Category: Ramblings
Puppy Play Outside!
Over the weekend Swagger got to have his sixth visit with his stand-in siblings the PineBank Labrador Retrievers. It was, once again, a great improvement upon his last two visits this time showing great confidence and less aggressive play with the group. He did more running about they actual wrestling and arguing. He is definitely [...]
Read moreCount This!
Mr. Swagger has some new things for you all to count today. Naughtypants! See how many unwanted behaviours you can find in this short clip. You can see where the foundation of a lot of unwanted behaviours starts so young. This puppy could easily grow up to be a dog that will not come when [...]
Read moreSwagger Working Calming Signals
Swagger had his fourth play date with the Labrador puppies. It was by far the best to date. Many “firsts” were shown during yesterdays play date. For the first time in four visits he actually allowed the Labs to put him on his back and play with them from this position. What was really [...]
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 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 moreGetting Un-Stuck While Shaping
To follow up on a comment written on yesterday’s blog; what do we do when we are shaping one thing but our dogs get “stuck” offering something she already knows. My first choice is to set things up in my favor to avoid this from ever happening. Two big things that will help are; Your [...]
Read moreNon Reward Markers: Reducing the Use
It seems everyone has a slightly different slant on their application of Non Reward Markers (NRMs) in training. Here is a little more on my approach. First of all, I never use them in training during a value building session (shaping). Actually, I rarely use them at all while teaching anything. I can think of [...]
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 moreTry On Those Snow Shoes!
Last week my friend Lynda and I went for a walk with the dogs. Yes the snow was close to a meter deep (that is about a yard for our American friends) but the dogs didn’t care — they wanted their walk! Now walking up and down hills around the perimeter of our snow covered [...]
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