For those who choose to follow what is called the "humane hierarchy" when training animals (guidelines created by far better minds and more experienced minds than my own) there remains confusion among the ranks. In the hierarchy created by Dr. Susan Friedman, some note that because both negative reinforcement and negative punishment are presented on the same level they must therefore both be of equal ...
In the same way that fast food has provided us with the opportunity to over consume sugars, fats and chemical additives that may be contributing to, if not outright causing, many of the diseases prevalent in the western world, the "balanced" field of dog training has provided us with the opportunities and excuses to be cruel to our dogs, the implications of which are ignored ...
In May I'll be traveling to the islands of Puerto Rico, Culebra and Vieques with a group to contribute our energy to the cause of changing how people handle and train their dogs. No doubt there will be people who will embrace the information we'll be sharing about force-free and coercion-free training with the enthusiasm of someone who has been adrift at sea waiting for the ...
I heard an interesting piece on NPR's This American Life radio show. The topic was institutionalized, racial segregation in housing in America. During the 1960's when people protested, often violently, against this practice a comment made by then President Nixon went something like this, if the demands were met (end policies that perpetuated segregation in housing) the protesters would be rewarded for protesting or rioting, ...
I received this message on Facebook. I thought I'd share it and my response. "And while I was writing this in response to someone's question ... I was booted from that group ..lol nice Let me tell you what happens every time I state something I believe... I'm abused. I'll be part of a discussion and before you know it I'm getting bombarded with nasty ...
I returned home yesterday from a multi-day workshop on training birds at Natural Encounters in Florida. Watching and learning from the best bird trainers on the planet (and that is not hyperbole) was inspirational along with educational. One of the take-aways for me was new language to use when talking about training, any animal. Many of the participants at the workshop were zoo keepers. People ...
I try to be careful when I start feeling like the fellow in the cartoon tapping away at a keyboard late into the night because, "Someone said something wrong on the internet." I try to be tolerant knowing full well that I've written stuff or have videos that someone, for one reason or another could find fault with. Maybe you can guess where this is ...
Imagine taking your car to a mechanic to find out what was wrong with it and having a discussion like this- Mechanic: When did you get it? Car owner: Six months ago? Mechanic: When did you notice something wasn't right? Car owner: Not long after I got it. Mechanic: Tell me what's wrong. Car owner: It doesn't work the way it's suppose to. Mechanic: Does ...
In November Sunny will have lived with us for 8 years. He has remained wary and afraid of my husband for those 8 years. There are likely a variety of reasons for this. John is a man, dogs tend to be more afraid of men than they are of women. Early on in their relationship there were several events that scared Sunny, quite literally sh**less ...
Even a "good" dog has teeth. During his early time with us Sunny never growled or lifted a lip toward me or my husband. No one was more surprised than I was when he landed a bite on my neighbor's calf when she was walking in front of our house. I soon learned from other, more experienced fearful dog owners, that there was ...
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