CozyDawg Dog Training

01/01/2022

Someone asked me about life rewards and I thought bid share an example. Sorry for poor video- I was focusing on the dogs.
The black dog is Riley, who's been with us only a week. He went to puppy class before his mom got cancer and was home bound, so it's been a while. He does know "sit", but doesn't understand that he needs to do it on cue to get what he wants. He's learned to "cute" his way through, or just bulls through doors and gates etc.
So he really wants to run through the gate, but doesn't want to sit. River and Fezzik both sit to go through, and you can kinda see Riley think about it. I do repeat the cue, but only after a long pause for him to think on it a bit. He eventually recalls that "sit" gets him a treat, and may get him this, as well.
The marker "yes" gets him the reward of going through the gate and playing with the others, which works just as good as a treat.

The more different situations in which I ask for and get the behavior, the more consistent it will be. This is called "proofing" the behavior.

Life rewards and proofing is important to take your pup that next step past introducing the behaviors and is important whether you are rewarding with treats at first or never use treats.

02/16/2020

This is a great infographic that explains how stress affects an animal's ability to learn. Courtesy of The Academy of Pet Careers.

02/16/2020

Dogs are not wolves. They evolved from a common extinct ancestor, but they are not the same.
“In a paper published in the highly-regarded journal Nature, researchers identified genetic mutations in the genes of domestic dogs that allow for increased starch digestion relative to wolves. These results indicate that early ancestors of modern dogs thrived on a diet rich in starch, in contrast with the carnivorous diet of wolves. This is in direct opposition to ‘personal observations’ that state that dogs need to eat a high meat/low carbohydrate diet. Other, more limited, studies examine the link between protein content and problem behaviors in dogs. The results of these studies were that higher protein diets are somewhat correlated to increased aggression in dogs. “

Some thoughts on the mythology of dog diets and behavior.

02/11/2020

If you have a qualified dog and can get to OSU, please consider taking part in this study!

10/22/2019

https://taurinedcm.org/separating-fact-from-fiction-nutritional-advice-on-the-internet/

by Ashley Christine, DVM, MPH We have all seen the internet videos, the blogger websites and the dog food rating platforms, including one that is written by a human dentist. Many pet owners have al…

06/12/2019

The reason that operant conditioning (of which positive reinforcement is a part) works so well is because having choices is rewarding in and of itself!

Do you do these three things for your pet?

05/11/2019

Dog aggression? It's a complicated thing, but overall it is determined not by breed, but by humans. It's more than training, too. How the puppy is born, socialized in it's first weeks, raised, kept, and trained have far more to do with whether a dog will bite or not. And this is not the first study to conclude this. Some takeaways;.
Force based "dominance" training is the biggest factor. Bullying your dog makes it MORE likely to bite.
"Facility" dogs are more likely to bite. Dogs should be raised with the family, not as livestock, even if they are working dogs.
Young people are less likely to use positive training, and less likely to properly socialize their pup, so more likely to have a biter.

Why do some dogs attack with kisses, while others... well, let's just get to the study, shall we? Cutting to the chase: Dog breed is not a good pr...

02/11/2019

Beware bogus allergy tests.

Glacier Peak Holistics provided readouts on stuffed-toy fur

01/14/2019

http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2018/11/dcm-update/?fbclid=IwAR0NrH6JDBifpHsK37VPh9Tvp3qWzAb9n4awNeRT--RIbHzz3a-djYx1nF4

Dr. Freeman provides an update on diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs