Republished courtesy of Denise Fenzi | Jan 21, 2020

I have a story (it gets to dogs in the end):

My husband was a patient in a teaching hospital this past week. That means doctors at various stages of training spend time learning on him – with varying degrees of competence and success.

One set of particularly inexperienced doctors came in to remove a tube in his chest. They asked him to roll on his side. Not happening – he has nine broken ribs.

They said that’s how it’s done.

Now my husband isn’t about to be mishandled by a group of young doctors who lack for imagination so he told them they’d better do some thinking or go back to their teacher, because there was zero chance he was going to roll on his side. He can do that because he’s strong and capable of advocating for himself – a human capacity!

Consternation followed. Consultation. Finally, the nurse came in and it got worked out. The tube was pulled out some other way which was maybe less than ideal – but husband was happy and the doctors got their practice.

Afterwards, my husband chatted with the nurse about it – he was sort of Continue Reading →

Republished courtesy of Denise Fenzi | Jan 17, 2020

Life is busy right now. That happens – life being busy. It’s hard to keep up. Priorities have to be made and then one goes from there.

This blog? I can put it aside. This post? Short and sweet! – Time….time is the issue.

Once upon a time, dogs did their own thing. Roamed the neighborhood, hung out with each other, did…dog things. Whatever that was. And now? If you live in the United States, Canada, Europe or many other places, your dogs may well be dependent on you 100% for their quality of life. You feed them, provide them with a place to live, exercise them, and in short, are responsible for, and control, everything that makes Continue Reading →

Republished courtesy of Denise Fenzi | Jan 13, 2020

Imagine this: You’re walking your leashed dog on a trail and you see a leashed dog approaching.  The owner tenses, pulls the dog to their side, and starts a string of random phrases aimed at their dog along the lines of “Leave it.  No.  Uh huh!” etc.

You’ve seen it before.  Their dog has a problem.  They know it and you know it (or should know it) because the human body language is clear – a worried handler getting ready for…something.

When a random person starts tightening up their dog’s leash – pay attention. That is a human cue!  It means they don’t trust their dog.  I know this because 90% of the pet dog world wants their dog to meet other dogs and if they don’t?  They bring their dog Continue Reading →

Republished courtesy of Denise Fenzi | Dec 31, 2019

What do you do when you predict a successful repetition in a shaping session and then, just as you are pushing down on the clicker, something happens? The anticipated behavior is not successfully completed? Uh oh.  Your brain told you not to do it but your finger didn’t listen!  Or at least, your finger didn’t listen fast enough.  So now you’ve got a half click – holding down the metal thing (what’s that called?) and trying to decide how to get out of it.  Which, of course, you can’t. Your finger has to come up eventually and…your dog is waiting you know.

In general, if I promise a cookie or toy or whatever, then I give it since a click sound is followed by a reinforcer in my training repertoire.  But I don’t give a cookie for a half click.  I know many people who do – a promise is a promise and they fill it.  Not me – I just try really really really hard not to do that again.  Of course, the dog heard that sound and Continue Reading →