Last Friday (February 2011), Romeo and I met up with our good friends Mary and August at the dog park in Larkspur to burn off some energy after being cooped up inside so much with the recent cold weather. I'd like to say that Romeo did great and we got some much needed exercise. But [...]
I used to post to my blog two or three times per week. This past week (February 2011) I got tied up with other things and didn't post as often as I "should have." Which got me thinking. . . Each week when I see my clients, whether in group classes or private training, the [...]
Want a handy training tool? Try hand targeting. Hand targeting is teaching your dog to target or touch your hand with his nose. What use could you have for hand targeting? Think about the times you've tried to maneuver your dog to a certain place or position by tugging on his leash, pulling him by [...]
This is part 3 in my series on the use of and side effects of punishment. My source is Murray Sidman's Coercion and Its Fallout. In the last post, I quoted from his chapter on Escape. This post discusses Chapters 8 & 9 on Avoidance. Rather than escaping a coercive or punishing event, avoidance means [...]
In my posts from December (2010), I quoted Murray Sidman's Coercion and Its Fallout on the effects of punishment. I want to continue with some of the points in his book, namely the potential side effects of the use of punishment. As I mentioned before, this book is about human behavior, not about dogs. However, [...]
