I'm sitting in the lobby of the old Fredheim Hotel in Flam, Norway. It's at the base of an endless fjord on the west coast of Norway. Gorgeous. I'm here because last weekend I presented a two day seminar in Tomalilla, Sweden (toe-ma-lee-lah... it's really lovely to say!), hosted by Natasja and Daniel Atterbom. (eeeps, I may have spelled their name wrong. apologies if so.) Natasja and her friend Malvini could not have been more gracious hosts, and the people who attended were an absolute delight. It was truly a joy to speak there, and to meet so many people in Sweden who love their dogs so much. I've learned Sweden is much like the states, in that "getting dominance" over your dog is still terribly popular. But the people who attended the seminar were knowledgeable and delightful. I Read More
Never Repeat a Command
If you're a professional dog trainer, you've repeated "never repeat a command" countless times. Surely it's one of life's greatest ironies. I've said it myself many a time, and I've written about how hard it is to follow that advice. How easily the second "Sit" comes after the first one, yes? I've gotten pretty good at saying things just once, although that doesn't mean I'm perfect. If I had five bucks for every time I've repeated "Lie Down" to my working Border collies I'd be a rich woman. But still, I'm better than most... and am the first to explain why it's so important not to repeat a command. (If you want your dog to respond to a signal, then repeating it simply teaches him to not respond to the first time you say it and wait for the second.) So answer me this: the man I call the Read More
“Dog Training” versus “Real Work”
So I'm working Will, my young Border Collie, last night, asking him to push the lambs into a corner so that I could catch and treat a sick one. (Lambs get diarrhea just like people and dogs do, I suspect it feels just as bad for them as it does for the rest of us. Poor little guy looked miserable.) Willie is doing really well at this kind of task, even though he can be the kind of dog who is "sticky" and won't push the sheep forward when it's needed sometimes. But he seems to love real work, when the sheep really have to get into the truck, or the lambs have to be pushed into a corner so that we can catch and treat one. How do I know? Well, I don't for sure, but his eyes seem brighter, he looks especially animated when we are done and most importantly, he is much braver when we have "real Read More
Visual Signals before Acoustic?
"Puppy nerd" asked a great question in his or her comment: Given how visual dogs are, should one start an exercise with visual signals to help the dog get it right, and then switch to acoustic ones, or avoid visual signals altogether if you want your dog to pay attention to your voice? Well, this could keep us all busy for the next few months. I know this is a loaded issue, with people strongly advocating one or the other (mostly the latter in my experience.) There's no 'right' answer, at least not in my opinion. But then, I'm not a big advocate for there being one way to train. There are many roads, as they say, to the top of the mountain. I think what's most important is to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of starting with visual signals. The first obvious advantage is Read More
Visual Signals Don’t Have to be Big if they are Relevant
I got back recently from doing a seminar in Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Ann Arbor Dog Training Club. What a wonderful audience; we had a fantastic time together. At least, I did, so thanks to Tammy and everyone at the club for having me. One of my favorite parts of this seminar (Both Ends of the Leash) is its focus on signals, or cues. The question we looked at in depth was: what sound or movement is actually the one that is salient to your dog? You may say "Sit," and think your dog is responding to it, but so often it's the tightening of the leash or the nod of the head to which your dog is responding. (okay, "to which" is grammatically correct, but good grief it sounds awkward!) We had a great example of that in Ann Arbor. A lovely Golden (perhaps the most perfect example of "Life Read More
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