The Ping Pong of Asking for New Behaviors
When teaching a new skill, we usually teach it through successive approximations. It’s like going from a rough sketch to a detailed painting. I have talked previously about comparing behaviors…
Dog Blog & Treats
How To Teach Your Dog To Greet Humans
Jumping and barking are both highly self-reinforcing behaviors. In plain English that means that the activity is something a dog really enjoys, it feels good and hence the dog will…
Dog Training Tips: Timing Your Rewards and the Pitfalls of Bribing
In my mind, the definition of a reward would be a pleasant consequence for a behavior that one would like to teach or reinforce. Ok, so rewarded behaviors increase in…
Changing Your Frame of Mind When Training Your Puppy
In your mind you paint a picture of your dog’s desired behaviors. The things you’d like to do with your dog, the way your dog is going to interact with…
Rethinking Reward Based Training
When I walk around the city I see all these dogs trained with different approaches. Putting aside the sad fact that there are way too many pinch collars and choke…
Forced Socialization and Bite Inhibition
I frankly was not aware of Ian Dunbar’s theory that the playtime before puppy class where the pups are allowed to run free was to teach them bite inhibition. I…