by AmeeAbel | Nov 5, 2014 | Doggy Thoughts, Pet Dog Training
Practicing skills can be very tedious—remember that music teacher that made you play scales? C Major, F Major (with one sharp) and so on. Scales are like bad tasting medicine—make you better but blech! Dog training can’t be like scales. Even if the humans will put up...
by AmeeAbel | Oct 31, 2013 | Pet Dog Training
Glance at the photo to the left. This dog is learning. He is learning through association that grabbing the Pizza box is a great way to get Pizza. Because it’s been successful, it’s behavior he’s likely to repeat. Not only that, I’m willing to...
by AmeeAbel | Aug 26, 2013 | Pet Dog Training
The cookie your dog just gobbled up increases the likelihood she will repeat a behavior–the behavior she believes earned the cookie. How do you know which behavior that is? Ensure that you and she are on the same page by paying attention to the timing and...
by AmeeAbel | Jul 29, 2013 | Pet Dog Training
“I didn’t have time to train this week.” When I hear a student say this, my brain flashes to a science fiction universe where dogs are kenneled in suspended animation, waiting timelessly until their owners have time to train. Back in the real world, even though my...
by AmeeAbel | Jun 14, 2013 | Pet Dog Training
Any second grader will tell you—magnetism is a fickle force. Only a few things attract each other. Move the magnet too quickly, and it doesn’t grab hold. Get too much distance between magnet and object, the attraction diminishes and things fall away. In...
by AmeeAbel | Feb 11, 2013 | Pet Dog Training
I use “Sit” with my dogs a lot. This may sound basic, but it’s also dog behavior magic. It’s the most basic meme in our communication with dogs. It’s the place where human behavior meets dog behavior. I speak or gesture: sit. The dog...
