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Rewarding Vs Bribing
Often occurs the question if by rewarding our dog during training I am creating a habit or even a dependency, which will be difficult to break later on and my dog will stop listening to me when I don't have rewards/treats with me.
The answer is YES, as long as you use the treats as a bribe and not a reward.
The difference is huge, especially for our dog.
While in one case the prize is present and...
When does training end?
When will my dog's training be complete?
How long do I have to do the training exercises?
When will I stop rewarding my dog?
Several students ask me the above questions.
Many professional trainers give the wrong impression that after 12-16 lessons the dog will be ready to handle any situation. That there is no reason to continue the exercises, since the dog has learned what it needs to....
Dogs and Humans
In this photo you see two species, a human and a dog. The human has approximately 1 billion neurons in their brain while the canine has appoximately 500 million. This is a comparison of the two species and the silly expectations people place on dogs:
1) Human - Given two plus years to accomplish potty training.
1) Canine - Human wants canine potty trainined in two weeks or they will have to...
PAWSOME: Your best friend's playground at public market in Kipseli on 17 September
Saturday 17/9 Dog Society will participate in PAWSOME: Your best friend's playground that will take place at Public Market of Kipseli
It will be an event dedicated to our 4leg friends.
Pets and handlers will have the opportunity to find anything they or their pet wsh for. There will be treats and fresh food, pet equipment, toys and grooming services.
Along with other proffesionals; Dog Society...
Crate training and restrictions
What is crate training?
With the term crate training, we refer to the process where the dog gets conditioned to use the crate without feeling stressed.
This can be done easier if you start in early stages, but it is not limited to young age per se.
How it helps us and the dog?
Potty training, it helps the puppy to control its toilet habits.
It provides peace of mind to the handlers while they...
Dogs and noise sensitivity (Fireworks & thunders)
Is your dog afraid of fireworks or thunders?
Fear of firework and thunder often leads to similar reactions in dogs, ranging from milder symptoms such as hiding, awkward walking or whining, to uncontrolled toilet accidents in the house, chewing furniture, and even vomiting.
Noise phobia could have very serious consequences [more pets in the US are lost around July 4 than at any other time during...
Safe ways to exercise puppies and young dogs
If you have one or more puppies you would have noticed several times during the day that they go "crazy", whirl, run non-stop or jump left and right. Puppies generally have more energy than adult dogs and thus need more relaxation.
Puppies are small, hairy balls that need exercise to stay healthy, but too much exercise is not good for them. It is crucial to know that excessive, prolonged activity...
Rewarding during training
The rewarding process in training has 2 distinct stages.
Starting with continuous reinforcement where the dog learns that for every positive response he receives some kind of reward, we move on to the partial or intermittent reinforcement.
In this second stage of the partial reinforcement, we change the delivery time of the reward depending on the response of the trainee.
In the following video...
SaR training with victim hidden high
Another weekend with SaR training in the mountains around Athens.
The first video shows our exercise about teaching the dog that the target scent can be on an altitude, and of course it starts by putting the victim a few inches higher and gradually increasing the altitude to the point we see in this video.
The second video shows our exercise in testing the behavior of a dog when it doesn'...
Off leash walks
Watching people every day with their dogs having their walk off leash drove me to write few thoughts about it.
Asking several of them why they choose to do this, the dominant answer was that they believe their dog doesn’t enjoy the walk on leash because they are not able to run and play. That's true but...
The vast majority of these dogs have not learned the recall and the most common end of...
