Learning Your Pet’s Reinforcers
For reinforcement to be effective in your dog training (or other pet), your first have to know what your dog values. After all, positive reinforcement is the process of adding something of value to the environment that strengthens a behavior. Once you’ve got that information, instead of controlling the animal, control access to those high […]
Using Marker Training To Empower A Shy Dog
It is a beautiful thing when you observe a shy dog go from showing avoidance or submissive behaviors when asked to do something, to showing lots of eye contact and doing behaviors quickly with ears perked up and an upright tail wagging. I got to see that this week and it made my day both […]
Arranging The Environment For Training Success
From the perspective of Dawson, director of joyful learning. One day my mom moved my bed into our kitchen, and then gated off the space so I couldn’t leave. She said it was to help me learn my lesson of going to my bed when she tells me to.
Why Positive Punishment Is…Punishing
It is not all that uncommon to hear from people about their using tactics like making a loud noise, popping the leash, or taking out the squirt bottle to stop their dog from doing annoying behaviors. Bird owners may wobble their hand when their bird (that is standing on it) puts its head down to […]
Teaching Your Dog Recall: A Tip
A Dog Training Tip: Teaching Your Dog To Come With Positive Reinforcement Does your dog ONLY come when he/she has no better option? Remember, when given a choice, animals will choose the behavior that produces the most valued outcomes for that specific animal.
Observations Of Leash Behaviors
I often hear complaints from people about their reactive dog lurching to the end of a taught leash and/or barking at stimulus such as dogs, people or cars. They are frustrated. They want to be able to take a long walk with their dog by their side – no pulling, no barking (and especially no […]
Are you Teaching Your Dog To Run Away?
Just a reminder, you will see more of the behaviors that you reinforce. If your dog gets a bigger pay off from running away from you, that is a choice you may see more often. If you want to teach your dog a reliable recall, your consistency in teaching your dog that the choice of […]
Distractions As Reinforcers
Grass to sniff. A yard to run around. Dirt in which to dig. A human taking the leash means walk time! People who move around and give lots of attention. Ugh, what do all of these have in common? They get many tails wagging and they have the potential to be major sources of dog […]
Tips For Teaching Your Dog Calm Greetings
Jumping on people is a common greeting of many dogs, but, while perfectly normal for a dog, most humans would prefer their pet keep all four paws on the floor. And especially if those paws belong to a dog or puppy that is going to grow to over 100 pounds.
Choosing Words For Training
I was asked the other day this question: “Does it matter if we refer to our pet by its species or its sex? Are “Good Dog!” and “Good Boy!” equal in esteeming and reinforcing good behavior?”