Bottom Dollar Training

Something I’ve noticed lately is that several people calling themselves positive-reinforcement (R+) trainers say they “don’t pay attention” to the quadrant they’re in during training. That if someone is a “good trainer, they pay attention to the animal and see … Continue reading →

Finnian’s List

I have a long, long list of things to train Finnian to do.  So many things that I almost don’t know where to start.  I feel overwhelmed.  But certain circumstances have clued me in to the ones that seem to … Continue reading →

Random Thoughts: Horse, Cat, Dog, 8-1-2019

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A collection of random thoughts about training: Diamond With Diamond the pony, most of my issues have to do with chaining extraneous behaviors in with the behavior I want. For example, I want to clean out her feet.  There is … Continue reading →

Reasonable Expectations – 4-27-2017

There is a quote that I like:  Expectation is premeditated disappointment.  (I would love to give credit to whomever said it first in that way, but I can’t find that source.) This quote reminds me often that I must have … Continue reading →

Stoopid Hooman! 2-4-2017

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This is more of a collection of thoughts that seem to be related rather than a fully fleshed out essay.  Please bear with me. The most recent event on this journey of clicker training was noticing that my dog, Sophie, … Continue reading →

Less is More, 3-4-16

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It is interesting to me that I keep having to relearn the value of doing less.  Especially when it comes to training my animals. Ollie really was the first one to finally get through to me that maybe, just maybe, … Continue reading →

Clicker Training and the Horse World

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The horse world is a very interesting place.  It’s full of people who love horses, like horses, have businesses centered on horses, make money on horses, lose money on horses, train them, raise them, ride them, drive them, groom them, … Continue reading →

Feeding For Position, Redux Times Two, 4-23-15

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I’m still working with Sophie to be able to stand on four pods, one pod for each foot.  I thought I had the two front feet pretty good and started trying to work with the back feet.  It was very … Continue reading →

Dialogue Training, #thevolunteeringhorse

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I have been accused of being OCD.  I didn’t like that, but maybe it fits.  Just a bit.  I do know I tend to go with logic.  A lot.  I was raised by an engineer; what can I say?  (That’s … Continue reading →

The Matching Law. It’s Not Exactly Like Matching Socks.

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There are a couple of things I’ve recently been trying to train Sophie to do.  One is scratching sand paper to trim her nails (here) and another one that’s newer is getting her to stand with each front foot on … Continue reading →