Connections
A big part of training your dog (or cat, parrot, goat, fish. . . ) is creating connections between stimuli. Stimuli are the individual components of the A-B-C sequence, Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence. You’ve most likely heard of this before. Antecedents Antecedents include everything in the environment in which a behavior occurs. Stuff that interests your learner, movements […]
Fear in Dogs: From Beginning to High Impact
When I was a kid, I read tons of library books about animals, particularly dogs and horses. Like so many other animal lovers, I watched the popular TV shows about animals like The Wonderful World of Disney, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, Lassie, and Mr. Ed. These resources gave me my first information about fear as […]
Learning is a Skill Set: Do It Well
I’m a dog trainer, but mostly I’m a coach and teacher. I teach other people how to be their dogs’ partners, and that means learning skills related to dog behavior, how dogs learn, and how to communicate with a non-verbal species. Learning All the Time Dogs, humans, and every other species are all learning, all […]
Good Habits for Dogs: Fetch as Feedback
You build and maintain your dog’s habits constantly. Every interaction with your dog influences the behaviors he chooses in many situations. You can build good habits that benefit your dog and yourself during play as well as other activities. Think ahead and plan to make the most of this possibility. Some dogs love to […]
The Detriments of Saying “No!”
“No” is simply the answer to a question. Don’t use it to express your frustration or shut your dog down. “No” When Dog Meets Cat Your new dog, the one you just brought home from the shelter and released into your home, runs toward your cat as said cat saunters into her once-familiar living room. […]
The Small Things: Key to Training
Sweat the small stuff in training. Big, dramatic behaviors are small things strung together. There’s really no way to teach anyone the “big” things other than starting with the “small” things. No one can build a rocket that goes into space without knowledge about mechanics, physics, the atmosphere, and more. You have to know what […]
Routines and Training
Everything about dog training applies to our own behavior and learning. I have a human story for you about the results of a big change in routine. My husband is a pretty good dog trainer. He’s been around behavior science for over 30 years. He has spent quality time with Dr. Bob Bailey, Sue Ailsby, […]
Ancient Animal Training
Xenophon (430 – 354 BCE) wrote a book called The Art of Horsemanship. This guy lived in ancient Greece, before people had last names! I am sharing a few quotes from the book because, even though they were written over 2000 years ago, they are consistent with the documented behavior science we know today. Xenophon […]
Behavior Matters to Your Dog
Some of the most popular behaviors people teach their dogs include sitting/staying until released to eat a meal and sitting before crossing a street when they’re out on a walk. What makes these behaviors so commonly used? What do dogs and dog parents gain from doing them? Do these behaviors matter to dogs? How Obedience […]
What Dogs Like to Do
What Dogs Like to Do = Enrichment Dogs like to do some things that humans don’t particularly care for! Dogs, as a species, have performed these behaviors for generations. These activities are often driven by the tasks humans have carefully bred dogs to help with. Maybe there are ways we can allow dogs to express […]