This is a tale of the Labrador and the Pointer at Dog Beach. I have owned a few German Shorthaired Pointers and have trained a whole lot more. As far a Labradors go I’ve owned at least 13 of those dogs. One of my Labs was trained for theatrical work and was in a few movies and commercials. But above all else my Labs and Pointers were my best friends and pets. Just wanted to let everyone know I’m not taking sides here, I just happened to capture the playful antics of these two dogs.
Labrador Retriever at the beach
German Shorthaired Pointer Swimming in the ocean
Labrador Retriever with its ball
German Shorthaired Pointers moving in
German Shorthaired Pointers setting up the big grab
German Shorthaired Pointer's the first grab but he fumbles the ball
Pointer's second grab is successful and he takes the ball
Here are a few more pictures from my dog beach excursion. I am always pleasantly suppressed by the wide variety to dog breeds one can see at Orange County’s favorite dog beach.
I found it interesting that many of the people I talked with at the beach had done some training with their dogs. It appeared that most of the people I encountered had done training with food.
Enjoy
Dogs On the Beach - HB
Bulldog on a Surf Board - HB
Bulldog with flying disc
Malamute at Dog Beach in Huntington Beach
Dog riding in a basket at dog Beach
Golden Retriever climbing the cliff at Dog Beach
Schnauzer posing for the camera
Rhodesian Ridgeback Posing for the camera at dog beach
We'll end with a dog in the water and a girl on the beach
I had a mix up with a dog training appointment in Huntington Beach so I had a few unexpected hours. I decided to use those hours to visit dog beach. Fortunately I also had my camera with me. Here are a few pictures from my dog beach excursion.
Here are a few of pictures of the German Shepherd Dogs that I saw.
Here is a video where I’m using the Off exercise and doing some handling exercises to help overcome fearfulness
There is a lot more going on with these dogs than the video shows. These dogs have already been exposed to a couple weeks of dog training. I did not start by picking the light colored dog up or by having the male member of the house hold it. Several issues have been addressed in the previous training session. At this point I am most concerned about building the white dog’s confidence. It must be mentioned that the last training session went very well. To build the dog’s confidence I’m using the off exercise in combination with other training drills, including handling and touching exercises. We are also using walks and outings to help the white dog bond with people.
Here is a very short video of me teaching a pit bull the off exercise using food. With this training technique we are allowing the behavior of grabbing the food undergo extinction. Extinction occurs because the behavior of grabbing is never reinforced after the controlling signal “Off” is heard.
Next we are rewarding a behavior that is incompatible with grabbing. The incompatible behavior in not touching the handler.
I have lowered the dog Basic Online Dog Training 101 course to $12 for a 180 day subscription. That is a little less than half what I was offing it for. Being reward oriented I wanted to reward people for trying the new format. This is a win win for those who are interested in trying my online training. I will get feedback on how helpful the new format is and you will get a dog training program for less than large bag of dog treats
I made the answers much easier to work through by highlighting the correct responses in bold. To make it slightly more memorable I’ve left the commands as bold text too. You will notice that sometimes the answer is the command so you will still need to work through each page. I am trying to find a happy medium between enough effort for proper retention while making it easy enough for people to complete.
You will need to registrar with the site before you can subscribe to a training package.
Sometimes the password gives people a little trouble when registrar for the site. It needs to be at least 8 characters long and have at least 1 uppercase and 1 lowercase letter, as well as, at least 1 number and 1 non-alphanumeric character (!@#$%^&*). To see your password tick the box next to the password field
I have posted a new webpage about housebreaking and the proper use of housebreaking tools. This is the second installment of my housebreaking series.
I am adding an enhanced version of the housebreaking information as an online book in the online dog training course. At this time the evolving housebreaking information is available on all the courses except the professional course. I will be adding a version to that course in due time.
dog training action plan and human friendly dog training
An action plan functions as the controlling signals for taking needed action. When we first start a new endeavor we often don’t have enough experience to know what actions to take. One of the tasks of an experienced teacher, instructor, or coach is to teach us what we need to do. I know this is true in dog training. It seems that everyone has an opinion and advice on how to train a dog. I often arrive at a person’s home to find they’ve tried four or five training suggestions from friends and family members. On top of friendly advice we now have television advice too. Not only is there a lot of free advice, but a lot of it is contradicting as well. One person will says you’re not human if you do one training technique. Next you are told by another that you have to do that same technique to be a good dog owner. What is a person to do? What is a person to believe?
To separate the chaff from the wheat it’s helpful to get advice from a well rounded professional. However, some professionals are better at harvesting the meaty kernels of truth better than others. Dog training is an interesting blend of tradition, myth, and science. I happen to be one of those strange people who does not condemn many training systems. I do have some reservations about some training styles, but I acknowledge their functionality.
I believe through dog training we have more to learn than just how to control our dogs. This insight probably puts me three quarters the way into the holier than thou positive reinforcement camp. I believe that humanity must learn how to use positive reinforcement as a default response if we are to survive as a species. On the other hand I also see the value of using aversives in controlling behavior. While I don’t like that the primitive use of aversives works so well in some oppressive societies, it’s been my observation that they can be effective. I feel the primitive use of aversive control does tend to make us more animal like and therefore speaks to our more primitive lower nature.
My observations and insights have put me in an interesting situation. I know what needs to be done to help owners in a way that will give that individual the best results within certain limits of a household’s dynamics. I also must be aware of what training aversives the people in the house are inclined to use and will accept. Aversive control is usually thought of as punishment or negative reinforcement. Usually people are more likely to want to use punishment or negative reinforcement when the dog’s behavior problem is aversive to the humans. I feel it’s justified to use strong aversive control if it’s needed to save a dog’s life.
When implementing a training program I judge what a person will accept by how they handle the dog. It’s best to structure and apply aversives in a way that will be useful and have the most benefit with the least chance of doing harm. The training plan should set up rules that replace random emotion based punishment with a very measured and well planned response. Developing control over the use of punishment and negative reinforcement allows us to transition into using less aversive control. As we use fewer aversives we can increase our reliance on positive reinforcement.
I also know what CAN be done with positive reinforcement. The problem is what can be done and what most people do are two different things. The plan is that once we are involved in a training program the dog’s behavior will begin to reinforce the family’s increased use of positive reinforcement. I try to give the people in the household some choices in which training technique to use. Most of the time people will pick what works best for them and their dog. What works best often revolves around time? When people realize that rewarding behavior is less work than other forms of control they chose to use positive reinforcement. The idea is to let the dog’s family choose to use positive reinforcement without forcing them to conform.
The whole point being that there is often a plan behind a method. I have a very strong feeling that most of the positive reinforcement trainers I know really don’t like the way I train. However, I do train with positive reinforcement, it’s just that I emphasize being human friendly.
Wishing you the very best in dog training and in life,
Andrew Ledford
I can be reached at 714-827-4058
New tips pages added about housebreaking and another about selecting a dog training leash
I am continuously adding new content to our network of websites. On 7/22/10 added a page about the dog training leash and how to select the right dog training leash for you
On 8/3/10 I added a new housebreaking potty training article to the 101 dog training tips website that is the first part of a housebreaking and potty training series
We have also become Dogster recommend as a great resource for dog behavior and training information. The dogster badge is on our new Awards page.
In the past I have always turned down awards. However since I have started playing with Google adwords to pay for content creation I have decides to start accepting badges and awards. Creating quality content does require a good deal of time and effort it seems only fair that I should get a little something, don’t you agree?
We have resumed displaying listings for other dog trainers in our dog trainers’ directory. So if you are outside the area I serve check out the directory for a dog trainer near you. If you know of a dog trainer who would like to be included have them fill out the form and I will review their information
I have been writing a blog at the RenChenZa site for several weeks. When that series is finished I will be more active on this blog and the 101-dog-training-tips.com website
Wishing you the best in dog training and in life,
Andrew Ledford.
