Big Paws Only Dog Forums

Maybe I will try to get on for a few minutes tonight while Mr. Bunny is at work, if you will have me.  I don't know you guys too well yet, and I don't want to be the "pushy new girl".    

no one ever comes in!  im sad

do i smell?

I talked to you the other night for almost 15 whole minutes!  I can only give so much!  

Thanks, everyone.  You are all too kind!  I just needed a little love.  

He hates me now, btw.  Plus, I will have to wear that dress sometime in the future for my next big work event.  Sadly, he looked better in it than I do.

Marsi

I hear a lot about "clicker training" but don't really know what it is...whatever it is, does it work?  

OK, I will try not to bore you too much with this (speaking on this subject used to be part of my job, and I could literally give a 20-minute lecture on this subject.  No one wants that!  I already talk too much as it is.).  But, I am no expert.  I have been familiar with the principals of it for quite some time, but have only just actually started using it.  There is probably someone on here much more qualified to speak on this than me!

Here is a very thumbnail version of the history/principles.  Clicker traning is a form of training that uses positive reinforcement - basically rewarding the good stuff and ignoring the bad.  It was originally developed by dolphin trainers (mainly Karen Pryor) for working with animals that were not easy to train using "normal' methods.  

You teach the animal to associate the sound of the click with something good, usually food.  You click and treat, click and treat, until the animal  knows that the click sound means something good is coming.  Essentially, the click sound says to the animal "Yes!  You did a good job".  It becomes a way to tell them that they are doing the right thing.  If I ask Ranger to sit, and he does, I click and treat and he knows that sitting was the behavior I wanted.  If he offers a sit without being asked, and I click and treat, he thinks "Oh, ok, she likes it when I sit down.  Good things happen when I sit".  Eventually, over time the click may even come to be rewarding in and of itself.  

The other thing the click can do is act as a bridging signal - way to bridge the amount of time between the animal performing the correct behavior and the animal getting rewarded for it.  It specifys the exact instance in time that the correct thing was done, and can help you "shape" a behavior.  Let's say Ranger walks over to me, puts his paw on my knee and then lays down.   I tell him he is good and give him a treat.  What was good?  What did he just get that cookie for?  Was it coming to me?  Pawing me?  Laying down?  How does he know?  Now imagine that same sequence of behaviors, but this time I click when he lays down.  He knows that out of all those things he just did, laying down was the one I liked.  

BTW, it doesn't even necessarily have to be a click.  Dolphin trainers often use a whistle.  You can even use a word, like "good".  Most trainers prefer the click, or other non-human sound, because it is consistent and sounds the same way every time you make the sound.  The human voice carries a lot of tones and inflections, and therefore can be inconsistent to doggy ears.

So, that is my lecture.  Hope it wasn't too boring!  I recommend giving it a try.  You will probably need to so some background reading to get started, but eventually you would probably be able to shape the behavior of your dog staying by your side, or at least coming when called!

hmph...

Well, I could use a BFF, but not if it makes Nat hate me.  Noooooooo, Nat, don't hate me!  Pity me for my many issues...  Can't we all just get along?!  


Believe, me ladies - I probably have more issues in my little finger than the two of you do combined!

What a good dog mommy you are, Vicki!  And what cute little girls you have!

and i haven't thrown up in YEARS!  if i see it or hear it, i curl up in a ball and sing on myself LOL, no joke!  

Recently, on a trip home from Disneyland, the future Mr. Grumpybunny started to feel unwell.  Perhaps a bad combination of fried cheesecake and the Matterhorn.  

Anyway, I would not just let him pull over to the side of the freeway to throw up.  I made him pull off the freeway, onto a side street, leave the car, go about 300 feet away and hide behind some bushes, while I sat in the car with my coat pulled around my face, eyes squeezed shut, fingers in my ears, singing loudly.  Then, when he got back in the car, I yelled at him cause I could still hear him doing it, and then didn't speak to him the rest of the way home.  

I told you.  MAJOR issues.

so i have these 2 gold fish named linkin and blinkin....and they are on my breakfast bar and i cannot look at them when i eat right?  dont know why, but i can't.  no matter what i am eating (like a tomato last night), i HAVE to look away RIGHT away or i feel sick.....

well...just now, i got up and got some of those soft cheese & sticks (like the 5 yr olds eat)...and i opened it and had the second stick in my mouth, and i looked the the damn fish and blinkin had poo hanging down from him, and i threw up.  

thats right ladies...i puked.  i had to run like h*ll and jump over one dog, but i made it.

i just thgouth i would share my story.  because i am not happy.  

Oh man, I would not be happy either.  I have MAJOR throw-up issues.  I don't do it, and I don't deal with it.  I have not thrown up in over 3 years and I don't plan on breaking the streak.  So, I totally sympathize with your pain.