I have a confession to make. Brace yourselves.
I am a professional trainer, and my dogs aren’t perfect. Continue reading
The Cobbler’s Kids Are Occasionally Barefoot
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Tag Archives: humor
Angry Birds and Addicted Gamers
I was crumpling old newspaper into the fireplace when a familiar graphic caught my eye. I glanced down and noticed the phrase, “the appeal… it doesn’t punish.”
I immediately pulled the page out of the fire and blew it out. What can I say? I’m a behavior junkie.
The article (I will provide a link, rather than the charred fragment) was a Wall Street Journal piece about the incredibly popular mobile game Angry Birds. Continue reading
What A Blind Dog Sees, Part 1
Inky, my husband’s dog, is blind. She wasn’t born this way; in fact, this is a fairly recent development for her, thanks to a very rare and unusual autoimmune disorder. We noticed her holding her head oddly one night, but thought it was just the light. By the time we realized she was having trouble seeing, it was progressing very fast. We estimate she lost most of her vision within two weeks.
Getting It Wrong Doesn’t Help
Before I go any further, I need to emphasize that I have the best parents on earth, and my father did — is doing — a great job.
That said, this post is about a parenting event. 
Sorry, Dad!
Killing Creativity, in Dogs & Trainers
I happened across this video a couple of months ago and bookmarked it. I enjoyed it at the time, but even as I was watching, I was thinking of clicker training.
I really like shaping, and I love the results I get with a dog who has learned to offer and vary behavior. I hear frequently from clients or trainer friends who don’t enjoy shaping or don’t get satisfactory results, and while it’s true that not every dog adores it, I think that most of the time their failure to love it isn’t that they have the wrong dog — it’s that they, or their dogs, are diligently following this checklist.
Continue reading
This candy is not for eating!
A thoughtful person gave my friend Melissa a package of candy for her daughter Emma, and Melissa kept them for Sunday morning. Emma is just 3, and sometimes the morning church service gets a bit long, so Emma enjoys earning (silent) reinforcement with games during the sermon. She might repeat a key phrase the pastor used, cite a sermon point, or remain sitting quietly rather than kicking in the pew — her target behaviors vary according to her juvenile abilities and the need of the moment. Continue reading
Bitework doesn’t reduce bite inhibition — how annoying!
Have you ever tried to train against a taboo?
There are some who oppose all forms of trained protection sport and protection work, citing variously that the training is inherently abusive (it’s not), or that the dogs dislike it (obviously untrue!). Occasionally a protester will suggest that biting a person in a sleeve or suit must of course reduce a dog’s bite inhibition, making it more likely that the dog will mouth or bite a person not in protective gear.
I’ve argued logically against this before, but now I have empirical proof — I can’t even pay my dogs to bite!
Clever Dog?
So tonight I sent Shakespeare to fetch a dinner bucket, as I often do. We feed the dogs in steel pails. Both Shakespeare and Laev will retrieve buckets when necessary; Inky will happily carry her bucket full of food to a more private dining area, but she as yet has no idea that it can also travel empty. That’s Inky…. Continue reading