Category: Training

In Because We Let Them: Part 2, I looked at a handful of other concepts including ensuring that the action you think you’re using is actually the action that’s being interpreted and whether the lesson that your’e actually teaching is the lesson you’re teaching.  Finally I looked at the critical importance of consistency (especially in terms of punishing undesired behavior) and the idea of NILIF: Nothing In Life Is Free.  The dog has to do something to get something.

Today I’m going to tie all this together with a very detailed look at how we change the behavior that I started all of this with at the Austin Humane Shelter; to whit I’m going to look at how we correct leash pulling which is the question I started this series off with.

Mainly it’s just to illustrate how the different types of behaviorism can play a role.  It’ll also show the role of the lesson that’s being taught along with the issues of consistency and NILIF.  … Keep Reading

In Because We Let Them: Part 1, on top of filling some space until I talk about my own training next week, I managed to tie a lesson  I learned during one of the doggie training classes at the Austin Humane Shelter into a brief discussion of behaviorism and the 4 primary approaches taken to alter behavior.  I also realized that this was going to be too long and I’d need more than my original 2 parts.  Which screws up my scheduling but ah well, this is going to be a 4 update week.

In any case, the 4 major approaches to behavior modification I presented were (with some definition): positive reinforcement (providing reward), negative reinforcement (removing constant punishment), positive punishment (providing punishment) and negative punishment (removing a reward).

For each, I gave some dog and human related examples of each and I’d point folks to that article for details.  … Keep Reading

In many contexts we often wonder why people do things we don’t like.  Why do friends take advantage of us?  Why do our athletes skip workouts?  Why does our significant other do things that they know bother us?  Why do people continue doing these things when they know they upset us?  Well the answer is simple: people do it because we let them.

Why Do Dogs Pull?

Since about September of last year, I’ve been volunteering at the Austin Humane Shelter, walking dogs, doing other activities and getting more training under my belt.  And I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been there. For example I’ve learned that I’m better at remembering the dog’s names than I am the other volunteers on my shifts.  I’ve also learned that I like most dogs better than I like most people though I pretty much knew that already.

But some of the things I’ve learned are actually a little more useful. … Keep Reading

In the vein of my discussion of why it’s incorrect to exclude the middle, I want to write about a slightly different topic which has to do with what you can and cannot control. I suppose the impetus for this piece is one particularly (take your pick from the following list): consistent, repetitive, irritating, moronic folks that regularly troll my comments section.  No, I won’t name him, he doesn’t deserve the attention which is what he clearly so desperately craves.

Among his other amusing looniness, one thing he often asserts regarding the weight loss/fat loss/dieting issue is the role of genetics, and physiology, and stuff that falls well outside of the realm of diet and exercise.   Often accusing me of ignoring many of those biological realities.

He also appears to be illiterate since anybody who’s read this site or my books knows full well that I don’t ignore them.  Since the discovery of leptin and my first interest in it over a decade ago, the underlying biology and physiology of the body weight regulation system is one that has alternately fascinated and aggravated me. … Keep Reading