One of the lovely things about shaping a dog through clicker training is how, once they learn the game, they offer behaviors of all sorts. This can be fun, especially when taking photographs. I use lots of treats when I’m taking photos, and I take a lot of photos. Years ago, this was prohibited because every snap of the camera meant a fee for developing film. Digital cameras, however, changed all that, so we can click away as long as {Read More}
Why Use Food For Dog Training?
October 19, 2013 by
Food is a motivator to every living being on the planet. Without food, we would perish. When the feeling of hunger strikes, it’s pretty hard to think of anything else but eating, especially as your stomach starts to growl. Having such a powerful motivator is almost like having a magic wand. Food gets a dog’s attention. Dogs focus when food is in the training game. Food motivates. Period. This is cause to celebrate not complain! Reinforcing behaviors with food makes {Read More}
Fort Lauderdale Cookie Trainer
October 18, 2013 by
Cookie training is a euphemism for dog training using food as motivation. That euphemism is most often used by force trainers, those using pain to train. Dog trainers who were running classes when I first started learning to train were unimpressed, and maybe even uneducated, about the power behind training with treats. Force was the dominant method of dog training then, literally and figuratively. But now there is a much better way to train dogs using two of the four {Read More}
Cookie Training
October 17, 2013 by
When I was first learning how to train dogs, it was back in the 80’s. My first classes were with Dick Koehler. Through his tutelage, I learned how to train dogs using a method of force. If we are looking at quadrants, that would be positive punishment (which really isn’t positive at all) and negative reinforcement. Positive punishment was what we did to dogs when we yanked up on the choke chain when a dog didn’t obey the command, sit, {Read More}
A Dog’s Temperament
October 16, 2013 by
This quote is from the Temperament Test for Dogs website describing what temperament is. “W. Handel, German Police Dog Trainer, in his article, “The Psychological Basis of Temperament Testing,” defines temperament as ‘the sum total of all inborn and acquired physical and mental traits and talents which determines, forms and regulates behavior in the environment.’” That is the combination of Fixed Action Patterns and Learning abilities I described in an earlier blog post, and qualities that can be used in {Read More}
