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Information on living with, training, and loving Dogs

When Knowing Dog Training Comes in Handy for Raising Kids — Or Operant Conditioning: Part 2

/ Dog Training, Dogs in General / By / 4 Comments

nagging1-copyIn my earlier post on Operant Conditioning: Part 1, I explained how it can be used with great success at motivating 2-leggeds and 4-leggeds. I shared the example of how, at Cait’s suggestion, I used +R (Positive Reinforcement) along with -P (Negative Punishment) to help motivate her to change an undesired behavior (chewing with mouth open) to a desired behavior (chewing with mouth closed). You can read about how we did that here.

In this post, I’d like to … Read More

On the Hunt

/ Finnegan the Coon Cat, Life, My Dogs and Me, Nature / By / 13 Comments

It’s in the air today, along with the gathering thunderclouds. Everyone around here is hunting for something.

Our Great Blue Heron is on the hunt for his lunch.

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He seldom misses.

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He’s snagged himself a nice fish.

Oh, there’s something else fishing there along the side of the pond!

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Is it our Fisher (a weasel)?

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Nope. I’d recognize that fluffy tail anywhere. Looks like Finn’s found some good hunting by the pond too.

Kiera and Wink are hunting for a … Read More

When Knowing Dog Training Comes in Handy for Raising Kids — Or Operant Conditioning: Part 1

/ Cait and Me, Dog Training / By / 5 Comments

nagging1-copyWhen I was young, I was quite shy and never liked drawing attention to myself.  One of the ways this manifested was that I spoke very softly.  My wonderful father was bothered by this trait and took it upon himself to remedy the situation.  Anytime I spoke, he’d interrupt and insist that I speak more loudly.

Interestingly, this constant reminder to speak up did not have the effect of making me speak louder.  Instead, I’d step closer to be heard … Read More

7 Best Dog Raising & Training Books

/ Dog Training, Dogs in General, Tech Tips & Product Reviews / By / 12 Comments

Maybe you’ve seen this ditty passed around in an email:

Ten Rules for Being Human

1.  You will receive a body.
2. You will be presented with lessons.
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons.
4. Lessons are repeated until learned.
5. Learning does not end.
6. There is no better than Here.
7. Others are only mirrors of you.
8.What you make of your life is up to you.
9. All the answers lie inside of you.
10. You … Read More

Kiera Update and Diagnosing Your Dog’s Abscessed Tooth

/ Dogs in General, My Dogs and Me / By / 9 Comments

kiera1 I picked up Kiera late yesterday afternoon and she had a tough night.  She’s doing much better this morning.

The vet thinks the growth was a result of an abscessed tooth, which she removed with a section of the gum just to be safe. It looks like we dodged a  bullet! Exhaling now…

While Kiera is resting comfortably at my feet, I thought I’d use this time to talk about what can cause a canine abscessed tooth, what some of … Read More

Dog Aggression May Be Caused By Aggressive Treatment by Owners, New Study Finds

/ Dog Training, Dogs in General / By / 10 Comments

Having lived with and loved a rescue dog who came to me with aggression problems, and having been around the block with various training philosophies to find one that worked,  I’m happy to see that progress is being made in the understanding of what actually helps and what hurts.  While I know there are many Cesar Milan fans out there, research is beginning to discover what many good trainers have known for a long time — traditional punitive training can … Read More

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