Category: My Dogs
Lessons in Frustration, Recovery and NRMs

Following up on my last post on NRMs I mentioned that the only place I really use one in my training is when the lack of information will create an expectancy of reinforcement for my dog. I mentioned the teaching of weave poles as one place that a NRM is critically important. The other place [...]
Read moreSocializing the Singleton Puppy: Swagger’s Big Adventures

I think I have neglected you blog readers a bit by posting a lot of my updates about Swagger on my new Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/SusanGarrettDogAgility). So today I am going overboard, with this mega- blog post. And yes, I promised to get back to our talk on NRM this week:). As you can see in [...]
Read moreSwagger Turns Three Weeks Old!

Great conversation about non reward punishers over the past week or so. More on that later. For those of you not on facebook I thought I would post a few new pictures and videos of Feature’s little boy “Swagger.” He turned three weeks old yesterday and is a whopping five lbs! He is totally living [...]
Read moreWhat IS Ideal Meaning of A NRM?

Now to answer an unanswered question from last week; when exactly DO I use a NRM? The answer is I only use a NRM if, by not using one, the dog can earn reinforcement. Routinely I can only think of two examples in my training (in the value testing stage) where that may occur. The [...]
Read morePuppy Preocuppiedatiousness

Feature’s puppy has taken over my life. I just can’t get any work done he is sooo darn cute, I can just sit and watch him all day long . . . and I do! He is no longer going by his puppy name of “Sid the Kid.” As cute as it was, he grew [...]
Read morePunishment In Today’s Dog Training

I thought it was time to address my thoughts on the use, abuse, misuse and the misunderstanding of the “non reward marker” (NRM) in dog training A non reward marker is usually a word or phrase that when spoken to your dog, lets him know that no reward will be earned for that particular response. [...]
Read moreThe Singleton Puppy

I am writing this blog post today not from a position of a great depth of knowledge but reporting from two singular experiences. I am hoping anyone reading this that has gone through a similar situation will offer their perspective. I suppose for many of you this post will hold little of interest so I [...]
Read moreSid the Kid

Those of you that are not on Facebook, that were unable to follow the links in my last post to the “surprise” here it is. Last November, while teaching in Australia I made arrangements for Feature to be bred to a lovely male that had the bonus attraction of being very closely related to Encore [...]
Read moreBig Announcements for a Monday Morning

So two big announcements. First. I have a new facebook page. Big deal you say. Here is the deal. But I have printed today’s blog post on this new page. It contains I big reveal by me, something I haven’t shared publicly yet but I personally think is pretty darn cool. My new Facebook page. [...]
Read moreJanuary in Canada

I hope all of you have had a great start to your new year. As you may have noticed I have been hibernating up here in Canada. Truthfully I haven’t been doing much except spending time with John and my dogs. This is the first January in 13 years that John and I are not [...]
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