It All Boils Down to Impulse Control
How many times have you gotten that candy bar while waiting to check out at the grocery store? Impulse control is tough for people, let alone dogs! Living with two dogs who have to be separate can be hectic. Fortunately, it’s because they won’t stop playing rather than because they are fighting. Check them out:…
Dogs Just Want to Have Fun!
Some behaviors you can train your dog can be inherantly rewarding. I recently trained my dog, Loker, to go through my legs. He picked it up very quickly because he enjoyed it once he learned how. I know he enjoys it because he does it without hesitation repeatedly. Check out this video of our last…
Are You Truly a Clicker Trainer or Just Training With a Clicker?
“Clicker training is an animal training method based on behavioral psychology that relies on marking desirable behavior and rewarding it.” – Karen Pryor Clicker Training Karen Pryor began using a training method called “clicker training” when she was working with Dolphins. It helped her communicate precisely what behaviors she was looking for. Soon she applied…
Now, Instant, Immediate, Prompt, Instantaneous or Eventually
Why are prong collars and e-collars so popular despite the obvious physical and psychological harm they do to dogs? It’s because they give instant results. Unfortunately, positive reinforcement based training takes repetition for the dog to learn and change. Despite it’s proven long term effects on behavior, it doesn’t give the results as quickly as…
Living With Two Dogs – Training Challenge #1
I’ve had a problem with making instructional videos lately because while I’m working with one dog, the other is whining because he hears the clicker and doesn’t have access to rewards! So in my spare time I found a minute to video tape our very first session of working with both dogs at once. They…
K9 Nose Work
Since I got Clark, my new Cardigan Welsh Corgi puppy, I have noticed the powers of nose work. So far, he is still searching for food. I have not transitioned him to any specific scents yet. The other day I had some packaging paper left over and I thought I’d let the dogs have some…
What’s Behind Reactivity in Dogs?
I recently watched the beginning of Suzanne Clothier’s recorded seminar on Arousal, Anxiety, and Fear and am looking forward to attending her seminar in Grapevine, TX this weekend. I am already hooked after watching 30 minutes of the 2 hour lecture. Not only is she entertaining to watch, but she puts things into perspective so that any…
Don’t Under Estimate The Power of Classical Conditioning
I am a huge fan of clicker training (an operant conditioning technique), but I recently got a huge reminder of the importance of classical conditioning the other day when I attended a fellow trainer’s class. In both the Rally class and the orientation to the Reactive Integration class, classical conditioning was used. I feel like…