Positively | Victoria Stilwell | Forum

The "time out" you are speaking of above is actually "negative reinforcement" (taking away what the dog enjoys and not paying attention to the dog/no praise). Do you mind explaining more why this is -R? I can see how not paying attention to the dog until he does the desired beha...

I've never read any trainer say that a dog can be trained using only positive reinforcement. Recommended here are time outs, which depending on the dogs' point of view are a form of negative punishment (something good is taken away) or positive punishment (something is added) to decrease the behavio...

Betsy had a weave pole break through today! After the trainer doing the weave pole (with guides) dance with her while she was on lead, I decided to take a gamble and see if she could do it without his help. She first ran pass the weaves, but once I set her up at the right entrances, she weaved all b...

Wicket, have you found the answers to your questions satisfactory - is there anything you would like explained or expanded upon? I don't want your issue to be buried under all the splitting hairs that tends to happen when different people have different vocabularies. I've had to do tons of research...

Hey Ladybug, what club are you are competing in?

Once he is spinning, offering treats, kongs, bones, or anything is totally unproductive. I have given him a big greasy knuckle bone and he will ignore it. I can stand at his door and tell him to sit and he will and he will eat his cookie, but as soon as I walk away he will start spinning again. I c...

randomjoy wrote:but reading ingredients on the bag is not a great way to determine the value of a food.

Out of curiosity, by what standard do you determine the value of a food?

Please folks, let's focus on the dog. That's what's really important here.

Although this may seem counter-intuitive, what about putting it on cue? My general idea is to increase his confidence for doing a behavior he already knows how to do, but since my forte isn't anxiety issues, I'm gonna leave it up to the dog experts like Emmabeth to see if this is a good idea for you...

Took Casper in for a vet appointment about a week ago. There's absolutely nothing wrong with him. I honestly think he's just doing things like that as a sign of jealousy. Yet, we show him the same amount of attention, if not more than, as with Cotton. Do you mind giving us a break down of his norma...

When I went back to natural dog food store for another batch of Acana, I bought two deer antlers from the Ziwipeak brand. My girls LOVE them. Maggie just sat perfectly while I opened the wrapper and when she received hers, she quickly ran off to her favorite spot so no one (i.e. Betsy) could get it....

Recently, Betsy has displayed some reactive displays towards the dogs across the street that she never liked. She was on her long line and ran to the end of it, with her hackles raised, low growling and high pitched barking, very stiff body language towards the dogs. She's becoming more territorial ...

How do you feel your dogs have suffered? do you feel this way because you feel you might have rushed things? Betsy gets whaled-eye and scared whenever I bring out the nail clipper; I have to hold her down to do her nails now, resulting in cutting the quick, which makes things worse. I'm hoping with...

it sounds like your mum doesn't really listen to what you're saying (how frustrating that must be for you btw :( ) - do you think she would take more stock in a vet giving her a bit of a dressing down about the dog putting on weight and being under-exercised? bonus points for throwing in a "co...

It's been a month later and Betsy had her blood re-tested to see how her clotting her times are doing. According to the vet, her clotting times are normal and Betsy is in the clear. *whew*