In the movie “Guns of the Magnificent Seven”, one of many sequels to “The Magnificent Seven”, a cowboy is accused of being a horse-thief and is about to be hanged. A stranger suggests they test who the horse responds to as a means of determining ownership. They put the horse half-way between the two men and each tries to call it. The horse goes away from its owner and to thief. Why? The owner is standing by the saloon and the thief is standing in front of a horse-trough filled with water. That is the power of an opportunity for immediate “reinforcement.” If I want to over-power your control over your positively trained dog it’s not hard to do. All I have to do is trump your aggregate reinforcement over time by providing something more powerful in the immediate future.
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A few years ago I worked with a 1400 pound Warmblood horse named Feifel. (To get a sense of proportion of how big he is, here is a video or Feifel learning targeting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHY7vF2pc1s ) He had a number of problems but primarily he bucked when going from a trot to a cantor. To get started with him I associated a clicker with carrots. Then I started working to create some behaviors to develop the relationship before I addressed the primary complaint. I first started with having him turn his head to his left. Each turn received one click and one treat. Within about 15 minutes he started turning his whole body. After the second training session he was making a 360 turn to his left. Continue reading →

A much suggested solution to behavior problems is called an “extinction” procedure. Extinction is said to make a behavior disappear through lack of reinforcement. An example would be the decrease in “going to the store” behavior if the store goes out of business. To understand this behavioral effect it’s important to start at the beginning – the definitions of extinction.
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If you read my first article about extinction you’ll know that I think it is an overly-hyped suggestion that doesn’t work as advertised to control behavior. Now I will offer the proof of the pudding. A quote from someone who knew that even punishment needs to be reapplied to suppress a behavior. You may be surprised about who acknowledged that fact. It may also caution you about swallowing “what they say” without first using your own knowledge and using a little bit of logic. Continue reading →

If you have never seen the original movie, The Karate Kid, it’s a good idea to find it, watch it and comprehend the most important part. A teen wants to learn how to protect himself from bullies. The gardener at his apartment complex is a very quiet man named Mr. Miyagi, who just happens to be a karate master. Continue reading →