Clicker Carnival #4

Happy New Year! 2010. A new year. A new decade! January is a great time to think about goals and aspirations for the upcoming year. What do you plan to do with your animals this year? Any training goals or tasks that you’d really like to start or perfect this year? Or, maybe you’re planning on trying a new sport with your pet or reading those animal or training books you bought over the holidays. In any case, I hope the posts in clicker carnival four will be inspirational and informative for you. The first several posts in the carnival should help you think about why we make certain training decisions and how we can improve our training. The last two posts are both wonderful (and quite cute) examples of great training—a dachshund learning how to paint and an Australian cattle dog who learned how to open the back door at night to let the other dog back in.

Diana L Guerrero presents Good Hypothesis or Hooey? posted at Ark Animal Answers. People tend to address behavior issues only after they escalate and also anthropomorphism as to why animals act they way they do. So, is your claim a good hypothesis or hooey?

Kindred Animality presents Health First posted at Kindred Animality. After you read the first article, also be sure to check out this one! Many “behavioral problems” often stem from underlying health issues.

Angela presents Shaping: Guidelines for Success posted at fun4fido. Angela’s post does a great job of covering how to be a successful at shaping. Check it out for some excellent tips and a neat video.

Robin presents Punishment Part I posted at Living With Parrots Cage Free. This post is an excellent explanation of the types of punishment, along with great examples and discussion.

Eric Goebelbecker presents Dog Whisperer Commentary on Bella posted at Dog Spelled Forward Website and Blog. After you read Robin’s post on punishment, be sure to check out Eric’s commentary on Cesar Millan. This is a new series Eric has started–he does a wonderful job of analyzing what behavioral change techniques are used in the show, including what’s good, what’s bad, and what to think when Millan starts talking about energy!

Kyley presents The Family Business posted at The Trick Ponies of Chincoteague. Kyley’s ponies are known for their fabulous paintings. Now, she’s got another family member learning the family trade!

Barrie presents Get the door! posted at Fun with Dogs. There are many tricks we can teach our pets to make our lives easier and save us time. Here’s a cute one (with video) from Barrie of neat trick her dog Jellybean recently learned how to do.