Finished Book: The Official Ahimsa Dog Training Manual

You should get this book.  Seriously.

It has been several months since I finished a dog-related book. Recently, most of my time has been dedicated to training (my own and other’s dogs) and watching a lot of behavior DVD’s, thanks to Tawzer Dog’s fabulous rental program and trying to enjoy the most of the hot Wisconsin summer.  I caught wind of Grisha Stewart’s new book, The Official Ahimsa Dog Training Manual through her facebook page (jeez – what would I do without social media!) and immediately pre-ordered my copy.  Within a few weeks’ time I came home from work to find the perfect little brown package at my doorstep.  It was my very own copy of Grisha’s book.  Eek!

As I cracked open the cover, there it was…Grisha’s personal, hand-written “thank you” and her signature followed by a merry little smiley face.  How cool is that?  I love Grisha’s training methods and was honored that she took the time to sign my book! (OK, so maybe she doesn’t even know who I am, but still I’m going to pretend that we’re friends J).

Grisha’s book manual is beautiful.  It is descriptive enough to satisfy the dog training nerd in me, yet short and sweet enough that it I would recommend it to every single one of my students.  Grisha gets geeky when she has to be, uses fun, light-hearted examples throughout the book that most anyone can relate to and lays out the book the way it should be --- talking about the important stuff up front (communication, learning and understanding).

The Official Ahimsa Dog Training Manural has a welcome spot on my ever-growing D.B.N. library shelf and has already received several dog-eared pages.  Thank you, Grisha, for putting out another fabulous resource!

Finished DVD: "Rehabilitation in Aggression Cases" by Trish King

Don't let the artwork of this DVD fool you, "Rehabilitation in Aggression Cases" by Trish King is a great 1.5 hour seminar that is well worth the watch.

As previously mentioned (I think numerous times), I love listening, reading and watching Trish King talk about anything relating to dogs.  In this short seminar, she does a wonderful job highlighting a few types of aggression case and gives her opinions on which cases she would or would not take on as a training case.  As expected, Trish's opinions are realistic and she doesn't sugar coat her feelings.

Besides the video being recorded in what looks like a dark, boarded up garage, it was easy to watch and very informative, especially for those of us who spend time dealing with dogs that have behavioral challenges.

Progressive Reinforcement Training

Happy Monday everyone!  Here I am again, in my never-ending journey to become the ultimate D.B.N. and I had a chance to get my fix over the weekend; this time bringing to you a recent discovery in the wonderful world of positive progressive reinforcement training.  

My current DVD series rental from Tawzer Dog has led me to get a better understanding of "Trick Dog" training as led by a Ms. Emily Larlham.  The name Emily Larlham didn't mean anything to me before I opened up my doggie Netflix rental mail last week. Holy crap, I had no idea who this woman was (shame on me!) and what a wonderful inspiration she has and will continue to be to me. 

She has an absolutely fantastic manifesto written about her Progressive Reinforcement Training methods that is well worth a read for anyone training with their dog or helping others in classes/private sessions.  Her manifesto is refreshing and spot on, in my opinion, to what I am trying to do in my personal and professional dog-related careers.

Some highlights from Emily's manifesto:

"Progressive Reinforcement Training Means: 

1) Training by rewarding desirable behaviors so they will be more likely to occur in the future, while preventing reinforcement of behaviors that are undesirable.  

2) Interrupting and preventing undesirable behaviors without physical or psychological intimidation, as well as rewarding an alternate response (training a behavior you find desirable in it’s place). 

3) Taking an animal’s emotional state and stress levels into account. 

4) Socializing and teaching an animal to cope with his environment using reinforcement. 

5) Using a marker to train, whether it be a clicker, some other noise-maker, your voice or touch, or a visual marker.  Or, on the other hand, not using a marker, and instead for example reinforcing an animal by feeding a treat directly to his mouth. 

6) Employing humane, effective, respectful training based on the latest scientific evidence.

Progressive Reinforcement Training Does Not Mean:  

1) The intentional use of physical or psychological intimidation. 

2) Intentionally disregarding an animal’s stress levels or signals.

3) Holding selfish or uncompassionate goals for your training.

...Progressive Reinforcement Training is not a permissive form of training.  It requires providing consequences to all behaviors.  The trainer takes on the role of a benevolent leader and guide using these ethical and scientifically based methods." 

Beautiful stuff, right? I love that she is sensitive to the animal as an emotional being and could not agree more with her beliefs of interrupting and preventing undesirable behaviors.  

Beyond Emily's manifesto, she has a plethora of free videos (yes, FREE!!!) that are refreshing, easy to watch and easy to understand (I've already used some of the new learning this weekend) and are based on scientific-training methods (and did I mention they are 100% FREE?!!).  I encourage you to swing over to her website, www.kikopup.com and get your Progressive Reinforcement Training fix!