video | Page 4 of 4 | Canines In Action, Inc.

from "How To Live With A Calculating Cat"

An Easy Pill to Swallow: Training Dogs to Take Pills the Easy Way

This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series An Easy Pill to Swallow

There’s a fabulous cartoon series on how to get a cat to swallow a pill, in which the feckless humans tried to plead with the cat, ratchet the defiant jaws open, disguise the pill in delicious food, etc., all without success.* I have to give the dogs pills occasionally, and I’m far too lazy to want to go through a hassle each time — nor can I count on always having a food product gooey and smelly enough to disguise the offensive pill.

So I’ve taught the dogs to take pills plain, on cue.

OK Go & Animal Choreography

I’d been gone for a solid week, talking training in two states and running 16+ hour days. This afternoon I walked in from the airport, hadn’t even gotten my shoes off yet, and my phone chimed. “Have you been flooded with the new OK Go video yet?” asked a friend.

Silly Pet Tricks 102

I brought home a hula hoop a couple of weeks ago. Valenzia was a little shy of it; she didn’t seem to like the shoop-shoop sound the sand made, nor the fact that it swung around in a wide arc that barred her from Mommy (me). I didn’t want my dog to be uncomfortable with the hoop, and one of the best ways I’ve found to counter-condition a “scary” object is to turn it into a training target.

I’ve posted before about using shaping games and silly tricks to foster creativity or take the edge off a wired dog’s energy. Since I was doing a few minutes of shaping anyway, I figured I could use our short training session for the next video installment. So, here it is!

Killing Creativity, in Dogs & Trainers

I happened across this video a couple of months ago and bookmarked it. I enjoyed it at the time, but even as I was watching, I was thinking of clicker training.

I really like shaping, and I love the results I get with a dog who has learned to offer and vary behavior. I hear frequently from clients or trainer friends who don’t enjoy shaping or don’t get satisfactory results, and while it’s true that not every dog adores it, I think that most of the time their failure to love it isn’t that they have the wrong dog — it’s that they, or their dogs, are diligently following this checklist.

Bitework doesn’t reduce bite inhibition — how annoying!

Have you ever tried to train against a taboo?

There are some who oppose all forms of trained protection sport and protection work, citing variously that the training is inherently abusive (it’s not), or that the dogs dislike it (obviously untrue!). Occasionally a protester will suggest that biting a person in a sleeve or suit must of course reduce a dog’s bite inhibition, making it more likely that the dog will mouth or bite a person not in protective gear.

I’ve argued logically against this before, but now I have empirical proof — I can’t even pay my dogs to bite!

Preparing Your Dog for Veterinary Visits

I learned a few days ago that Spica, my lovable-but-not-too-bright younger Doberman, has damaged her ACL. This isn’t really a surprise; Spica is a career runner who chases squirrels up and down the fenceline and spins in circles barking at them for about six hours each day, so her legs are under constant strain. In addition to the dog’s confinement and treatment (and her owner’s possible loss of sanity, living with a dog who isn’t allowed to run for six weeks!), this injury means that we’re likely to be seeing more of our veterinarian than usual.

Shaping Games for a Rainy (or Cold, or Hot) Day

My breed of choice, as most people know, is the Doberman. Like most working breeds, Dobermans are high-energy dogs who like having a job to perform, and bore easily if left with nothing to do.

Forget Fifth Graders… Is Your Dog Smarter Than A Crab?

I recently had someone tell me, “Clicker training works for your dogs, but my dog is too stupid to learn. She can’t even figure out how to walk down the stairs; there’s no way she could learn to do tricks. She’s just dumb.”

Think your dog isn’t bright enough to train? Keep reading.