Author Archives: sam

2012 Rally Information

2012 Rally Information – posted to AKC Rally Web Page Several items are posted to the AKC web site for Rally at the below link. http://www.akc.org/events/rally/2012info.cfm 2012 AKC Rally® Information IMPORTANT AKC RALLY INFORMATION Recently the AKC Board of Directors, working with AKC team members and representatives from the Rally Sport Fancy, passed a number [...]

Posted in AKC obedience trial, AKC Rally Obedience, Rally | Leave a comment

Read the Label!

FDA continues to warn dog owners about the dangers of Chinese-made chicken jerky

Posted in Dog food, Health topics | 3 Comments

Getting the behaviour: shaping

GO TO PLACE: an introduction to shaping behaviour What is shaping? Shaping is the process of moving from an unskilled to a skilled performance through a series of closer and closer approximations of the final behaviour. Shaping behaviour is a very effective way of teaching complex actions. Any complex action or series of actions can [...]

Posted in Dog training, learning theory, operant conditioning | Leave a comment

Getting the Behaviour: Luring

Luring is a quick way to teach a new behaviour. Initially, food is used as a lure to help guide the dog into the desired action or position. You can quickly get the dog to SIT or DOWN, practice close and straight FRONTS, lure into HEEL position, and encourage WATCH by luring with food. We [...]

Posted in Dog training, Obedience training, operant conditioning | Leave a comment

The ABC’s of dog training

The ABC’s — Don’t make food the Antecedent Antecedent –> Behavior –> Consequence Correct: Command SIT –> Dog sits –> Dog is rewarded Wrong: Show food, lure and say SIT –> Dog sits –> Dog is rewarded One of the criticisms of “positive” dog training is the complaint “My dog only sits when he sees [...]

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Active rewards for active exercises; passive rewards for duration

All the great dog trainers seem to come to the same conclusion independently. My take-home lesson from my last several sessions with Michael Ellis was to use active rewards for active exercises and passive rewards for stability exercises. When rewarding speed and execution, encourage the dog to chase and catch the treat or toy. When [...]

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Long Distance Learning

I want to recommend Silvia Trkman’s Long Distance Classes. What fun! I just finished her Agility Foundations held over the summer, and signed up for her Puppy/Tricks class. While I don’t have a puppy, I have several dogs eager to learn new tricks, and it’s a great way to practice my timing while shaping new [...]

Posted in Dog agility, Dog training, Tricks | Leave a comment

Lexi IPO2

Big Sky Working Dogs had their annual Schutzhund / IPO Trial last weekend, and Lexi earned her IPO (Schutzhund) 2 title under USA Judge Al Govednik with scores of 95/90/80p = 265. While the protection showed some weaknesses due to practicing all the exercises with Samie or Anne holding a toy (!), tracking and obedience [...]

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The Premack Principle: “You have to DO something to GET something!”

If there’s a “secret” to dog training, the Premack Principle is it. In psych lingo, the Premack Principle states that the likely-hood of a high-probability behaviour occurring increases when reinforced by a  low-probability behaviour. In the vernacular, it’s also known as Gramma’s Law: “You have to eat your peas (low-probability behaviour) before you can have [...]

Posted in Dog behaviour, Dog training, learning theory, Obedience training, Premack Principle | Leave a comment

Rusty

Rusty has been here for a week now, and it’s been nothing if not entertaining! He is a bright, active dog with no boundaries who does everything at warp speed. He learns extremely quickly, and it’s heart warming to see him starting to understand! Milestones: tonight he stuck his head in the kitchen garbage and [...]

Posted in Australian shepherds, rescue | 2 Comments