Kwame graduates

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  • Beth314B

    Shock collars!

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  • eeeefarmE

    Operant Conditioning (explained)

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    eeeefarmE
    @elbrant said in Operant Conditioning (explained): @eeeefarm said in Operant Conditioning (explained): some professional trainers suggest to their classes that they starve dogs that aren't all that food motivated This is just disturbing... in today's society, this type of behavior would be considered animal cruelty. Certainly we can find a way to encourage compliance without depriving an animal basic care. I know, it shocked me too when I heard it. The first instance was a friend of mine whose Border Collie was disinterested in food rewards, and she was advised by the instructor not to feed the dog anything on class days so there would be an incentive to accept treats. The second instance was my niece, and in this case a German Shepherd dog that again didn't want to take treats, and she was given the same advice by a different trainer, in fact in a different city, so it appears that it isn't unusual. Both these dogs work well for praise and in both cases the owners declined to starve the dogs....
  • L

    9 months puppy started to chew on skirting boards

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    S
    Management is the greatest tool for preventing this kind of behavior. Also, as others have mentioned, exercise and wearing them out energetically is very useful as well. If they have access to an appropriate toy to chew on, are managed correctly, and get enough daily exercise, you shouldn't have too many problems.
  • L

    Brain stimulating

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    S
    Chase is great... if he's chasing you. But if you're chasing him, this is very bad. Playing chase, with him chasing you, will also help with engagement. Play chase with food. Also, I would recommend hand-feeding for (at least) a month. You want to build value in you. In addition, it has to be said, that some puppies are just lazy and like being bummy. You can encourage active behavior by making yourself valuable (so he wants to be around you) and by making activities valuable. At 6 months however, you might be out of luck. Still, it's your dog, so it's probably worth it to give it a dedicated try. You also, might want to try using more valuable food rewards (like steak, cheese, etc. (whatever he loves and doesn't typically get much of)). Best of luck.
  • V

    Graduation

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    lvossL
    One of the games my instructor plays during graduation class is Musical Settles. Kind of like musical chairs except the one eliminated is the one whose dog lays down last after the owner sits, which is the only cue the dog gets. My basenjis have always done poorly at this game because they hate laying down on cold ground and though they will offer a sit, down is usually more than they are willing to do. Which is okay with me, we always kick butt at the recall game, basenjis are wicked fast! Anyway, at one of the many graduation days that we have attended we amazed everyone by making it all the way to the final two and then even more amazement when me and Nicky won. That was the only time my instructor made a basenji related comment which was, "See how practice and reinforcement pays off, the basenji won musical settles!"
  • lvossL

    Kindergarten Graduation

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    spitfirekrl1S
    We also have tried a few different methods (for quite some time for each). The stop and turn thing, I thought was a great idea, but it didn't work with us either. She didn't mind changing direction she just liked leading in ANY direction. We finally got the harness type leash (not the head harness) and it has stopped her completely from pulling. It's kind of wierd because she still CAN pull but now when she gets to the end of the leash (we have a 16' leash) she will stop and wait for us to catch up (uless there's another dog or something that's very enticing and even that pulling is not as aggressive as it used to be with a traditional collar/leash.