I ran into Chirag Patel at ClickerExpo last year. He showed me a Baskerville muzzle and asked what I thought of the design. “I’d like to try it,” I said. “I’m thinking of making a video on muzzle conditioning.”
“I have one,” he said. “Have you seen it?”
I hadn’t. And I soon realized there wasn’t a need for me to make another one.
I asked here before for help in titling the new book, and you guys were beyond helpful. And now here’s the result, in glorious full color:
That’s why I’m asking you to help me find one that resonates.
Now that Halloween has passed, kids (and adults) all over the country are digging through bags of loot. Some candy is definitely preferred over others. Now might be a good time for a good candy blog post.
So, remember that fantastically foul candy which made a better punisher than reinforcer? Things aren’t always so black and white…!
We interrupt this blog for a word from our sponsors!
I’ll be in Wisconsin in a couple of weeks for a Core Clicker Seminar, a two-day hands-on intensive workshop for beginning to intermediate trainers and handlers. This is, if I say so myself, a pretty good training seminar. 🙂 And there are still a few working (and auditing) spots open!
So all that chat in Part 1 about how to avoid creating problems while socializing a puppy was nice, but you’ve got an adult dog — and whether you made some socialization mistakes or whether you inherited a bad socialization legacy along with the dog, things just aren’t the way they should be. Is there hope?
Yes, of course there’s hope! But again, here is where mistakes happen in the name of “socialization.” Don’t make them.
That’s a typo, right? I mean, a professional trainer would never advocate against socialization, right?
You’d be surprised.
I live in Indianapolis, where the calendar runs January, February, Mud, Tornados, Welcome Race Fans, June. In the coming month I’ll be hearing about the Snake Pit at the Speedway — but at home, I’m preparing the Snake Kit.
In mid-October, I embarked upon a new learning experience — handling and shooting a firearm. I spent nearly a year and a half researching this prospect, deciding if it were a path I wanted to start down, and I’d decided firmly that if I were to have a gun, I would train to a high level of fluency and competency.
Imagine my delight, then, when among the usual trash advice dispensed to newbies in any sport or hobby, I encountered some truly fantastic, behaviorally-sound recommendations for learning to shoot and handle safely.
Okay, so you’re well into your new conditioning plan, with graduated protocols in place to reduce your dog’s noise fears or phobias. You’re taking it slowly and making good progress. But suddenly it’s Independence Day or Guy Fawkes, with fireworks going off all around, and a thunderstorm rolling in to boot, and you know you’re not ready for all this. How do you survive tonight?