LET'S LEARN - What is Positive Reinforcement?This is the first in a series I will write to help dog owners better understand how to teach their dogs skills and how to change behaviour.  When you have a decent foundation in learning theory it makes a huge difference because you can start to understand HOW and WHY things do and don’t work.There are several ways dogs (and humans and other animals for that matter) learn.  The first one we will look at is Operant Conditioning which is m...

I find eating broccoli aversive.  But not as aversive as going to the dentist to get a tooth extracted!Slip leads, check chains, prong collars and shock collars (as well as other things) are collectively known as “aversive training tools”.  This term is equally well accepted and used by trainers who use these tools, as well as reward-based trainers.  It’s not a derogatory term; it’s an accurate description of what they are, just like food and toys are known as “reward...

A little while ago I wrote a post about how most dogs I see being walked are on harnesses or normal collars and are happily walking with the freedom to explore on the lead, sniffing and generally looking like they’re having a nice stroll out with their owners.That’s still what I’m seeing, but today there was a standout exception.I’d seen one person walking their 2 dogs matching the above description.  Just ahead of them was another person walking their dog on lead, I was still qu...

Classes for young puppies up to about 4 months old are often called Puppy Pre-School, I call mine Kindy Puppy Class.  So why is Puppy Class so important? Puppies have a window of opportunity for socialisation that closes at around 4 months old (most agree it’s a little sooner in fact).  This means that what puppies are exposed to and experience during this time becomes their normal.  Getting them used to lots of novel experiences during this time makes a huge difference ...

This is a follow up blog from my last one "Why Quick Fixes Rarely Are". I thought I'd explain how you can tell if a behaviour has been suppressed or whether a problem has really been solved/improved. I also should clarify that the term "unskilled trainer" is not meant in a derogatory way but because dog training is unregulated there's no requirement for qualifications or licencing; if there were, then maybe "apprentice" would be more accurate.  But I ...