“What is love except for another name for positive reinforcement? Or vice versa.” ~ B.F.Skinner. Even long before I began dog training with positive reinforcement (and parrot training), and studying Applied Behavior Analysis as it relates to pets, I have LOVED this quote from B.F. Skinner. It speaks to me on different levels. I’ll explain below.
Think You Have a Dumb And Stubborn Dog? Probably Not.
(one of my past columns from Hyde Park Living)
It was through a parrot behavioral analysis email listserve that I met Jeni Rivett. She is an Arizona-based agility dog trainer, sharing her home with three fully flighted birds and four energetic dogs. I still have one of her posts from years ago when she described how, on cue, all seven of her animals fly or run to their cages. What an amazing site, I remember thinking. When I wrote to her, she described in detail how she taught them.
Bird Training Is Quick When You Make It Fun
Steve Martin, president of Orlando-based Natural Encounters, is a phenomenal trainer of animals and teacher of people. I was fortunate to have traveled to Florida several years back for a weekend course taught by him and my mentor, Dr. Susan Friedman. Steve was also president of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators, of which I’m a member.
ABC’s of Pet Behavior, Part Two
(from my Hyde Park Living column)
Last month I explained the ABCs of behavior and we can use them as the most positive, least intrusive way of managing and modifying our pet’s behavior. This month I thought I’d show you a little how it works.
First, let me recap. Applied behavior analysis is a systematic approach to solving behavior problems by changing the environment in which the behavior occurs. It involves looking at the very specific behavior (such as a bird biting or screaming) and the related environmental context that signals and reinforces it. We ask, “What happened