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
Archives for 2016
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
Paying Attention, City Dogs versus Country Cousins
I just spent a few days in The Big Apple, and not surprisingly found myself watching dogs and their people on the sidewalks of New York City. Here are the two things that I noticed first: One, many of the dogs had on coats. Lots and lots of coats. Granted, it was a tad nippy on my first day because of the wind, but even when the wind died down and it was in the 30's, many of the dogs were still in jackets. Not much to say about that, except it’s rare to see dogs in jackets here in Wisconsin, even in cities where the dogs live in apartments. Could this be as much about fashion as function? No idea. I'm curious to hear from those of you who live in cities. That said, this is a dog (seen at the dog park by the Museum of Natural History) who definitely need a coat! (Maybe one size smaller? If Read More
The Blog Dogs
I've never liked the sound of the word "blog." It sounds like something one should have removed at a doctor's office. ("Is that blog bothering you again?") That said, what I do like is the interchange between the readers of this particular blog. I've noted before how often I am struck by the insight and compassion that is expressed on a weekly basis here. Not to mention the stories/lessons/mysteries generated by your dogs. Regular readers and I have learned so much from them. I got to thinking about how close I feel to some of the dogs that we often hear about, and wishing that I had a visual image to match with the name. Thus inspired, I reached out to a number of regular readers, and asked if they'd be kind enough to send photos of their dogs. Many responded, and I had a grand old Read More