaching the TrickMeister Way!
How important is it to teach your canine companion what you would like them to do?
I believe it is extremely important but what is even more essential is that you teach in a way that doesn't cause any stress; that you teach in a way that is fun for both teacher and student; that you teach ...
Just Say No to Saying No
“Can I say no to my dog?” is a question I often hear from new clients.
My short answer is “Yes, you can use any word or sound you please in training.” Pavlov proved that long ago. The problem is in the way dog owners use “no” and whether it leads them closer to success.
Owners usually ...