I spend hours on the phone, counseling people who are enduring problems with their adolescent German shepherd dog. It barks and lunges at other dogs, stalks and even nips visitors in the home, attacks other puppies in puppy class, and drags the owner down the street on walks. In the worst cases, the dogs are [...]
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Acknowledgements
While I have learned from many dog trainers over the years, a few stand out. Thanks to Glen Johnson, who early in the 80s taught me about inducive training. And also to Bill Dotson, who introduced us to Schutzhund and Search & Rescue.
Thanks Tracey Louper for letting me help teach classes, and being my friend and sounding board for new dog training ideas.
Special thanks to friend and mentor Michael Ellis. Michael is a gifted dog trainer and teacher, and almost everything I use and teach these days comes from Michael.
And thanks to Ivan Balabanov, who started our club, Big Sky Schutzhund Club, on the way to becoming thinking dog trainers.
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 [...]