In your heart, in your home, and in the lives around you. From Willie and me, we wish you the best of holidays. Read More
Birds of New Zealand
I can't resist writing a post about the birds of New Zealand. No surprise to readers, I was fascinated by the animals of NZ, many of which have been brought in for a variety of reasons. As many of you know, NZ has no native mammals except two species of bats, and has suffered greatly from the importation of many species, including the Australian possum, stoats (Mustela erminea, think weasel or ermine) pigs, deer, and many species of birds. Rats, cats and a host of other critters have hitch-hiked their way in and caused their own set of problems. By the way, the possum in NZ is nothing like the marsupial creature in North America. The possum in question, which is endangered in its own native land, is, uh... I'm sorry, I can't help it ... adorably cute. It is also eating its way through the Read More
News from APDT
I wish everyone could have heard Alexandra Horowitz's talk that introduced the conference this morning. She gave an articulate and thought provoking speech about the "umwelt" of the dog. "Umwelt" is a term coined by Uexkull to mean the world of an organism, as it is sensed, perceived and interpreted. The point, which was well explained by Alexandra, is that each species sees the world differently, based on their perceptual abilities (ie, bees see colors we don't, dogs smell things we don't) and the parts of their environment that are relative to them. Some have said that because each species, literally, lives in different worlds, we can never really understand what it is like to be another animal. (This was famously addressed in philosopher's Nagel's oft-cited article, "What is it like to Read More
DVD Sale; Anniversary Pie
I promised the people who keep an aging hippie social worker like me in business that I'd mention that the summer 1/2 price DVD sale is on. Okay, I did that. Good Trisha. Sweet day today. Jim's and my 10th anniversary. Making, as I write, a cherry/blueberry/strawberry/rhubarb pie for Jim. I will eat some myself to keep him company and prove that I love him. Greater love hath no woman. I had planned to write a post yesterday about the correlation (if any) between testosterone and aggression, but got overwhelmed with speech preparations. I've got 6 separate talks to give in the next 2 weeks. Oh my. Giving a Keynote address to the Int'l Society of Human Ethologists on Monday, then off on Thursday the Best Friends Forever in Pennsylvania (giving 3 talks there, soooo looking forward to Read More
Are Clicks Better Markers than Words?
We've been talking about markers and secondary reinforcers, and there have been some great comments about using clickers in some contexts and not in others. Like many readers, I use clickers for some training, and not for others. Your comments got me thinking about why I use them sometimes, why I don't use them others, and the physics of why clicks can be such a powerful marker (and/or reinforcement). First, I don't use clickers for all training. This is partly because I am a classic "absent minded professor" and there are just too many times in the world in which I forget everything but my head. I also admit that I am always happiest when it is just me and a dog--no clicker, no leash and as soon as practical, no food as reinforcement. However, I've always used clickers for trick Read More
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