Awesomedogsshareables

If you understand the core skills, you realize they are blueprints. You can run with it.
Classical is a two part process. Pay unconditionally, no matter what, in step one. This is the linking phase. The brain needs to link two things together. (Ring a bell… means dinner!) Or in this case, alarm means high value treatin the crate. Just link them in step one.
Step one creates step two. Behaviours emerge seemingly out of thin air.
In step 2, swap to rewarding those behaviours that suddenly “appear”. Get them right. Get them tight.

To teach your dog a fire drill plan ( and so they don’t hide when they hear the alarm) set the crate in a location that fits with your escape plan. No running about! Get out!
If ever there is a real fire that blocks your animal from reaching the crate, do not… repeat… do not put yourself at risk.

You’re always trying. Don’t be a distracted human. Your dog is always learning whether you’re paying attention.. or not!

If dogs could talk, they might disagree that there is, “ nothing there.”

It’s been a while but ready to get this page back up and running. My apologies, but life has been rough (looong looong divorce that has taken up far too much of me and not yet done) I’ve been madly working on getting the skills to take this idea where I wanted it to go. I’m excited to post the first. I know, drawing needs to improve a lot more. But it’s time.
Canine perspective series one! When you ask your dog to watch you, make sure they can see you. In heel position, your dog can see your elbow. And your butt.
The dog is has to move in front of you in order to do eye contact. Thus out of heel position. If the stay in heel, they cannot watch you. They have the “elbow view”.

How do I say something that’s already been said so many times before? I think it’s a social media issue. At first, so much to say. Then you get repetitive. Then the new kid has so much to say. I confess that after so many years I thought, “ what have I got to say that hasn’t been said to death?”
I realized that it’s not about what to say. It’s about how to say it.
Some of you may have noticed that I’ve been learning to draw and paint.
Others might have noticed that I went back to university. Posts on abuse, trauma, healing fit with this.
Others see dog training info.
Here is where all that work, on HOW to say it will merge. Or so is the plan. I didn’t have the art skills to convey what I wanted. I learned to draw.
I wanted to connect the dots on some science. I went back to school.
And I am a dog trainer. So the above are the skills I need to start pulling it all together and apply it.
So, I have little new to say. But Damn, I have new ways of saying them.
My posts may start sporadically. I am navigating challenging personal issues that I must address. But, slowly, but by bit..I’m back. I’m really excited to try to use art to explain science.

When doing classical conditioning, there are two right options and two wrong options. This allows for clarity.
If there is a trigger, treat. No trigger, no treat. To do anything else would be to add confusion.
If there is no trigger and you treat, why would the dog's brain put that food together with the trigger?
If there is a trigger and you don't treat, you're telling the dog that they are not connected.
Clarity...always a good thing.
What should you do during the downtime between triggers? See our blog on "Training the Opposition" for exercises that can create a clean line of sight for your dog's association building.
https://awesomedogs.blog/2018/07/18/work_the_opposition/

This is from a series of blogs I'm writing on reading research studies. Given how popular the science of dog training has become, perhaps learning what all that jargon means might be a good thing to talk about. The blog on "Does Size Matter" is available here:
https://awesomedogs.wordpress.com/2015/12/01/reading-research-does-size-matter/

A little something from one of my new blog posts on what natural dog care is like.
https://awesomedogs.wordpress.com/2015/11/07/mama-dogs-dont-use-treats/

Halloween is a time for kids to run about in monster costumes. They shove gobs of chocolate into their mouths. It's a time when older "kids" go to parties and perhaps drink a wee bit too much for devil's night.
Halloween is for people. While there may be 0.01% of dogs that are the exception, few really are lovin' this day. Even if they do, it's just a crazy, unpredictable week that sometimes it's best just to err on the side of caution.
Create safe spots for candy. Chocolate, macadamia nuts, raisins are toxic to pets. Xylitol is also toxic and often found in candies and gum.
Get wrappers into the garbage.
Give the dog a safe place to relax while kids come to the door.
Use leashes. Scared dogs bolt. A "little monster" screaming in your dog's face is not something many dogs are socialized to.
Take extra care with black cats. Some people are cruel and sick and target them. Bring cats indoors.
Use common sense. Give this day to the kids and wanna be kids. save your tricks and treats for some fun training.

AVERSIVE. It has such a mean tone for a technical little term. It has a habit of stating wars. One person says that a technique is aversive and very often someone screams, "I am not abusive."
I suspect that that similarities between the words leads to confusion between the meanings.
To say that someone is abusive is quite the insult. "That/you is abusive."
Aversive has a boarder stroke. Abuse is aversive. Aversive includes all things that someone would want to escape or avoid. Doing chores to avoid nagging? Nagging is an aversive.
The problem with the confusion is that starts to interfere with any meaningful discussion. What is aversive to a dog? Does a dog training method use an aversive?
Positive punishment involves aversives. The dog is trying to avoid the unappealing consequence for misbehaviour. "If you pull on leash, I'll leash correct you."
In negative reinforcement, the animal is exposed to an aversive. that same aversive stops - giving relief and respite. "If you are quiet, we can move away from that scary thing."
Negative punishment does not use an aversive but it is an aversive event. The animal looses something appetitive. Timeouts for nipping are a common example.
If we fly in a rage each time someone correctly uses the term "aversive" then we can't talk about how to use fewer aversives in our training.
Next time you see the word, cool your jets and assess the exercise carefully. If aversives were blatantly abusive, they'd be easy to spot. Instead, they are sneaky little buggers, hiding in plain sight.