Servicing Brisbane’s Eastern Suburbs, Queensland.

Is traditional training on the way out and positive reinforcement training the way of the future?

I read Val Bonney's article, 'It's time to make decisions' in the November 2011 issue of 'The Queensland Dog World' with great interest. Everybody would agree that we need to be asking questions, explaining the options and be open to discussion as to which training choices to make. This article is presented from the perspective of someone who has made the decision to switch from traditional to positive reinforcement training.

For any ongoing debate to be useful the basic terminology initially needs to be agreed. To assist in discussion I firstly offer the following explanations of some terms used in this article.

A behaviour, for sake of the debate, is any action that a living animal is capable of doing. Animals of all species learn behaviour either through desirable or undesirable consequences, operant conditioning (Skinner), or they learn through reflexes, classical conditioning – also sometimes known as respondent or Pavlovian conditioning. Training primarily involves the use of operant conditioning. No matter what the species, every single trainer in the world, knowingly or not, utilises one or more of the four quadrants of operant conditioning (positive punishment, positive reinforcement, positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement) when training any behaviour.

[The technical function of reinforcement is to increase the occurrence of a behaviour. The function of punishment is to reduce the occurrence of a behaviour. Reinforcement is positive when something nice is added to the animal's environment (e.g. food) and it is negative when something nasty is removed (e.g. an electric current is switched off). Punishment too is either positive, when something unpleasant is added (e.g. hitting or turning on electricity) or it is negative when something pleasant (e.g. food or attention) is not given or is removed. ]

'Teaching with Acoustical Guidance'

Sports coaches, dog trainers, people involved with special needs and business people have already booked in for the two day "Teaching with Acoustical Guidance" accreditation on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th September.  Only twelve places remain.

For a great YouTube example using TagTeach to teach children the High Jump, click HERE

CLEAR Dog Grooming - Mobile Grooming service

We are pleased to announce the official launch of CLEAR Dog Grooming which opened its doors earlier this year. CLEAR Dog Grooming is our sister business run by my daughter, Karen. Karen opened her own mobile business after working in a leading salon earlier this year. Click HERE for more gallery pictures.

     
 
CLEAR Dog Grooming offers services which include hydrobaths, blow drying, ear cleaning, nail clipping, brush outs and de-matting. Clipping services include hygiene clips, tidy ups, standard and breed specific cuts. Finally they can provide you with all your flea, tick and worm protection at a price cheaper than most retail stores, and if you have a monthly service they can manage and administer them for you for free.
Click here for CLEAR Dog Grooming Website

The Four Secrets of Becoming a Supertrainer

Here's a repeat from the last CLEAR Canine Courier that's well worth repeating! This book by two of the world’s leading trainers from Norway is available as an instantly downloadable E-Book. Even without buying it there is a heap of useful information, click on the book and watch the short video – just amazing and so easy when one knows how! Then scroll to the very bottom and sign up for the 7 free clicker lessons – they are brilliant and will arrive daily by email for the next seven days. You will soon be on your way to having your ideal dog as a result of being a Supertrainer.
Click here for more details

At what age should a puppy go to puppy school?

There is a bewildering amount of confusing and conflicting advice given by various breeders, pet stores, trainers and vets!
 
A medical argument from some breeders, pet stores, vets and trainers is that if you take a puppy too early to puppy school he could get a fatal disease, such as distemper or parvo virus. Therefore it is best to keep your puppy quarantined or isolated, as if in cotton wool, till he is four and a bit months old and has had all the required vaccinations.

The counter argument is from other breeders, pet stores, vets and trainers who take into consideration both the medical and behavioural risks involved. They look at the bigger picture and conclude that the latter risks far outweigh the former. By the time your puppy is four months old he is almost adolescent and many undesired habits may have formed and it is much too late for puppy school!
Click here for more details
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