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On TAGteach and Skill-Building

    This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series CT for Shooting

    Okay, I was a bit slow to adopt TAGteach when I first encountered it in the early 2000s, but I’ve caught on, and I’ve been applying it more and more in my life. Sometimes I use TAGteach principles without the actual tagger (clicker), simply because that’s what I have to work with, but even without a key tool the principles still work. A marker can be many things, not just a clicker, and even with no marker (or instructor) at all, the concepts can be turned to Focus Points instead of TAGpoints and used the same way.

    I’ve used clicker-less TAGteach backstage at a major performance event and with kids on the verge of losing it. And last weekend I had a reminder of how very useful TAGteach can be for myself.

    Got a minute? Check this out, please.

      Today I’m signal boosting for another post, one which isn’t on this blog because it’s not directly tied to behavior — but it’s important.

      I wrote On Today’s Slavery because most Americans really don’t think of slavery as existing any more. True, sometimes we hear about human trafficking, but it’s usually far away and not really relevant. But truth is, there are more slaves — real slaves — today than at any previous period in world history, and they’re in the US too.

      Cropping, Docking, Political Correctness, Opinions, Animal Welfare, Free Speech, and Dogs

        Dobermann Pinscher from 1915
        Dobermann Pinscher from 1915 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

        Fair warning: most of my posts I at least try to keep civil and positive. No guarantees today.

        As regular readers will know, I have a breed which is in this country normally cropped and docked. Yes, that’s the actual AKC standard: “ears normally cropped.” There is some debate over whether that line should be interpreted “are usually cropped but not always,” or “are cropped in a normal manner.” And when I say “some debate,” I mean wars have been fought over this ground.

        The Importance of a Client History

          Day 26
          (Photo credit: Sylvia Currie)

          I told this story over lunch at the last ClickerExpo, and it occurred to me that it might make a good blog post.

          Years ago, a woman approached me. “Are you the trainer here?”

          Surf’s Up! TAGteach without a TAGteach instructor

            Following the amazing-as-always ClickerExpo, I headed southeast to join friends and family for a Caribbean vacation. It was delightful; home was 4 degrees Fahrenheit when I left for San Francisco, where the rainy 60s felt lovely, and 80 degrees on a sandy beach felt positively euphoric.

            And I learned to surf.

            Laura feeds Tiki at the Oakland Zoo

            ClickerExpo San Francisco: Day 0

              It has to be Day 0, you see, because ClickerExpo doesn’t even properly start until tomorrow….

              First off, KPACTPs had the opportunity to go behind the scenes at Oakland Zoo and see some amazing training. We were asked not to share photos or video — not because of anything they needed to hide, because honestly we saw fantastic work and entirely humane by the highest of animal care standards — but because they’ve had instances of images being circulated with attached incorrect information, and once out there it’s darned hard to correct. I can respect that, so you’ll just have to take my word for it that the work with the bull elephant was some of the most impressive targeting work I have seen.