Monthly Archives: December 2012

10 Years with Cricket

Posted on December 29, 2012 by eileenanddogs

Happy Gotcha Day! On December 29, 2002, 10 years ago today, I drove 100 miles east to meet Cricket’s foster family from RatBone Rescues at a McDonald’s parking lot. She was the most beautiful little rat terrier I had ever … Continue reading →

Posted in Old dogs, Tribute | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Zen Generalization: Hole in the Fence

Posted on December 27, 2012 by eileenanddogs

Sue Ailsby points out the Zen is one behavior that dogs tend to generalize well: Leave It for all manner of toddler Zen situations…; Leave It nicely gets my dogs out of the front hall when we have visitors; Leave … Continue reading →

Posted in Cues, Generalization, Zen/Leave it | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Dog Faming 2: Their Gifts to Us

Posted on December 22, 2012 by eileenanddogs

Who knew that four photos and five short paragraphs would be my most popular blog post so far? I didn’t start Dog Faming but I hope I have done a little bit to promulgate it. I think its time has … Continue reading →

Posted in Old dogs, Positive Reinforcement, Toys and Play, Training philosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Classical Conditioning: Creating a Positive Response to Barking

Posted on December 18, 2012 by eileenanddogs

Classical conditioning examples of dogs and other animals on YouTube are rare. And there’s a reason. It’s because the process is generally comparable to watching grass grow. The creature being conditioned isn’t necessarily doing anything. The action is often off camera. … Continue reading →

Posted in Classical conditioning, Dog body language | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Play with Your Dog: For Research

Posted on December 16, 2012 by eileenanddogs

Alexandra Horowitz and her Dog Cognition Lab are investigating play between dogs and people. So was there ever a more fun way to participate in a research study? For those who aren’t familiar with Dr. Horowitz, she wrote a great … Continue reading →

Posted in Toys and Play | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

Replacing a Poisoned Cue

Posted on December 10, 2012 by eileenanddogs

Today I’m sharing a hard-won victory and an improvement in my dog’s quality of life. Summer is my crossover dog, and unfortunately carries some baggage from that. We took three levels of obedience courses at a traditional dog club. Although … Continue reading →

Posted in Classical conditioning, Cues, Dog training hints | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Is It Really Just a Tap? Shock Collar Training Explained

Posted on December 3, 2012 by eileenanddogs

Shock collar trainers have several names for the shocks that they administer through the collar. A tap. A stim. A nick. A page. Static. Application of pressure.  It sounds like something short and relatively benign. Even the word “shock,” although … Continue reading →

Posted in Negative Reinforcement, Punishment, Shock Collars, Training philosophy | Tagged , , , , , , | 34 Comments