This morning I proceed to gather what is needed for the morning exercise routine for the dogs. We begin as we always do, but I notice shortly thereafter that Deuce is taking a rest after almost every retrieve of the ball. Later on, Rio sort of bails out on our favorite game. Huh? I am…
I am stretching on my yoga mat, and when I do, I really have to work hard at not interacting with my dogs. Perhaps it’s that they can access me in a different manner as I am now more at their eye level or it might be that I am doing downward dog and they…
As a continuation to this post titled “Teaching dogs to stop chasing anything that moves,” here are some specific ways by which you cannot only give your dog a “legal” outlet for predatory behaviors and up your chances that you will be able to stop your dog from chasing after wildlife, cars, etc. As I…
A few months back I wrote about the “why” questions: People love “why” questions. Perhaps because we are curious, because we think “why” questions help us understand our own dog better (which sometimes they do, of course!) but most of the time it’s because we’d much rather our dog not do something and we think…
I am reading an article in Outside magazine titled “The Metric System” about exercise gadgets and studies as to why most people abandoned the gadget altogether. One of the reasons why this happens according to John Bartholomew, professor of Health Education at the University of Texas at Austin, who specializes in exercise psychology, is because…
I was recently quite frustrated with the fact that my dogs had no interest in going after the thrown less-than-perfect Frisbee, that I had to introduce changes in their playtime. The changes that I introduced in our following Frisbee sessions are all based on principles of animal learning which everyone wanting to work with animals…
I am sure that if you hang out with “dog people” – especially folks that are interested in dog sports you have heard the term “drive” and its derivatives such as: “high-drive”, “low-drive” etc. used ad nauseam. But what is “drive”, really? The answer(s), of course, depends on whom you ask. Drive has been described…
This morning I am gathering the Frisbees and the energy to start working with my dogs. Both Deuce and Rio appear excited at this point. Good, I think. I throw my first air-born Frisbee for Deuce and he remains standing looking at me as if asking me what do I want him to do about…
I am about to make some popcorn – one of my favorite snacks – as John is out walking with the dogs. I pause to think of what to put on the popcorn. Not so much because I am undecided about what I want, but because I normally share the bag of popcorn with Deuce…
Previously I wrote about ways by which we could ascertain if a behavior modification plan is actually working in changing the targeted behavior. Today, I’d like to expand on another reliable way of knowing whether success has been reached or even if we are on the right track. I recently met with a couple that…