How 2 Train a __________ [Fill in the blank] From Aardvarks to Zebras, Applied Behavior Science has a Rational Prescription for Creating Behavior Change by Dr. Patricia Barlow-Irick, Ph.D A very interesting title and a very long subtitle. I saw this book mentioned online a few weeks ago and Read more…
This rally book is incredibly interesting. It’s written by someone who has been involved with rally since it’s early AKC days. The author was one of many people who attended rally trials on the very first night/day (very early morning!) that AKC was offering rally in 2005. I remember reading Read more…
Recently Ohio has updated it’s dangerous dog law and now communities are making decisions on how to adjust their dog laws. A local newspaper article has made a few statements that I’m not so sure about. One of them is about microchips. The local laws previously required pit bulls to be Read more…
This isn’t really a book to sit and read. There are a few short chapters on rally, but it’s mostly filled with course maps. The author, Charles Kramer is well known as being the person who made rally into a ‘real’ event. Rally (or “rally-o” or “rally obedience” etc) Read more…
I enjoy watching Mary Ray perform. I’ve been watching her performances at Crufts for as long as video has readily been available online. To get such consistent and reliable performances from not just one dog, but sometimes up to four at a time (skip ahead to 2:00 on that one to get to the multiple Read more…
In the last post I mentioned that I would be helping with a talk about foundation skills. Here are the five skills I grouped: Reinforcement: Knowing how to evaluate, how to deliver, and what exactly is a reinforcer can make all the difference for a trainer. This is what I Read more…
I read this book earlier this week and I think it’s one of the better books in the small category of “books about conformation.” The author walks into his research without knowing much and he really doesn’t have a personal interest in the activity. Most of the similar books are by Read more…
Agility is a really great way to teach people to train their dogs, to improve the human-animal bond, and to teach dogs new skills. It used to be that agility was recommended as an outlet for active dogs and as a confidence builder for shy dogs. With a good class, Read more…
What is 4-H? 4-H is a youth program that while has a national presence, it’s run at state and county levels throughout the US. Each state and county can set their own rules, projects, and activities. 4-H groups youth in clubs of 3-50+ members with adult “advisors” helping to supervise, Read more…
This was a theme at the retriever seminar a few weeks ago. Carol Cassity especially reminded us to use our time well. It’s easy to fall into the pattern of working on the more exciting and challenging training aspects and there tend to be skills that we less prefer to Read more…