Dog Training in Guelph – Scratch and Sniff Canine Services
Positive Reinforcement Dog Training in Guelph, Ontario
How you define success determines its existence; it doesn’t exist until you learn to see it. Success is critical to dog training, but like the mechanics of training, seeing success is a skill that requires development – both in definition and process. Whether or not a person can acknowledge success and what they expect it to look like has profound implications for the outcome of and commitment to training.
In which scenario is this little person most likely to succeed?
This article was originally published in the Dec 2013 issues of the Speaking of Dogs Newsletter Continue reading “All I Want for Christmas: A Wish List from the Dog”
People, animals, and environments that a dog is not exposed to as a youngster will be unsettling for her as an adult. This is precisely why many adult dogs become reactive, aggressive, or fearful. Raising a puppy in a social/environmental vacuum is more often the cause of behavioural problems in an adult dog than is abuse or being attacked. Socialization is far more complicated than simply exposing a puppy to other dogs. Poorly executed attempts at socialization can be about as harmful as not trying at all!
His name is Pavlov. Ivan Pavlov. And he’s watching you…
Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov first documented Classical Conditioning – learning through association – at the turn of last century. While researching processes of digestion, Pavlov found that the presence of the researchers in their white lab coats created an increase in the study dogs’ saliva production. This effect redirected Pavlov’s intended research, when he realized that he had stumbled upon something previously undocumented. Pavlov discovered that a Conditioned Response, an uncontrollable bodily reflex such as salivation, could come to be elicited by a neutral stimulus (something that has no inherent meaning), such as the ringing of a bell. Conditioned Responses also include emotions – joy, fear, irritation, relaxation, etc. The crux of Classical Conditioning is that these responses are not controllable through conscious intent; rather, they are reflexive. Continue reading “Is That a Russian Physiologist on Your Shoulder, or Are You Just Happy to See Me?”
VETO
noun \ˈvē-(ˌ)tō\
plural: vetoes
Definition of VETO
1 : an authoritative prohibition : interdiction
2 a : a power of one department or branch of a government to forbid or prohibit finally or provisionally the carrying out of projects attempted by another department; especially : a power vested in a chief executive to prevent permanently or temporarily the enactment of measures passed by a legislature
b (1) : the exercise of such authority (2) : a message communicating the reasons of an executive and especially the president of the United States for vetoing a proposed law
If dogs could request one thing of us people that would assist in preventing, managing, and changing most behaviour problems, they would say “gimme some space!” Continue reading “Gimme some SPACE!”
