Posts tagged: Pet

But He Plays With My Neighbor’s Dog

Some people don’t realize just how critical socialization is until the dog is older and fearful of the world. It’s more than just playing with your neighbor’s dog and meeting your grandkids. Way more. And FYI, it’s way more than just people and dogs. This big bright wonderful world is full of all sorts of things that are not people and dogs. There are other animals, sights, sounds, movement, and then how do you interact with various things in various environments? Socialization is getting used to new experiences. Proper socialization is reinforcing a puppy for interacting with a huge variety of new things, in new situations, in new environments, to create “new things are not bad things.”

Monday August 15th, 2011 in , , , , | No Comments »

Does Your Dog Have Class

Canine Life and Social Skills is starting to take off. It’s a new three part program from the APDT, which far exceeds most I’ve ever seen. It has obedience, manners, and real life training such as waiting to get out of your car. The objectives are to promote positive training methodology, strengthen the dog & owner relationship, encourage ongoing training, value real life skills, educate about dog behavior, and to promote the value of dog trainers & dog training.

How To Prepare For Your New Puppy

1. Pour cold apple juice on the carpet in several places and walk around barefoot in the dark. 2. Wear a sock to work that has had the toes shredded by a blender. 3. Immediately upon waking, stand outside in the rain saying,”Be a good puppy, go potty now – hurry up – come on, lets go!” 4. Cover all your best suits with…

Monday June 6th, 2011 in , , , | No Comments »

I Told You To Don’t

Just say, “NO” to being anti-yes! Don’t tell your dog to “don’t.” Tell him what you want!… if I said, “Don’t think of pink elephants. Matter of fact, don’t think of a baby pink elephant riding a tricycle down your street right now.” And voilà! You’re probably not thinking about how the stock market is doing.

Friday April 22nd, 2011 in , , , , | 3 Comments »

The Balanced Dog Is Mentally Unstable

I have heard all this rubbish on how balanced training is more humane, and sorry to pop the bubble, but IT’S NOT! Newsflash: just because you use treats, doesn’t make you a positive trainer. And even though I can’t stand traditional training methods, they are more humane than the so called “balanced” training methods. Why? Why do I think that?

Wednesday March 16th, 2011 in , , , , , | No Comments »

Reinforcement Understood Part 2

Ever have an inadequate reward before? Like when someone sarcastically promises you a shiny new quarter to clean the toilet? Well whoo freakin hoo…. And I’d bet if you knew this was the usual outcome, you’d rather opt out of cleaning the toilet. Am I right? Think about this. Your dog is getting a good chew on, and we take the item away and give him a pat on the head with a “good boy.” Well whoo freakin hoo, you’ve just probably given your dog a shiny new quarter.

Tuesday January 18th, 2011 in , , , , | 2 Comments »

Reinforcement Understood Part 1

What is reinforcement? Too many people don’t truly understand what it is nor how to use it properly. Is it “a thing?” Technically reinforcement is a process. It means: behavior increased. That’s it. So something that is reinforced means it increased behavior. We generally like to say “reinforcer” as the

Top Five Holiday Pet Disasters

This holiday think about how your pet can interact with the holiday cheer. We all want a stress free (or as much as possible) holiday season. And when you add up additional costs, additional chores, and the in-laws; the last thing in the world you want to worry about is your pet. The following list is the top five holiday disasters to avoid with your dog or cat.

Sunday December 5th, 2010 in , , , , , | 24 Comments »

Walk For Paws 2010

The 2010 annual Walk For Paws to benefit Animal Advocates went very well yesterday. The weather was superb, and we had a blast.  The highlight was the obstacle course. Using agility equipment, confidence “hurdles” (like what you might see in TTouch), and everyday things like a dog door or a hola hoop, we worked with [...]

Sunday October 10th, 2010 in , , , , | No Comments »

My Pet Loves The Vet

One of the first things I do when I get a new pet is I schedule a “non-veterinary vet appointment.” Basically I want to bring my pet into the vet hospital to see the sights, and smell the smells, and hear the sounds. Why? Because I really want the very first impression of the vet’s office to be positive! As my dog or cat is soaking up the atmosphere from the strange new environment,

Monday September 20th, 2010 in , , , , , | 2 Comments »
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