#force free

[woodsfae]

My friend has a cat called Kiwi who loves the outdoors, but has no recall (hasn't been trained to come when called), so whenever she manages to bum-rush the door and get outside, she gets really hyped and runs around and it takes forever to catch her.

But, when I have been visiting my friend the last few weeks, I've been demonstrating very basic clicker training/positive reinforcement for training recall, for cooperative putting-a-harness-on, and general handler attention. I've only given this kitty about four, very short training sessions (less than 5 minutes...ideal length! But really, very beginning stages). Today when a maintenance person for the apartment came in carelessly, Kiwi got out. My friend had a hysterectomy 3 weeks ago tomorrow and isn't allowed to bend at the waist for weeks yet, so I went to catch the cat.

When I went outside with the clicker and some treats and called Kiwi, she came running! My heart was so warmed! Then, since she was overaroused, she bolted past me and went and crouched by the outside of her favorite window. I clicked the clicker, and she froze. The unconscious response and attention to the click, which always heralds a treat, worked a charm. I went over, picked her and up put her inside with a treat jackpot to reinforce all of those great behaviors she exhibited: handler attention, recall, and emotional self-regulation.

Any amount of positive reinfrocement training is SO helpful. It's enrichment and helps them be happier, more interested, and engaged kitties. It helps in emergencies. It let me catch her in two mintues instead of two hours. And when we went inside and I initiated some training games, she was so interested in them, and in interacting with me and cooperatively communicating about the training game.

My heart is overflowing with happiness today. It was lovely to be reminded so clearly that any amount of training is beneficial to the animal and their human friends. Kiwi's person was delighted to see how much our tiny bit of training helped the situation. More positive reinforcement at work!

[unbalanceddogtrainer]

My dream is to empower other MS patients by teaching them to play deceptively simple games with their own pet dogs.

Using positive reinforcement on steroids.

What that means: fast, effective, and force-free.

And get an incredibly well-mannered dog.

Without using lures or physical punishment or intimidation.

I’ve created a how-to video for wheelchair users and how they can teach a dog to lie down and stay on cue

[meet-me-on-saturn]

I know most of you don't know anything about dog training but an idea popped into my head and I needed to put it somewhere so...

[mercyandme007]

Accusing R+ trainers of close mindedness is the ultimate irony. For many of us, it took Herculean open mindedness to let go of our previous methods. We had to admit to ourselves that despite our best intentions, those methods were harmful to our dogs. - Eileenanddogs

[pupinprogressdogtraining]

I think it's really important to remember that many of the behaviors that we see as "problematic" are perfectly natural behaviors for dogs, and that many of the things that we ask them to do such as walking in a straight line beside us are unnatural and hard asks for them! This is why it's so important to take the time to teach dogs what we are asking for with compassion, and remember that while these tasks may seem simple to us, they are a lot for them! In addition to this, when training a new behavior to replace natural behaviors, that we give them other ways to fulfill that need or better yet, come to a compromise that works for both.

For example when teaching a loose leash walk, I want the dog to keep the leash loose, and I don't want them stepping right in front of my feet (for safety), but I'm happy to have them sniff plenty, walk ahead of me, and cross sides safely. I tailor my criteria to teach this so that I can walk comfortably, their joints are kept safe, and they still get to do all of those doggy things!

[mandana-the-service-pup]

Earlier I asked Mandana how she was feeling.

She said (through a series of yes/no questions) that she was tired and her belly hurt. That was a couple hours ago. After a good nap and several potty breaks she said her belly doesn’t hurt anymore but her paw does. When I asked her to “show me” she correctly gave me the paw that received the injection today. I asked her if she wanted me to rub it and she said yes. It must have helped because I would periodically ask her if she wanted me to continue and she did. This went on for a few minutes until she said she was ready for a nap. Before her nap I asked how she felt about a few things and this is what she said:

stranger dogs: good

stranger cat: good

stranger friends (the vet, tech and other employees): good

I asked if stranger friend hurt Mandana’s paw and she said yes. Then I asked again if they were good/bad but she confirmed she thought they were still good.

So do what you will with that information but I’m convinced she’s just a really good girl.

And for those who are skeptical and think she was blindly agreeing to everything, she did actually turn a few things down. She didn’t want to play, she didn’t want the lights on, she said she wanted kibble but she didn’t want any treats.

[sugas6thtooth]

[kaapstadgirly]

1998, Edward Said.

"Israel was constructed on the ruins of another society."

via conflictechoes on insta

[largemouthbassnation]

Gundog Training - Stop whistle (adding distance)

In this video taken on 20th November 2020, I am working on an exercise to help strengthen Ivy’s stop whistle when at distance. source

[sapphia]

congrats on hbomberguy for getting the internet's highest queer honour

[woodsfae]

You've been booped by a soft, whiskery nose!

[xx-princess-kitty]

don’t ask me if we can fuck, hold me down and tell me toys don’t get a choice.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I don’t know if I’m late to the party here noticing this, but @staff what the actual hell is this. This is what I get when I click on the link to my own mantis shrimp post, shared on Twitter. I can see the first half, and then I get forced to log-in to keep reading.

I write a free blog on your free platform, and you’re using link sharing on mobile to try to force people to sign up? Not only is this absolutely not okay - this isn’t a paywalled site and my content isn’t subscription only - but it really fucks me over as a science communicator who relies on posts being shared easily to disseminate information.

This is absolutely not okay. I’ve used this site for eight years to do for science outreach and loved it. This choice leaves a really nasty taste in my mouth.

[tomi4i]

The land is ours

[pupinprogressdogtraining]

Have compassion for your force-free dog trainers around. Constantly fighting for ethical training is an exhausting endeavor.

[mandana-the-service-pup]

OFAs this Friday

This will hopefully be our last appointment with this vet clinic. We went to this location for her preliminary PennHip and are going back for her OFAs because they are the only location in our area that specializes in this type of testing. Unfortunately, they are extremely conservative when it comes to allowing owners to be involved in appointments. Even as a service dog trainer/handler, I will not be allowed beyond the lobby for any part of the procedure.

This is really unusual and I have actually not heard of other handlers who had to deal with this issue. At the very least most vets will allow the handler to be with the dog for the initial IV placement and many will allow the handler to stay with the service dog for everything except for the X-rays even if it means waiting in the kennel rooms with them.

I’m really unhappy about it, but I know Mandana loves all people and her high level of confidence and trust helps her recover quickly from scary things. I just hope that if there is any lasting damage that it’s done in regards to this particular vet and not appointments as a whole.

And for anyone who is interested, the other end of the spectrum would be VEG (veterinary emergency group). These locations specialize in emergency care and the owner can literally be with the dog throughout every procedure including surgeries. There aren’t many locations but I highly recommend them if you are lucky enough to have one near you, especially for working dogs and their handlers.