Who's training who?

Well it is still pouring out. I know I have to get "Mattie" my little jack russell customer out for her daily walk. Since it is a crappy day I already know she will hide under the couch because she doesn't want to go out. I try to bribe her with a trail of "treats' to get her from under the couch.

So who is training who?

I've known people (mostly men) who 'train' their dog through force and through fear & punishment techniques. I suppose it works because they get the desired results. I can only guess that this is how their personal relationships are formulated as well by fear and punishment.

These kind of guys are serious insecure dicks.

In the long run they are hated and anyone involved with them (including their pets) thinks about excaping.

Case in point: you feed wild raccons everyday at the same spot. They come and go when they feel like it but they show up at the same time when you feed them everyday. They are not forced to come there but they want to come there. They are being rewarded.

Think of a stallion locked up in a tiny corral. The whole time the stallion wants out and thinks everyday about trying to break out because he is forced to stay there! That is punishment.

I've spent alot of time as an observer. I observe animals and people. I get past my ego of "what things are suppose to be like" and just watch how things actually work. To get the desired result of a particular behavior you have to establish a win-win situation that everyone is happy with.

Case in point: To get that little jack russell outside to poop I need to coax her something rewarding.

Animals as well as people respond to peer pressure. When one does something that looks fun or interesting the next person (or animal) will want to try it. Irene Pepperberg of the "Alex studies" calls this approach the model-rival approach. Think of the Tom Sawyer story about painting the fence. My vet wanted me to switch my bird "Button's"diet from seeds (too fatty) to a pelleted diet (more nutritious). When I put the cup of pellets in her cage she would'nt eat it. She would rather starve to death before she ate it.

However, when I put the pellets in the parakeet cage all of a sudden the pellets looked interesting. She went in the parakeet's cage and ate the pellets. The parakeets got interested as well and also started to eat it.

None of the birds would eat fresh veggies when I put a bowl of veggies in their cages. However, when I sat down for dinner with all kinds of greens in my plate all of a suddet this was the most delicious thing they all ever seen. I would have at least six birds in my plate after my food.

Did I want all these birds sharing my food? Not really.

Did I want the birds to eat fresh veggies? Yup

So the end result was the desired result.

Kids aren't any different. Think about grabbing a snack with your nephews. They get , say, pizza, and you get a spinache bun. You make all these mmmmm sounds like you are in yummy treat heaven. All of a sudden they are interested in trying that "what-they-thought-was gross" spinache bun.

Another trick trainers do is to reinforce positive behaviors the animals already do. Button would sit on her play stand. When I put jingle balls on the play stand she would pick them up and throw them. I lined up a basketball hoop near where she threw them. When the ball would land in the hoop I would praise her and give her a treat. She thought this was great!

My birds also liked routine. They liked knowing at such and such time it was time for their cage to be cleaned, it was time for them to come out and fly around and what time was bedtime.

They could time at what time my husband would be spending time with them.

When they heard the upstairs toilet flush they would all squawk because this meant their "daddy' was done upstairs and would coming downstairs to spend time with them.

Who would've thought the sound of a flushing toilet would mean something fun was going to happen?