Does Your Puppy Have Separation Anxiety?
There is a lot of dumb stuff on the internet. It seems that the internet is a magnet for fools to say foolish things. I saw a post about puppies and separation anxiety. In this case, the young puppy vocalizes a distress call and tries to be wherever the owner is. The so-called dog trainer […]
Dog Training Should Be Fun
Often dog training is just too serious, and the dogs pick up on that and that interferes with motivation and adds stress. Are your dog lessons enjoyable for you and your dog? If not, then you are probably doing it wrong. If the focus of the lessons is always making the dog not do this […]
Do You Want A Calm And Submissive Dog?
Have you ever considered what these terms mean? Can a dog remain calm… greeting you when you get home, playing, jogging, coming when called, heeling, eating, guarding the property, fetch, tug of war, scent detection, protecting you and your family, defending themselves, hunting, swimming, doing agility, or on a hike? Is any of that “calm”? […]
Dogs And Landscaping
It is time to evaluate if your yard is safe and useful. 1.) Remove excess rubbish and junk. 2.) Which nuisance and toxic plants need to go? 3.) Is there sufficient shade? 4.) What is the condition of the lawn? 5.) Time to look at that sprinkler system, making repairs. 6.) What about lawn furniture? […]
Dogs And Dopamine
There is a lot of talk about dopamine. Let’s break it down a bit. Edward L. Thorndike (1874 – 1949), proposed the Law of Effect: satisfying outcomes are more likely to be repeated, and unpleasant outcomes are more likely to be lessened or stopped. He also proposed the Law Of Exercise: the more a skill […]
Dogs And Thorndike
Edward L. Thorndike (1874 – 1949), a member of the philosophy department at Harvard, made his mark by doing experiments with animals. His most famous experiments were those involving cats and dogs in trapped in puzzle boxes. Out of these experiments, he proposed his Law of Effect: satisfying outcomes are more likely to be repeated, […]
Dogs And Resource Guarding
When a dog guards a resource, animate or inanimate, they are responding to a perceived existential threat. We get offended when a dog guards a food bowl, toy, location, person or other animal and we make the situation worse, escalating the threat. Adding any kind of pain stimulation, or threat of pain or injury, can […]
Dogs And Whining
I was at a student’s house the other day. As we were wrapping up the lesson, her dog came running into the room, came to her, and started whining. It then ran back towards the hallway, and then came back to her, whining again. We immediately got up and encouraged the dog to “tell” us […]
Dogs And Associative Learning
What is the main difference between how I view puppy lessons and adult dog lessons? Here is my condensed version. The younger the dog, the earliest experiences and learning start with stimulating and guiding unconditioned behaviors and stimulating basic innate neural mechanisms. With older dogs, the training becomes more perceptual, drawing upon that foundation to […]
Dog Training Theory vs Real World
There are some big leaps that must be accomplished to take a concept and turn it into a real-world application for your dog. Here are the basic steps. First Leap: it helps to have a dog to work with. In fact, it helps that you have worked with a lot of dogs first. I get […]