While I'm in Arizona at the Interdisciplinary Forum on Applied Animal Behavior (try saying that fast!), I thought it would be useful to repeat this article (slightly modified) and video on stopping an unwanted approach from an unfamiliar dog. So many of us have dogs who are uncomfortable meeting other dogs when on leash, so I thought it would be useful to repeat it. Here’s a familiar story to everyone who has had a dog-dog reactive dog: You’re out walking in the neighborhood, your own dog responsibly on leash, when you look up and there is a ___________ (pick one: Golden Retriever, Jack Russel Terrier, Black Lab, trio of Dachshunds) charging toward you and your reactive dog. Many yards behind the oncoming bundle of doom, the owner waves and smiles, shouting “It’s okay!!! He loves Read More
Archives for February 2016
From Writing to Publishing
As many of you know, I've been working on a memoir for, uh, well, a long time. (Actually, it's been over five years.) In early November I finally declared it finished, and sent it to my literary agent to be shopped around for a publisher. Lucky, lucky me, my editor for The Other End of the Leash, jumped on it, and her "house," Atria, bought it for release in 2017. I still haven't heard what the final release date will be, although I do know it will be on their "spring list," and so, The Education of Will: A Mutual Memoir will come out sometime between February and May 2017. But what takes so long? How could it take a year and almost a half for a book to come to fruition once it's "done?" Several people have asked me this question, and it's a reasonable one. I thought some of you might Read More
Luring, Prompting and (or) Free Shaping
Last week I spent five days at Natural Encounters in their Professional Training Workshop hosted and run by Steve Martin and Dr. Susan Friedman. I watched crows and parrots learning new behaviors so fast that my head spun. The trainers there are so good they could train a flock of parrots to build a shopping mall in two weeks. (I'm talking about you, Steve Martin and Wouter Stellaard.) As part of their training, they frequently use lures and what they call “prompts, and quickly end up with animals that reliably perform to the smallest of cues, every time. I found that encouraging, because I too have found lures to be invaluable training aids (IF used correctly and in the right context--more on that later) . Yet, I have heard some argue that one should NEVER use a lure. Recently I heard Read More
Parrot Paradise – Natural Encounters
One is never supposed to gush. It's just not done, not if you want to be cool. Luckily, I've never been so constrained, so.... wait for it.... I'm going to gush. I'm mid-week into the Natural Encounters Animal Training and Management Workshop with Steve Martin and Dr. Susan Friedman, and my brain is smoking. In the best of all possible ways. Steve and Susan have created a remarkable learning experience, using lecture and hands-on training to apply the science of behavior analysis and positive reinforcement to train corvids and parrots. Half the day is lecture, half is training a crow or our own Macaw. My Macaw, a Scarlet, is named Iago... rather an unfortunate name for an animal with a beak that can break your finger, so I'm going to call him George. (Why George? I don't know. Hey, it's Read More
Lovely Leonberger Play: A Clinic on Appropriate Play Behavior
Distinguishing appropriate from inappropriate play takes some knowledge and experience, but it's not difficult once you know what to look for. These videos, sent by photographer, and Leonberger lover, Vic Neumann, are wonderful illustrations of appropriate play between father and son. I’ve annotated the videos (with the help of Nick Hughes, our new website manager and techie prince, so good to have him on board!) to illustrate some of the aspects of their interaction that are indicative of appropriate play behavior. There is plenty more to see, I'm looking forward to your comments! (Note: You can't see the annotations on a phone, so if you want to read them, take a look on your laptop.) This first video is of father Vikahn and son Yulee, about a week after the two dogs met. Watch how Read More