How much autonomy does your dog have? Willie's work with sheep is what motivates me to ask this question. As I mentioned earlier, Willie and I attended a sheepdog clinic 2 weeks ago with Patrick Shannahan, and the big take away for us was that, too often, Willie looks to me to tell him what to do while working sheep. It's not that he doesn't know what to do himself, he's just in the habit of being dependent upon me to tell him before he takes action on his own. This was not a complete surprise to me, but I didn't realize what a significant issue it was until I worked with Patrick. I think I know why this has happened: First, Willie is a naturally biddable dog and dependent dog. I chose him over his 7-week old brother because Willie seemed to care deeply about where I was and what I Read More
International Shipping!
Yippee! After months of hard work (no kidding), Katie finally convinced our website that it could handle shipping to North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. We partnered it with a big discount on packages of books and/or DVDs for folks who would like to begin a "library." We've had lots of inquiries from folks in Canada, the UK and Australia especially, so we're sooooo happy to be able to accommodate! You can get more information on the website. Meanwhile, here's a photo of Willie moving up on "The Camel Sisters" from earlier this year. As soon as I post this we're going out to work sheep some more. Oh boy. Read More
Hunting Wolves with Dogs in Wisconsin
Ignorance can be bliss. But it can also let bad things happen, and it grieves me to say that bad things might happen soon in my home state. In its wisdom, the legislature of the state of Wisconsin signed into law Act 169, which directs that dogs can be used to hunt wolves in our state. The wolf population in Wisconsin, having recovered naturally (no wolves were re-introduced) to over 800 individuals, were removed from the endangered species list in Wisconsin in January of 2012, and the legislature mandated that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) establish rules and regulations for the hunt itself. These rules were developed under "emergency" rule-making process, that began in May and will allow the wolf hunt to begin in October of this year. The hunt brings up many issues, from Read More
Willie and Tongue Flicks and What it All Means
As if any of us REALLY knows "what it all means," right? But thank you for your interesting and thoughtful comments about the previous post's video of Willie and the "Get Back" signal. They were great. I'll cut to the chase about my own interpretation. Here's the data: Willie tongue flicks when I ask him to back away from somewhere or something he wants to go toward: the outside of the house, into the car, or toward the toy. All of these have been taught using lots and lots of reinforcement with food and play and "life rewards," like going outside after I say "Get Back" or getting the toy as soon as he backs up (But I don't reinforce every single response every single time once he has a cue down pat. That would be unnecessary in my opinion, not to mention completely impractical.) But Read More
Video Analysis: What’s Up with Willie?
Here's an interesting video for you to analyze. Katie and I were taping one of my favorite signals, "Get Back." I use it in a variety of contexts, and can't imagine life without it. You can see some of the ways I use the cue on the video below, and I'll talk more later, if you'd like, about why I love the cue so very much. After we taped, Katie and I were watching the video and I said "Oh wow, did you see how he [---] right after [---] happens? (Fill in the blanks!) And so, that's your assignment (should you decide to accept it Agent 99): Watch this video and tell us what we might have found interesting in it. I'm giving no more instructions than that... Who knows then what you might find that we didn't! I'll jump in early next week (and will answer comments sooner) about what we Read More
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