The love train…
Pikaboo was a rescue dog that I initially fostered but could not let him go – yes I failed fostering 101. Pika was a really smart little guy who had come from a life on the street. His coat was matted and covered in poo when some people found and rescued him from being abandoned and tied to a park bench.
The rescue people got his teeth fixed and his hair groomed. When I fostered Pika he was still recovering from the teeth operation, where he had over 12 teeth removed.
In no time at all Pika was having a lot of fun with our family. He was probably around 8 or 10 years old when he came to live with us. During that short time with us, he earned is Veteran Agility dog of Canada title and learned even to do independent weaves and gambles.
Pika weaves independently HERE Caution, this is very very cute.
Pika loved swimming and retrieving toys at the vital K9 doggy swimming pool. Pika’s favorite thing of all though was to be in my arms. He really loved his mamma. He slept on my bed on a down comforter. I made him special food and I loved him as much as he loved me.
In Pika’s memory, I would like to say a few things about my philosophy on dog training.
I am an advocate of shaping behaviour with positive reinforcement. I do not agree with the notion of the alpha wolf pack training – using the roll and pin to contain the dog, on the premise that we the people are being the alpha “dog”. I don’t agree with poking the dog, jerking the leash…to get the desired effect.
I have learned that luring is not an effective way to train dogs either because a dog will not retain a behaviour when taught with a lure…I admit I am a lurer at times– New advances is animal studies show us we don’t need Cesar’s methods. 2×2 method is the perfect example.
Yes, “dominance” is being used to manipulate the behaviour because we control the food, the toys etc. But if you use the term dominance in that way, then the mother is dominating the 2 year old child when holding their hand at the park, putting clothes on them and buckling them into their car seat.
When I refer to dominance and cesar and brad, it refers to making sure we are “alpha” and using fear to get our desired affect. If you look at those so called “rehabilitated” dogs, they are showing signs of fear/submission.
The famous chicken trainer Bob Bailey shows that all animals respond to operant conditioning — animal says to itself — if I do this, I get that. Using that very simple premise we can shape the desired behaviour in dogs — for both ours and their safety.
Rather than stopping a dog with negative punishment, we choose to show or shape the behaviour we want to see. I prefer my dog to stay in their crate until I release them — for their safety. So I use operant conditioning with a positive reward. If you stay in your crate you get a reward, if you leave your crate on the command “break” you get a reward. As opposed to — if you don’t walk correctly on the leash I will choke you…We reward the dog when they come close to our body, and with tiny increases of providing the reward when the dog walks at your side…we have a dog happily walking at our side in the manner of a few days.
My dogs are not afraid of me. the ppsshhttt thing is a way of using FEAR to get the desired affect. I prefer to use a treat in the form of a food or a toy to get the desired affect.That is why I do not consider my way of training dominance training.
My beloved Pika boo came into my life with issues. I used positive reinforcement, the clicker and (more…)
