Posted in Behavior & Training

In all honesty a really good trainer cannot read a dogs' mind or always identify the motivation behind a behavior. However, really good trainers can read body language, tease out what is reinforcing about a particular behavior the dog engages in. Example: I can't tell you that your dog is really trying to dominate you when he greets you by putting … read more

Posted in Behavior & Training

When conversing with fellow trainers, some as hobbyists and some that actually have alot of knowledge in learning theory and how to apply the four quadrants of operant conditioning, I'm always quite fascinated with some of their beli8ef's that are mere myths or actually untruths in the wold of dog training. Many people, especially the general publi… read more

Posted in Behavior & Training

Animals and behavior are one of my favorite topics. However the more I learn about behavior and learning theory the more I rely on science and less on opinion or assumptions or speculation. Don't get me wrong, during lunch it's fun to discuss opinions, assumptions and speculation with trainer friends when trying to answer the why of behavior. In re… read more

Posted in Behavior & Training

I then proceed to cueing "OK" which to my dogs' means you can now move away. I repeated the process until they were running to the blanket with ease. Then I stopped "yesing" them for just standing on the blanket. This is an indicatin to my dogs to continue offering behaviors, each one then offered sit and then only sits on the blanket got food rein… read more

Posted in Behavior & Training

Because dogs are fools for novel things I started the game by tossing his blanket on the floor. Like most dogs I know the first thing he did was run up to it to sniff it. So I gave him his event marker. I use the word "yes" to indicate to my dog that the behavir they are giving me at that second is the behavior that is reinforceable. In my house "y… read more