Enrichment is a Word

By |2024-11-21T12:17:26-08:00November 21, 2024|Behavior & Training|

  Gary and friend in the ERoom by Jane Aten Enrichment is a word that gets thrown around a lot in the dog behavior world. When dog people hear the word enrichment, the first thing that often comes to mind is food puzzles—slow feeders, Kongs, lick mats. By definition, enrichment is the action of improving or enhancing the quality or value of something. I often think about choice and hierarchy of reinforcers in behavior modification. What does the dog in front of me find reinforcing? What does he find enriching? What does he find [...]

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The Small Business Owner

By |2024-10-22T11:17:43-07:00October 22, 2024|Behavior & Training|

by Dawn Kovell Resource guarding (non-pathological) is my favorite behavior problem. It is easy to recognize, preventable with good management and responds well to desensitization and counter-conditioning modification techniques. As a matter of course, I teach my puppies to bring me things that they find around the house. Good things happen when they bring me stuff. If it is a toy, I play with them. If it’s an item I would rather they not have, I pay well for it. I admire their discovery but don’t show too much interest. When I give out a chewy, [...]

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Agility!

By |2024-11-21T13:17:41-08:00May 10, 2022|Behavior & Training|

In an ongoing series on dog sports, Behavior and Training Director, Dawn Kovell, sheds light and enthusiasm on Agility! Also available, Flyball, Teaching your Dog to Swim and Dock Diving. As a dog trainer and behavior consultant for the Behavior and Training Department at Marin Humane I tell our clients that one of the first steps toward preventing and solving behavior problems is to ensure that the dog’s emotional cup is full. I know this to be true, I really do! Recently, one of my sports dogs injured his ankle, had to have surgery and has [...]

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Rant

By |2021-10-14T17:41:56-07:00October 14, 2021|Behavior & Training|

Waiting for more active hikers and bikers to pass Recently, Dawn and Kim found themselves on separate but equal rants about interacting with the world at large when out and about with our dogs. At the risk of putting out negative vibes we thought some of our readers might have similar experiences and feelings about it all, so without further ado here are a couple rants and hopefully a smattering of humor along the way. Dawn: One of the most frustrating questions we get in dog training classes is, what  should one do when [...]

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Laughing with Your Dogs

By |2021-09-09T10:17:33-07:00September 9, 2021|Behavior & Training|

A face built for stand-up comedy Among the many burning questions we all ask ourselves often without getting firm answers are these:  Do dogs have a sense of humor?  Are they amused when funny things happen?  Are they actively trying to make us laugh when they perform their antics?  Or are their hijinks just snow jobs performed with ulterior motives to earn rewards?  Is it a matter of tricking for treats? Scientists in their white coats have long argued about this in learned articles and earnest debates and say they have not yet found [...]

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