Targets Are Yet Another Powerful Tool, Especially When Training For Agility. [tubepress video="ZIcV1QrBEAA" theme="fandco"] Last week I wrote about using a lure as a technique to shaping behavior. A target is an alternative or one more way to help us shape behavior while training. I’ve been doing agility with my dogs for over 10 years [...]
A Lure Can Be A Powerful Tool In Training, But Don’t Forget To Fade It Out. [tubepress video="W4yl05Kv11k" theme="fandco"] There are many tools out there to assist in reaching our desired training goals. One of them is called a lure. We are able to shape a behavior by luring our dogs into positions by having [...]
People And Animals Can Understand Each Other. How To Make A Human And Dog Household Work! Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years, but that doesn’t mean they come to us knowing exactly how they are supposed to act when living with people. It is our responsibility to train or to teach them how [...]
Do You Want A Well Mannered Dog That Is Enjoyable To Live With? Training Isn’t Optional, It’s A Necessity! I can’t imagine not having a well-trained dog for 2 reasons: An untrained dog is not always fun to live with. I love training! It would be impossible for me not to teach them things. People [...]
Eye Contact: Not Just For Cute Pet Photos, But A Valuable Training Tool. In preparation for The Dog Saving Network’s upcoming stage show, Life’s Ruff, Buffy and I have been doing a lot of practicing in a lot of different places. Naturally dogs’ want to check out their surroundings; so it can be a challenge [...]
When Training Your Dog, Zip it! – Add In Verbal Cues Later! It’s natural to want to talk to our dogs, but when it comes to training, zip it! It’s not necessary and in fact, talking early on is irrelevant to your dog and could actually confuse them. Our dogs don’t know English, Spanish, or [...]
Does Your Dog Really Understand The Clicker? Buffy Does! [tubepress video="aY4GaQYSQf8" theme="fandco"] How do our animals know when they’ve done something right? Either by the immediate delivery of a reward or the presentation of a marker signal or bridge. A bridge is a clear signal that is given after a desired response has happened and [...]
Will Your Dog Only “Focus” When The Treats Are Out? One benefit to using a clicker is that food doesn’t have to be constantly held in your hand. It’s great to have a dog that is excited and motivated to work for their food, but it becomes a problem when they are so distracted by [...]
Don’t Wait Until Puppy Preschool To Start Training! Last week my post encouraged pet owners to start training, now! A great example of how a puppy has been able to practice unwanted behavior is by allowing him or her to do the undesirable behavior until they are put into an obedience class when they are [...]
Start Training – It’s Never Too Early Or Too Late In an earlier post I wrote about how training is happening all the time whether we are aware of it or not. Since it’s constantly occurring, that means it’s never too early or too late to start using positive reinforcement.
