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It’s That Time of Year, When the World Falls In Love…. Holiday & Seasonal Care for Pets

    English: Rottweiler Head Deutsch: Rottweiler Kopf
    (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    It may be the time of year when the world falls in love, but the holidays stretching from Halloween to New Year’s can be a particularly tough time on household pets, especially with parties, house guests, and distracted owners. This stress can manifest in a variety of unpleasant ways, from house-training accidents to chewing to even fearfulness or fear-aggression.

    Fortunately there are a number of things we can do to mitigate the stresses and dangers to our pets. Read on, and with a little preparation, you and your pets can be full of good cheer.

    This candy is not for eating! — Part 3

      This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series This Candy Is Not For Eating
      English: The US version of the Smarties candy.
      (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      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…!

      Laura on ground laughing as Laev rolls on back

      Laura’s Coming to Wisconsin! 2-Day Clicker Workshop

        Laura laughing with Laev being silly
        Dog Training is serious. Always very serious.

        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!

        Social, Civil, and Savvy: Training & Socializing Puppies to Become the Best Possible Dogs

        When You Should NOT Socialize Your Dog — Part 2

          This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series When You Should NOT Socialize

          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.

          Valenzia and groceries

          Why We Teach House Manners — Or, Good Training Should Be Idiot-Proof

            Like many dog owners, I’ve gotten spoiled by having a mature, well-trained dog in the house. Naturally, when we first bring home a new member of the family, we are obsessed with teaching all sorts of critical foundation skills (targeting, door and leash manners, handling exercises, and so on). But once those initial behaviors are in place, we give them little thought because we’re too busy focusing on performance behaviors, or working skills, or the next cute pet trick — whatever our particular venue may be.

            What this means is that once I’ve taught my dog the way I need her to comport herself in the house, I get lazy. I do things I would never think of doing with a novice dog. And fortunately, our style of training holds up brilliantly in real-life situations — which, as a matter of fact, is why I still have the load of groceries I bought tonight.

            Waiting for the Mexican Elevator

            Waiting for the Mexican Elevator

              Waiting for the Mexican Elevator
              Actually, these elevators are in the Empire State Building, not Mexico City, but that’s where the CC-licensed photo was taken. Don’t tell.

              As I write this, I am sitting in my hotel in Mexico City, taking a break from teaching clicker training to instructors from all over Mexico and as far as Guatemala and Colombia. It’s been a great time thus far! Saturday Alena and I spoke 8 hours on aggression, and this week we’ve been working on clicker mechanics, foundation work, shaping, etc.

              With students of varying levels of clicker experience, we’ve been pulling a lot of everyday examples of operant and classical conditioning at work. There’s a perfect discussion topic waiting in the form of the elevator in our hotel.

              This candy is not for eating!

                This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series This Candy Is Not For Eating
                Candy at a souq in Damascus, Syria.
                (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

                A thoughtful person gave my friend Melissa a package of candy for her daughter Emma, and Melissa kept them for Sunday morning.  Emma is just 3, and sometimes the morning church service gets a bit long, so Emma enjoys earning (silent) reinforcement with games during the sermon.  She might repeat a key phrase the pastor used, cite a sermon point, or remain sitting quietly rather than kicking in the pew — her target behaviors vary according to her juvenile abilities and the need of the moment.

                Do You Have a Double Standard?

                  Where do we draw the line between acceptable variance and dangerous disobedience?  Where do we draw the line between an annoyance and real trouble?