Shaping: Keeping Your Dog's Head in the Game

I had set up a shaping scenario.  I wanted Oats to put his paws up onto an object.  Every time he neared the upside down bowl, I gave him a click and treat.  We both understood the basic concept of shaping, but we were both new at it.  He understood the game, but we just weren't feeling it that day.  I clicked him and gave him a treat, which he ate.  He just looked at the bowl, waiting.  He looked up at me and then back at the bowl before he snorted and walked away.  The message was clear:  This was just not worth his time.

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Reinforcers

Dog training can be explained by psychological concepts.  Most people can readily understand the four quadrants.  There is positive (adding to environment) and negative (subtracting from environment).  Then there is reinforcement (increasing likelihood of behavior) and punishment (decreasing likelihood of behavior).  This post is going to be about the what positive trainers mostly focus on:  reinforcers.  Reinforcers are anything that increase the likelihood of a behavior.  In layman's terms, it is anything that the dog likes.  There are primary, secondary, and tertiary reinforcers.  Mastering the concepts behind what these mean is important if you want to master the use of reinforcers in general.

"Pavlov is Always Sitting on Your Shoulder"

You may have heard that Bob Baily quote that "Pavlov is always sitting on your shoulder."  What does this mean?  Does it mean you have some old, dead Russion Physiologist getting a piggy-back ride from you?  Nope!  What it means is that what he discovered, Classical Conditioning is always at work!  Whether or not you pay attention to it, your dog is making associations automatically, so it's good to know how and what your dog is making associations with.  A Conditioned Emotional Response (CER) is when the association is between a behavior and an emotion.  Keeping this in your mind while training can really help.

Training a dog is easier when you mind the CERs of life!

An Art Dump

Hi guys, I did some more art.  I'll just post a whole dump of them.  There's more of them if you click on the blog post, just so you know.

Brain Structure, Behaviors, and the Bio-Feedback Loop

The brain is the most complex organ.  People are still trying to decipher about how it works!  A while ago, people thought that the brain's structure was static.  That means that they thought that the brain's structure didn't change once it was matured.  However, this seems to not be true at all.  A lot of research came out that said that the brain was plastic.  The term "plastic" comes from the fact that one of the most malleable substances was plastic when they made these discoveries.  The brain affects what behaviors we do and our behaviors affect the very structures of our brains.  This is the feedback loop and it shows that it's not nature vs. nurture, but an interplay between the two.

The brain is the most complex organ.

Bad Dog: A Self Fulfilling Prophecy

When I am taking Otis with me outside to parks and other public areas, people always comment on how polite and quiet he is. Since Oats is not too fond of being pet, I usually have him perform some tricks. This culminates into everybody saying how Otis is only like this because he is a freakishly smart dog and how their own dog is too stupid to learn any of these tricks. The way I see it, their relationship with their so-called stupid dogs is due to a self-fulfilling prophecy: Their dogs are stupid because they think their dogs are stupid.

According to most people, Oats is a freakishly smart dog!

Let's Try Again and a Portrait of Oats

First, I'd like to apologize for completely forgetting about this blog.  I sort of didn't have internet at home and once I got back, I needed my friend, April, inspiring me to try again.  I have never been much of a blogger, but I hope that this portrait I drew of Otis makes up for it a little?

Digital painting of Otis

Reclaiming Me

A place where my journey has taken me is in the process of reclaiming who I am.  Throughout my life, I admit that I sort of drifted along like a leaf on the surface of a stream.  My mother left me, we moved around, I did everything I was supposed to do, but I never truly engaged with the world around me, I don't think.  So, instead, I decided to change that, just a little.  Instead, I am choosing to reclaim me.

I needed to jump into the world.

My Journey Begins with a Click

So, what's my story?  I am just another of those weirdos who refuses to grow up.  I hear it all the time.  However, I am doing some sort of growing. Sure, I'm not letting myself get all tired and old.  Sure, I'm never going to lose this sense of wonder I have about me toward the world, but I've noticed that, as much as I'd hate to admit it, I am growing.  And, since I'm not growing down, I assume I'm growing up.  Or sideways.  That's always fun, too.  And it all started with a dog named Oats...

The one responsible for this whole thing and I love him for it.