As I read through some of the old posts, I find I am using dog training terms and verbiage without really ever having explained them or for that matter defined them. Bad Trainer! Well, we are going to take care of that right here and now. We are going to cover the meaning of positive and negative markers. Markers are nothing more than how we let our dogs know when they have done something right or wrong.
Let’s start off with the positive marker. Most people simply say “good dog” when the dog does something correct. I, on the other hand, use a clicker; a simple noise maker that when you depress a button it makes a clear and consistent noise (or mark) the dog can relate to. There are several reasons for this but the biggest is “DOG’S DON’T SPEAK ENGLISH”! I know there are people out there that will argue this point with me, but dogs don’t really understand language the way humans do. Yes, they can, over a period of time, learn that Sit means put my rump on the ground, but they can also learn that Pineapple Sherbet means put my rump on the ground if I spend the same amount of time associating the word and the behavior! I have also noticed that different people use a different tone of voice when marking a behavior either positive or negative and this one can confuse a dog since their main way of understanding is tone and body language. The other real reason for my preference for using a clicker is timing! We as humans very rarely mark a behavior with our voice with the correct timing. We are either early or late and that can make for a very confused dog. Let me give you a really oversimplified example that might shed some light on this. Let’s say we are working with Fido on Sit and we say SIT and presto Fido puts his rump on the ground, but we were not quite ready and we say “Good Dog” a little late. In those precious couple of seconds Fido has not only sat, but he has chewed a flea, seen a purple butterfly and smelled the poop in the neighbor’s backyard! Now in Fido’s world, he has to figure out which of these four behaviors got him the good dog. Yes, he will figure it out in time, but why not use a positive marker that can pinpoint the exact time the correct behavior happened, and take all the human inflections out of the picture? Enter the clicker. The idea is that at the exact moment Fido’s rump hits the ground we click and then reinforce with a reward, maybe a nice liver treat! Wow, would Pavlov and Skinner be proud of you. Yes, you already knew this from your high school or college Psychology 101 class; do you remember operant and classical conditioning?
Now what about the negative marker? Well from my vantage point as a trainer, I am shocked that most dogs don’t think there name is “NO, NO BAD DOG” Because that is what most owners say when their dog has done something inappropriate or incorrect. Once again I will repeat, “DOGS DON’T SPEAK ENGLISH”, so yelling, pleading, explaining or discussing will not make a dog understand what in the world you want. Let’s say you want to be concise and clear and decide to use just the word NO to mark a bad behavior for your dog? Well you are back to being human and forgetting to think like a dog! Does it mean NO or KNOW? If you live in a household like mine, where there are 6 and 10 year old boys running around, how many times is that word used daily? Next thing you know you dog will have a nervous twitch and hide in the corner because he has no idea who is getting the mark. This also brings up the idea of learned indifference. Let me give you an example. I am a Dad to the afore mentioned boys, and I hear the word Dad 4,362 times a day. You honestly think I don’t tune out that word from time to time? “Dad, Dad, Dad, DAD!!!!!!!! Huh…were you talking to me?” Sound familiar? The moral of this story…don’t be that dog owner saying a command over and over and over. The real message here, communicate with your dog like a dog not another person! So, what do I use as a negative mark? Just a simple sound, one syllable AAAGGGH! (Not sure of the spelling) but it is sounds like the word egg with out the hard G at the end, very gutteral.
Keep in mind that the negative mark is less about the dog doing something wrong and way more about getting the dog to stop the inappropriate behavior long enough for me to direct the dog to an appropriate behavior, so that I can then reward the good! This is the basis of dealing with most, if not all, problem behaviors with dogs and will be the subject of a future post. But we still need to cover release words and cues (both verbal and hand signals) in the next post, TERMINOLOGY PART 2.
Mike Deathe is a stay-at-home dad who found his passion as a dog trainer in 2008. He enjoys identifying unique and useful “muttz” related products. He is the author of Keep It Simple Stupid (K.I.S.S.) Pet Blog. Mike has had dogs since he was four years old and there are currently four dogs and two cats living in his home! As an avid pet lover, he regularly sees the number of dogs and cats that never find a home. In 2009, he and his wife Kate founded Muttz “R” Us, a t-shirt company with a philanthropic motto of “Adopt a Pet, Save a Life.” Visit us at facebook or twitter or follow the blog @http://muttzmembers.blogspot.com/ or check out the website @www.muttzrus.com!
On the lexicon it says that a second twilight trailer will be playing tonight on Entertainment Tonight. What time is that?
To Cyn: I suppose I did sound a little hyper when I asked. You sound just like my best friend. Anyways.
Amanda: Thank you so much! I don’t watch ET so I really didn’t understand i, but thank you, I know now.
Entertainment Tonight comes on at like 7 so I’d assume that time. This is sooo exciting : D
unless you dont live like near ohio in which case just type your zipcode in here and it will tell you what time ET is on
Where can I buy a Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman costume?
I’m looking for the closest costume to the original catwoman suit, with Michelle Pfeiffer from Batman Returns. I would like the whole pvc with the loose white stiches hanging from her outfit, I’ve seen costumes that have the same effect but not material.
Thanks
What you’re looking for is a latex catsuit. (The catsuit doesn’t actually mean it has ears, it’s a full body suit.)
is the closest I could find. (I don’t know where you’d find your ears, http://www.kittencream.com/ is my go-to for ears and tails, but they’re fur rather than latex.)
If you’re the creative type, you can try http://www.liquidlatex.com/makingbodysuit.html you can add details afterward (like the stitching) but actually crafting your suit out of different pieces will ruin the sexy slinky look you want.
Michelle Pfeiffer 1978 Miss California Beauty Pageant
Do you think Oprah’s death will be a “bigger deal” than Michael’s?
I definitely didn’t think a legend as big as Michael could ever die– but now that he has it got me thinking. Will people make a bigger fuss over Oprah’s death–
how about Britney Spears?
Nah, people do love Oprah, but she doesn’t compare to Mike in that context. Mike had people fainting by the DROVES at his concerts!! Oprah can’t do that. Mike has fans ALL OVER THE WORLD. Oprah is big but she does not have that type of Global appeal. Mike literally changed Music and Videos, Oprah has pioneered several things, but again not like Mike did. Great people are always greatly mourned, but Mike was the Greatest of ALL time if you ask me. Man, what a loss….
It’s a very sad story with Caylee Anthony. What do you think happened. Why Would a mother kill her 3 year od daughter. click on this link, then plz answer. http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=caylee+anthony+missing&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=news_result&resnum=4&ct=title
I think it was an accident, her story is too messed up for it to be planned. I do think she took some time to cook up her story and party ed bc she knew she was going to be in trouble eventually.
Lets just hope she is not pregnant again.
The poor child was in a messed up family and should have been given up for adoption.
Casey Anthony Verdict: Found Not Guilty of Murder (07.05.11)
I love these. http://gothamist.com/attachments/arts_jen/phprBIABKPM.jpg
I love these. http://gothamist.com/attachments/arts_jen/phprBIABKPM.jpg
I don’t think they are Ray-bans. They are larger yet the plastic seems slimmer. Also the decorative metal in the corners is smaller. They are more delicate and less chunky.
Those ones. They’re called raybans and they’re very popular right now. The ones at optical4less are very cheap and good quality. You can even add prescription lenses onto them for no extra cost. Or you can just get the frames.
The latest ad campaign from L’Oreal has caused a huge stir by featuring a picture of singer Beyonce Knowles looking much lighter-skinned than usual, her hair strawberry blonde. Mica Paris, 39, argues that the campaign is a betrayal of black women.
Do you think this type of retouching sends out the wrong message to all society that black is bad?
Retouched photos are negative in general.
It sends out a false image of perfection that doesen’t exsist in real life.
It’s part of the reason so many women nowdays are so insecure,and questioning their looks..because they can’t look as good as a “Retouched” image of Stacy Keibler.
This is sooo exciting : D
